Sequential Trigon-6

[bonefixer]

My issue with progressive music of any kind, rock, classical, jazz, electronic etc, is that it tends to be all about technical virtuosity e.g. endless scales and arpeggios linked together at high speed, or it’s wilful enharmonicity and random strange time signature shifts.
That’s all very well if it’s film music designed for epic battles or scenes that are meant to be unsettling, but as entertainment it leaves me cold. It’s music to impress other musicians.
Classic FM has a programme of film scores, but unless they have good melodic themes it all becomes background music to me.
In my opinion Prog’ rock should be something like ‘A trick of the tail’ by Genesis, progressive harmonically and rhythmically but memorable melodies. I’ve tried to get into their earlier albums but with a few exceptions found it to be the wrong kind of Prog’.
At the end of the day you pays your money and I prefer to buy the more melodic tracks. As to what constitutes a good melody? That’s indefinable.

I played in a prog cover band for a bit. Hard work in rehearsals to be able to convincingly pull off Firth of Fifth (here, if anyone wants to watch https://youtu.be/d5nJjpTf7K8 ) and Roundabout, and as you say we ended up playing gigs to about 10 old men standing with their arms folded silently saying ‘go on then, impress me’. For me the effort required in rehearsal wasn’t worth the reward.

For me prog rock is ‘defined’ by longer songs, lyrics not just about love or humping, time signatures other than 4/4, structures other than verse/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/solo/chorus, and more than 3 chords.

[tea for two]

So shall the Trigon be renamed Rickon lol.

I think I shall make a Prog album.
For some reason these last few posts stirred something.
It shall be my version of Prog.
It's Prog, Jim, but not as we know it.

And that, my friend is the true spirit of prog!

Unfortunately there are those who think that if it isn't Roundabout* or The Firth of Fifth*, it isn't proper prog. (both of which are 50 years old now, and You'd hope that a genre named for being progressive, that shouldn't be the case)

*Don't get me wrong, I consider both of the above to be true masterpieces that really stand the test of time

Ah a musician after my heart.

[Arpangel]

My issue with progressive music of any kind, rock, classical, jazz, electronic etc, is that it tends to be all about technical virtuosity e.g. endless scales and arpeggios linked together at high speed, or it’s wilful enharmonicity and random strange time signature shifts.
That’s all very well if it’s film music designed for epic battles or scenes that are meant to be unsettling, but as entertainment it leaves me cold. It’s music to impress other musicians.
Classic FM has a programme of film scores, but unless they have good melodic themes it all becomes background music to me.
In my opinion Prog’ rock should be something like ‘A trick of the tail’ by Genesis, progressive harmonically and rhythmically but memorable melodies. I’ve tried to get into their earlier albums but with a few exceptions found it to be the wrong kind of Prog’.
At the end of the day you pays your money and I prefer to buy the more melodic tracks. As to what constitutes a good melody? That’s indefinable.

I didn’t think of ELP as Tarkus, or Brain Salad Surgery, I think of them as Take A Pebble, or Lucky Man, Jethro Tull we’re all about songs, lyrical, memorable melodies, not unnecessary flash.
Prog got a bad name because of this OTT show-boating, but I don’t remover bands for that, only the more "musical" tracks.

[MarkOne]

I played in a prog cover band for a bit. Hard work in rehearsals to be able to convincingly pull off Firth of Fifth (here, if anyone wants to watch https://youtu.be/d5nJjpTf7K8 ) and Roundabout, and as you say we ended up playing gigs to about 10 old men standing with their arms folded silently saying ‘go on then, impress me’. For me the effort required in rehearsal wasn’t worth the reward.

I've been to gigs like that!

By the way... Your Firth of Fifth! Great job. Really very well done.

[The Elf]

Yep, nice job.

You're always setting yourself up for a fall covering those songs, but for self-satisfaction you can't beat it!

I also use a Roli 25 for live flute parts!

[Martin Walker]

More applause for bonefixer's 'Firth of Fifth'

[bonefixer]

Yep, nice job.

