Moog Werkstatt Analog Synthesizer Coming To Moogfest

moog-werkstatt-analog-synthesizer

Moogfest has released this sneak preview image of the new Moog Werkstatt Analog Synthesizer.

Details are to come – but note a couple of interesting features:

  • Along the right-hand side, there is a break-out patch-bay, allowing modular patching of the Werkstatt; and
  • Along the bottom, there’s a button-style keyboard.

Here’s an earlier prototype photo:

moog-werkstatt-prototype

We haven’t seen an official announcement on this, but one of the ticket options for next week’s Moogfest is the Engineer VIP Package, which includes two 3-hour synth building workshops with Moog engineers, where you will have the opportunity to build, modify, and take home an unreleased Moog synthesizer.

via Moogfest

49 thoughts on “Moog Werkstatt Analog Synthesizer Coming To Moogfest”

  1. Looks very interesting. They (Moog) could expand on this easily. Make it with 2 VCO’s and a better envelope, keyboard and mod wheels and you’ve got something similar to a Moog Rogue. If it was cheap enough it would fly off the shelves.
    Do it Moog. DO IT.

  3. Yay!

    And…I’ve got a VIP Engineer pass for next week’s Moogfest! Double YAY!

    Of course, I’ll be the one in the corner with the soldering iron…and probably on fire.

  6. Cool. Let’s all remember Moog made some pretty bad-assed modulars once upon a time!

    I wonder: Will this ugly in interface be replaced by real jacks of some kind? Are they going to adopt a modern Voltage standard like let’s say…. Eurorack? Modcan? The world really doesn’t need yet another modular synth standard so I hope they think about this.

    This image make the Moog name look kinda cheap so let’s hope this is *just* a prototype 🙂

    1. you could plug a PCB containing whatever style of jacks or plugs you wanted.

      it’s just like an inversion of the ribbon cables to power euro modulars or think of it like the inside of a computer where you can plug cards into slots.

      imo this an awesome (and more modular) solution to allow you to interface with multiple types of systems easily.

      the one thing i’m not clear on is grounding, i think it might be banana style?

  8. Pretty cool. Pulse and PWM on a small Moog.

    This looks like a show-only item. I see no reason to think it will actually hit production.

    1. Yeah, unfortunately that protoboad-style patch matrix speaks to a disposable item; those connectors wear out pretty fast (at least on the boards I’m familiar with).

    1. I would be more interested if it DIDN’T say Moog.
      I have a feeling it’s going to cost a lot more than anyone here is expecting.

    2. of course, anyone who says otherwise is outright lying. I’d only be interested if it’s $300 or less, with no other purpose but to mod it.

      Fanboys will be fanboys.. if people weren’t so obsessed with brand names, companies like MFB would be completely backlogged on orders

  10. I do have some Moog-luv, but this looks rather bread-boarded. It also looks underpowered with just one oscillator, a cramped patch bay and such a miniscule envelope generator. I like the comments about its modularity. It needs some beefing up in content, but if it was a serious step towards the Eurorack world, that would be long overdue. It could easily act as the core of a nest of Moogerfoogers and BE a serious Moog modular. Moog, don’t hold back too much in the name of not hurting Sub 37 & Voyager sales. If you’re going to go more traditionally modular, step up big.

    1. A one oscillator Moog will blow away a MiniBrute or a Volca any day of the week.

      This looks exactly like the basic synth module, with modular control, that a lot of people want. I’d like to see a Euro version, but if the price is right (300-500 range) this will be another hit.

      1. Not accurate at all. A one-oscillator Moog in classic Moog Style is extremely limited in comparison to the mixable waveforms and wave processing present in one of the Arturia oscillators.

        I own a MicroMoog and a MiniBrute. If I had to choose one for bass, lead, and FX… the Arturia would win hands down.

          1. “Too puny for bass?”
            Are you serious? What exactly do you think is going on in modern Moog synthesizers in regard to bass? Granted, the 24dB per oct ladder filter definitely lends a bassy sound… but it’s not magic. It’s a tone color, and that’s it.
            What IS magic is a resonant high-pass filter. Do you know what a resonant high pass filter can do? Sure, it’ll make screechy noises and rip all of the bass out of your sound… but it’ll ALSO boost the HELL out of your bass if you know anything about how filtering works. Jack the resonance way high, and then set the cutoff frequency of the high pass filter in the low frequencies of the sound. The resonant boost boosts BASS FREQUENCIES. And, since you’re dealing with a 12dB per octave filter instead of a 24dB per octave filter, the filter doesn’t roll off the bass frequencies as much below whatever cutoff frequency you choose as well… leaving more of the bass below the bass boost you’re creating.

