Moogfest kicks off this week in Durham, North Carolina, and with it, Moog has unveiled the latest in their growing lineup of synths: the Moog Matriarch.
This new model is, at first glance, an expansion to the widely praised Grandmother, packing in a few other nifty features on top of a 4-voice payload. The model follows the release of the mammoth polyphonic Moog One last year, and while technically not a fully polyphonic synth, the paraphonic Matriarch marks another step away from the all-mono catalog of Moog's recent past.
The Matriarch is a patchable semi-modular 4-voice synth with mono, duo, and 4-note paraphonic playability. The design includes a multi-mode arpeggiator and a 256 step sequencer that can pack up to four notes per step across twelve stored patterns and can be decoupled from the synth to operate external gear.
Moog has also embraced true stereo capabilities with this design, packing in dual envelope generators, dual VCAs, stereo ladder filters, and a stereo analog delay module.
Perhaps most importantly, though, the Matriarch includes 90 distinct modular patch points, and while it will run out of the box without any patching at all, the instrument seems primed to run the four oscillators—each of which has four patch points— in various configurations for a majorly expansive realm of sonic possibilities to uncover. This extensive patchability also makes the Matriarch a powerful centerpiece for a broader modular system. Watch the video above for a sample of the many sonic routes synthists can pursue when playing this instrument.
The new model will be shipping this summer and will carry a price tag of $1,999 USD.
Here's the official spec list from Moog:
- Mono, duo, and 4-note paraphonic playability
- Stereo analog delay w/ up to 700ms of MIDI sync-able stereo or ping/pong style repeats
- 256 step sequencer w/ up to 4 notes per step and 12 stored patterns; Can be decoupled from Matriarch to independently sequence external gear
- Arpeggiator with selectable modes (Order, Forward/Backward, Random)
- Semi-modular analog synthesizer - no patching required
- 90 modular patch points for endless exploration
- Expressive 49-note Fatar keyboard w/ patchable velocity and aftertouch
- 4 analog oscillators w/ selectable waveshape and hard sync per-oscillator
- Full-range analog LFO with 6 selectable waveshapes
- Dual analog filters with parallel (HP/LP), stereo (LP/LP), and series (HP/LP) modes available
- Dual analog ADSR envelopes
- Dual analog VCAs
- 3x bipolar voltage controlled attenuators with ring mod capability
- 2x4 parallel wired unbuffered mults
- Additional simple analog LFO useful for adding modulation to delay, filters and VCAs.
- 1/4" external audio input for processing guitars, drum machines, and more through Matriarch's analog circuits
- Stereo 1/4" and 3.5mm Eurorack level audio outputs