mcgraham

BRX, you right when it comes the standard Monotron, but the Monotron Duo is quantised to the notes of the keyboard. You can also change whether the ribbon keyboard is quantised in chromatic, major, or minor scales, or just a standard ribbon controller. Really really useful. I'll put an audio clip together for you just to show some basic bassline functions. One cool thing you can do with the original Monotron is use the sawtooth LFO to create a kick-drum sound at any tempo you like. Instant kick drum for playing along with, or a metronome, etc.

Mark bought my Boss RC2 - really smooth transaction. Prompt payment, easy communications, and patient to boot (despite Royal Snail taking a day or so longer to deliver than expected). Definitely recommend for transactions!

Yes. They are [u][i]fantastic[/i][/u] at bass. If they didn't look so much like a toy and I didn't need to retune to utilise the keyboard for different songs in different keys, I'd happily do a gig with one.

Clip! http://soundcloud.com/mcgrahamhk/minitaur

I knew that already, but what gave me away?

Used it at church this morning. Was monstrous. That is all

I thought they had some plans to produce some PA equipment?

I couldn't decide whether to start a bass synth thread, but figured this was more to the point of what's on my mind... I LOVE my Minitaur. Quite literally LOVE the thing. I got it a month or so ago, and have been fiddling since then. Now I'm playing with the sockets on the back, e.g. CV voltages, headphone out etc. For those not familiar with the Minitaur, it's a relatively basic 2 oscillator bass synthesizer based on the Moog Taurus pedals, which were giant foot-pedal operated bass synths from the 70s/80s (thereabouts). I bought it primarily because I wanted and needed a bass synth. The architecture of the synth means it cannot play above C5 - it's a physical constraint of the design. This doesn't bother me, in fact I quite LIKE it has this sort of limitation - it's what makes it a unique instrument in its own right. There's a lot of hidden features only accessible with MIDI that really sold me on it, but to TBH it's not been implemented well enough yet for me to invest any more time with til the firmware is updated further. This might seem irksome, but frankly... it reeeeeeally doesn't matter the Minitaur is just THAT awesome from the stock settings on the front panel alone. This thing is a FANTASTIC bass machine. Here are a few things I've been experimenting with this week: 1) Running one of the outputs into the audio in - an old synth trick, where you run one of the outputs back into the synth to drive the filter harder. It's finicky, and very interactive, but it makes the instrument infinitely more fun and is yet another tonal colour to use. It can take a single oscillator and make it the phattest thing you've EVER heard. This thing sounds great on its own with just one oscillator, but running itself back into the filter gives a MASSIVE sound. And because everything is interactive you can get back to clean without losing volume or aggression (unless you want to!) just by altering some settings. 2) Run an EP-2 into the filter - pantherairsoft knows this trick, as will many established synth players. This allows you to play far more complex bass lines and then use your foot to vary the cut-off point of the filter. This is fantastic for blending between smoother and more aggressive versions of the same bassline, from smooth and soft to face-melting aggression - wonderful! 3) Run an EP-2 into the pitch control - This was a trick I picked up from Jordan Rudess (not personally). Basically you can use it as an overall pitch control for the entire instrument, effectively allowing massive dive-bombs or transposing the whole instrument on the fly. 4) Set the LFO to provide vibrato AND wobble - I've found a setting where the slightest touch of the mod-wheel gives you a lovely vibrato, but slide it all the way up and you get a mental dubstep wobble. I definitely want to do at least an audio clip showing some of the ideas I've been coming up with. I just felt so strongly about how fantastic this instrument is I simply had to post to share. if any of you are interested in the Minitaur I strongly encourage you to check it out - it's a mentally fun 'light on the wallet, but not on sound' type instrument.

And this is why I am glad I persevered with bass synth!

That. Was. Awful.

Doh! Read that as a Streamliner. The Streamliner is another model, witha preamp valve. Really warm and gritty if you need it.

I think you need to decide whether sound or size is most important, one needs to come first. Berg is the best sound to weight ratio but NOT small or that portable. Barefaced - demands on the model. Personally the Big Twin T is the only one I'd want to play for a gig. The Compact is phenomenal in volume for its size, but sound quality is not particularly bassy or inspiring (IMO). The others are going to leave someone with your experience of gear, shall we say, underwhelmed. The best balance of size to sound (and factoring in price) is, IMO, a Berg AE112 or HT112 if you can get one. Add in a Genz Benz Streamliner 3.0 (one on the forum for 220), you should be able to nap that for a little over 500-600 quid total on the S/H market. Powerful enough for small gigs (I've done big band gigs with a similar rig). Literally it's bass in one hand, amp in gig bag, cab in the other hand. It's also got a valve that you can drive for more gainy sounds, but is also easy to dial back for more solid-state response.