Pittsburgh Modular have announced the upcoming launch of the long-awaited follow-up to their popular Voltage Research Laboratory instrument. As with its predecessor, Voltage Lab 2 is a standalone dual-oscillator analogue synth, but comes equipped with some interesting new innovations that the company say will provide countless hours of musical exploration.
Oscillators
The instrument employs a pair of Pittsburgh Modular’s Laboratory Oscillators, each of which are kitted out with a set of unique waveshaping functions that have been designed to expand the sonic potential of analogue synthesis. Oscillator 1’s Centre Clipping function, for example, provides independent control over the top and bottom of a waveform, processing from the centre outwards rather than the conventional method of working inwards from the waveform’s peaks.
Oscillator 2 then boasts Pulse Symmetry, a tool that adds steps between the top and bottom of pulse waves to create waveforms that look much like a set of stairs, with control over the depth of the centre step as well as the overall pulse width. Wave Reflection then applies the shape of a wave’s bottom half to its top half, creating a number of different effects depending on the source wave — a saw wave will be morphed into a triangle, for example, while a sine wave loses its fundamental harmonic and jumps up an octave in pitch.
Dynamics Controller & Effects
In keeping with the company’s forward-thinking approach, Voltage Lab 2 features newly developed Dynamics technology that makes it possible to simultaneously manipulate both amplitude and harmonic content by utilising advancements in the designs of low-pass gates. In practice, it means that sounds shed harmonic content as their volume decreases, something which is said to result in the instrument sounding more complex than alternative designs.
Pittsburgh Modular’s Touch Controller 2 then provides a pair of independent channels that offer a combination of real-time expressive performance and in-depth sequencing capabilities. As well as creating sounds directly with the hands-on controls, users can assign scales, step conditions, jumps, generative sequencing and chance effects.
There’s also a pair of built-in analogue effects in the form of Florist and Echoes. The former is a flanger/chorus hybrid that offers short time shifts and boasts a highly controlled feedback system that leaves plenty of room for ringing effects before being pushed into self-oscillation, while the latter houses a darker-sounding delay with a similarly robust feedback system.
Modular Tools
Voltage Lab 2 comes equipped with a variety of analogue and digital modular capabilities, with the likes of mixer, function generator, noise, sample and hold and LFO sections joined by external MIDI connectivity, an onboard arpeggiator and a chance sequencer.
Pricing & Availability
The Voltage Lab 2 is available to order now, priced at $1999.99. Shipping is expected to commence in June 2024.
