Moog

A
lthough this is a
brand new synth
from Moog, the
name might be
familiar. The
Subharmonicon
was available for a
very short time at Moogfest 2018 and
you had to build it yourself as part of
the VIP engineering pass. The
following two years have seen many
call for a production run of this synth
but no news arrived… until now.
The Subharmonicon (or SubH as I
shall now refer to it) is clearly
pitch and polyrhythm (more later).
While they’re usable, users may want
to change these for a larger style, to
ease precision setting. Other controls
use familiar Moog knobs, with clear
indicators for position.
Other similarities to the Mother
family are the black faceplate and
wooden end cheeks, as well as the
expected 32-point 3.5mm patch bay.
The big difference here is that the
MIDI in is also a 3.5mm socket,
necessitating a jack to DIN converter.
This was probably to provide space for
other elements of the interface and
Moog supplies the adapter, along with
a number of patch cables.
Before we explore the actual synth
it’s worth noting that if you are a
packaging enthusiast you will not be
disappointed. Likewise are the
‘preset’ overlays that help you
navigate the fi rst few sounds, which
are clearly marked with settings and
locations for patch cables and these
are to be appreciated, as this synth is
a little different to most others.
On to the important stuff then.
What makes this a useful addition to
the Mother family? Well it’s based on
the work of electronic synthesist
Friedrich Trautwein who was working
in the 1920s. It’s all about the
subharmonics of a waveform and it
takes a little readjusting of what you
normally think of with subtractive
synthesis, as it is really about adding
detail to a waveform. I’ll explain this
by way of talking through a simple
setup process.
There are two VCOs, each with
that Moog sound and each with two
sub oscillators. Rather than playing
octaves below the main voice, these
can be tuned in intervals, meaning
you can trigger three-note chords. Set
up appropriately, the SubH, using
both VCOs can play six-note chords,
something not to be sniffed at.
These oscs share two AD envelope
generators, one each for the fi lter and
amp and there’s that lovely Moog
fi lter with resonance and a control for
setting fi lter envelope amount.
The mixer section is simple, with
rotary controls for each of the six
voice’s volume and, while that may
sound basic, once you start adjusting
the mix during sequencing it
becomes very powerful.
The sequencers are where the real
power of the SubH lies. There are two
four-step sequencers which might
sound underwhelming – though
concluding that would be to miss the
point. Each of the three voices in a
designed as part of the Mother family
of products, as it shares the same
dimensions, aesthetics and even case
design, so no surprises there, as a
similar look was followed by the
popular DFAM percussion synth.
There are some differences,
however, as this is the fi rst in the
family to use a new button style. In
this application, they are used in
place of toggle switches for sequence
related options, where the previously
seen toggles are elsewhere. The tiny
rotary knobs from the DFAM are back,
here to allow for control of sequence
THE PROS & CONS
+
Versatile sounds
Perfectly suited to
ambient generative
music projects and
for adding evolving
textures to songs
Typical solid Moog
build quality, with
case specs in line
with Mother 32 and
DFAM, making it
Eurorack compatible
-
If you’re looking for
melodic control, you
are best off with a
different solution
Sequencer controls
are a little small
Moog Subharmonicon | Reviews
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