Indoor Blip: Light & Dark

More unconventional in large

I blipped Im's Synthmas synth on Sunday, and this is my Synthmas synth... Mine is a very peculiar analogue/digital hybrid produced in a collaboration between Polyend (digital sequencer wizards) and Dreadbox (analog synthesiser maestros), and it certainly is unlike any of my other instruments. I like the fact that (in these dark times) it is a celebration of international collaboration, Polyend being a small young company in Masuria, Poland, and Dreadbox being based in Athens, Greece.

The Medusa's synth engine features 3 analogue oscillators, 3 digital oscillators, and a variable colour noise generator all running through a multimode analogue filter, and modulated by 5 envelopes and 5 LFOs. Its analogue side is capable of exponential FM synthesis (oscillator 3 to oscillators 1&2 or to the filter), and the digital oscillators can scan wavetables for a wider range of timbres and harmonically rich sounds.
The strangeness continues in that it is not controlled by a built in keyboard, but by an 8x8 grid of velocity-sensitive pads that each respond to contact in X-, Y-, and Z-axes (position on pad and pressure), so it can be very expressive. It can control my other synths too, unlocking previously untapped expressive potential in them... Any synth parameter can also be modulated by the 64-step sequencer, which is modulation madness, and means each note in a phrase can have a different voice (subtly or wildly).

I'm just starting to get to know it, but have so far most enjoyed setting it droning and exploring its vocal range as I slowly shift notes or chords. It can be monophonic (with up to 6 oscillators making up its voice), 3 note paraphonic (with an analogue and digital oscillator per note), or 6 note paraphonic (with a single oscillator per note).

Now I just need to get it wired into the larger setup (waiting on one replacement interface...), and work out how to share (or rather brave sharing) some of the weirdness.

Other angles here (or right from Oscillators and grid)