Welcome to The Midlife Synthesist! I make videos about synths, creative inspiration and Music, as well as share a few jams here and there. Hope you enjoy it!
Living in an area where eartquakes are fairly common, I always worry about putting expensive machines too high. These days I just pull out the setup I want to use everytime, plug it to a patch bay, then leave the other synths in the cupboard in boxes. Cumbersome? Certainly. But it also forces me to think twice before changing everything, and also to try to explore an existing setup a bit more, instead of being paralyzed by the number of options on hand (ok it's a very me priblem 😂).
Also as a mid to late life synthesist I remember when I first searched for the OP-1 because it was sold out everywhere. Luckily I found one in South San Francisco at a DJ equipment shop and rushed there to buy it. Still like it and its great portability. Other items that you covered that I am interested in is the Polyend Tracker and maybe some day the Octatrack. Thanks for your rating of these devices.
Do you think the synth is still a good choice for those that are not particularly interested in music from the 1990s or 2000s, what do you think that this is? The main focus of this synthesiser and that those who are not interested in these genres should look elsewhere?
Unfortunately, standalone isn’t quite there yet. Mapping on the laptop and then transferring to the standalone works for small projects, but my live sets are usually massive, so the transfer takes a while. When it’s time to practice and I realize I need to change the mapping, it becomes a repetitive annoyance that breaks the flow. Hopefully it’ll come with “Push 5 limited edition midi mapping mode one v2”
Long time watcher, first time commenter here! First things first, thank you for all you do, i find your videos both useful and entertaining! Not a Push owner, but can you set up your effects as a Group with Macros at the top level on the laptop and have those macros be the parameters you want to tweak on the Push?
I get it, but kind of funny that you are using more controllers than instruments. Reminds me of the 5th Element when all the robots come out to cleanup the one broken glass.
Great video! For what it’s worth, Performer from Iftah’s Performance Pack takes kind of a half-step towards letting you decide which parameters you want displayed. There’s a lot of potential but I spent about two hours messing around with it before giving up and mapping an external controller.
Any chance you’ll be putting that track file out for sale for the m8? I’ll be getting mine soon and would love to see what you did to lay it out. Great track.
MPC/HX stomp owner. I have not combined the two yet but would love to see/hear how you’d combine them using midi between the two. I’ve been using the HX send/return for external synths, very fun stuff.
And I completely agree with you point on not being able to MIDI map or custom map certain controls on Push Standalone. To me with that it still feels more like a controller of Live than a real standalone instrument. But if you want to check some real cool way for custom mapping, you should check the performance pack by Iftah, especially the device called “Performer”. Amazing tool to custom map everything you want in a Live Set to 16 macros you can then control on Push
I’ve shifted from “no way!” when it first dropped to enough curiosity now that I’m keeping my eye on a couple of s/h Stregas. Perhaps in another eighteen months, lol.
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Nope. Also of course I hate them for selling the non plus for $1000 plus, which I bought like the stupid person I am, then two months later its worth half the price and I have to send it to freakin Poland for an update ? At MY COSTS ? Thank you Polyend, you are the best. Compared to the Deluge update, this is a joke. I had a tiny issue with it, they sent someone to pick up the device, (almost) no question asked, and one week later it was back at home, as new. I don't think Synsthrom is a big company. I'll never buy anything from Polyend again, I would advise you to do the same.
I was so excited to get this and so disappointed that i couldnt get it to go. THANK YOU for calling out that it sounds different every time. Thought I was going crazy!
I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that’s a little rude for a video provided to free of charge. Perhaps you should ask for your money back
I bought a MPC key 37 out of the blue, because it was cheap on a second hand store. i was like "oh neat, a nice little workstation, i can use it as a midi sequencer" and down the rabbit hole i went... I started goofing around, and immidiately fell in love with it. the workflow is so smooth, as a DAW user, adpatation was as easy as possible. the sound is amazing, its small, its lightweight, it runns of 12V so i can power it with a car battery and go wherever i want with it. due to my prior experiance with workstation keyboards being a Roland Fantom X8 from 2004 and a Roland MC505 from 1998, i thought the MPC experiance is the modern workstation, but you just showed me how superiour the mpc is. damn. Akai, well made guys <3
I have been fretting over these two and frankly, options aside, I have yet to hear ANY video on the Pro 3 that has the synth making a sound that is awe-inspiring. It simply sounds like every other synth and the digital component of it make the whole synth sound digital. This is disappointing because I think the sequencer is stellar and hope it is carried over to another synth by Sequential. Ultimately, we have to realize we are talking about a product that makes a sound as it's primary objective and every video I hear on the Moog has left me speechless. But the REAL convincing moment was the first time I played a Subsequent 37 in person. The sound is even more incredible than any studio tweaked video because low end audio is hard to replicate in a video versus experience from the source in person. The sounds most people are making on the Pro 3 seem like a soundtrack for a nightmare. In most cases, the videos where the Pro 3 is being played are intolerable to listen to as the noise it is making is unbearable. Nothing you would want to listen to, not to mention find useful for making a song. On the other hand, the sounds from the Moog are sonic orgasms and what could actually be used in music. The Moog is the Lambo and the Pro 3 is a Lexus when it comes to the sound. And then there is the build quality. The cheesy knobs and lights on the Pro 3 make it look cheaper than a Bass Station 2. The Moog build quality makes you feel like you are back in 1970, using a solid, premium quality vintage synth that was built in past days when no manufacturing corners were cut like today. I think the Subsequent 37 with all its glory and highly unique design, will carry it as a true future classic.
Another unit to check, whilst not portable (without a 65w portable charger) the torso electronics S-4 is mind blowing machine. I use my OG m8 with the s-4 and it's a perfect combo to use on the road.
