First, there was Mother-32. Now, Moog has another affordable patchable desktop (“semi-modular”): Drummer From Another Mother (DFAM), for percussion synthesis.
With a US$599 street, that Moog name, and patchability without being overwhelming (or requiring a Eurorack investment) – all combined with musicians’ insatiable appetite for percussion – I suspect this one will be a hit.
So, what’s the angle? Basically, think 2 oscillators + 1 noise oscillator, 8-step sequencer, analog envelopes, and the signature Moog ladder filter — and then a mess of patch points for combining it.
There’s also a clever way of launching the instrument: starting tomorrow in Los Angeles, the DFAM will take over The Cactus Store on Echo Park Avenue, powering a … biofeedback installation? Hey, we’ve seen cute installations from team Moog before, so why not? Artists like Daedelus, Bernie Krause, John Tejada, Mike Dean & Bana Haffar are all slated to make appearances. So you’ll hear some of the experts take this for a ride – and get to go for a test drive yourself – if you’re in the LA area.
For the rest of us, it sounds something like this:
Full specs:
SOUND ENGINE: Analog
ANALOG SEQUENCER: 8-Steps With Pitch and Velocity Per-Step
SEQUENCER PANEL CONTROLS: Tempo, Run/Stop, Trigger, Advance
SOUND SOURCES: 2 Oscillators With Square and Triangle Waveforms, 1 White Noise Generator, 1 External Audio Input
FREQUENCY CONTROL: +/- 5 Octaves (10 Octave Range)
MIXER: Level controls for Oscillator 1, Oscillator 2 and White Noise/External Audio Input
FILTER: 20Hz-20KHz Switchable Low Pass / High Pass 4-Pole Transistor Ladder Filter
ENVELOPES: VCO EG w/ Voltage Controlled Decay and Bipolar Amount Control, VCF EG w/ Voltage Controlled Decay and Bipolar Amount Control, VCA EG w/ Voltage Controlled Decay and Selectable Fast/Slow Attack Time
PATCHBAY: 24x 3.5mm Jacks
PATCHBAY INPUTS: Trigger, VCA CV, Velocity, VCA Decay, External Audio, VCF Decay, Noise Level, VCO Decay, VCF Mod, VCO 1 CV, 1→2 FM Amount, VCO 2 CV, Tempo, Run/Stop, Advance/Clock.
PATCHBAY OUTPUTS: VCA, VCA EG, VCF EG, VCO EG, VCO 1, VCO 2, Trigger, Velocity, Pitch.
AUDIO OUTPUT: ¼” TS Line / ¼” TRS Headphones (Shared Output Jack)
INCLUDED POWER SUPPLY: 100-240VAC; 50-60Hz, +12VDC 1200mA
POWER CONSUMPTION: 3.0W
EURORACK CURRENT DRAW: 230mA (+12V – from 10-pin header)
EURORACK MOUNTING DIMENSIONS: 60HP (1”/26mm Module Depth)
WEIGHT: 3.5lbs
DIMENSIONS: 12.57”W x 4.21“H (with knobs) x 5.24“D
More:
https://www.moogmusic.com/products/semi-modular/dfam-drummer-another-mother