in 1988, i bought mine from Studio Electronics... at the time they were literally in the guy's garage, and that's right where i bought it... i drove to his house and walked in the garage and bought mine, which i still have...
@@analogholic3651 i know what you mean... i still can't believe i passed on a minimoog for *_SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS_* because one of the oscillators wasn't working!!! hahaha!!! i couldn't bother with dropping maybe $300 to get it fixed! but the MIDIMOOG/MIDIMINI wasn't "peanuts" as i recall... i think it was in the $3000 range (as in $2995)... but it's been so long... it could've been $1995 or maybe even $1495... i was buying a lot of gear back then... i had plans to have them rack my OB-8 but never got around to it...
The sound is so wonderful and your arrangements show it off beautifully. There’s a folk dance quality to your rhythms and melodies that never fails to charm. And I love the transparency and clarity. Great video, as always! I want one!
A huge thank you for the labor and work you have done! I myself own an SE ATC-X, and love their special vibe but to be honest I never knew the true history of Studio Electronics. Thank you that this blind spot is now filled with knowledge.
I’ve got a soft spot for Studio Electronics. I own a P-Five which is SE taking a Prophet 5 Rev 3 and putting it in a rack, and the Obie Eight which is an Oberheim OB-8 in a rack, both made in the 80’s when Val St. Regis and Tim Caswell ran the company. They also did this with the Roland TR-808 and called it Harvey. Marc and Greg St. Regis have been great to work with over the years and have proudly continued their father’s legacy of making great analog synths ❤
Hey Tim, thank you for the beautiful music and great story. I love the history of synths. The first thing I noticed about the MIDIMOOG, which you didn't mention, was the MIDI channel input selection - a simple turny knob selector - love that! I collect the cheap Behringer remakes of the classics, but you can't rack them properly because you have to reach up top to set the MIDI channel in, and even racked 4 cm apart, I have to use a mini mirror and tweezers to change the binary MIDI channel setting, or pull it out of the rack. Please keep up the great work!
@@unclemick-synths --> I have 4 workstations, and each has a different configuration. I use a variety of hardware sequencers, like the Roland MC-500 and the Yamaha QY300, and sometimes i swap the parts... midi channels go to various synths.. I have about 40 racked synths, so changing the midi channel inputs is necessary, frequently. I used to just keep everything in the closet and break synths out as needed, but i like the synths out and about where i can see them. My configs change frequently, and although there are hardware solutions to my issue, eventually I'll probably do like you say and have a standard system per workstation, hopefully sooner than later. It's easiest to change the hardware sequencer configs than the racked synth configs.
@@3D6Space that sounds like quite a setup - no wonder you run out of channels! These days I only use MIDI for clock, step sequencing, or layering so everything is on channel 1 (or 0 depending on which gear is counting) and I just grab what I want in the moment.
12:40 "You never heard a Model D doing that, did you?" I did! I heard Klaus Schulze playing a sync sound solo on a modified Model D during his live concert in Germany in front of the Cologne Dome Cathedral on 11 May 1991. The music was released as "The Dome Event" a few years later. I don't miss the sync option on my 1972 Minimoog. Other synthesizers can produce an equally pleasing sync sound, even those having only two oscillators. As I prefer multi triggering and recording midi to single triggering and recording audio, I use a Kenton Pro 2000 as a midi to cv converter, whose software LFO I use to modulate pitch and filter cutoff. 14:42 Are you sure noise was sacrified as a modulation source. I spotted a Mod switch on your unit. According to Mark Vail in his book Vintage synthesizers, the N/M switch on the Midimini "lets you choose between noise or the dedicated LFO for modulation; the Mod Mix knob now mixes between the third oscillator and the added LFO or noise as the modulation source". Both the Midimoog and the Midimini have this switch, albeit called Mod on the front panel. In 1993, when my copy of the book was published, a converted owner-provided Minimoog cost $1,495,00, $700 less than a unit built entirely built with Studio Electronics stock parts.
