So - the Andromeda is obviously a serious synth, regardless of other past or present competition. It sounds a lot like some classic and even some modern synths. I am really interested in duplicating sounds of the past (mostly for convenience, and as a test of the Andy's flexibility) but it has potential to make completely unheard sounds; especially as it has much of the power of a MIDI, programmable MODULAR synth (and polyphonic).... not to mention the multitimbral options... so much to be thankful for. It is not a hard synth to work, and the front panel stuff makes most things easy. It is NOT intuitive, but neither is an old Prophet or Minimoog - we are just used to working them that we know "what to do". With a few simple ideas, (mixers, filter options, modulation uses) you can REALLY work this thing. Beyond that, if you get into the Tracking Generator, crazy cross-modulated things, and the weirder stuff (filter feedback, audio Filter modulation, BandPass invert, specialized dynamic control) you can make some sounds that are even hard to UNDERSTAND... It seems common with Andromeda owners that they lose LOTS of sleep when they get this thing. I, too, have seen many sunrises while working this instrument. It was great to be asked to beta test it, and help develop its preset sounds. But, had I not been involved, this is the kind of synth that would make me sell off old synths (I did) and even think about getting a second A6 (not that I need it but I like it so much.) I am happy that the old synth sounds can be done pretty well on the A6. In fact, it can do some things (like the old Polymoog "Vox Humana" patch) that were not possible to do (or sounded wrong) on other synths. But the Andromeda's great contribution lies in two areas: 1) It has modulation options to create both wild exotic sounds and subtle, almost organic sounds. It is really fun to hold one note and hear the A6 do incredible tricks of sound. It also fun (but less obvious) to have an analog synth that has the tiny captivating details that make acoustic instruments so good, not just having the simple basic tones of old analog synths. 2) It has responsive capabilities that make it an expressive INSTRUMENT to be played. The danger of the A6 is to always program sounds, and I like this, as I do playing video games or painting. But SOUNDS are best when they are musically useful. It would be nice to have a Preset-Only Andromeda (those WERE the good old days!) and just let people PLAY it. It is the MOST responsive keyboard synth I have ever played - as it is totally tweakable to fit your touch. Volume, filters, attacks, overtones, mixes, envelope times, effects - all respond beautifully, if you set them to do so. You may not have had these results yet, but they are there if you learn to control them. When I first got it - this is what amazed me (and a synth guru I know) - how well it responded to touch. Here are some notes for the patch bank I have created. Some of them are modifications of the original issued Preset sounds I made. Sometimes the power of this thing has to be SHOWN to you - it took me a while to learn what it does well. Hopefully these programs will demonstrate a bit more - and this text will show you what to listen for... _______________________________________________________________________ OOO - INTRODUCING ANDY I wanted to show how good the A6 sounds WITHOUT tricks: no effects, unison, or thick modulations. This is just Oscillators through Filters, a good test of how it stacks up against the old synths. It's easy to make the A6 sound very bright, but I kept this dark, as people would expect "analog" to sound that way. Touch sensitivity set to make it feel "heavier". 005 - PATCH THIS This is what a modular synth (and the Andromeda) are capable of when complex routing and modulation are used). Even when I did this, I only used about a THIRD of what was possible to mutate the sound. 007 - Zen Master 2 One of my favorites - sometimes the A6 doesn't sound "like an analog synth", or even like a synth at all. On big speakers, this patch has a serious amount of bass. True subsonics. Also - even though onboard effects are "cheezy" and we all have great outboard gear - it would be impossible to make a patch like this without them. Learn to tweak the effects as much as you do synth sounds and make them work for you. Similar stuff - 069 - SCIENCE FRICTION 010 - THE GLASSES So - one of the greatest tricks is to use randomness in synths; We like acoustic strings, choirs, even drums because they sound different EVERY time they play a note. In a group or section, everyone plays a little different and they do so on every note. This causes nice natural motion of the pitch, tones, and vibrato. Keyboards like Mellotrons and Chamberlins have pretty drastic variations from note to note - each has a different "sample" per key. One is brighter, has more vibrato, attacks differently, etc. That's why when people hear Mellotrons, they are fascinated by the sound, even if it doesn't