The filter financial institution is what makes the Spectravox distinctive in Moog’s lineup of midrange semi-modular instruments. It’s a dynamic 10-band filter financial institution with high- and low-pass filters, plus eight bandpass filters in between. These can be utilized to easily form incoming audio like an elaborate EQ. However the bands may also be shifted round with the help of an LFO for creating phaser- and wah-like results. In the event you actually crank stuff it will possibly even offer you pseudo-ring modulation. Is spending $599 on a desktop synthesizer a little bit overkill simply to play some funk guitar? Completely. But it surely’s a enjoyable little trick the Spectravox has in its again pocket.
The filter financial institution may also be used to provide sound all by itself when you join a midi controller or sequencer with CV (management voltage) output. In the event you flip up the resonance of the filter and patch the EG (envelope generator) to the service enter, then join the pitch output of the controller to the spectral shift and the gate to the set off enter, then you may coax fascinating marimba-like tones out of the Spectravox with none further audio enter.
The Synth
{Photograph}: Terrence O’Brien
After all a part of the requirement for a vocoder is a service sign, on this case a synthesizer. The Spectravox consists of an extremely easy however fairly decent-sounding single-oscillator monophonic synth. It has sq. and sawtooth choices, with variable pulse width on the sq.. There’s additionally a noise supply which you could dial in to soiled up the one oscillator, but it surely goes from nonexistent to overpowering fairly rapidly, and I typically simply left it off.
The synth will be mixed with a keyboard or sequencer which has CV output and is performed like every other synth. Or, you may pair it with some exterior results to create risers, drones, and different sound results. Just like utilizing the Spectravox as a phaser although, whereas it’s a pleasant trick, you don’t must spend $600 to get a fundamental monophonic synth. It is a good perk however not essentially a motive for it to leap to the highest of your buying record.
The place Spectravox begins to get fascinating as a synthesizer is whenever you begin combining all of its varied parts in barely sudden methods. For example if, as an alternative of vocals you ran a drum loop into this system enter, it might impart its rhythmic ebb and move to the interior synth, or no matter you had been feeding into the service.
Higher Collectively
{Photograph}: Terrence O’Brien
I feel the Spectravox actually reveals its versatility whenever you use it as a intermediary between two totally different sources of audio. For one, a monophonic vocoder can really feel a little bit skinny. However when you plug one other synth into the service, you may sing in beautiful polyphonic synth chords. If I needed to get some wealthy vocoder motion going I might simply plug my Korg Minilogue XD into the service enter. And utilizing issues like drum loops so as to add rhythmic curiosity to different synths and even my guitar was at all times a blast. Actually, one in all my favourite tips was feeding a drum machine into this system enter, my guitar (by way of an amp sim pedal first) into the service, after which feeding the output of the Spectravox by way of some refrain and reverb. The result’s one thing that doesn’t sound precisely like a synth or precisely like a guitar. I don’t understand how typically I’d use such an odd impact, however I’m dying to place it to the take a look at on a guitar solo.
It’s this form of experimentation that makes the Spectravox so compelling and enjoyable. Actually, it’s what retains me coming again to Moog’s line of desktop semi-modular synths just like the Subharmonicon (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and the DFAM. I really like the sound of an excellent Mini Moog as a lot as anybody else, however these all provide some new experimental tackle Moog’s legacy. My one main criticism in regards to the Spectravox is that it’s noisy. I needed to reduce plenty of the excessive finish to get it to be usable on recordings.
In the event you’re available in the market for a vocoder it is best to most likely skip the Spectravox. There are higher and cheaper choices for simply conventional vocoding, like a MicroKorg ($429) or Arturia’s MicroFreak ($359). However if you would like one thing extra playful—one thing that may be a vocoder when you want it to be however is basically extra of a sonic playground—the Moog Spectravox would possibly effectively be well worth the $599.