The Dome Event and Royal Albert Hall gigs both have those wonderful MiniMoog soli - but I'm not convinced it's sync: there are interviews with KS talking about that sound and it's the Mini going through a TC distortion pedal (which sounds sync-like) with the filter under control of a pedal (the RFH section is called 'Pedals Away.') KS was very particular to get an old-style Moog pedal that he borrowed for each gig from a friend. That said, I'm pretty sure the MiniMoog _could_ be fitted with sync, along with an LFO and other options.
The MIDImini has several additional switches for the following functions: 1) Sweep F/O (in VCO section - to choose sync via filter ENV or OSC3) 2) Prior L/L/H (set note priority in VCO section - Lo (classic Mini)/Last (ARP 2600)/High (Minikorg 700)), and 3) N/M (Modulation source: Noise (original Minimoog)/Modulation - below the filter tracking switches). Also, the original MIDImoog had a shiny front panel and no LED to indicate MIDI signals.
Great video. One of the other factors through the 80s was an obsession with "realism" which analogue synths weren't so good at. Thankfully that obsession has mostly gone away though Roland's Supernatural sound engine and the abundance of orchestral emulation software shows there's still interest. Buying a ROMpler cured me of my interest in realism - I much prefer creating synthetic sounds and leaving realism to my acoustic/electric instruments.
Great video! Your's seem like a so-called 'Version 3' with only three switches below the oscillators section and no Noise/Mod switch on the mixer. This is the best (creamiest) sounding version in my opinion, but this is just from my personal experience and of course no two Minimoogs sound the same. I stack up my three Midimoogs to form a 9VCO synth or to play chords thanks to the MIDI functionality. The results are mind blowing.
sounds really nice... isn't it possible to calibrate velocity and after touch sensitivity on the controller keyboard? .... i am pretty sure my little novation x 25 has that feature
Wonderful video!!! I've thought one of these would be fabulous played with breath control! One of the few "big ticket" instruments I'd go really nuts for... think even a MIDIMINI is around $2,500-$3,000 used though.
Pretty funny that they not only produced Minimoogs as they were fresh, but from parts obtained in bankrupcy and later fabricated copies. And doing so up to present day, and at a high price point! And yet Behringer something something, outrage, etc.
So which midi messages does it listen to? Note on velocity, mono aftertouch, modwheel? Pitch bend? Anything for Filter frq or resonance? I saw Karl Bartos are using these boxes. I looked at buying one, ended going for Creamware Noah dsp emulation. Now also using Boog. SE looks and sounds so good.
If you want to remotely control filter cutoff then you can get your controller or sequencer to send after-touch messages. No ability to control resonance though.
I got to have a go with a MidiMini last year, and thought it sounded much better than any (original) Model D I'd played, but I wasn't sure if that was due to the changes/improvements, or it's the difference between modern circuitry and 50 year old, well used, synths.
The track naming in the Cubase projects is somewhat painful to watch for me... don't know why that's always driving me crazy. Great video and lovely look at the history.
Moog replaced the Minimoog with the Source, a 2 VCO monosynth with (limited) patch memory. The Source sounds like a Moog, but not like a Minimoog. In the mid-80's Studio Electronics did a small number of conversions of standard Minimoog's, keeping the keyboard but adding all the new bits you find in the later rack mount versions. I suspect these were built to custom orders for L.A. studio pros in very tiny numbers. I have seen a picture of one so I know its not a Unicorn, but rack mounting was all the rage in the 2nd half of the 1980's. While chopping up a Minimoog seems like blasphemy today, back in the late 80's they were not collectible, not really worth anything. I bought one in 1987 for $200.00! It was just an old piece of furniture sitting the corner and putting it in a rack with some new bits and giving it MIDI made it usable again.
My Minimoog is one of those conversions. Unfortunately it doesn't have that sweep knob to modulate VCO 2. Now after seeing this I want that function very very much :) And I'd like that switch I read about in another comment to be able to use noise as modulation. I've seen an old picture of David Frank from The System with a converted Mini like that in his rack.
It was the sound who was outdated and the brand name in the 1980’s the popular bands in the 1980’s they were not interested in Moog because it was a synthesizer for old fashion people .
