Ken Macbeth is, without a doubt, the most macho synthesizer maker in the world. He's a big Scottish guy with a king's name, who builds huge, expensive synthesizers out of sheet steel and transistors, and uses neat Irn Bru to etch his circuit boards*. His monumental M5 is a £2,000 patch cord and slider covered monster. This is the prototype keyboard version of his MiniMoog inspired M3X2 - all analog, lots of discreet components, MIDI and no patch storage (patch storage is, obviously, for pussies and southerners). Price will be a lot, but not as much as the Moog Voyager - Probably £1-1,500, with the rack version probably slightly less. Initial production will be 25 of the keyboard, 30 of the rack. I can't wait to see one in a box. *Not actually true.
10/23/2006
Macbeth M3X2 - The real man's modern mono synth
Ken Macbeth is, without a doubt, the most macho synthesizer maker in the world. He's a big Scottish guy with a king's name, who builds huge, expensive synthesizers out of sheet steel and transistors, and uses neat Irn Bru to etch his circuit boards*. His monumental M5 is a £2,000 patch cord and slider covered monster. This is the prototype keyboard version of his MiniMoog inspired M3X2 - all analog, lots of discreet components, MIDI and no patch storage (patch storage is, obviously, for pussies and southerners). Price will be a lot, but not as much as the Moog Voyager - Probably £1-1,500, with the rack version probably slightly less. Initial production will be 25 of the keyboard, 30 of the rack. I can't wait to see one in a box. *Not actually true.
Just what the world needs, another moog knockoff.
ReplyDeleteT
"...all analog, lots of discreet components..."
ReplyDeleteThey don't look very discreet to me, I can see them in the picture. That's pretty darn blatant, in fact.
Perhaps you meant "discrete".
Just what the world needs, YAMMC (Yet Another Mini Moog Clone)
ReplyDeleteYawn..
Has all the experimentation and exploration in synthesis gone in favour of recreating the past?
yeah we will
ReplyDeleteIf it was a 303 knock off folks would be drooling all over it.
ReplyDeleteso any synth with 3 oscillators, 2 envelopes, and a filter is a minimoog clone?
ReplyDeletethat's a completely unreasonable worldview.
btw, actually recreating the past is awesome. too bad no one actually does it.
even if it is a Moog "ripoff," what's so wrong with that? there may not be anything revolutionary about it, but then again, how many of you have built your own comparable and/or better synths? he may not have had the money to just go out and buy one like others, and now he both has one and has the pride of knowing he built it himself and now posesses the knowledge of how it works and everything. shame on you naysayers.
ReplyDelete"so any synth with 3 oscillators, 2 envelopes, and a filter is a minimoog clone?"
ReplyDeleteYes ... basically. Boring.
I is longing for synth with 4 oscillators, 2 envelopes and at least a multifilter... an updated Mono/Poly so to speak.
Well, one can dream
yeh, youd figure with an assload of various module designs over the years, someone would eventually come up with a keyboard that incorporates a bit more than the most standard, vanilla, VCO-VCF-VCA format
ReplyDelete(and yes, i own a MEK)
I wish someone would make a really cheap moog clone.
ReplyDeleteSurface mount components+plastic box+mini keys keyboard.
I bet it could be done for under £200....
Anyway, this Macbeth clone has a couple of interesting things not found on Moogs.
The routing switch after each osc means you can fm the filter, fm another osc (I think, I can't quite read it on the photo).
The seperate LFO is a good idea. It would appear you can only program it from the LED display on the back on the synth though, so I guess it came free with whatever midi>cv board he is using.
Also there is EG to osc2 pitch.
ADSR rather than ADR envelopes.
All in all, though it looks like a minimoog, it's nearer a pro-1 as far as sound generation goes.
A cheap, surface mount, plastic box, mini-keys minimoog?
ReplyDeletehttp://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/09/mfb-and-218-minimoog.html
OK, I know that's not what you meant by mini keys, but you could buy a supercheap midi keyboard, put it in a box, and you're there...
"he may not have had the money to just go out and buy one like others, and now he both has one and has the pride of knowing he built it himself and now posesses the knowledge of how it works and everything. shame on you naysayers."
ReplyDeletehahahaha do you know what's going on here or not
i wish the irn bru thing was true. seriously. i had a bottle of that stuff recently and it made me miss scotland a whole bunch
ReplyDelete"Has all the experimentation and exploration in synthesis gone in favour of recreating the past?"
ReplyDeleteI couldnt agree more. where is the innovation? the amazing problem here is one of fundamental economics. the persons on the demand end of "supply and demand" are asking for more of this stagnant, boring recreations of the past. PLEASE people put your money toward innovative products! you must also realize that the cost of research and development of these products puts them into a higher cost bracket. this i think is the main reason that people support these uninspired repeats - they are cheaper. also the fact that explaining something new to someone is VERY HARD, while saying it is exactly like something they think is great (Minimoog filter for example) is a especially effective advertising campaign. think about what types of products you are demanding in this free market.