Quote from: Balor/SS1535 on Today at 02:02:46 AMQuote from: anusenvy on January 29, 2026, 09:48:30 PMQuote from: Balor/SS1535 on September 05, 2025, 05:50:32 AMMy Trogotronic 669v arrived in the mail today, and I have been playing with it throughout the evening. While I am starting to get a grasp on some of the features, much of its functionality seems like it will take a while to get a clear understanding of. It doesn't help too much that the instruction guide that it comes with is pretty minimal (maybe it's enough for others, but I am no synth expert).
Any tips for the 669 from those who have had it longer?
Also, thoughts on the brand in general? Other favorite synths or gear from them?
Nelson is intentionally vague to promote experimentation/gatekeep.
However, he also responds to e-mails and when my first device (first model of 669, "3 button model" as he put it) was not working correctly/had grounding issues: he fixed it for free and gave updated warranty.
Nelson is more likely to go into a rant about Bebe and Louis Barron than instructions on how to use instrument.
From over a decade of owning 4 Trogotronic devices, my best advice is to spend a lot of time exploring different knob/button combinations and document knob settings as best as possible. Sometimes, it is not easy to replicate sounds especially unintended artifacts that are inherent in this type of synthesizer. Much like random sounds that can come from AM/FM radio if you fiddle enough.
If you feel lost in the current output/lost in space: sweep knobs and engage/disengage switches. Small turns of knobs can greatly alter sound or hardly alter sound at all. Large sweeps can usually do both. If sweeping a knob does nothing, switch to another.
That's been pretty much my approach to figuring things out---expect nothing from the "demos" and just experiment away. My sense is that the knobs on the unit I have (will have to double check the model number) each influence the others in some way, making consistent usage rather difficult or even impossible.
Overall, the biggest challenge for me has been getting it to sound "not Trogotronic." While I get that's what they are for (and why I bought it in the first place), I would like to subsume it into my own sound to some extent. So far, running it through pedals has greatly lessened its power and/or simply made it sound weaker.
Times I'm 'surprised that's a Trogotronic' are typically when it is not someone from noise world. Spent years not understanding that sometimes when you focus too heavily on Trogotronic in your sound, you inadvertently start sounding like Eric Wood. Eric DOES NOT use any effects on Trogotronic devices (other than reverb, delay etc.) and primarily ONLY used Trogotronic devices for a LONG time. Eric Wood was privileged to be in the company of Nelson and the dude from Amps For Christ who was also building devices. Iconic noise sound that comes from mainly direct input. Wood is also EXTREMELY obsessed with EQ, volume, HQ audio and recording.... BN ends up being a commercial for Trogotronic devices by proxy. I personally did not start making noise using things like distortion, contact mics, white noise gen, simple tone generators, complicated boutique keyboard style synths but rather I was obsessed with Trogotronic sound. This came from enjoying non-noise bands that used Mini Moogs in different ways. A guy who ran mainly HNW label once called it 'sci-fi noise'. I had to eat that one unfortunately.
Important to note: because Trogotronic devices are not built to fix or normalize synthetization and because they are 12V/heavy output devices: they react differently when they are plugged into pedals, certain mixers, direct into amplifiers... I had friends with the models with tubes and they were fearful where they sent direct output because it has the potential to overload other electronics. I have had pedals that were in feedback loop with a Trogotronic and they do not work the same anymore. Luckily with noise, we can work with that. But I do feel bad for the people with boutique fuzz pedals & shit like that who
might un-boutique them on accident plugging a Trogotronic device straight in. Also, changing the MAIN OUTPUT volume will change the nature of synthetization as well. Trog at 50% is not same as Trog at 100% = knob combinations will not sound the same at all volumes.
Knowing all this: Trogotronic devices sound different in non-noise settings and using them is more like finding a radio station than finding the 'C' on piano. Nelson himself seemingly challenged himself to be able to use the devices IN WAYS HE COULD REPEAT in every performance. See Geronimo
https://geronimo31g.bandcamp.com/album/lpThis is not improv. But you do get that direct output Trogotronic sound.
I believe Nelson's introduction to interest in unconventional electronics was using tape machines of different types, similar to Howard Stelzer for example. See Emperor of the North
https://eotn.bandcamp.com/track/love-is-in-the-air In EOTN, you will hear tape manipulation/recordings and Trogotronic.
One e-mail conversation I had with Nelson included him ranting about the Barons and the OST of 'Forbidden Planet'. See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eISbaQ1a0d4&list=PLpszlaVYHIX5blWpxDHeqB-MvoWm66nFR&index=2 The sounds within this film came from devices the Barons had built themselves and thus the sounds therein could not be repeated in the future as many of the devices they built died shortly after recording. Thus was born a culture of trying to build devices that made non-traditional synthetization that also did not break after 1 or 2 uses. Remember: you may have the most unique pedals/synths in the world but they all still usually use 9V/12V power supply. Standardization tends to breed 'normal' and 'predictable', even if the intended function of the electronic device is to be 'chaotic'. Nelson builds to create what's harder to capture in synthetization because of standardization practices. One might feel a Moog synthesizer is endlessly vast in capability to create unique sounds but there are things a circuit-bent radio can do that a Moog cannot. Is Trogotronic then 'true chaos', available to the masses in the form of electronics?
Do enjoy the device, though. There are not many instruments you can have a unique and individual experience with; an experience I think you need to have to be able to challenge any established micro-genre aesthetics. I.E. you can make HNW with a white noise generator or you can do it playing audio of your favorite ballet through heavy amounts of fuzz. Most listeners will not know the difference. In my early stages of using Trogotronic, I began to believe I could only use the devices for a specific sound. Now, 13 years later, I frequently realize I ONLY need a Trogotronic device to replicate most sounds in experimental genres. Not bad for devices that do not break the bank.
Apologies for the long response but as you can see, I've spent a lot of time thinking about this.
Feel free to DM any questions you might have about using these devices. I DO NOT know everything/not a eurorack guy. Rather, I like Trogotronic because you get the eurorack treatment built into a device that could come with sticker 'Ages 3+'. That's not an attack on Trogotronic or their users but instead I think I mean.... try using it like you still had brain of someone not raped into letting go of imagination. There, you may find what you're looking for.
