First Look: Moog Matriarch

With the synth world still learning the capabilities of the Moog One polyphonic analog synthesizer, Moog launches another surprise for 2019 — meet the Matriarch, a 4-oscillator paraphonic analog synth with impressive modular connectivity. Equipped with a delightfully responsive 49-key Fatar keybed, the semi-modular Matriarch is an outstanding performance synthesizer on its own. Combined with a Eurorack modular synthesizer, or other semi-modular synths, there’s practically no end to its sound design potential.

Classic Moog sound with semi-modular versatility

At the core of the Moog Matriarch, you’ll find four robust oscillators, offering triangle, saw, square, and pulse-width waveforms, as well as hard sync capability. Classic monophonic and duophonic modes are available, plus a 4-note paraphonic mode that allows you to play chords. From there you’ll find dual ladder filters, with three routing modes available — parallel (HPF/LPF), stereo (LPF/LPF), and series (HPF/LPF). For modulation you’ve got two analog ADSR envelopes, one LFO with six selectable waveshapes, and a second “simple” LFO for additional modulation. On top of all that, you’ve got attenuators capable of ring modulation, a vibrant stereo analog delay effect, a powerful sequencer, and 90 modular patch points that offer never-ending ways to reconfigure your sounds.

Powerful paraphonic sequencing

Matriarch’s Arp/Seq section allows you to select either the built-in arpeggiator or its 256-note sequencer. The sequencer is especially impressive, supporting up to four notes per step — perfect for sequencing evolving chord progressions. The sequencer playback mode can be switched on the fly between playing the notes in order, alternating between forward and backward, and reverse-sequence playback. And you can even save up to 12 sequence patterns for instant recall anytime. Best of all, you can decouple the sequencer from the Matriarch engine to sequence external synths or Eurorack modules while you play the Matriarch from its 49-key Fatar keybed.

Stereo analog delay built in

Delay and synth lines go together like peanut butter and jelly, so we’re pleased to see the Moog Matriarch packs a stereo analog delay circuit built right in. Delay times reach up to 700ms, and you can sync the delay to MIDI too. While the delay sounds sweet as a traditional delay effect, we expect that you could use it to explore Karplus-Strong synthesis techniques with some clever patching as well.

Much more to explore

We’ve barely covered the surface-level features of the Moog Matriarch, and there’s much more to dig into here — especially when you start taking advantage of its modular patchability. A built-in mult encourages signal splitting for multilayered sound design. Dual analog VCAs offer a drone mode, perfect for building soundscapes and ambient textures. Bipolar, voltage-controlled attenuators offer ring modulation for the sonically adventurous. Even if you only patch between points on the Matriarch, there are a ton of possibilities to explore. And once you integrate other synths and Eurorack modules, you’ll see how vast Matriarch’s sonic potential is.