Kara-Moon Forum

In order to expand my sonic pallette - as well as to have a nice compact synth for when we go play live gigs again - I have got myself the Dave Smith Instruments Mopho Keyboard. Dave Smith is of course one of the synthesizer pioneers from yesteryear and he's still actively developing new stuff today. Past triumphs include of course things like the Prophet 5 and a little known protocol for musical instruments called MIDI...

Anyway - back to the Mopho Keyboard. This is a keyboard version of the Mopho module and it has two oscillators - each with a sub oscillator, a noise generator, a switchable 2 or 4 pole low pass filter and several envelops and lfo's with more modulation options than you can imagine. It's only monophonic, but using these modulations and using the built-in step sequencer, they manage to have it single-handedly create complete grooves.

I only got it today and will do a more complete story on it later, but for now my first impressions are VERY, VERY good. The sound is fantastic. It's analog, deep, bright (extreme modulations create great fm-like bell tones) and it sounds so - liquid, if you understand what I'm trying to say. Just very organic, smooth (although it can be fantastically harsh and overdriven).

So - more later, for now just a pic! :-)

You know a guy takes his creation seriously when he puts his own name on it. :-
Nice "old school" look... and yes, I understand exactly what you're trying to say, Netherlands O0

Dinky little thing too. I wonder what it's power consumption is like, and whether it would be practical to run if from some sort of battery arrangement and make it truly portable.

Not sure - there's a small power adaptor so probably not too much. I would certainly consider it portable as in 'easy to bring to a gig' but I'd not recommend it as a mobile thing, for that it'd be too heavy and having a single voice, it would be a bit limited. I'd suggest the Korg R3 for that (which I'd also been considering) or the Micro Korg or something like the Roland JUNO Di or such a thing.

The Mopho Keyboard is actually surprisingly small (although it has full size keys) and a metal shell and sturdy wooden side panels make it easy to bring along but it's not something you'd stash in a travel bag, even if you could run on batteries imo. You'd also have to consider that it has no built-in fx.

Having said all that, something like this and a Korg Kaossilator (the new model with the built-in  looper) together would be enough to get started on the road.

I threw this demo track together quickly, using a bd and hh sound that I programmed (quite quickly I might add, the interface is very good) and several of the presets. It has mimimal editing but I did add a little delay and some reverb.

What I especially like is the strings-pad, which was played in three times to get lowest, middle and highest note as this is a monophonic synth.

A very tasty piece of gear and as for that "liquid" sound,that's exactly how I feel towards my Kurzweil PC3LE6! 8) I was just perusing a SoundOnSound video on the Mopho and if it weren't for my Kurzweil,I may have picked up one of these little beauties.


-Thom

Well - it's like an addition to your sound pallette rather than a replacement. It's definitely a solo synth (though it can do just about any timbre when layered) and the controls means that you easily construct something new which is also an advantage over normal workstations/synths where you generally have too much menu's and options to quickly do something.

Mind you - it's addictive and I'm already wondering whether to get more of the DSI stuff in the future; the Mopho has an excellent note-through option so you can combine it with say, a DSI Tetra module to form a 5 note polyphonic synth.

Understood,but for my needs,I love the face that the VAST synth engine can flawlessly emulate most,if not all of the sounds from such synths as the Prophet & such.The lack of physical controls on my LE6 is a bit of a bother,but there is an option for a software editor(which is perfectly fine with me in the studio).

Hardware is wonderful,but an overabundance of it with my budgetary constrictions,is not practical.Don't get me wrong,as I do realize the value & purpose of your Mopho,but for people like me,a Kurzweil best suits my applications,overall.


-Thom

For a guy (like me) who enjoys synthesizer sounds sounding synthetic, this is a feast for the ears! Wonderful textures. 8)

This is the living proof that a real musician only needs a monophonic synth to make great music  ;)

Absolutely fantastic !!!!

... And multitracking and a bit of quantisation - but I'll take the compliment nonetheless! ;) Thank you! I'm really enthusiastic about this synth and there's nothing quite as inspiring to me as cool sounds.

Very tasty demo 8)