Mine cost six times the price of a Model D. I suspect the resale value of the MidiMini will hold far better than the Behringer, and that's important to me.
Great vid. I actually had no idea they dated back that far, very cool. For some reason I thought they were a semi-recent boutique company from the early/mid 00s. Would love their Boomstar SE-80, but the things are pretty impossible to get. (I guess since the great chip shortage?) Its the got the flavour of a cs-80 but with it's own thickness/richness toboot, and given their history here I can see why.
in 1988, i bought mine from Studio Electronics... at the time they were literally in the guy's garage, and that's right where i bought it... i drove to his house and walked in the garage and bought mine, which i still have...
How much did you pay for back then? As I guess this was the time when you could buy vintage analog synths for "peanuts"
@@analogholic3651 i know what you mean... i still can't believe i passed on a minimoog for *_SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS_* because one of the oscillators wasn't working!!! hahaha!!! i couldn't bother with dropping maybe $300 to get it fixed! but the MIDIMOOG/MIDIMINI wasn't "peanuts" as i recall... i think it was in the $3000 range (as in $2995)... but it's been so long... it could've been $1995 or maybe even $1495... i was buying a lot of gear back then... i had plans to have them rack my OB-8 but never got around to it...
Both St. Regis brothers are EXTREMELY cool! 😎🤙
The sound is so wonderful and your arrangements show it off beautifully. There’s a folk dance quality to your rhythms and melodies that never fails to charm. And I love the transparency and clarity. Great video, as always! I want one!
Nice video, as always Tim! The only REAL Moog I ever had a go on was a Prodigy during a band rehearsal - but It wasn't mine! 🙂
A huge thank you for the labor and work you have done! I myself own an SE ATC-X, and love their special vibe but to be honest I never knew the true history of Studio Electronics. Thank you that this blind spot is now filled with knowledge.
Great video. I never knew the history of the MidiMoog.
I’ve got a soft spot for Studio Electronics. I own a P-Five which is SE taking a Prophet 5 Rev 3 and putting it in a rack, and the Obie Eight which is an Oberheim OB-8 in a rack, both made in the 80’s when Val St. Regis and Tim Caswell ran the company. They also did this with the Roland TR-808 and called it Harvey. Marc and Greg St. Regis have been great to work with over the years and have proudly continued their father’s legacy of making great analog synths ❤
Beautiful sounding instrument - which is not surprising. You take excellent advantage with beautifully balanced arranging. I want one!
Brilliant video, as always, Tim! fantastic demo and great sounds! Thank you!
Hey Tim, thank you for the beautiful music and great story. I love the history of synths. The first thing I noticed about the MIDIMOOG, which you didn't mention, was the MIDI channel input selection - a simple turny knob selector - love that! I collect the cheap Behringer remakes of the classics, but you can't rack them properly because you have to reach up top to set the MIDI channel in, and even racked 4 cm apart, I have to use a mini mirror and tweezers to change the binary MIDI channel setting, or pull it out of the rack. Please keep up the great work!
you might consider bome’s midi translator software
Is there a reason you don't just "set and forget"? In my 19" rack days I had the channels assigned in Cubase on my Atari and never changed them.
@@unclemick-synths --> I have 4 workstations, and each has a different configuration. I use a variety of hardware sequencers, like the Roland MC-500 and the Yamaha QY300, and sometimes i swap the parts... midi channels go to various synths.. I have about 40 racked synths, so changing the midi channel inputs is necessary, frequently. I used to just keep everything in the closet and break synths out as needed, but i like the synths out and about where i can see them. My configs change frequently, and although there are hardware solutions to my issue, eventually I'll probably do like you say and have a standard system per workstation, hopefully sooner than later. It's easiest to change the hardware sequencer configs than the racked synth configs.
@@russ254 --< I avoid DAW's like the plague.
@@3D6Space that sounds like quite a setup - no wonder you run out of channels! These days I only use MIDI for clock, step sequencing, or layering so everything is on channel 1 (or 0 depending on which gear is counting) and I just grab what I want in the moment.
