The synth renaissance has led to yet another interesting wrinkle: the limited edition celebrity synth.
But before we get to that, apparently the first thing you need to know is that Giorgio Moroder really loves his Novation MiniNova. The little synth, with its vocoder and dial-up presets, has apparently followed him around on tour.
Making a special edition is a different take on the celebrity endorsement, though. So how did Novation go about it?
1. They’re only making 500, even with a “certificate of authenticity.” (A certificate of Moroderishness?)
2. It looks different: you get the “moustache and shades” logo – which looks adorable screened on the side, I have to admit – plus a silver/black color scheme.
3. You get dial-up Moroder presets – and, actually, this may be the best reason to get one. Team Novation have matched everything from the Donna Summer Giorgio sound to the Daft Punk Giorgio sound. (No sound samples yet; you’ll have to take their word for it.)
I think it’s worth saying how cool it is that Giorgio Moroder is starting his DJ career now – like playing his first gig at Deep Space in New York, supplementing that DJ setup with some licks on his (non-limited-edition) MiniNova. The man is 75 years old. Now, sure, he’s also Giorgio Moroder, but even so, it gives me hope should I ever be lucky enough to reach that age. And it says something really nice about electronic music.
I’m not sure I necessarily need an artist edition of my favorite synths, but it’s nice to see some creative marketing. And there’s a lovely Giorgio Moroder minisite with the synth. For now, you’ll have to be satisfied with an email notification when it becomes available:
http://www.morodernova.com/
Oh, yeah, and if you need a special artist drum machine (from comments):