Isla Electronics is making a virtual Alesis Andromeda A6 for Caladan and wants to do a VST version too. That plus an ASR-10 hardware recreation and so much more in this week’s Synth Journal.
Synth Journal
Isla Electronics ASICS Is the Alesis Andromeda A6 Reborn
The Alesis Andromeda A6 is one of those synthesizers that didn’t get the love it deserved upon release. Released in the year 2000 at a time when analog was on very few people’s synthesizer wishlists, the 16-voice, 16-part multitimbral dual VCO machine suffered from not only bad timing but a company going through restructuring, resulting in it never getting the attention it should have. If ever there was a modern classic deserving of a solid software emulation, it’s the Andromeda A6.
Enter Isla Electronics. The company behind the S2400 is working on a virtual version of the Andromeda A6 for its Caladan expandable synthesizer, and is also hinting at making it available as a VST/AU plugin. They’re promising full SysEx compatibility with the original machine. It will also be able to act as a remote controller for the real hardware. You can try the plugin now as a web demo on the Isla Electronics website with your own MIDI controller. Go here. You have to be a registered user to try and there’s a 45-minute time limit.
If you can’t wait, or prefer sample-based instruments, Air Music has just released Fabric Vintage Andromeda, a plugin and MPC-ready version of the instrument. It’s also available as part of the Fabric Vintage Synths Vol. 2, which also features Yamaha CS-80 and Oberheim Matrix-12 recreations.
OAK Sampler OAK-S37
Software emulations that run the original instrument’s operating system are getting more and more common. The incredible work of the Usual Suspects is just one example. But this may be the first that I’ve seen of a hardware emulation that relies on the customer sourcing the OS and firmware.
This is OAK-S37, a 16-bit sampling workstation from company OAK Sampler that “faithfully recreates the ASR-10 sound, effects, filters, and workflow.” Ensoniq’s classic sampler is beloved among hip-hop producers and beatmakers so it’s great to see it being reborn. It’s also cool to see a new keyboard sampler and not just an MPC-style pad machine. I started out with a Roland S-50 in the 1980s, so for me, a samplers with keys feel like home.
OAK-S37 features 16-bit stereo sampling at 30/44.1kHz, 16 MB of sampler memory, 31-voice polyphony, and everything else you expect from an ASR-10 machine, including the 50 factory effects, two filters, and sequencer – as provided by the original OS, of course.
The sampler is not yet available, although the developer plans to sell it for $2250. Join the waitlist at the site if you’re interested.
Vannes Devices Obsidian
Vannes Devices is a company launched by the former co-owner and founder of Majella Audio, who we talked about back during Superbooth time. Vannes Devices’ first instrument has now been revealed. Called Obsidian, it’s a semi-modular analog synth that incorporates both West Coast and East Coast synthesis elements.
Keyboardless, with separate sections for knobs, sliders and patchpoints, Obsidian is lovely to look at – and to listen to. The two oscillators are West Coast, with waveshaper, wavefolder and cross-modulation capabilities plus a sub oscillator. The multimode filter is East Coast, with lowpass, bandpass, and highpass sections with continuous modulation between them. There’s an ADSR plus ADR envelope with voltage-controlled slew rates and levels, an LFO, a tape-style delay, and a sequencer.
Obsidian is still in prototype stage. “Final revisions to the printed circuit board, enclosure and embedded software are currently underway,” the site says. “From here on, the sound, look and feel will only continue to improve.”
Sounds good to me. Visit the site below for more information. Price and release TBD.
The Sound of Machines Spinner 1
Here’s an odd one. The Sound of Machines is a guy that makes unusual instruments and sound projects, many of which are DIY so you can build them yourself. His latest prototype is Spinner 1, a rhythmic noise machine designed around a spinning bulb.
It’s hard to figure out exactly what’s going on here (some information seems to be locked behind a Patreon paywall), but it appears to be both a noisemaker in itself, and a MIDI generator, with an Arduino Teensy board inside sending MIDI signal via USB-C.
Spinner 1 is very much still a work in progress, but it looks like it will be an interesting device once finished. There are lots of noisy boutique machines but few that are rhythm-based. One to keep an eye on.
Electronic Music Pioneer Patrick Gleeson Passes
I was saddened to hear of the passing of producer and composer Patrick Gleeson last week. I can’t admit to being the biggest jazz fan. I do like jazz funk though, and I like synthesizers, so Herbie Hancock’s albums Headhunters and especially Sextant hit me where it counts. Both of these albums were recorded at Gleeson’s studio, Different Fur, in San Francisco. Gleeson later hit the road with Hancock as part of his Mwandishi band, where he played the ARP 2600.
Gleeson went on to work with other artists like Brian Eno (My Life in the Bush of Ghosts!), Devo (Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!) and Pat Metheny, and released a number of solo albums as well.
Patrick Gleeson will be missed.
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