Yamaha’s Amazing One-Off Control Surfaces, PROTEAN, PPG: Synth Journal
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Yamaha’s Amazing One-Off Control Surfaces, PROTEAN, PPG: Synth Journal · Source: Rob Puricelli / GEARNEWS
Have you recovered from Superbooth yet? Then check out this week’s Synth Journal with Yamaha’s totally bonkers one-off control surfaces, a fascinating software synth based on fluid dynamics, and the gorgeous sound of analog PPG synths.
Synth Journal
Yamaha’s Totally Bonkers One-Off Control Surfaces
Anyone who walked into the Yamaha booth at Superbooth last week was in for a surprise! Towering high above the display of Yamaha’s current line-up of synths like the Montage M, MODX+, and reface series was a stunning exhibit that didn’t look like anything Yamaha would make.
The fascinating one-off build was created to commemorate Yamaha’s 50th anniversary as a synth maker. It’s a hand-built control surface for the AN-X (virtual analog) and FM-X engines of the Montage M, putting all the controls of these powerful digital engines at your fingertips. All of a sudden, the modern workstation becomes a fully tweakable powerhouse of a synth.
While I can imagine that there are quite a few Montage owners out there who would love such a thing, this creation sadly won’t be headed to production anytime soon. But it surely turned a lot of heads!
Oh, and there was another anniversary! Celebrating 10 years of reface, Yamaha also showed a new and improved version of the equally wacky reface robot originally designed in 2017 by developer Yuji Yamada and anno lab. Just in case you can’t be bothered to operate the controls of your synth yourself, you can always let the reface robot move the sliders for you! The reface robot also offers additional modulation sources for animating the movements. While Yamaha may sometimes be perceived as a manufacturer of powerful but a bit boring workhorse instruments, creations like these remind us that they have some really forward-thinking synth heads on their team! Here’s to another 50 years.
sonicLAB PROTEAN: A Software Synth Unlike Anything Else
If you’re into experimental sound design, hold on to your seat: here’s a software synth unlike anything you’ve seen before.
PROTEAN by sonicLAB uses fluid dynamics and relevant particle forces/interactions to render hundreds of sine waves and organize them into something mesmerizingly unique. The developer calls it a “bridge between sonic art and science”, and I think that pretty much sums it up. Similarly to a physical modeling synth, you can adjust physical parameters such as buoyancy, surface tension, atmospheric pressure and drag, and viscosity. You even get to choose the type of fluid (who knew that gravel could be a fluid?). Then, there are two emitters, each featuring multiple algorithms for emitting sine waves, which interact to create beautiful shapes and sounds.
PROTEAN also seems to feature a modulation engine that lets you take control of what’s going on in the fluid tank using an array of envelopes. I have yet to wrap my head around what exactly it can do, but PROTEAN seems to offer almost limitless possibilities for creative sound design. While I’m not sure how useful it would be in everyday music production, it’s definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for ways to create highly unique sound effects and textures.
sonicLAB PROTEAN is now available for macOS and Windows (VST3/AU) for €139 from the developer’s website.
The PPG 300 Modular System Sounds Gorgeous!
The return of PPG as a hardware manufacturer was another hot topic at Superbooth. Wolfgang Palm teamed up with Cornel Hecht of liquidsky to create a stunning reissue of the incredibly rare PPG 1002– PPG’s last fully analog synth from the late 70s.
Sadly, owning a PPG 1002 will be out of reach for most of us, even with this reissue. With a price tag of €9,999 (about $11,200), it’ll be almost as unattainable as an original unit from the 70s.
Today, PPG is best known for wavetable synthesis. But this reissue reminded me (and many others) that PPG made some truly marvellous analog synths before moving on to digital in the 80s. Just listen to the sound of the PPG 300 modular system in this video by MOS-LAB – I think it sounds nothing short of gorgeous.
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