Synthesizers

Paul Wiffen continues to examine transitional synthesis, covering the Wave Sequencing facility, first introduced on the innovative Korg Wavestation, and concluding with Emu's Z-plane technique, which may be regarded as bridging the gap between S&S and today's physical modelling.

Simon Trask previews the Supernova, Novation's most ambitious synthesizer module to date.

Offering more multitimbrality than its virtual analogue rivals, plus a combination of knobs for instant gratification and an LCD for accessing more advanced features, will the Virus leave the competition feeling a little sick? Paul Nagle finds out.

Paul White talks to one of the seminal figures of the electronic music era, pioneering synthesizer designer Bob Moog.

Paul Nagle concludes his look at Clavia's groundbreaking new Nord Modular.

It was 1973 and everyone was playing Minimoogs, and ARP Odysseys. So why did the Keio ORGan company produce a little synthesizer with the most unorthodox controls imaginable, call it the MiniKORG 700, and try to convince the keyboard cognoscenti that it was worth buying? Gordon Reid explains...

Clavia's latest product is something else; an affordable modular hardware synth whose selection of modules and signal routing is user-definable in software, offering the synthesist staggering scope for sound design. In the first of this two-part review, Paul Nagle cross-modulates his joy input with Rapture envelope and goes into self-oscillating ecstasy...

Between the extremes of the broad brushstrokes of subtractive synthesis and the painstaking detail of additive, there have existed many hybrid styles of synthesis combining the speed of the former with the precision of the latter. Paul Wiffen traces the development of this middle ground through its successes and heroic failures.

Roland's Jupiter family yielded one or two shining examples of what an analogue polysynth should be.

If you'd love a modular synth, but couldn't possibly afford a real one, it's possible that virtual salvation is at hand.

Korg's new module makes the synthesis technology of their flagship Trinity workstation range more affordable — but at what cost?

Writer and electronic musician Paul Nagle successfully combines a day job with live performance and regular CD releases. Paul White zooms up the M6 and comes in for a landing at his well-stocked studio.

The ball of S&S synthesis had been thrown, and most of the big names in synthesis caught it and ran with it, scoring some notable goals in the process. Paul Wiffen continues his chronicle of modern synthesis with a look at the state of play from the late '80s to the present day.

Not all analogue classics have keys. The Xpander was an early module that packed in more features than its moderate size would lead you to expect, and left a legacy still discernible in modern synth design.

Anyone in any doubt as to the popularity of Depeche Mode should see this man's studio. Alan Wilder, formerly the programming powerhouse of the group, and now striking out on his own, has poured the profits of his years with the Mode into this astonishing home setup. Here he talks about the studio, his new album, and his days with Depeche.

Paul White finds a few ways around the restricted breath-control facilities of the Yamaha VL70m.