REALLY sound like real strings. This randomness can be added to ANY A6 parameter. The obvious source is the Sample and Hold section, but EACH of the LFOs has a RANDOM waveform that can be used, too. Very subtle changes applied to filter frequency, pitch, vibrato amounts and speed, mix levels, even panning add great character to a sound. It is one of my goals to make more "Mellotronish" sounds that have the character of organic instruments. Not to copy real instruments, but to make even synth sounds that have this variety and interest to the ear. Try THE GLASSES and see what MOD1 on Osc. 2 does: It is a TINY amount of randomness of pitch from LFO2. When it is ON, it adds a nice subtle shifting that makes chords and single notes slightly more animated and "real sounding". Turn it off and thick chords sound more stiff and flat. It is a very subtle effect, but try adding more - it can get out of hand too easily... Other sounds that use this randomness principle: 039 - DIRTY PIPE 058 - FLOUTS 072 - GO AWAY 083 - WOOD AND WIND 088 - GENTLE MEN 094 - TALISMAN 095 - SCREEN PRESENCE 096 - WATCHER 73 100 - SOFT MATTRESS 101 - HIGHSTRINGENSEMBLE 109 - HARMONIA 110 - SPACIAL EVENT 116 - REPLICATED 120 - FRENCH TONGUE 121 - LULLABY ROSE 124 - RED TAPE 013 - DARK SIDE OF An expressive "old" sound. Try using the ribbon and mod wheels. Especially nice is the Pitch wheel controlling pitch AND the filter. 018 - SAD SCENE One of my favorites - a really musical sound, with lots of internal animation. 019 - HUMANA NUMANA ("Poly New Man" on the original Preset) The classic Polymoog "Vox Humana" patch as made famous by Gary Numan. Not the trickiest sound in the world, but I have yet to hear another synth do it right. Another very musical patch. 020 - FOOLED AGAIN? Pete did it with a Lowrey organ into an EMS VCS3 - the square wave chopped off the volume and the LFO sine wave swept the filter up and down. Now you can do it (plus the reverb) in one keyboard... just play chords that slowly shift (A major, D min and D major, mostly. Left hand back and forth between D and E bass note) 032 - HEAVEN OR ? Another good "what is it?" sound that is neither "analog" or "sample" sounding. 035 - SWITCHED ON 2 Demonstrates the touch response nicely. Very controllable with fingers only. I like #042 even better... 036 - MODWHEEL THEREMIN You will only get sound if you use the Mod Wheel - it acts like a volume pedal. 038 - ROLL A QUARTER I knew the Envelopes were powerful, so this patch would be possible. Hold down a note for full length... It is ENV1 modulating the speed of LFO2. Change the slope of ENV Attack to anything other than EXP3 - it feels wrong. EXP1 is too slow, EXP3 is too fast. It took a lot of tweaking to get the times and slopes right between ENV1/LFO2 and the VCA volume from ENV3. 040 - STARPEGGIOS Try all combinations of the ribbon, Mod Wheel, and Pitch Wheel. Even Aftertouch pressure has an effect. 048 - RIBBON CRYING You have to play a note first WHILE the ribbon is touched (there is no Trigger from the ribbon). Then, all you need is the ribbon. And try more notes on the keyboard simultaneously - all those voices follow the ribbon. 057 - CELLPHONETROUBLE In Europe, Mobile Phone Trouble. It just sounded like that... 059 - 'SICHORDIA Basic harpsikeyboard sound. I was trying to recreate the effect of a real harpsichord when you let up a key and the tangent (plucker quill) hits and stops the string. It's a subtle effect but makes it more acoustically interesting. 060 - DESERT MOON Hit one note and let it run. Only the AMAZING Envelope shapes of the Andromeda made this possible. Who's awful solo album did I name this after? 069 - SCIENCE FRICTION I love this one - very weird and unexpected. 074 - SUPER APPLES Kind of an homage to Subotnick's Buchla stuff. BTW -"The Wild Bull" is a MUCH better record. 084 - PSYCHO RIBBON One of my favorite patches. Hold a low octave in one hand and sometimes use the ribbon for accents... a fun time waster. 094 - TALISMAN Named after my favorite song from AIR. When they recorded it, they used a double-track of Rhodes and Wurlitzer. This is good for that mellow electric piano stuff. 099 - ELECTRONIC MUSIC One of my favorite periods of music - the early experimental synth days. Note a few things are happening at once.... 101 - HIGHSTRINGENSEMBLE The old string synth sound is HARD to fake, but this closely resembles that old classic. Especially the highest C is great to hold over slow ballads. 112 - RIBBON KAMIKAZE Again - hit a note (or more) on the keyboard then use the ribbon. After that, the ribbon is all you need. Also use the Mod Wheel and Pitch Wheel while playing the ribbon. 118 - FRANKEN STEIN Actually a brilliantly simple patch originally by Mr. Winter. This one, however, also plays the jumping-around bit at the end if you hold it long enough. 125 - CINEMATIC Hold a big major chord with as many fingers as you can find... and wait. BTW - the movie people STOLE this sound from a Beaver and Krause album - it's even in the same key!