Looks like Matt Jackson the guy who did the Craft Synth series for Modal, has a new digital synth for them the Skulpt.
It looks very versatile, and very portable (runs on batteries) and sounds great. Sequencer included. 32 oscillators, 4 voices. I suppose comparisons can be made to Teenage Engineering. It is launching on Kickstarter in a week July 13th – so a price break for the early backers; though i expect it to be pretty reasonable in price anyways.
It also seems like if this is a series like the Craft synths, it may have version larger with real keys someday, though that’s absolute speculation. I will be watching this one.
ADDED: Price according to Synthtopia will be under $300!
Looks amazing. With my software-hardware hybrid workflow these days, the fact that it ships with a software editor (VST, not just standalone, i hope?) makes me very happy.
looks pretty fun… I wonder if the 8 oscillators pervoice can all be set and tuned differently or if that is a way of them saying “hey, it has supersaw type waveforms”?
I interpreted this as 8 “real” voices, they can probably be detuned to each other. If it’s just a supersaw it would a false advertisement. I mean it’s digital and has morphable waveforms (maybe those are just simple wavetables), i’m Sure it’s pretty easy to create a supersaw with a digital synth.
EDIT: Just saw it has a waveshaper, maybe a internal one calculates the waveshapes.
8 oscillators per voice with 2 selectable morphable waveforms
Mixer stage for osc levels along with FM, PWM, tuning and Ring Modulation options
Monophonic, Duophonic and Polyphonic modes available
Multi option Unison / spread to detune the 32 oscillators for a huge sound
8 slot modulation matrix with 8 sources and 37 destinations
3 x envelope generators for Filter, Amplitude and Modulation
2 x audio rate LFOs, one global and one polyphonic
Realtime sequencer that will record up to 128 notes and up to 4 parameters.
Fully featured arpeggiator with division, direction, octave, swing and sustain controls.
Resonant filter that can be morphed from low pass, through band pass, to high pass
Delay and distortion (wavehsaping overdrive, not bitcrushing) effects
Optional MIDI clock sync for LFOs and Delay
128 patch and 64 sequence storage locations
16 key touch MIDI keyboard
MIDI DIN In and Out – Analogue clock sync In and Out connections
Class compliant MIDI provided over USB connection to host computer or tablet
Headphone and line output
Power by USB or 6 x AA batteries
Optional software editor available for MacOS, Windows, IOS and Android
Portable and compact design
I find it interesting that there are only 4 voices polyphony but 32 oscillators. My first thought was, it’s the same concept as the upcoming Valkyrie. I’m sure it makes phat sounds. I like the fact that it can record up to 128 steps!
It has a fizzy charm to its sound that I like a lot and good stereo imaging in my headphones. Man I kinda hope they make a drum and sampling version of this…
Looking into it more - it’s not multitimbral; MPE support is not mentioned; and the editor appears to be standalone, not a plugin. Those are three things that I consider crucial to having a good desktop polyphonic synth, so I might have to pass.
I completely expect a series of this the way Modal had a family of Craft Synths. The Craft Synths were rough around the edges, this a little more finished, but still affordable. A lot depends on the sort of demand Modal gets from Kickstarter.
As for likes and dislikes, changes etc, this is still under development, and comments and change are part of the way Kickstarter works. For instance it shouldn’t be too hard to have a version of the editor/computer interface a plug-in if that is in demand. Modal for instance added an Android interface to the Craft Synth along the way.
About Modal
Modal Electronics has been interesting to watch – the super high end synths to start out with. Then a move into Eurorack – that they cancelled – along with rumored financial issues. Then hiring Matt Jackson, who brought the mostly completed Craft Synth with him, that was way to the bottom of the marketplace – sub-Volca in cost. And now the Skulpt, likely also engineered by Jackson, which is to the lower middle of the market.
I would have thought there was room in the middle, and we may still see this, Modal has been innovative to now.
