I wish it was a rectangle and the size of the ableton move, maybe a little smaller
I know… buzz kill
Specs now available:
Features & Specifications
Voices
- 5x analog oscillators with waveshaping
- 3 timbre modes: suboctaves + noise, frequency modulation, formant synthesis
- 5x lowpass/gates: 3 modes (amp+filter, filter, resonant filter)
- Spectre — resonant tone shaper
- 3x analog bandpass filters
- 2x BBD delays in feedback loop
- embedded sequencer
- Variable highpass filter (6dB)
Gesture Recording
- 5x recorders
- multiple parameters per recording
- record any interaction
- optionally quantize length and playback start/stop
- step-wise or continuous playback
- open ended recording duration
- timing can be linked between recorders
- variable playback rate (via Clock speed)
Modulation
- map any modulation source to any parameter
- mappings have continuous depth & polarity
- no limit on number of mappings
** Clock: continuous time or tap-tempo (with musical division/multiplication) -
- LFO: polyphonic, 11 default shapes, phase-offset between voices
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- Contour: polyphonic envelope, loopable, timing of individual voices can be stretched
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- 6x additional sources, generated from synthesizer state
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- external sources from MIDI and CV input
Patch storage
- external sources from MIDI and CV input
- 5x onboard patch slots
- instant recallability
- patch management with software companion
Hardware
- MIDI in (3.5mm), accepts type A and B
- MIDI out (3.5mm), type A
- 3x CV inputs (3.5mm, +/-5V range, protected to +/-12V)
- stereo output (3.5mm)
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- dual mono (left/right)
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- headphones / stereo TRS (left)
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- mono mix (right)
- USB-C power: 5V, 3A
- USB-A host: connect MIDI or serial devices (keyboards, controllers). provides up to 900mA power
- USB-C device: MIDI & serial (DAWs & other software)
Physical
- polycarbonate & aluminium enclosure
- mechanical keyswitches
- capactive multi-touch plates
- 11.25” x 8.75” x 1 7/8”, 2lb 5oz
- 286 x 222 x 48 mm, 1.06kg
- 3 year warranty
9 Likes
Whoa. Bold design, for sure. Looks like something out of a dream I had. Seriously. Except in my dream, the musical instrument was much larger - it was an alien craft I could crawl around in, like some bizarre musical playground equipment.
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As a modular person who is a fan of what Whimsical Raps does in the eurorack space, I have to say this feature set seems quite good and I think the price is fair for a boutique instrument like this. I will be considering this.
This may be shallow, but I always find a single 3.5mm stereo output on any piece of gear costing >$750 to be disappointing.
If you’re asking pro level prices, at least provide pro level I/O.
I’m looking at you too TE!
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Oh buddy. I wish I could give this comment more hearts.
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I don’t really mind the 1992 KB Toys holiday season clearance bin appearance.
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mama mia this looks delicious
anytime a mfg explores different components/schemes it makes me smile
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More detailed demo video covering gestures:
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Launch party;
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Most interesting gear I’ve seen in awhile.
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Lots of fun possibilities!
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Really excited for Atrium. The gestural controls seem great, especially since they can all be recorded. I’ve been messing with recorded gestural control in eurorack, so I’m really stoked to see this concept built into a standalone synthesizer. I know Nina/Delia can record knob movements, but it seems that that is tied in with the sequencer whereas the recorders on Atrium are a bit more freeform.
Beyond how great it looks as a playable instrument, the sound intrigues me as well. I love Mangrove and Three Sisters and I hear a little bit of them in the demos so far. It seems very much like its own thing though. I’m really curious if Atrium can be used as a controller for other synths.
Shipping for the first batch was delayed until Dec 8th-19th.
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Atrium arrives tomorrow. Hype.
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First impressions:
- Atrium is very fun/intuitive to play. Strumming/fingerpicking/articulating the strum touch plate is rad
- The oscillators sound great, very clean/warm to my ears. Can definitely hear Mangrove in there, though I’d say it’s a little tamer
- Gesture recording is fantastic. Can only record knobs and sliders atm, but is only temporary apparently
- Spectre is also neat. Most definitely hear Three Sisters when engaged. The BBD delay definitely has some sweet spots - I like the noise, but there is noticeable clock whine at longer delay times (the max is ~0.8s) and certain filter settings. I think this is going to be better suited as a tone shaper/resonator rather than a full fledged delay
- Note entry/choosing is going to take some time to learn. Like a guitar/fretted instrumented, note entry and amplitude events aren’t inherently tied together. This will require some practice and learning on how to best approach
- Hooking up a MIDI keyboard allows one to play it like a standard polysynth, with note entry and amplitude events tied together - the oscillators will hold the last selected MIDI notes as well, so you can get creative with playing the keyboard and using the onboard amplitude articulation/gestures
- Mapping is very easy. Even with only 1x LFO (which is polyphonic), there are a lot of other modulation options. Mapping MIDI CCs was also easy. Haven’t tried external CV yet, but the process is similar
- Build quality is great. It looks and feels very solid
29 Likes
How is it entering chords in the sequencer? Do you feel like there is enough breadth of synthesis compared to other west coast synths like the music easel?
I’m still figuring out the various methods for entering/creating chords and choosing notes. At top level, creating chords is done through a combination of using the notes slider, spreading the notes with the chord + notes slider combination, and using the voicing touch plate. It can be a little tricky if you want a certain chord. Once you have a chord you like, you can save and recall it (it can save up to 5 different chords), but you can’t sequence the recalls currently. Sequencing notes/chords at this top level involves modulating the notes slider or the voicing touch plate. You can sequence through different scales however. There might be a way to sequence specific chords this way, but I haven’t tried it yet. You can also get creative with the drone function to sequence chords - this would be the best way to sequence chords with less than 5 voices.
Using the scale editor allows you to select the specific note for each voice and this where you can sequence through each note individually (like an arp essentially).
I can’t say I’m familiar enough with the Easel to make a comparison. It’s capable of most bread and butter subtractive waveshapes. The FM and formant modes are capable of pushing beyond those quite a fair bit. I feel like it has a good breadth of synthesis, but it’s not going to be the deepest for sound design either. It’s only 3 controls for shaping the oscillators, but there’s a good amount of range.
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Thanks for the explanations !
I’m waiting for one to be delivered, can’t wait.
Thanks for the info!! If you find a way to just sequence more then one note in a step, let me know. It sounds really awesome.
The box reminds me of a 2000s motherboard packaging for some reason >.<
6 Likes