I´ve been fascinated with Moog Mother 32 and all those patching possibilities, as I´m right now starting to make my Microbrute and Dark Energy talk with each other The possibility of having a crazy 3 VCO (semi) modular synth is amazing, and although I have an Octatrack, I like the idea of a dedicated step sequencer (and if I understood right, the step sequencer of the Moog Mother can be CV/Out´ed, right?).
However, the new price for Elektron Monomachine made it really tempting, with that odd approach to synthesis and leftfield sounds that I don´t fully understand. As my setup is based in a combination of Analog Rytm + other gear right now, I think like the Moog Mother, it can potentially made my hardwares shine even more
As I have to choose between one of them, what do you think/recommend? Any Moog Mother or Monomachine user here? Pros and cons for a OP-1/Analog Rytm/Octatrack user?
I had a Monomachine for nearly a year and really came to love it, appreciating its routing capabilities, LFOs, delay/HPF/LPF/dist on each channel, and 6 track external MIDI sequencer. Ultimately, I let go of it for a Push 2, as a third Elektron box (#1&2 being A4 and Rytm) seemed to be overkill for live performances, and I wanted something I could use more in the studio with Reaktor. Also, MM’s lack of a proper patch system was something I wasn’t willing to accept.
A few months later I let go of the Push 2 and got an OP-1 instead, and the OP-1 actually reminds me of Monomachine in many ways. You have the variety of synthesis engines, some considerable sequencing limitations, and a very unique sound.
I made an album’s worth of material on the OP-1 in one month, so it isn’t going anywhere. However, I revisited some of my old Monomachine recordings recently, and I’ve really come to miss the little guy. It’s a spectacular instrument for experimental music. I love the DigiPRO BBOX and FM+ for electro styles. The OP-1 production experience I’ve had thus far would certainly change the mentality I would take on with the Monomachine again, because you really have to come to terms with the MM limitations.
Since the competition in your heart is for a Mother 32, the whole lack of proper patch system in MM (it uses kits to store patches, if you want to load a patch to a track you’ll have to copy it from another kit) is a moot point. Also, as you have great MIDI sequencing and MIDI LFOs in the Octatrack, there’s a redundancy there as well.
If you take my opinion that a third Elektron instrument is overkill, then perhaps the M32 is best.
A Mother 32 with your other CV gear would make for great sampling food for the Octatrack. And adding flavor to that setup can be done just a couple hundred $ at a time with a small auxiliary eurorack rig, but tread lightly! It’s a slippery slope!
For what it is worth, I sold my Mother32 to fund my MM and haven’t looked back once. It makes the 4th Elektron machine I own and I’ll never willingly sell it. I’ve had my share of Moogs and while I love the sound, I love the MM that much more.
This made me want to finally watch some Mother32 reviews on YouTube, and it seems like (at least as of when the Sonic State review was posted) that the sequencer’s CV outputs are not available at this time, although it sounds like it is possible. If you have most of that sound covered by the Dark Energy anyways, you could go with a small step sequencer like the Korg SQ-1.
I love my Monomachine. I don’t have experience with the Mother32 itself. I guess you’d have to really dig into the sounds themselves - a single oscillator but very solid and complete analog voice versus the collection of modeled, digital, and FM machines of the Monomachine. You know what you’ll get with Elektron sequencing, even if the MM is a bit more primitive. I don’t find the Monomachine’s patch management as offputting as AdamJay does - I think of the Kit as the patch, and the 6 voice patches within as part of the same whole. But it is a bit of a strange device. That’s part of why I love it though. It’s hard for me to say why though.
Finally, there is the alleged April update for the OP-1 still to come and Moogfest is just around the corner. It may be worth it to wait on both things to see if any new synth engines are added to the OP-1 or if Moog announces anything new (I think there’s supposed to be a new kit this year, like the Werkstatt from a couple of years ago).
The possibility of having a crazy 3 VCO (semi) modular synth is amazing, and although I have an Octatrack, I like the idea of a dedicated step sequencer (and if I understood right, the step sequencer of the Moog Mother can be CV/Out´ed, right?).