Every time I hear someone talk about their first experience hearing a Moog product, the response is the same: “I had no idea it could do THAT.” NAMM is generally a time for looking at lot of pictures and spec sheets on gear, which is funny, because music is all about hearing. (Forget the floor: you think you can hear anything on the floor of the Anaheim Convention Center?) That certainly goes for all equipment, not just Moog’s. But I find it fitting that the folks at Moog Music are posting some actual audio:
Moog: New at NAMM (warning: audio will play right away)
Apparently what we’re hearing is the upcoming moogerfooger FreqBox, which showed up Friday on the Moog forums.
The FreqBox does not actually modify the audio input signal. Inside the FreqBox is a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) which is modulated by the sound source input—an Audio Modulated VCO! The result is an amazing array of effects that were once only possible with a complex modular synth setup—everything from fuzz-like distortion to what product development engineer Steve Dunnington calls “cataclysmic timbral morphing” A true “freak box”!
Now we’re talking: a budget-priced, real analog oscillator you can modulate with audio. During a NAMM show when almost everything could be easily replaced (DSP-based synths with soft synths, cheezy new DJ solutions with turntables), this could be the box that pleases analog and computer lovers alike, just because there’s nothing else quite like it. Naturally, we’re anxious to get some additional details and pricing, so stay tuned.
For more:
Additional Moog Music forum
Yes, Matrixsynth scooped us on this