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Hi all,
If the Waldorf-4-Pole interests you, you might want to check out the
forthcoming ("real-soon-now" -- well, they say December) Nord MicroModular
from Clavia in Sweden. It's the equivalent of an old fashioned modular
synth, but virtual, and on steroids.
It has an external input so you can apply to your sound, not only a filter
or two, but any combination of the many dozens of modules it comes with,
including convolutions of filters, vocoding, envelopes, ring modulation,
and things you probably haven't even imagined yet. It should have a street
price of US$700-800 (list is $995, I think) when it comes out in December.
I have had an original Nord Modular since June. These days, when most
synths have only minimal LCD displays and spartan interfaces, the NM
includes its own on-screen editor. It is actually fun, interesting and even
inspiring to program one of these. It is without doubt the most versatile
synth I have ever owned (I started back in the 70's with an ARP 2600)-- and
it sounds fantastic.
You can load the hardware, from your computer, with up to 100 virtual
modular synths of your own design, and each one can be of just about any
degree of complexity. For instance, imagine a dozen or more individually
tuned oscillators (a mix of sine waves, pulse waves, and triangle waves, if
you like), processed in parallel through 2 or 3 (or 4 or ?) resonant
filters in series, the bandwidth of each of which is modulated by its own
VFO whose frequency varies with the key you play, while resonance is a
function of the mod wheel position on your MIDI controller, and you can use
a pedal to add noise (white, pink, or whatever) to the output. At the same
time, as part of the same patch, a Moog-like bass sequence which is MIDI
synched to your Echoplex, is started and stopped by alternate presses of
the C#5 key on your keyboard. If that's still not enough, you could hook up
a few more oscillators to spice up the patch with a layer of FM sound.
You can really do stuff like this.
And after storing up to 100 of these kinds of patches in the hardware, you
can disconnect it from your computer so you need to carry only the Nord
Modular -- mine is the two-octave keyboard version which fits in a
briefcase -- to the gig, class, session, garage, or whatever.
That's why I would part with ANY of my other synths (including a Minimoog)
before I would let the Nord Modular out of my sight.
One caveat -- you need a Windows 95 PC to edit the sounds. There is no Mac
editor for the NM, and, apparently, no plans for one in the near future.
People are successfully using it with PC emulator software on a Mac but the
MIDI interface requirements are very specific, and costly -- it only works
with the Emagic Unitor.
I know I sound like a Nord salesman, but I really do not work for Clavia,
so please don't ask me for technical information about the Nord Modular.
You can find out more at http://www.clavia.se. You can download and try a
copy of the Nord Modular editor, and you can find MP3 files that will allow
you to hear how it sounds.
All the best,
Howard
At 02:03 PM 11/19/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Dan Bartell wrote:
>>
>> Something that I've found that is absolutely amazing for filtering is
>> the Waldorf 4-pole. It's small, easy to use, and you can filter ANY
>> audio signal that you patch into it via a 1/4" jack. I use it on my
>> tablas before I run them through the echoplex. Check it out at:
>> http://www.waldorf-gmbh.de/4pole/4pole.html
>
>So, you said the magic word, "tablas". You got my interest. I looked
>at the website but don't have a good idea as to how the Waldorf 4-pole
>makes things sound. Can you give more detail? Can you point me to some
>sound files? Thanks!
>
>- Dennis Leas
>--
>dennis@mdbs.com
>
>
==========================================================
Howard Harawitz howard@brooknorth.com
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Brooklyn North Software Works Inc.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Telephone: 1-902-423-0257
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