We all like multiple voices; the pads, the stabs and the textures as tones and timbres cascade and interweave. Which polyphonic synthesizers that went on sale in 2019 are your favourites?
Eurorack modular continues to generate interesting pathways into sound and synthesis and is becoming more accessible all the time. Here's our choice of modules that stood out this year.
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Boss has just unveiled its most powerful guitar and bass synthesizer system to date, the SY-1000. Yup, it packs in a lot of features and has an epic-looking blue frame. But is it simply too expensive?
Amidst all the Black Friday madness, here's our collection of this week's free plug-ins! We've got a synth with some cool rhythmic features, a graphic equalizer and an Upright Piano VSTi.
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Arturia has released a major update to their flagship synthesizer the MatrixBrute. It tackles many of the requests and bugs and improves the modulation engine, sequencer and preset management.
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Sampleson has released a one-button polyphonic synthesizer called Push. It will create a new patch every time you hit the button - it doesn't get much simpler than that and it's completely free.
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Orba is a synthesizer, a looper and a MIDI controller in a grapefruit inspired widget that you can tap, stroke and wave about to make instantly awesome music and beats - it's the band in your hand.
Analogue Solutions has released an all-new Vostok. Taking the best bits from the V2 and V3 the Vostok 2020 brings the pin matrix back in a serious-looking, upright analogue power-synth.
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The Model D Warp Drive tease was ambiguous enough to make you think it could mean all sorts of things. But the latest tease video makes it clear than the Model D Warp Drive is all about polyphony.
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The Argon8 derives much of its heritage and DNA from the Modal 002 hybrid synthesizer and brings that benchmark wavetable sound into a more compact and price-conscious space. Updated video and pricing
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After a bit of a tease and a retailer leak, we now have an official announcement from Behringer about their WASP Deluxe clone in the form of a video and sound demonstration. And yep, it sounds waspy.
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Sugar Audio has packed everything they could think of into this dual wavetable synthesizer. It has wavetable editing, all sorts of modulation goodness and more flexibility than you could ever need.
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A hilarious tease from Behringer suggests the Model D may have a "Warp Drive" button. If this just for fun or are they hinting at some sort of Model D related upgrade or evolution?
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Otem Rellik has been selling his boutique synths under the lovely name of Rain Day Electronics. His latest invention is the Cirrus FM Touch Synth but he only made 4 and they've all gone already.
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Expressive E is hoping to change the game with an elegant looking synthesizer instrument that offers an unparalleled playing experience where every note can express itself in three dimensions.
Sweetwater appears to have decided that the Behringer tease of a potential Wasp synthesizer was the trigger to release all the details, specs and images and to start taking preorders for $298.
