Synthesizers

Long awaited and much anticipated, Novation's digitally-modelled analogue synth module is the company's most ambitionus offering yet.

Do you ever wonder who's responsible for the waveforms and sound patches in your favourite synth? If it's a Korg keyboard, then the answer might be Steve McNally, one of the team of sound developers.

Last month, Paul Wiffen looked at how virtual synthesis can emulate analogue synths whilst going beyond their hardware-based limitation. Now he looks at its applications for imitating and exceeding older instruments such as electric piano and organ.

Analogue modular synths in the late '90s are something like the old bus joke — none for ages, then loads all at once. Chris Carter catches the latest arrival.

Physical Modelling and Virtual Synthesis have been buzzwords for several years now, especially when it comes to imitating analogue synthesis. But what are their advantages and disadvantages, and how do they work? Paul Wiffen explains.

A synth company that produced as many classic and well-loved instruments as did Moog Music is surely allowed the odd turkey! Gordon Reid waxes critical over one of them.

Once upon a time, all synths were like this — discrete analogue sound-generating and sound processing modules, connected in any configuration the synthesist cared to dream up. If you like that idea, Analogue Systems are providing a new alternative to expensive antique systems. Chris Carter does the time warp again...

A quality acoustic piano sound in a 1U rack-mounting package? Paul Ward lifts the lid to see if there are any strings attached...

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.