You're always setting yourself up for a fall covering those songs, but for self-satisfaction you can't beat it!

I also use a Roli 25 for live flute parts!

I sold the Roli
Didn’t really get on with it, probably lack of effort on my part. I suppose I expected to plug it in and be Marco Paresi or Jordan Rudess, but in reality I kept slipping off the black notes and if I was playing another board with my left hand I could be all over the place. It was interesting, for a bit, but I find I can do pretty much what I want with Aftertouch, mod and pitch wheels.

Thanks for the comments on FoF chaps. We did that recording as a lockdown project, bouncing Logic files around the internet to each other. Played it live a couple of times. Definitely sober gigs.

[sonics]

I happened to come back to this thread even though I have no plans to buy an expensive synth anytime soon, and I'm so glad I did.

To bonefixer I say thanks, and well done!

Selling England was one of the albums that got me into Prog, and I consider it one of the very finest albums of the genre. It's why I bought a Pro Soloist!

[The Elf]

I also use a Roli 25 for live flute parts!

I sold the Roli
Didn’t really get on with it, probably lack of effort on my part. I suppose I expected to plug it in and be Marco Paresi or Jordan Rudess, but in reality I kept slipping off the black notes and if I was playing another board with my left hand I could be all over the place. It was interesting, for a bit, but I find I can do pretty much what I want with Aftertouch, mod and pitch wheels.

Roli is not for everyone. I really thought that I wouldn't get on with it, but I took to it within a couple of days and I never looked back. Creating vibrato by hand is so much more convincing for acoustic instruments than an LFO. I also like making GR-500 guitar synth-type sounds. That's become a bit of a signature for me. I also enjoy using it like a zither.

I've ended up with two Seaboard 49s, a 25 and a Seaboard 2 on order!

[BJG145]

Loopop's latest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1DUthBs2wQ

[Zukan]

Dave promised me one for Xmas...granted, he was drunk and on the cough syrup but a promise is a promise.

[Arpangel]

Loopop's latest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1DUthBs2wQ

It’s a three oscillator polysynth, and according to Loopop, it offers typical polysynth sounds, that sound like a synthesiser, I’m stunned, I can hardly contain myself.

[MOF]

Roli is not for everyone. I really thought that I wouldn't get on with it, but I took to it within a couple of days and I never looked back. Creating vibrato by hand is so much more convincing for acoustic instruments than an LFO. I also like making GR-500 guitar synth-type sounds. That's become a bit of a signature for me. I also enjoy using it like a zither.

I bought the smaller Roli block version, I haven’t got on with it. The very spongey feel and the black, not white, main keys plus the very thin white markings on the sharp/flat keys are negatives for me.
I would have preferred flat profiles rather than rounded keys, they would have made vibrato movements just like a fretboard.
It’s the extra spaces (grooves) between B and C plus E and F that annoy me.

[The Elf]

I couldn't get on with the Roli Block either. To me it's way too fiddly and imprecise. The Seaboard is a different story. Try one before you make up your mind.

[siderealxxx]

Finally played the Trigon 6 in store today, it having finally arrived in the UK. I'm curious if this will get Gordon'd in SOS?

I will go back to spend more time with it to see if it works for me. I liked the immediacy of it and the feature set was fairly comprehensive but not complicated. With a bit of time spent it can sound very interesting (though many presets were generic).

I didn't like aspects of the build quality/style though. Next to the gorgeous P5/10 it looked a bit cheap (it's pretty much the same price). The pots are 100% plastic, hard to grip and very stiff. Also the inevitable 4 octave keyboard and six voices

So the jury's out. I will report back when I've spent a bit more time with it. Still weighing up whether to make the jump. I really want to like it...

[Eddy Deegan]

After initially laying a deposit on one I thought it over and ended up converting that deposit into a completely different purchase in the form of an Arturia MiniFreak, (which is as mad as a bucket of frogs and ridiculously fun to play with!)

I am still intrigued by the Trigon and had the price been in the £2k-£2.5k range would almost certainly have let the deposit stand but £3.3k is, sadly, rather too much to ask for a 6-voice poly ... at least for me.

