Bye-Bye Venom!

I needed to make room for the upcoming MS20 Mini, and to be honest I wasn't using the M-Audio Venom that much.

Why? Well, certainly not because it sounds bad. The Venom is an outstanding instrument, with great value for the price. It can produce very complex grooves and has a character of its own, which cannot be said about a lot of digital synths.

It's really about the interface, or lack thereof : you can't program sounds without the software editor.

By that, I don't mean that it's inconvenient without the software.

I mean to say that you absolutely NEED a computer, because most editing functions aren't accessible through the synth LCD menus.

For instance, you can't select the oscillator waveforms on the synth. That's done with the software editor.

You can select the FX type and its mixing level, but you can't change the FX settings.

And so on.... 

This is really a problem. These drastic limitations mean that you just can't take the synth away and program stuff. You need a computer at all times.
I know there is a way to use an iPad to control the parameters, but I couldn't begin to understand how you're supposed to do that, what with the app and the interfaces needed, and frankly I didn't have the patience when my others synths, well, you just switch them on and you're set to create.

Not having to create sounds on the computer is the reason why I buy hardware instruments in the first place.

That said, if you don't mind working that way, the Venom is a great synth.

Single du Jour : Hollow Man Kurtz

UPDATE : Track removed until the final commercial release


Opening groove : M-Audio Venom. 

The rest is pretty much all Prophet 08.
Quote from Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"

Lyrics :

These are the times
That wail and call for you
To bury your death
So deep inside of you
Prayers to broken stone
Dreams and bones and fortunes told
This is the way the world ends

“All that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men. There’s no initiation either into such mysteries. He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is also detestable. And it has a fascination, too, that goes to work upon him. The fascination of the abomination - you know, imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate”

This is the way the world ends

M-Audio Venom Demo Part Trois

And here's another tune all recorded within the new M-Audio Venom.

No external drums and no external effects (although I should say that the parts have been tracked through the UA710 preamp with a good amount of tube distorsion).

By the way, I'm using the multimode and the arpeggiator to layer these grooves, but nothing is MIDI-sync, it's all live, trying to trigger the grooves in sync with each other. The fact that it works so well is really a tribute to how fun and playable this thing is.

Downgrade by khoral

M-Audio Venom Demo Part Deux

Another improvisation on the Venom.
Some nasty high frequencies here and there : that's one nicely unpredictable instrument!
As for the previous track, all Venom, no external drums.

The Aching Void by khoral

M-Audio Venom Demo

I couldn't resist, could I?

I bought this bundle of badass fun yesterday and here's a first demo.

SpiderWorker (M-Audio Venom Demo) by khoral

All sounds are from the Venom.

No external drums.

I already talked about the sound. It's real edgy and noisy and inspiring.

I do have a major gripe though, interface-wise. You can't program sounds without the software editor.

I don't mean that it's inconvenient without the software.

No.

I mean to say that you absolutely NEED a computer, because most editing functions aren't accessible through the synth LCD menus.

For instance, you can't select the oscillator waveforms on the synth. That's done with the software editor.

You can select the FX type and its mixing level, but you can't change the FX settings.

And so on.... 

This is really a problem.

I understand that a synth in that price range can't have a decent array of knobs, and surely its modulation matrix is best taken care of by the software editor.

But no access whatsoever to the whole editing process via the synth? That's preposterous. 

These drastic limitations mean that you just can't take the synth away and program stuff.

You need a computer at all times.

I really hope manufacturers will understand at some point that the reason why we buy hardware instruments is because WE DON'T WANT TO USE THE DAMN COMPUTER.

Hands On : M-Audio Venom

This is not a review. I don't own the instrument (yet!) so these are merely first contact impressions from fiddling on this at the music shop.

Let's put it simply : I was indeed impressed!

The build is good, although it's all plastic, unsurprisingly for a machine in that price range.

I can't say that the design is inspired or inspiring, but it's certainly functional. One problem though is that the writing is very pale, making it somehow difficult to read at places.

The interface is simple but easy to use, you can't expect a vast array of knobs for that price, so you've got to be a little more patient to program the beast than on a Prophet 08.

Let's not dwell on the specifications, the official site says it best : m-audio.com

The sound?

Well, I wasn't expecting much when it was first announced at the NAMM. I though "yawn, another virtual analog, what's the point...". Then I heard that it was a synth with an edge and I saw Mark Motherbaugh from Devo claiming how great it was, so my curiosity was piqued.

It IS badass! This is not your polished, clean digital synth, but neither is it warm, fuzzy like an analogue.

The sound bites, gnarls, cuts, growls... it's nasty, cold, distorted, futuristic, glitchy. The factory presets using the Multi mode showcase some mindblowing, earbleeding, eyespopping grooves.

The contrast is outstanding with my Prophet 08, which has a rather complex sequencer engine to build up some musical grooves. The Prophet 08 is elegant and sophisticated, the Venom is brutal and clinical. Which is why the synth interests me, by the way, it's such a departure from my other instruments.