What a nice, beautiful story. Thanks
I really, really, enjoy your videos. Well done!❤
That was very enjoyable Tim, thank you. I liked it when you got a little odd, with the synth. Cheers 😊
12:40 "You never heard a Model D doing that, did you?" I did! I heard Klaus Schulze playing a sync sound solo on a modified Model D during his live concert in Germany in front of the Cologne Dome Cathedral on 11 May 1991. The music was released as "The Dome Event" a few years later. I don't miss the sync option on my 1972 Minimoog. Other synthesizers can produce an equally pleasing sync sound, even those having only two oscillators. As I prefer multi triggering and recording midi to single triggering and recording audio, I use a Kenton Pro 2000 as a midi to cv converter, whose software LFO I use to modulate pitch and filter cutoff. 14:42 Are you sure noise was sacrified as a modulation source. I spotted a Mod switch on your unit. According to Mark Vail in his book Vintage synthesizers, the N/M switch on the Midimini "lets you choose between noise or the dedicated LFO for modulation; the Mod Mix knob now mixes between the third oscillator and the added LFO or noise as the modulation source". Both the Midimoog and the Midimini have this switch, albeit called Mod on the front panel. In 1993, when my copy of the book was published, a converted owner-provided Minimoog cost $1,495,00, $700 less than a unit built entirely built with Studio Electronics stock parts.
The MIDImoog doesn't have the N/M switch. That was added in the MIDImini.
The Dome Event and Royal Albert Hall gigs both have those wonderful MiniMoog soli - but I'm not convinced it's sync: there are interviews with KS talking about that sound and it's the Mini going through a TC distortion pedal (which sounds sync-like) with the filter under control of a pedal (the RFH section is called 'Pedals Away.') KS was very particular to get an old-style Moog pedal that he borrowed for each gig from a friend.
That said, I'm pretty sure the MiniMoog _could_ be fitted with sync, along with an LFO and other options.
Myself, I have the Moog Sub 37 TE together with Eventide Space. More than happy with them.
The MIDImini has several additional switches for the following functions: 1) Sweep F/O (in VCO section - to choose sync via filter ENV or OSC3) 2) Prior L/L/H (set note priority in VCO section - Lo (classic Mini)/Last (ARP 2600)/High (Minikorg 700)), and 3) N/M (Modulation source: Noise (original Minimoog)/Modulation - below the filter tracking switches). Also, the original MIDImoog had a shiny front panel and no LED to indicate MIDI signals.
Really great video.
Great channel 😊
Nice one Tim - keep the videos coming!
Great video. One of the other factors through the 80s was an obsession with "realism" which analogue synths weren't so good at. Thankfully that obsession has mostly gone away though Roland's Supernatural sound engine and the abundance of orchestral emulation software shows there's still interest. Buying a ROMpler cured me of my interest in realism - I much prefer creating synthetic sounds and leaving realism to my acoustic/electric instruments.
Pretty freaking great video - thanks!
Great video! Your's seem like a so-called 'Version 3' with only three switches below the oscillators section and no Noise/Mod switch on the mixer. This is the best (creamiest) sounding version in my opinion, but this is just from my personal experience and of course no two Minimoogs sound the same.
I stack up my three Midimoogs to form a 9VCO synth or to play chords thanks to the MIDI functionality. The results are mind blowing.
SE-1 was replaced by SE-3 a couple years back. Anyone buying a new Model D from Moog today over a V30 is crazy IMHO.
Amazing video, not meany peolple have idea about this product!
Some nice tunes there,Tim
Well this is timely Tim. I'm just considering the current V30 version.
You won't regret it! EVER
sounds really nice... isn't it possible to calibrate velocity and after touch sensitivity on the controller keyboard? .... i am pretty sure my little novation x 25 has that feature
Can you review the big 8 voice studio electronics poly synth? That would be amazing! It has different filter cards too I believe
Wonderful video!!! I've thought one of these would be fabulous played with breath control! One of the few "big ticket" instruments I'd go really nuts for... think even a MIDIMINI is around $2,500-$3,000 used though.
