Transcription
By now, you've probably heard the Oberheim TEO-5 doing all the classic Oberheim stuff. But, what if this thing could also sound completely brutal?
A few months ago, I picked up the Oberheim TEO-5, and honestly, I wasn't even planning to make a video about it. Mainly because Oberheim isn't really the first brand people think of when it comes to aggressive sounds, right? But, this synth sounds so ridiculously good.
Even though I'm obviously into industrial and dark electronic music, I've always loved classic '60s, '70s, and '80s synth sounds, too. And Oberheim is mostly known for those huge pads, brass sounds, and vintage analog tones.
Sure, Oberheim gear has been used on albums like The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails and Throbbing Gristle's records, but their synths still aren't really associated with heavier or more aggressive music. Most videos online about the TEO-5 showcase pretty much the same sounds, or they just compare it to other synths like the Sequential Take 5.
So, I thought, why not show a different side of this beautiful machine? Before we get into the speaker-destroying sounds, let's quickly look at what the TEO-5 actually is. The Oberheim TEO-5 is a five-voice polyphonic analog synth named after founder Tom Elroy Oberheim. It's designed to be a more compact and accessible instrument while still capturing the classic Oberheim sound. It comes with two VCOs plus a sub oscillator. Oscillator sync between oscillator one and oscillator two. X mod with through-zero FM. The classic SEM filter with selectable bandpass mode. Probably my favorite filter ever. A vintage knob that recreates old synth imperfections. Which actually sounds amazing for aggressive stuff. We'll come back to that later. An arpeggiator that's super inspiring for quick sound design ideas. Built-in effects like reverb, delay, and chorus, plus really accurate emulations of the original Oberheim phaser and ring modulator. You can also save up to 256 user presets. Before making some noise, here are a few of my favorite factory presets.
All right, now let's go into the fun stuff. My favorite features for making aggressive sounds on the T-05. First, there's the vintage knob. It makes the synth sound less perfect and more alive. Another thing I love is the dedicated overdrive knob, separate from the effect section. Then there's the X mod knob, which basically feeds oscillator two into oscillator one, kind of like FM synthesis, except this time it's fully analog.
Like I mentioned earlier, the Oberheim T0-5 also includes an emulation of the classic Oberheim ring modulator. For those who don't know, Tom Oberheim actually started building ring modulators early in his career after moving from Kansas to LA because of his love for music. During the day he worked at computer companies and at night he designed ring modulator units. Ring modulators sound amazing when you combine them with FM style modulation or in this case the T0-5's X mod function.
I've had the Oberheim T 0 5 for a few months now and I've had time to really dig into it and build a bunch of my own presets with it. Let me show you a few of the presets I've created.
Hopefully this gave you a new perspective on the Oberheim T 0 5. If you're a music producer, feel free to check out my website and Patreon for presets, samples, and tutorials. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next time. Ciao. I want to be with you.