A funny thing happened on the way to the Trigon forum...

[Manbird]

My wife and I were recently back in Berlin and went to Schneidersladen. They've moved and are now split across three locations. We stopped first in the keyboard shop and I finally got to mess with the Trigon. Loved it, as I'd imagined I would, though I didn't spend enough time with it to be able to say more about it here.

The scary and surprising thing, though, happened in the modular shop, which was a block or two away. Not sure how or why, but suddenly, after being resistant all these years, both Julia and I got hit with the "let's get a modular system" bug! We didn't purchase anything, but we did go back a second time to follow up on a few things. I think, for me, anyway, the sudden appeal of modular is that it seems to lean in the opposite direction to where I've been with musical gear for a while. I've been so practical and pragmatic, and everything I buy or record has to have a purpose. With modular, I'm picturing pointless generative meanderings! Basically, I'm dreaming of meditative drones that have no bearing on my pop music mind. Not that all things aren't One, man, but you know what I mean.

I still want a Trigon, but it would probably mean letting go of my Prophet 6. The P6, speaking to my earlier point, is probably the most "practical" synth. It fits well on my desk, serves as a great controller etc. Its sound is familiar  and I know my way around it well, but practicality is starting to wear on me and I need more mystery in my head. We'll see where the modular bug leads, meanwhile...

[kpatz]

I have nothing to offer except I want a wife like yours!  When I had a wife, it was "another keyboard??"  Not "Let's get a modular system!!"

[Manbird]

I have nothing to offer except I want a wife like yours!  When I had a wife, it was "another keyboard??"  Not "Let's get a modular system!!"

Our wedding gift to ourselves was a Soma Lyra 8! She's not a synth-obsessive like me, but she does like to dig in...

[Manbird]

I did it, I bought a Trigon. Gorgeous synth, inside and out. I wasn't convinced by the blonde wood in pics and vids online, but in real life, it's lovely. I'd planned to sell my Prophet 6 to cover the cost of the Trigon, but the Trigon made me realize how attached I am to the P6. The P6 isn't the be-all of synths for me (that'd be the Prophet 5), but the thought of letting it go reminded me of so many things I love about it, things that the Trigon can't do. But enough about the P6...

The Trigon just sounds massive, right? Effort has to be made to tone it down... it has so many features that build the sound up and up. The 3 oscs that easily overdrive the filter, the Drive knob, the Feedback function, the Vintage knob... being able to use all available waveforms per osc, as on the P5... Like I said, the energy goes towards trying to rein this synth in. The low end is, as I'd pictured, proper ladder low. I like the Distortion on this more than that on the P6.

I've got the Trigon downstairs in my basement studio. It's in front of the sofa, away from any other gear. As I did when I first got the P6, I'm enjoying just finding my way around the front panel, and playing and listening. The Sequential 6 series, even at 4 octaves, are such playable instruments. Anyway, I love this thing and have tricked myself into not selling it, cash and studio space be damned.