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Waldorfs new Synth released
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07-12-2007 11:22pm#1The Waldorf Blofeld (yes yes, bond villian gag etc...) has finally been released and it is absoultely stunning.
24 voice polyphony, 3 OSC VA and wavetable synthesis, 2 multi-mode filters per patch, decent effects etc... (not to mention the best screen ever seen on a synth - White LCD no less).
You can look up the specs yourself, but this thing is incredibly capable. Take one of the more esoteric patches - the replica of the pre-WWII "synthesiser" the novachord - and have a listen (this is BARE blofeld, no outboard FX or compression, just a line in from the synth; if you don't have studio monitors or decent speakers hooked up then don't bother).
http://www.synthmusic.info/mp3s/blovachord.mp3
Not many demo mp3s of it out at the moment, but this is far more exciting synth development then the likes of Korg's RADIAS - especially seeing an almost defunct synth manufcturer back in business.
Priced just under 400 euro - thomann are expecting to be able to ship in a weeks time.
http://www.thomann.de/ie/waldorf_blofeld.htm
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deswalsh wrote:What do you do with it though?
WALDORF BLOFELD WALDORF Blofeld, Desktop-Synthesizer, up to 50 Voices, 16times Multimode, 1000 Sounds, 100 Multi-Programs, 5 Endless Knobs, 5 Buttons, graphical Display, Arpeggiator, Effects, MQ-Sounds usable, Stereo-Out, Headphone-Out, MIDI In, USB 2.0 Connection, Alu-Knobs, external Power Supply
Use a key controller. It's basically the new version of an old Roland Sound Module that uses new technology to make old vintage sounds...errr.... now I'm confused.
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Heh, you hook up a sequencer or keyboard into the MIDI in
The exciting thing about this is asides from the price point, lovely interface and screen, form format and size (and the unbelievable warmth of sound from it) it is one of very few synthesisers (and the sole contemporary synth) to utilise Wavetables along with normal VA Oscs. If you don't know what that means, well... go buy yourself another Cymbal
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Heh, you hook up a sequencer or keyboard into the MIDI in
The exciting thing about this is asides from the price point, lovely interface and screen, form format and size (and the unbelievable warmth of sound from it) it is one of very few synthesisers (and the sole contemporary synth) to utilise Wavetables along with normal VA Oscs. If you don't know what that means, well... go buy yourself another Cymbal
Cymbal?
Seriously though, I havent much of a clue about synths and electronic stuff at all. I couldnt figure out what use the unit was with no keyboard or other visible interface.
So basically this thing makes tones that you can modify to create new 'sounds' (dont want to get into terminology too much here!) for a keyboard?
I have an old Korg X5 that I use to muck about with a long time ago, and there was a certain amount of twiddling about you could do with tone. I guess this new unit is the suoperdeyduper modern version of something like that?0 -
Cymbal?
Seriously though, I havent much of a clue about synths and electronic stuff at all. I couldnt figure out what use the unit was with no keyboard or other visible interface.
So basically this thing makes tones that you can modify to create new 'sounds' (dont want to get into terminology too much here!) for a keyboard?
I have an old Korg X5 that I use to muck about with a long time ago, and there was a certain amount of twiddling about you could do with tone. I guess this new unit is the suoperdeyduper modern version of something like that?
Right...
In the beginning, there was the likes of these - MODULAR synths
Each unit had its own specific function and could be patched in a number of ways (hence all the cords hanging off it). This is known as ANALOG synthesis -Analog synthesisers work by manipulating electrical signals which are perceived as sound when processed by audio amplifiers. These tones are generated by a signal through a series of oscillators and filters in an analog circuit
So as you says it modifies "tones" so you can make new sounds - in that it layers the basic waveforms (Sine wave, Square wave, Triangle, Saw etc...) on top of each other, puts them through LFOs (low frequency oscillators), filters etc... in an attempt to create new sounds.
Then there were these - SEMI-MODULAR synths
Which in essence, are a limited version of the above - with less routing and modulation options as some of the units are hardwired
These kind of synths were generally only 1 voice - i.e. one note at a time. The blofeld digitally emulates these synths, but in a 24 voice configuration (take the first pic and add another 440 units :eek: ) and with more advanced routing and filter options (including advents like an Arpeggiator, onboard FX etc...). This digital emulation of such synthesisers is known as VA synthesis or "Virtual Analog" - i.e. digitially reproducing analog circuits. Of course, a huge amount of the warmth and charm of pure analog gear is lost this way - but improvements in DSP, especially in the filter sections, is bridging this gap.
Now a lot of synths out since the Roland JP-8000 (or whatever the first VA was) have done this job to varying degrees of success and with different features - what makes this different is that, asides from doing the job of a VA synth in a very impressive manner, it also inculdes a form of synthesis called WAVETABLE synthesis. As wikipedia puts itWavetable synthesis is a technique used in certain digital music synthesizers to produce natural tone-like sounds. The sound of an existing instrument (a single note) is sampled and parsed into a sequence of circular tables of samples or wavetables, each having one period or cycle per table. A set of wavetables with user specified harmonic content can also be generated mathematically. Upon playback, these wavetables are used to fetch samples (table-lookup) in the same manner as in a numerically-controlled oscillator to produce a waveform. However, in wavetable synthesis, the output waveform is not normally static and evolves slowly in time as one wavetable is mixed with another, creating a changing waveform. Looping occurs when the wavetable evolution is halted, slowed, or reversed in time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_analog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavetable0 -
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Why does anybody still use hardware synths, let alone get excited about them?
What can this do that I can't with either Reason or Reaktor?
It can't do anything that you couldn't replicate in Reason or Reaktor, but it trumps them in terms of portability, stability, sound/warmth, interface...
I'm afraid its just one of those things - either you get it or you don't.
The best test is to give someone a 909, a 303 and one or two other bits of outboard, then give another person a laptop with Cubase, Reason, Reaktor, Ableton etc... Get them to swap after an hour
Come back in 2 hours and ask them which setup was more intuitive, productive and fun 0 -
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cornbb wrote:Turning a knob with a mouse pointer just doesn't have the same effect.
It's also a wee bit tougher to do live.
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