The Positronic Recusion Studio is a kaleidoscoping fractalizer teleported from the future to offer novel CV-controlled visual algorithms in almost holomorphic quality.
Recursion Studio
The Entropy & Sons website is a riot. It’s a brilliantly presented futuristic word salad of epic proportions. And no doubt many good plasmonic hyperbeings died bringing us tomorrow’s yesterday, today!
Behind all the sci-fi bedazzlement is a relatively dull-looking box containing a fascinating visual projection engine that could be the environmental stimulus your electronic musings have been waiting for.
What you get is a video synthesizer that generates real-time visuals in response to a number of inputs and controls. It’s all something to do with fractals and kaleidoscopes, but exactly what’s happening is unlikely to become clear at the moment. What we do know is that it has an HDMI output running at 1080p/30fps. It’s responsive to audio, has hundreds of presets, 100 onboard parameters and webcam support.
I am thoroughly enjoying the vibe and humour in their videos and marketing.
The box has 8 CV inputs for control, which is pretty exciting. There’s also a line-level input for audio analysis and beat detection. It has MIDI inputs for complete control and triggering and 4 USB ports for controllers. There are 5 knobs to play with stuff and 5 pads to trigger events on the fly. The screen is touchable for getting into the details.
The visuals are stunning. I’ve always been interested in video projections and visual accompaniment to electronic music. I’ve used video and image projections in my various projects, from slides and OHP manipulation in the 1980s through to multi-screen installations, back projections and video mixing. I stopped short of video mapping because it took too much time, and I had to decide whether the music or the video was more important. So for the last few years, I’ve had half an eye on visual software and hardware, and I yearn to find something that will respond to my music without me having to design it all from scratch. I bought into the Critter and Guitari Eyesy a while ago, but I’ve found it too chaotic and lo-fi for my liking. Whereas the Recursion Studio appears to be smooth, beautiful and full of detail.
The Recusion Studio is open for preorders at $1,200. It’s a lot of money for a fun box of visuals, but then video equipment always is. I would love to get my hands on one and see what you can do with and beyond the kaleidoscope. In the meantime, you can enter a competition on the website to win one. They are expecting to ship at any time now and they are at NAMM on booth #10603 if you want to check them out.
- Entropy & Sons website.
