Video queued to sound.
Finally i’ve got a good idea of what bitmask synthesis is.
I like it ! It’s a bit like the k5000, FFT but the other way round. I remember a Wendy Carlos video from the 80s where she shows this but I’m not sure what synthesizer it was. I think something she built herself.
Not the most important thing, but it looks amazing, reminiscent of the fellow Italian bit99.
Sounds great. I agree with the article that the interface looks unwieldy.
It does sound very nice! I feel as though I have no idea if this is worth their asking price or not haha. fatar keyboard looks lovely.
Not sure how this fits in with the Infini keyboard that Kodamo is also working on. ( thread )
That was to be both in 37 and 61 keys, and did include bit mask synthesis. The interface on that was slightly more complex.
Kodamo also had in development a smaller product called Bitmasker ( thread ), but that may very well have changed into the Mask 1. I don’t know.
1 Like
The article does indicate that the bitmasker is still in the works. This was such a surprise, they’ve been teasing their VFM (changed to infini?) keyboard and the bitmasker for so long, and then this thing suddenly drops.
1 Like
I really like the sound but this seems odd to build into a five-octave board. Still looking forward to the bitmasker.
1 Like
Ops there was a thread, but in short:
- 5-octave weighted Fatar© action with velocity and aftertouch
- 10-voice polyphony with dual Bitmask™ oscillators per voice
- 200+ masks for a wide range of tones
- High quality two pole filter with low, high, band pass and notch modes
- 4-part multitimbral with splits and layers
- Built-in stereo effects
- Built-in looper and arpeggiator
- 120 sound presets and 400 user memory slots
2 Likes
The devil being in the detail. Looks like the possibilities of some tricks, though we need to wait for the full release.
More detailed specs :
| Synthesis type | Bitmask, subtractive |
|---|---|
| Polyphony | 10 dynamically allocated voices |
| Multitimbrality | 4 parts (5 in layered/split mode) |
| Oscillators | Per voice : |
| 2 bitmask with 256 masks each, transpose and detune | |
| 1 noise with programmable sample-and-hold frequency | |
| Filter | 1 per voice, two poles (12dB/oct) state variable, self-resonant with pitch tracking and 4 modes (low, high, band pass, notch) |
| Envelopes | 4 loopable ADSR per voice (osc1, osc2, noise, filter), 3 delta-decay (osc1 mask, osc2 mask, pitch) |
| LFO | 2 per part with 7 waveforms + noise, delay, decay |
| Arpeggiator | 27 patterns with adaptive or fixed chords, latchable, retrig or pitch change modes |
| Looper/Sequencer | up to 10000 events, unlimited duration, single track. Records notes, pitch bend, mod wheel and aftertouch. |
| Effects | Two stereo DSP in series. First offers chorus, phaser, distortion, bitcrusher, tremolo and ring mod (64 types). Second offers delay, comb filter, reverb and room simulations (32 types) |
| Modulations | |
| LFOs : | * Frequency |
| * Volume | |
| * Filter cutoff | |
| * Mask | |
| * Panning | |
| * Osc1 frequency | |
| * Osc1 volume | |
| * Osc1 mask | |
| * Osc2 frequency | |
| * Osc2 volume | |
| * Osc2 mask | |
| * Noise frequency | |
| * Noise volume | |
| * FX1 balance | |
| * FX2 balance | |
| * FX2 preset | |
| Mod wheel & aftertouch : | |
| * Filter cutoff | |
| * LFO1 depth | |
| * LFO1 speed | |
| * LFO2 depth | |
| * LFO2 speed | |
| * Volume | |
| * Mask | |
| * Frequency | |
| * Osc1 volume | |
| * Osc1 mask | |
| * Osc2 volume | |
| * Osc2 mask | |
| * Noise frequency | |
| * Noise volume | |
| * FX1 balance | |
| * FX2 balance | |
| Velocity (3 simultaneous): | |
| * Volume | |
| * Filter cutoff | |
| * Mask | |
| Play modes | |
| * Polyphonic | |
| * Monophonic | |
| * Slurred | |
| * Mono portamento on legato | |
| * Paraphonic | |
| * Hybrid poly-mono on legato | |
| * Slurred paraphonic | |
| * Mono retrigger | |
| Split | Configurable split point, balance between voices, transpose, panning and tuning |
| Layers | Configurable balance between voices, transpose, panning and tuning |
| Misc | Voice pan spread, polyphonic portamento |
| Memory | 200 factory presets, 400 user voices |
| Audio outputs | 2 balanced 1/4" TRS jack (+13dBu max), 1/4" jack headphones |
| MIDI | 2 DIN (in, out), class-compliant USB type B, SysEx voice transmit/receive, 20 CC-mapped parameters |
| Keyboard | 61-keys semi-weighted Fatar action with velocity and aftertouch |
| Keyboard response | 6 velocity curves, 6 aftertouch curves |
| Controls | 23 buttons, 2 rotary encoders, pitch bend wheel (2-12 semitones range), modulation wheel |
| Display | 4-digit 7-segment red display |
| Pedal input | Sustain, 1/4" TS jack, adaptive polarity |
| Tuning | 400-470Hz. Equal-tempered, arabic quartertones and just intonation |
| Size | 89 x 26 x 8cm including knobs and feet. Package : 100 x 35 x 25cm |
| Weight | 7.5 Kg |
| Power | 12v DC |
| Accessories | Power supply, printed user manual, cable hook, spare keycap, spare rotary encoder |
*Specifications are subject to change until the product is released
( Reference )
According to the Kodamo website — Coming March 2023 !
