MOOG MINIMOOG "D" (1971)

 

Produced for more than ten years, born to be a simpler and portable version of the Moog modular systems without any complicated patch cords floating around the feet.

Also defined as "D" as the fourth model out of a production of prototypes. Here's the D! this paricular model is one of the first called "old school" special edition with trasparent wheels.

VOICE Monophonic analog generation with three detunable VCO each with own Amplitude values in central mixer section .

VCO1 is the so called "Master" and drives general Tuning, while the two other ones are detunable about +- 7 half tones on a five octaves range 32'/ 16' / 8' / 4' / 2' height, plus special "Low position"). ->NOTE Tuning the three oscillators is the first task to do after switching on, for this there 's the very useful LA -/ A-440 switch on the panel for tuning... a kind of ritual for Minimoog users. Oscillators have a total of six different waveforms Triangular / Sawtooth / Square / Wide and Narrow Rectangular / Saw-triangular (NOTE: Third VCO has Reverse Saw instead) plus an external white- pink noise with no control, except Volume gain. VCO voice circuit is really genuine perfectly in symbiosis with the Ladder filter, backbone of the Moog sound, so true that the all-time rival Arp Odyssey attempted many times to clone it. If you mean "FAT" sound you mean MINIMOOG "D".

FILTER resonant Low Pass -24 dB/ octave filter with Cutoff Frequency and Contour amount around the Q point for Resonance, here called "EMPHASIS". The filter VCF auto-oscillate up to a perfect sinusoidal waveform, then lowers volume a bit of gain at high emphasis. Other VCF features are External process IN (audio line) and two differnt modes Keytracking called "KEYBOARD CONTROL" for Cutoff compensation over octaves.

LFO VCO-3 can be deactivated and transformed to a Low Frequency Oscillator, and its realtive oscillation frequency is defined by the modulation wheel movement.
The LFO modulates VCA pitch for VCO1-2 / VCF Cutoff but has no time delay.
-> NOTE switching VCO-3 to LFO deactivates the VCF Keytrack function.

ENVELOPE two enough fast EGs (does not reach the Snappy RSF Kobol)
First one defines Filter, second one VCA both with three segments called "A/ D /S".
A Release time can be added for both VCA and VCF simply pressing the realtive tab button, automatically the EG gets the same Value from Decay segment.

MEMORY None - Download blank sheet on the right column.

RELATIVE MODELS : MINIMOOG VOYAGER a new reissues from 2002 more flexible signal path, useful Midi I/O, Memory for patch and setup, very good filter (the same of the mooger fooger) but somehow the sound is not so close to the original, probably for the new redrawn oscillators design... but the ladder filter seems to be perfect! but hey, not necessarily a bad point, but that' s a different synthesizer!

STUDIO ELECTRONICS MIDIMINI an original Minimoog in a rackmount box plus some extra goodies made by Studio Electronics, a company now producing some modern (and less fat) analog synths.

 

Back in Bach à la Wendy Carlos PFM Various random noise and modulations Electro EBM basslines

solo and Moog Analog delay mf-104z Classical

 

- it's a Minimoog!!
- fat !
- best filter !

- HIGH price !!
- no dedicated LFO (just to say something!)

I believe a D is still a masterpiece of genius and not only a marketing product: a true musical instruments with a "soul" and a thundering fat sound never reached by any other monophonics.