            Any synthesizer with a resonant high pass filter can do this. Any synthesizer with simply a low pass filter cannot.

            1. I don’t entirely agree. Any synth with any way of oscillators going into the bass range can do “proper” fat bass regardless of filtering, and also a lowpass filter is awesome to get a warm, round bass, which I personally like more than “just” a bass boost.

              Also: when are you going to review the up to date Stylophone S2 finally?? 😉

              1. I love how Doty is weighing in in defense of the brutes. Yes, moogs are beautiful synthesizers, but we need to get over this ingrained brand loyalty. The brutes have excellent sounding oscillators and the Steiner-Parker filter is more than capable of making fat bass in a single patch, and much more. Try one out and it may surprise you.

            2. Not sure if the responder is actually Mr. Doty….

              If it is… awesome videos. Just plain awesome. Your vids frequently influence my gear purchases. Thanks for being such a remarkable synth pornographer.

            3. I have yet to hear anything out of the MiniBrute that sounds remotely as solid as a basic single oscillator through a Moog filter patch. It’s an extremely simple patch, but the combination of snappy envelopes, and hard drop-off of the higher frequencies makes for a very tight bass, as thousands of recordings document.

          2. Maybe you should try out gear before you talk about it… Minibrute is on the same level as Moog and other known quality brands easily…

  13. moog needs to make a system 15 reissue for 5-6k range…that would sell also…woulldnt take much and would be classic….anyone??

      1. what does a 50.00 minimoog have to do with that??? its not that expensive to make a frickin 45 year old synth….i have worked on lots of moogs, they arent that complex people…considering they have newer oscillators and filters, vcas, vcfs etc….long live Moog, but really all the same bells and whistles synths they sell as of late are getting boring….make some modulars again

        1. Forget the electronics, dude, you couldn’t build the cabinet and the panels for a Moog modular for $5k. Look at what a Synthesizers.com system costs, and then think about what it would cost to crank it up to the quality of a vintage Moog design.

        2. The Voyager is a modular, if you’ve got the breakout box. The XL is a modular. Does it really make sense to put less synth in a giant box, these days?

  14. i think this is awesome, i’d love to rip the keys out of a ms20mini and use this in it’s place. although i don’t see a key transpose.

    i’m surprised at all the hate or meh. assuming the price is around the price of the microbrute, imo it’d be a great value if you were interested in patching it into your euro or cheap korgs, aurturias, or ardunino.

    get lets say you got this (assuming 300), a beat step, monotribe (or even better korg little bits!), micro brute and ms20 mini and you have a full featured and sonically versatile modular system for 1500ish that’d be way more bang for the buck than you could get out of euro. i love my euro but it’s not cheap. it’s a great time to be a kid.

  16. Well considering that Moog has had a diversified history of synths for many pocket books and venues…this latest little beast will find its way into musicians hearts, and studios…..can’t wait to see the finished product….glad to see moog going in multiple directions….since they moved to a larger building/ location, they are really developing interesting systems….

  17. While I can understand a lot of people thinking that this wouldn’t be as attractive without the moog name and you are probably right. My experience with moog products had been nothing but good so I can’t help but get excited at any of their new products as they never disappoint? Only one vco seems a bit lacking but hey the minataur is essentially a rouge so if they had you would have a miniature with a patch bay!

  18. looks like a vermona lancet and its extension crossed with a retrowave trax …
    no real innovation but moog plagiat lil’ company is quite a surprise !!!!

  19. i cant see why moog gives this synth a german name ^^

    iam no special fan of MFB or other german synth manufacturers, but naming the synth in german is kinda the thing of the germans ^^

    for moog naming it german it sounds strange to me, like why would i name a synth hågstrøm when iam clearly not from sweden.

    may sound a bit pickey but i dont see the point

    1. They actually gave it a German name as a tribute to Kraftwerk, this year’s Moogfest headliner. This synth was built especially for Moogfest.

      2. Yeah, this synth is what people who pay a little extra get to take home with them from the “werkstatt workshop” at Moogfest.

        I was going to go this year, since the lineup is so awesome, but I just couldn’t manage it since it’s such a big trip from the west coast and work got in the way.

        I used to live in North Carolina (more on the eastern side of the state) and I wouldn’t mind going back to Asheville sometime. Maybe next Moogfest, sigh. Hope there’s a workshop next year as well so I can take home a little limited edition Moogfest Moog.

  21. People are paying a pretty penny for that workshop where they get to build this synth ($1000). I thought about it for all of about 30 minutes before I decided I’d be happy with a regular 5 day pass and put the rest towards a Sub 37.

  22. Looks like an hoax to me. Moog Music would not create this sort of ugly interface. (Or maybe this is marketing genius and I don’t get it yet.)

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