1 Like
Is Slurred Play Mode something like Glide, or is something else going on with this.
It might just come down to a language translation issue, but Kodamo is obviously innovating with Mask 1, hence i wonder.
ADDED : With the refinements and abilities of the Mask 1, you’ve got to believe there is a computer interface for this. A four digit display won’t work, for things like setting up the modulations, looper, sequencer, etc, even with all the keys printed on the case, would it ?
the preset list on the unit 
Sounds good. I wonder what kind of mask those bits are wearing?
2 Likes
I NEED this synth. I may be giving up some of the precious little studio space that I have for this little guy. The tones that I’ve heard are EXACTLY what I love about digital synthesis, and the expressivity is so cool. This is making the sorts of sounds that I spend a lot of time making with other digital synths whether they’re wavetable, or some other type with some bit-crushing, or doing through chip-tune oriented software. This just spills out the exact timbres that I love in a wonderfully articulated form. Now I have to impatiently wait until these are available. 
3 Likes
Venetian no doubt. (to hide their decadence…)
On a more serious note, I could be wrong, but it appears to be a phase accumulator style of synthesis like the SID and DOC chips (C64 / ESQ1 / SQ80 etc.) This uses a ramp wave (or counter) and a lookup table of wave data (I’m guessing the table is called the mask, over the saw/counter). So basically like a wavetable synth, but slightly different implementation than something like a Waldorf or PPG. The synthesis sounds somewhat similar to this type of synth, and really has a nice quality to it. It may employ other things as well. I read something that led me to believe that it could also do other operations on the wave shapes, so who knows. Really excited to get one of these. Love the way it sounds!
Any news on the Bitmasker?
1 Like
Yeah it does sound really nice. I don’t know for sure if that’s the care put into sound design, or if there is something inherent to the Bit Mask Synthesis method. Likely a bit of both but i think there is something to the overtones and harmonic richness that come with making all waveforms from small bits of sine waves. Nothing is perfectly flat or straight in a sine wave.
I am also finding the modes they have for the keyboard interface to the voices interesting. First obviously is the multi-timbrality. But each voice ( as i understand it ) has a play mode on the keyboard.
Kodamo Mask 1 Voice Keyboard Modes ( From the manual ) :
The play mode for a voice. Using these modes is a great way to add expressiveness to your
sounds.
- POLY: Polyphonic, with poly portamento. Polyphonic and slurred modes never reset the envelopes to allow for nice variations during playing. However, this can be an undesirable behavior for filter sweeps with long release times, as a new note may start with the filter already opened. In which case, use the poly retrig mode (for individual note resets) or one of the paraphonic modes (first note reset).
- MONO: Monophonic. Envelopes aren’t retriggered. Portamento is always applied. Last note priority.
- SLUR: Neighbour notes (1 or 2 semitones apart) that are played legato are slurred (pitch-shifted) rather than retriggered. Only slurred notes get portamento.
- MONO PORTA: Mono with portamento on legato.
- PARA: Paraphonic. Envelopes from the first note played are reset and used for all the subsequent held notes. This applies only to ADSR envelopes (osc1, osc2, noise, filter). Portamento is applied if more than one note is pressed.
- MOLY: Hybrid poly-mono mode. Note releases are allowed to overlap (polyphony) unless you play legato. Portamento applied on legato.
- PARA SLUR: combination of the Paraphonic and Slurred modes.
- MONO RETRIG: Monophonic. Envelopes are always retriggered. Portamento applied on legato.
- POLY RETRIG: Polyphonic with poly portamento, envelopes are always retriggered.
1 Like
Not sure why people think this is ugly and every time I see the name I am reminded of the best action figures of all time M.A.S.K. The cartoon kinda sucked tho.
2 Likes