Molten Oct 2024

Molten Music Monthly October 2024

Molten Music Monthly
robinv

As the nights draw in, we should comfort ourselves with big, hearty bowls of synths and blankets of electronic music machines. Here are the most exciting new things for October’s Molten Music Monthly.

Synth East!

BlaknBlu Oscar DSF VCO

Complex oscillator with two oscillators using Discrete Summation Formula to give interesting harmonic partials. There’s detuning for lush analogue or FM modulation between the two for other tones routing to a built-in VCA.

Behringer Surges and Grind

Based on the Mutable Instruments Ripples filter. Multi-mode with individual outputs, 2/4 pole switch and two inputs. CV over cutoff and resonance for $49. Grind is a Crave-style semi-modular version of Plaits (yawn). It does have an analog filter, arp/seq and the bits it needs to be a synth.

Korg Multi/Poly

Digital Raspberry Pi-based evolutions of the Mono/Poly include models of filters, envelopes, and portamentos from all sorts of other synths. It looks like the Modwave at first, but Korg says the Multi/Poly is different because it has dual filters, more models, higher sound quality, virtual voice cards, audio rate modulation, a much better keyboard, four layers and of course, four oscillators. Up to 60-note polyphony, with virtual analogue, wavetables and waveshaping synthesis heading into a dual filter with loads of modulation the Kaos engine and 3 effects, all for under a grand.

Elektron Digitone II

Yep, looks the same, is it the same? It’s a development on the FM groovebox with additional machines, filters and Euclidean rhythms. You now have 16 tracks rather than four to split between percussion or voices. Along with the original FM engine, you get a 2-oscillator synth, Supersaw and FM Drum. More filters and effects and takes on the sequencer from the Digitakt II.

2HP Swarm and Lo-Fi

They had a bit of a break and are now back with extraordinary things in tiny factors. Swarm offers up to 88 oscillators in a supersaw or 55 in a pulse wave in a detunable haze of gooeiness. Lo-Fi offers an analogue tape crap mode or digital glitch crap mode for making things sound deliciously bad.

Donner L1 – It’s an SH-101 with a detachable keyboard. Donner have proven themselves to be pretty good at decent sound, reskinned analogue synths with modern interfaces and features. I reviewed the B1 and quite liked it. No patch saving but it is all analogue and no FM like the MS-1.

Erica Synths Perkons Voice and BBD

Erica takes a voice out of the Perkons drum machine and slaps it into Eurorack. It’s a digital engine with 3 drum algorithms that then routes through an analogue filter and overdrive. You can save patches and modulation between them. The BBD, according to Girts is the most fabulously designed bucket brigade delay he’s ever seen. Designed by Moritz Klein and part of the MKI EDU DIY series – i have one and i’ll be building it very soon.

Isobar Plexus

Mighty voltage manipulator, with one input going to 9 outputs, grouped in three channels of three. It can offset and attenuate but the basic idea is that it gives you multiple variations and inversions from a single input into multiple destinations.

  • Official Page – https://www.etsy.com/shop/IsobarIndustries

AtoVproject lx-euclid

Looks amazing for a 4-channel trigger sequencer with two touch-sensitive rings around the central screen. It’s all real-time, on-the-fly, tactile and exciting. You can dial in Euclidean rhythms, of course, but then you can add probability and weird exponential algorithms for evolving beats and variations. Fantastic.

Feedback JP8 and VCZIII filters

A killer jupiter low pass filter with 2 and 4 pole outputs and a highpass. And a similar idea but based on the VCS3 which brings all the temperamental fabulousness.

Joranalogue Hainbach Collide 4

It’s a quadrature spectral computer or a “lock-in” amplifier for Eurorack. It’s about harnessing old atomic test gear to generate interesting sounds in the fabulous way that Hainbach does. So he’s essentially boiled down a wall of weird gear into a fascinatingly designed module that lets you explore strange sounds.

Future Sound Systems Cric

3-oscillator analogue synth which uses the mysterious recombination method of making oscillators dance to extract interesting tones. It has a weird 3-pole filter and a wavefolder and all sorts of modulation. But the big feature is, of course, the bloody great bit pin matrix. This will let you route everything to everything in a very Putney VCS3 kind of way. It’s not the prettiest thing, but it will push you in different and thoughtful directions.

  • Official Page – https://www.futuresoundsystems.co.uk/returncric.html

Dreadbox NYX and Black panels for Chromatic modules

NYX is a dual filter synth that lends itself to analogue meanderings, with two oscillators and a big reverb. It’s in the style of the recently revived Erebus and Hades and comes in a simple kit form.

Cherry Audio Atomika

Polivoks emulation that pulls out 16 voices and gives everything a good tweak while serving up that classic unruly sound.

Arturia Synthx V

Virtual interpretation of the classic Elka Synthex synthesizer. 2 layers of polyphonic analogue tones. 2 oscillators per payer, multimode filter and all the usual modulation. Arturia has been put in an advanced section with effects, but also interesting arpeggiation and sequencing options, extra modulation, and functions.

ROLI Airwave

Ridiculous and yet somehow groundbreaking, like the invention of the piano itself, ROLI wants us to wave our hands about to grab a tiny bit more expression and make our sounds wobble, which is getting in the way of the thing we’re playing. I used to have a lot of time for ROLI but they haven’t really innovated in about 10 years.

Ableton Move

4-track groove box with drum kits, sampler or synths sounds that uses the 4×8 pads for sequencing and playing. Built in mic for sampling, effects. Looks great, very clean and intuitive – more so than an Elektron or Liven box – good size.

  • Official Page – https://www.ableton.com/en/shop/move

Nudlhed Noodle Rider

It’s like a melotron for Eurorack. It uses the 4-tracks of a cassette as an instrument voice. They all play at once, obviously, but you can treat them differently. At a basic level, it’s just a tape player, but with the sidecar module, you can gate the tracks and throw over envelopes and stuff. MIDI or CV control – wonderful madness.

TreModular Alisa VCF

Transistor-based filter inspired by Alisa 1387 soviet synthesizer, with built-in distortion. Cool buttons for routing through the distortion circuit. Nice and gritty.

Expert Sleepers Disting NT

Big screen, more ins and outs and built on a new more powerful platform. It’s a complete rebuild rather than an evolution of the previous versions although, of course, it’s the same sort of idea of giving you countless audio and CV manipulation and generation abilities. As i understand it the NT breaks everything down into functions so that you can combine different functions to do the thing you want it to do. What can it do? Nobody knows but digging around the 202-page manual I was able to find out that it can do envelopes, audio recording, sampling, sample playing and multisample instruments, looping, effects, clocks, granular, oscillators, Plaits, polyphonic FM, poly synth, quantize, slew, sequence, arpeggiate, generate chords and be any CV utility you like – just to name a few.

Error Instruments Dark Marie

Nuff said.