After catching a performance of Sylvan Esso on B Sides on Air, I was  delighted to see Ableton and an APC40 in play. Unfortunately I missed their live show at SF’s Bottom of the Hill, but it turns out Nick Sanborn integrates a Moog Minitaur live.

After hearing some of their grooves, I knew this was the right analog bass synth for my compact studio. It produces some really grimy, deep and dark bass lines, and bonus: it’s Ableton-friendly.

 

@JoachimMees ableton / apc40 / moog Minitaur / motu 828

— SylvanEsso (@SylvanEsso) July 3, 2014

 

First things first: analog gear is new for me. When I first got turned on to music production, I really thought I’d be staying completely inside the box. My entire experience has been limited to various VSTs. I’m sure I’m not alone here: gear is expensive, often “limited” (er, focused) in terms of onboard patches, and takes up space – space I don’t really have.

From moody synth stabs to deep sustained grimy lows, the Minitaur’s size is perfect for a bedroom studio.

My studio consists of a 5×3′ table, with some 10″ shelves to vault my display and monitors. At only 8″ wide, and raking up to 4″ tall, the Minitaur is smaller than a box of tissues. Aside from the AC adapter, I’m using the USB cable for MIDI, sending back mono 1/4″ audio. My only hardware complaint is that it does not have a power switch on it – you have to yank the AC to power down.

Getting the Minitaur to perform properly with Ableton wasn’t easy – at least, so I thought. Thanks to Moog Support and a hundred Google queries, I finally got it solved. My other post here details the Minitaur setup process for Ableton.

The Minitaur is a great way for Ableton VST junkies (like me) to get hands-on with warmer analog sound.

Take a listen to this early recording I made, just tweaking thru the knobs here. Talk about potential.

The Minitaur is available for sale here.

 

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