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moosers
Published on 02/02/09 at 20:28
The Moog Music / Realistic ConcertMate MG-1 is an analog synthesizer made in the early 1980s. It is about two and a half octaves and has 32 keys. Unfortunately, it does not have a pitch or modulation wheel, which is one of this guys only flaws. It has an instrument cable jack in the front and has pitch and trigger outputs and a set of RCA outputs and aux outputs. I have only used the instrument cable in the front when recording direct or sending it to an amplifier.
UTILIZATION
The setup of the synth is pretty easy to follow, but takes a bit of time to really get to know what everything can do. I've gotten a wide array of sounds from this and I am never surprised when it makes a sound I haven't heard it make before. If you know a lot about synthesizers I'm sure you can figure out easily what everything does, this is my first synth so I'm probably not as experienced with synths as some of you out there. The manual is very helpful and includes a bunch of presets that really demonstrate the variety of sounds you can get with this guy.
SOUNDS
The sounds this Moog makes suits my style in situations that I feel it is necessary to use it in. Whenever I use it it always sounds good, but I don't always use it. You can get a classic moog lead synth or bass sound with this as well as a plethora of other sounds, most of which are hard to describe. Most of the sounds you can get with this are very realistic sounding and usable and it is a great tool for getting some great synth sounds
OVERALL OPINION
I've had my MG-1 for about four years now. Even since then the price seems to have raised for these guys if you can get one on ebay. It is a true Moog and while it is not as diverse as a Voyager, it sounds great for what it does. While it is small, it is enough keys for me to play the parts I want to play. The only real problems I have with this are because it needs to be serviced and cleaned as it is almost 30 years old. Most of the time it works fine. The biggest downfall in the make up of the MG-1 is its lack of a pitch and modulation wheel, as I feel the pitch bender is almost necessary to have while playing a Moog synth. The price is just about as cheap as you can pay for a Moog synth, as this is the lowest end model of the true Moog synths. Of course I would love to have a Prodigy or a Rouge, or even a Voyager, but the difference it price made the MG-1 my only option. I'm glad I have it and I hope to hold on to it for a long time!
UTILIZATION
The setup of the synth is pretty easy to follow, but takes a bit of time to really get to know what everything can do. I've gotten a wide array of sounds from this and I am never surprised when it makes a sound I haven't heard it make before. If you know a lot about synthesizers I'm sure you can figure out easily what everything does, this is my first synth so I'm probably not as experienced with synths as some of you out there. The manual is very helpful and includes a bunch of presets that really demonstrate the variety of sounds you can get with this guy.
SOUNDS
The sounds this Moog makes suits my style in situations that I feel it is necessary to use it in. Whenever I use it it always sounds good, but I don't always use it. You can get a classic moog lead synth or bass sound with this as well as a plethora of other sounds, most of which are hard to describe. Most of the sounds you can get with this are very realistic sounding and usable and it is a great tool for getting some great synth sounds
OVERALL OPINION
I've had my MG-1 for about four years now. Even since then the price seems to have raised for these guys if you can get one on ebay. It is a true Moog and while it is not as diverse as a Voyager, it sounds great for what it does. While it is small, it is enough keys for me to play the parts I want to play. The only real problems I have with this are because it needs to be serviced and cleaned as it is almost 30 years old. Most of the time it works fine. The biggest downfall in the make up of the MG-1 is its lack of a pitch and modulation wheel, as I feel the pitch bender is almost necessary to have while playing a Moog synth. The price is just about as cheap as you can pay for a Moog synth, as this is the lowest end model of the true Moog synths. Of course I would love to have a Prodigy or a Rouge, or even a Voyager, but the difference it price made the MG-1 my only option. I'm glad I have it and I hope to hold on to it for a long time!