17 thoughts on “Monark Synthesizer In Depth Overview”

  2. I have to give a thumbs-up for the instrument itself. The care and detail have led to a platform that does seem to banish a few detailed complaints about VAs. The Moog GUI stays popular because it lets you get the heck ON with things in a linear manner, so that’s a plus.

    OTOH, it bothers me that the examples are all from 70s and 80s artists’ big-name hits. Why do synths have to be so terribly locked into either that period or the thousands who buy dubstep libraries so they can ape Skrillex? I was just reviewing an Alchemy library I bought and the thing is covered up in colorful, evolving sounds that rarely make me think of any specific style at all. A few sound ambient or vintage, true, but the TONE remains transparent in some abstract ways I appreciate. I like Monark well enough, all the same. I simply hope people will take it beyond Gary Numan’s PolyMoog strings.

  3. If Moog had only thought to patent their display and controller mechanism look and feel, everyone would have to pay a license fee just to make something that even vaguely resembles a Minimoog. Oh well, water under the bridge.

    1. Not to be a smart ass, but design patents last only 14 years. Had Dr. Moog sought a design patent on the Minimoog panel layout, it would have long since expired…

  4. Another mMoog … Would be a shame for it to be applied solely for the purpose of creating the same old dub-step sounds. I’m with Fungo on Alchemy too.

  5. @gridsleep: patents in the US expire after 20 years and the Minimoog exists in its current form since 1970, so after 1990 it would’ve been free game. Of course, copyrighting/trademarking the knob setup would’ve been an option – but there are only so many ways to order a set of knobs or switches so that the resulting layout might’ve been too trivial to copyright.

    Worse – since the old Moog went out of business in the 80s, the rights might’ve been passed around; and if they would not end up in Bob’s hands again, he would not have been able to make the Voyager (that was actually a problem with the Donimoog and “Welsh” Minimoog).

    Even then, it’s still not a problem. People see this as “Native Instruments’ Minimoog clone”, not “Hey, this company called Moog has a hardware version of Monark!”

  6. i am straying from software these days but really glad NI brought some interesting content for the komplete.
    still not upgrading because there is a corporate aura around ni policies i am not a fan of.
    just two things on my list: a4 and ms20.
    the gui on monark is a work of art though and the sound supports it.
    having it in reaktor format could even be educational for alot of folk and bring even more excellent sounding ensembles.
    good work ni.

  12. Yeah! I have it and this Monark take an space in my virtual rack together Diva and Lush101.
    Monark sound really close to analog gear, I compare with my Mopho and I can say: wow! at last a v-instrument with a little more warm and fat in his hearth! This is not comparable with arturia’s or gforce vsti’s, this Monark is really a step up in analog emulation! I hope to see an Pro-One and Jupiter 4 emus like this total beautiful NI Monark.

    Thanks.

  14. Simply the best in my opinion. I’ve tried them all, from the free ones to G-Force’s Minimonsta, and the awesome, but glitchy (typical) Arturia Mini V….. however, I have since uninstalled all of those because Monark is the first Minimoog clone that actually IS a clone. This thing is so fuckin’ exact they even modeled the tuning drift (not detune – ACTUAL DRIFT)! Hell, the waveforms are actually just ever so slightly different in harmonic character for each VCO. Listen to VCO 1′ triangle, and you’ll notice that it’s slightly more round then VCO 2’s triangle. Unfuckinbelievable!!!

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