If I didn't have the gear I've collected to date I might well have gone there but the more synths I own the fussier I am about potential additions and much as it would be a nice toy to own I can't justify that sort of expenditure on a toy, or even a 'nice to have'. I'd have to really need one and the truth is, I don't much as it's a seriously tasty synth.

[Zukan]

*cough* ladder filter *cough*

[siderealxxx]

Bit the bullet on this, sold my P12 and received the T6 a few days ago. I've got to say my initial impressions are very good and I don't miss the P12 at all.

For starters it's very interactive and fun which is always important. But the scope of it is eye opening. As well as the things you'd expect (prophet pads/brass, mini leads/basses) I'm surprised at how rough and dirty it can get.

Whilst the modulation options are limited compared to something like the Polybrute, clever use of what's there results in a multitude of sound design options. Even the mixer section is calibrated sensitively and can really bleed if required.

That third oscillator is a god send, both for lush pads and detuned leads, and of course the polymod section and FM etc. A 3 oscillator analogue poly has been LONG overdue.

It has a few limitations that I can live with, but my biggest gripe is that for some reason the knobs are abnormally stiff (ahem!) and are a bit cheap looking (especially given the price I paid!). Recent inflation and market problems will work against it in the short term.

I'm genuinely curious as to whether Gordon gets to review it in SOS. Not least because I think I'm right in saying he has a Memory Moog. I don't expect it to sound exactly like the MM but curious how it compares.

[The Elf]

That third oscillator is a god send, both for lush pads and detuned leads, and of course the polymod section and FM etc.

I couldn't agree more. The third oscillator makes a huge difference. I have a few 'more than 2 oscillator' synths, including Hydrasynth, Peak/Summit and my beloved MicroMonsta 2s.

Congratulations on the purchase. I believe there's a certain Zukan who will be interested to hear your thoughts on the Trigon.

[siderealxxx]

Made a quick patch/video of Warszawa (Eno/Bowie) played on the Trigon 6 https://twitter.com/RyanTeagueMusic/sta ... 55592?s=20.

[BJG145]

[Martin Walker]

Bit the bullet on this, sold my P12 and received the T6 a few days ago. I've got to say my initial impressions are very good and I don't miss the P12 at all.

Wow! As a P12 owner myself, that's a surprise to me, as its 4-oscillator 12-voice polyphony would seemingly take a lot of beating

[siderealxxx]

Wow! As a P12 owner myself, that's a surprise to me, as its 4-oscillator 12-voice polyphony would seemingly take a lot of beating

They're completely different synths. A can guarantee the P12 can't do what the T6 can do (and vice versa to be fair). Sure 4 oscs and 12 voices takes some beating on paper (Moog One), but 3x analogue oscillators is an incredibly rare thing in the synth world, and sonically lush.

I had the P12 for 10 years and never gelled with it. The architecture is fantastic but I I really disliked the oscillators (and/or the DACs), and hated the filter. Above all I found the inspiration returns to be low. It just didn't do anything you didn't tell it to do; it never took you by surprise.

The fun factor on the T6 is immense. The mixer section alone is a serious sound shaping tool with capacity to really bleed and produce FM tones in certain scenarios. That's to say nothing of the polymod section which I'm still exploring. Honestly I've had more fun on this in a few weeks than years on the P12.

I'm by no means knocking the P12. As a stage synth that can imitate just about anything, it's one of the finest. As a studio tool for covering a broad range it's great. But I couldn't justify both and I was ready for a change.

Every time I switch on the T6 it inspires and surprises me. That's way more important to me than countless modulation sources. Sure it has limitations (and weighing up the Yorick LFE to tap into it more), but I don't regret it at all. YMMV!

[Martin Walker]

Wow - thanks for that super detailed reply siderealxxx!

I do identify with some of the points you make about the P12, and didn't initially gell with mine for several weeks until I started creating my own sounds (the factory patches didn't really explore what was truly possible - a common issue when sound designers have a new synth for a matter of days before passing it on to the next designer in waiting )