Message from the Moog

A good chunk of this blog has been dedicated to older or at least "post-new" stuff, but never fear, my GAS keeps my new gear purchasing function working just fine. One recent acquisition that has now become a personal fav is the Moog Messenger. 

I've been in contact with all the various iterations of 21st Century Moog (Old School, Grandmother, and Sub25), and I can't say any were particularly mind-blowing. (I'm leaving out the Mother ecosystem synths here, I love those.) The Old School had a bass-heavy, dull high-end sound (plasticky, for lack of a better word) that I've come to feel is the hallmark "flavor" of modern Moog. The Grandmother definitely sounded "older" but was also flawed by a bizarre filter gain reduction design where the volume dropped when you opened the filter up past a certain point (completely independent of resonance; check out Tony Allgood’s excellent modification write-up here). Sadly, they carried this filter design over to the Muse. The Sub25 had an even more overblown bass sound that felt modern, in the worst possible way (sort of how people used to hammer on about the scooped mids and high-end "sheen" of some early VAs). Most vintage synths are not the "sub bass monsters" that the internet makes them out to be--good bass is as much a function of envelope shape and mid-range "bite" as pure fundamental frequency strength. Anyway, if I want a sine-dominant and un-wavering sub-bass sound I'm absolutely not looking to find it on an analog synth. 

All that brings us up to the Messenger. When I first saw this, I quickly took note of the multi-mode filter (ooh) and various FM options (aah). I also liked the more Roland-style layout (I was never a fan of the shaped slope of most of the mid-00s Moogs). And yes, there was also a wavefolder (hmm). So I took a punt and here's what I've found. 

1) It sounds like a Moog. As in a gen-u-ine vintage Moog, with a capital M. The filter is sweet, allowing you to easily achieve your most syrupy and whistly Plantasia desires. It also has the de rigueur vintage mid-range aggro that allows you to dial in all your fav funk and Reese-type bass sounds. It saturates nicely—but not too much—when the oscillator volumes are max. It's bassy, yes, but in not in an overblown way. It's really quite a surprise how dang "old" it can sound. 

2) It doesn't sound like a Moog. The multimode filter is really nice; between the almost MS-20-esque rasp of the 2-pole filter and the very strong BPF you really can feel like you're stepping into territory not traditionally tread on by trad 4-pole Moogs. Then there is the FM--the oscs employ linear FM (a la Yamaha) which gives you some surprisingly "digital" sounds, and that's before you hit the exponential filter FM, which creates all your usual bonkers and crazed out modulation sounds. The wavefolder is also a welcome addition and isn't nearly as overbearing as I've seen people suggest. Again, it's another source of more digital tones that works really well with stuff like the BPF. Lastly the feedback circuit supplies some useful gnarl and is capable of some adding interesting evolving harmonics if you modulate the amount and LFO or envelope. 

3) The modulation matrix is easy. Hold the source button, turn the destination knob (literally any knob) to apply positive or negative amounts, and you're done. The modulation ranges are also really wide (a plus), but still feeling predictably scaled. And while dedicated knobs and buttons are always preferred, too many can also end up cluttering things (which I feel is what happened with the Sub37). This can lead to programming paralysis where, in an effort to use everything available, you get more focused on your programming prowess than actual sound goal. So better sometimes to let the user decide when and where a lil’ mod action is needed. And there's a lot of basic user mods that can add a ton to the sonic palette. For example, adding envelope control over the oscillator FM amount or using keytracking or envelope to control LFO speed. All very easy to do. Also a little shout-out to LFO 2: I am not a fan of mod-wheel modulation but, unlike many performance LFOs, this LFO actually has a useful range (very slow to fast) plus the amount is saved with the patch. Cue Fast Show jazz guy, Nice. 

The actual deeper menu system is a bit of a PIA: want to increase the LFO up to audio rates? It's rad that you can do this, but you have to press no less than four buttons to get there. This latter function is also saved per patch, which is kind of hella annoying because if you're like me and want audiorate LFOs ALL THE TIME, you've got to go through that button process EVERY TIME (note to self, make a default patch with it set already). But saying that, most functions are not the type you'll be reaching for more than once so it's not a huge burden overall. 

4) It feels solid. Yeah... it just feels sleek and mean. Metal chassis, solid low-profile solid-click buttons, robust no-wobble knobs... it's a joy to program. 

5) The keys SUUUUUUUCK. Someone over at Moog needs to get a primer in what a monosynth keyboard should feel like, because this is not it. It's heavy and obtuse, with too much pressure needed as you get to full depression... Like a clunky consumer MIDI controller from 2007. I.e., the exact opposite of what you want for your Saturday afternoon noodling session. I am 300% not a bald, goatee sporting "player", but I still want keys that could conceivably let me do that. I want low-profile, light, and fast, like the phenomenal black Yamaha CS keys. But I would've settled for the Minibrute's cheap but light keys... Or even the 45 year old MS-20's clacky but fast keys. I basically just want keys that don't get in the way of playing. I'm adjusting to it but dang what an annoying caveat when everything else feels so nice. Arguably though, if this is the only thing I can really complain about, then that’s not too bad.

So putting this altogether, what is it? It's a Chinese-made, Swiss Army knife of a synth with a classic American sound, at a price that can't be beat. In my mind it’s the best sounding Moog never made by Bob. And that's a helluva message.