Massively Multitracked Minimoog Voyager "Demo"

BT Byrd · Post by **BT Byrd** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:47 pm

In early October, I started working on a scary electro song for Halloween. After a few days, I had something good going... but realized that I hadn't touched another instrument besides my Voyager. This inspired me to do an (essentially) all Voyager track. The result is called "Spaceships for Bob: A Minimoog Voyage." 90 stereo tracks of Voyager (and the Moogerfooger Ringmod/Phaser), plus a non-Moog kick and snare here and there. For Bob. Thanks for everything.

http://soundcloud.com/btbyrd/spaceships ... oog-voyage

Enjoy!

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:02 pm

Damn! Thats F*(*&$* Awesome!

Im doing an all Moog album but its not as good sounding as that. Thats fantastic.

Eric

PS. I like the quote.

Amos · Post by **Amos** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 6:20 pm

Really great stuff!

My only question is, with so much Voyager goodness, why not use a Voyager kick? Almost all the kicks I use in my music are sampled from the Voyager; nothing else in my studio gives such a meaty stomp.

Nice Goa flavors, by the way.

MarkM · Post by **MarkM** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 9:11 pm

Very nice!

mtmelvin · Post by **mtmelvin** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 12:56 am

Awesome track! Adding it to my iTunes library. Thanks for sharing!

-Mark

psyhead · Post by **psyhead** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 1:32 am

Very cool

I like the journey
It really is amazing the wide range of textures the voyager is capable off!!
I never thought it could be so versatile when i got it

spittingoutteeth · Post by **spittingoutteeth** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 11:23 am

Fantastic production value on this; nice work!

BT Byrd · Post by **BT Byrd** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 11:32 am

Thanks guys!

ErikK - I like that quote too. That's one of the funniest parts of the Moog movie - Bob's "duet" with that guy who just found out that you can plug pedals into the Voyager... that's what the aliens sound like indeed! I had really wanted to use one of the new Etherwaves in this track to get authentic spaceshippy goodness but I sadly don't have one. Yet

Amos - While I can get some decent kicks from the Voyager, I've found it difficult to program a decent psykick; these typically require an envelope to modulate the pitch of the oscillator, and this isn't easily done with a stock Voyager. However, I'll soon be getting the CV Expander and that might just solve that problem!

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 11:45 am

You know what is so funny to me about that quote?

Well when my friend and I got the MicroMoog out really it was when I discovered the power of the Micromoog, I hooked it up to my Crate BX 80 bass amp...not a great bass amp persay, and the result was earth shattering bass. THe windows and walls shook, and my eyeballs rattled in my head. Instant headache. Well I deduced then that if you had enough power you could break glass......NO crumble mountians with this beastly bass.

So then the romantisized view of Moog was born. So the trailer for our funk concept album went like this

In the late 1960's visitors from another planet came to earth and met with a man we will refer to only as Bob. They bestowed upon him a title such asn chancellor or lord, and as a gift gave to him a device designed speciffically for the domination and destruction of worlds. Bob, sensing the danger of this weapon, harnessed and transformed this alien technology into an instrument of harmonious peace and thus spread joy across the planet.

"Experiments On Unknown Devices"
reverbnation.com/rhythmicons

So My partner Gabe and I were watching the Moog film and we were watching that scene and when Bob said that quote he and I just looked at eachother and busted out laughing because it was almost as if the whole thing was really true. Its like an inside joke that Bob didn't even know he was a part of lololol.

Needless to say I feel blessed to have the Moog products that I do and thankful that I was exposed to such genius.

Eric

EMwhite · Post by **EMwhite** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 12:42 pm

BT Byrd wrote:Thanks guys!

ErikK - I like that quote too. That's one of the funniest parts of the Moog movie - Bob's "duet" with that guy who just found out that you can plug pedals into the Voyager... that's what the aliens sound like indeed! {stuff deleted}

Haha, that dude is "Money Mark". Responsible for the key loop/noodling on Beck's "Where it's at" (two turntables and a microphone) and w/Beastie Boys (yes!) on a bunch of tracks, most notable and musical:

from Beastie Boys "Ill Communication" album

"Ricky's Theme"
"Sambrosa"
... and if you have the stomach for it, "Futterman's Rule"

-Mike W. from NJ

psyhead · Post by **psyhead** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 6:57 pm

BT Byrd wrote:
Amos - While I can get some decent kicks from the Voyager, I've found it difficult to program a decent psykick; these typically require an envelope to modulate the pitch of the oscillator, and this isn't easily done with a stock Voyager. However, I'll soon be getting the CV Expander and that might just solve that problem!

Using voyager in mono ..Turn all the oscillators off...turn filter reso on full and use that as your kick osc....then u can use the filt env as a pitch env...ull need to edit tha sample to tighten it up obviously but it makes a decent psy kick...

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 1:51 am

I don't know what Psy kick is, other than those people who can read minds.

I have to say though that after reading this post, I sat down with the Voyager and explored different methods of coming up with a kick drum sound and this is what I came up with.

First I tried the Filter resonance trick. Resonance all the way up, no Oscs and I messed with that. I must say, great reccomendation.

Then I compared the sound to my way. Osc on 32 with triangle wave, heavy filtering no resonance with short attacks and mid decays, sustain all the way down. Sounds closer to a poorly micd bass drum or can also sound like a bass string tuned so low its percussive. Can sound like a DEEP conga or percussion instrument in the bass range but not necessarily a kick drum. You can't exactly tell the difference until you play other than the last notes.

I think though, that the best way to get a kick drum sound that I have found in these few minutes is by doing BOTH reccomendations.

This is a 1 osc technique. Turn the resonance 175 to max (3:00 to 6 for OS users) all the way up, filter cutoff frequency anywhere from 0-128 (20 to 60 for OS) Turn all three Oscs to 32 with the Sync on and then leave only Osc 2 on. Its frequncy to taste. It can sound anywhere from a lo fi kick to an electro club kick. Play in the lower register. Mess with filter cutoff resonance, Osc 2 Freq, sync off. Its a neat sound.

Eric

psyhead · Post by **psyhead** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 3:33 am

psy kick = psytrance or psychedelic trance kick....
psyhead = psytrance or psychedelic trance head

Amos · Post by **Amos** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 11:24 am

Here, you all can have some of my Voyager reso-filter kicks.
I've used these in some psytrance tracks, although I often like to use a notch filter on them to remove the midrange.

click here for kicks!

BT Byrd · Post by **BT Byrd** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 10:49 am

Amos -
Thanks for posting those kicks! I hadn't been able to get in the studio for a couple weeks, but finally loaded them up in Maschine and started playing around with them... very fun. You've inspired me to try and construct a few kits just from the Voyager. I If I come up with anything interesting, I'll post them here on the forum. Also, thanks for the tip about using a notch filter... it makes total sense, but I'd never thought of doing that before.