British electronic instrument manufacturer Modulus have announced the availability of the Modulus 002, the first analogue/digital hybrid polysynth to have been designed, developed, and manufactured in the UK for over 20 years. The instrument is the baby of principal designer Paul Maddox who is best known within the synth industry for his well-received MonoWave, a MIDI-controllable monosynth inspired by Germany’s legendary PPG Wave series, and the VacoLoco range of ‘pocket synth’ designs.
The Modulus 002 has 12 voices of polyphony and fully supports multitimbrality. Each voice is served by four oscillators, two of which can produce over 50 waveforms while the other two are sub-oscillators that can be switched from square wave to having the same waveform as the main oscillators.
The filter inside the Modulus 002 is a 24dB/octave four-pole transistor ladder filter that has the unusual ability to morph between four-pole (24dB/octave) and one-pole (6dB/octave) modes. The Modulus 002 is also well specified when it comes to modulation, with a per-voice LFO as well as an extra global LFO that's freely assignable. Real-time control is offered via the XY joystick and expression pedal inputs allowing any control parameter to be assigned to any joystick axis (X+, X-, Y+, Y-) by pressing the dedicated front panel selector button.
One of the jewels in the crown might be the MIDI-sync-able, 16-track, 12-row, 32-step sequencer. With 16 front-panel step-time editing controls it gives any hardware rivals a serious run for their money. Sequences can not only be transposed dynamically while running but also sophisticated ‘mini arpeggiator sequences’ can created using the arpeggiator’s Hold mode which can then be quickly saved as sequences for latter recall and editing using the sequencer. Moreover, the Modulus 002's Animator allows any control to be sequenced, enabling complex filter transitions, waveform changes, and modulation matrix changes to be sequenced. On top of all that, 12 ‘quick recall banks’ are accessible directly from dedicated front panel buttons, making it rather an attractive prospect for performance duties.
The Modulus 002 features balanced/unbalanced XLR/TRS outputs, along with individual outputs for each of the synth's 12 voices, and for processing external audio, there are audio two inputs that feed in at the filter section.
The new Modulus 002 retains all of the more familiar controls you'd expect and supplements them with a 4.3-inch screen that is context-sensitive, reacting to whichever control knob you're using. The screen allows control over more than just the sonic parameters of the synth, though. Eagle-eyed readers will see the message icon on the display — undoubtedly a part of the new Modulus.cloud system for internet-based updates. An Ethernet port means the Modulus 002 can be connected to a network enabling updates via the Internet (no more MIDI SysEx dumps!) and access to Modulus.cloud means user profile settings, sound patches, sequences, and other content can be easily replicated to a cloud-based server platform. This would be particularly useful for rapid resynchronisation to another Modulus 002, regardless of whether it is owned by the same user or a collaborator on the other side of the world.
So how much does it cost? Well, yeah, about that… It's £2995 in the UK, €3795 in Europe and $5200 in the US, and that's before you factor in VAT or local sales tax. If, however, your wallet is big enough, you should be able to get your hands on one in August.
For sales enquiries email: sales@modulusmusic.co.uk
And in the US: geoff@modulusmusic.co.uk
