Elektron Musical Instruments

At 09:23 AM 12/12/00 +0000, jason starnes wrote:
>How many of you out there are using a sid with a nord modular?  As a
>nord owner, I'm wondering if the Sid is a good addition to my studio.
>Are the synthesis possibilities distinctly different with the mos chip?

I've both a Nord MicroModular as well as a Sidstation, and I'd say that the 
overriding reason for considering a Sid is sound rather than architecture.

If you're merely trying to collect an example of each synthesis type for 
your studio, then there's relatively little on paper that a Sid can offer 
from other synths (yeah, the wavetable stuff is definitely nice, but you 
can find similar functions on other synths).  In fact, if all you're after 
is a shopping list of synthesis types, I'd recommend chucking hardware 
entirely and collecting as many different VST virtual instruments as you 
can possibly download from Hotline....

However, if you're interested in the actual *sound* of the Sidstation, then 
I'd say that you're looking at a rather unique little beast.  When I first 
heard about the Sid, I had visions of the wonderful, quirky machine noises 
I used to draw out of the old C64.  After getting one in hand, though, I 
found out that there was a whole lot more to it than little twinks and 
bleeps.  For instance, the Sid can generate some of the best sync leads 
I've ever come across (in fact, they'll take your bloody head off if you're 
not careful).  And many of the basses are rather interesting as well, 
especially if layered with a nice analog sine to flesh out the low end.

It's been said that the tone of the Nord Modular series is closer to the 
sound of the Roland modulars than that of the venerable old Moog 
setups.  So, just as you might conceivably wish to enhance your Nord 
Modular setup by adding a Moog, you might for the same reasons wish to take 
advantage of the different tonal palette available through the Sidstation.

The best advice I could possibly give is: listen.  If you like what you 
hear, then the Sid's for you.

         -c-


_____
"i want to reach my hand into the dark and *feel* what reaches back"
                                                     -recoil