Pretty funny that they not only produced Minimoogs as they were fresh, but from parts obtained in bankrupcy and later fabricated copies. And doing so up to present day, and at a high price point! And yet Behringer something something, outrage, etc.
The SE-1 is really good as well...
Yep...love mine! ❤
ruclips.net/video/VhOVMs0SC5o/видео.htmlsi=OG1TNEwLZ6G9m5WF
So which midi messages does it listen to? Note on velocity, mono aftertouch, modwheel? Pitch bend? Anything for Filter frq or resonance?
I saw Karl Bartos are using these boxes. I looked at buying one, ended going for Creamware Noah dsp emulation. Now also using Boog. SE looks and sounds so good.
If you want to remotely control filter cutoff then you can get your controller or sequencer to send after-touch messages. No ability to control resonance though.
I got to have a go with a MidiMini last year, and thought it sounded much better than any (original) Model D I'd played, but I wasn't sure if that was due to the changes/improvements, or it's the difference between modern circuitry and 50 year old, well used, synths.
How does it compare sonically to the MiniMoog Voyager?
I am currently looking for a model d reissue, and was already thinking that the lack of hard sync was a shame…. Now I am torn
The features are all implemented on the Sub25, so Moog came around eventually 🎉
May I ask what light you use for your videos?
The track naming in the Cubase projects is somewhat painful to watch for me... don't know why that's always driving me crazy.
Great video and lovely look at the history.
So which would you chose if you could have only one, Midimoog or Matriarch?
Wasn't this renamed MIDIMINI because of TM issues?
Didn’t know ow you had a voyager RME , kept that one hidden away
Moog replaced the Minimoog with the Source, a 2 VCO monosynth with (limited) patch memory. The Source sounds like a Moog, but not like a Minimoog.
In the mid-80's Studio Electronics did a small number of conversions of standard Minimoog's, keeping the keyboard but adding all the new bits you find in the later rack mount versions. I suspect these were built to custom orders for L.A. studio pros in very tiny numbers. I have seen a picture of one so I know its not a Unicorn, but rack mounting was all the rage in the 2nd half of the 1980's.
While chopping up a Minimoog seems like blasphemy today, back in the late 80's they were not collectible, not really worth anything. I bought one in 1987 for $200.00! It was just an old piece of furniture sitting the corner and putting it in a rack with some new bits and giving it MIDI made it usable again.
My Minimoog is one of those conversions. Unfortunately it doesn't have that sweep knob to modulate VCO 2. Now after seeing this I want that function very very much :)
And I'd like that switch I read about in another comment to be able to use noise as modulation.
I've seen an old picture of David Frank from The System with a converted Mini like that in his rack.
Very nice. And you can play the Studio Electronics drinking game. Sorry Tim where's this synth from again? :)))
Studio electronics 😆
It was the sound who was outdated and the brand name in the 1980’s the popular bands in the 1980’s they were not interested in Moog because it was a synthesizer for old fashion people .
Thanks, I hadn't thought of that perspective.
Beringer what?
This or the S3X? Nah, I'll go for thr GRP A8
I own a GRP A4 totally mental if you are able to purchase one go for it ,probably the best synth ever made .
I too want one. Maybe the man himself will accept to remake one for the right price. I can only imagine the work envolved. @@mick3950
Now, Studio Electronics sell the Midimini (I suppose it's an evolution of the Midi Moog) for... 4200 € !!!
Sounds great but I suspect it costs a fortune. Just buy a Behringer Model D, it sounds exactly like the real thing for no money and it has midi.
Mine cost six times the price of a Model D.
I suspect the resale value of the MidiMini will hold far better than the Behringer, and that's important to me.
Mine sounded as good if not better - probably the SYNTH that restarted the whole analog revival.
Great vid. I actually had no idea they dated back that far, very cool. For some reason I thought they were a semi-recent boutique company from the early/mid 00s.
Would love their Boomstar SE-80, but the things are pretty impossible to get. (I guess since the great chip shortage?) Its the got the flavour of a cs-80 but with it's own thickness/richness toboot, and given their history here I can see why.