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Synthetic Sound Labs has launched The Matrix, a deterministic algorithmic sequencer, inspired by the rare Triadex Muse.

The Triadex Muse, developed by Edward Fredkin and Marvin Minsky around 1969, was described in its patent as a note generator, controlled by a long term, quasi-periodic function, which is in turn generated by applying digital feedback in preselected combinations around a digital register.

Or as the inventors said at the time, “The apparatus thus, in effect, composes music as distinguished from merely synthesizing sound.”

The Matrix can play up to 16 notes, in 9 different user-selected scales. Notes and sequences are programmed by use of 8 sliders. Each slider has 38 active positions, each of which is associated with an LED.

Four sliders on the left control the sequencer’s pitch, and the four sliders on the right assign binary feedback into the sequence, creating musical permutations that make The Matrix so unique.

The TEMPO slider controls the speed of the sequence, and this internal clock signal is also brought out to the GATE OUT jack. An external clock (CLOCK IN) can override the internal clock, providing more flexibility, with a range up to about 2KHz.

Expanding upon the original Muse, The Matrix has a 9-position user selectable SCALE slider, which affects both an internal square-wave tone generator and the CV OUT jack. The internal tone is available at the AUDIO OUT jack, and the CV OUT jack is approximately 1V/OCT.

The PITCH slider controls the pitch range of the internal generator over about 5 octaves and does not affect the CV OUT. A RESET IN jack restarts the sequence from the beginning and is affected by two positions of the RESET switch.

The Matrix is available now for $425.

GForce has introduced M-Tron Pro IV, a major update to their software take on the Mellotron M400, a tape-based keyboard famous for its use in recordings by musicians ranging from The Beatles to Radiohead to Nils Frahm.

M-Tron Pro IV features a 3.5GB sound library, including over 200 tape banks; a newly enhanced browser that simplifies the exploration of this vast library; a scalable UI and more.

New in M-Tron Pro IV:

• Fully-scalable UI
• New Patch Browser with 800+ presets, all tagged and categorized
• 100+ new presets.
• Tape Browser – Navigate 200+ tapes quickly and easily.
• Additional filter – A new state-variable filter to compliment the original.
• Additional ensemble effect – A second, new ensemble providing additional sound sculpting possibilities.
• New Tape Controls – Wow and Flutter with Instability control.
• Amp Simulation – New Amp simulation with Warmth, Noise and Saturate. Beautiful for warm distortions.
• Reverb – New Matrix Reverb effect.
• Playability – Expanded Poly Aftertouch and Velocity controls for extra playability.
• Other new features – Individual FX locks, Extended keyboard range (down seven semitones), Undo, Redo, Copy and Paste, LFO shaping and destinations (Pitch, Filter, Pan, Level).

The M-Tron Pro Complete bundle includes the M-Tron Pro IV instrument with an additional 14 Expansion Packs (9 x Streetly Tapes, OrchesTron, ChamberTron, OptiTron, and Alex Ball and Hainbach – Artist Expansion). It features a huge 11.3GB sound library, with 500+ tape banks and 3500+ presets.

• M-Tron Pro IV is available now with an intro price of £74.99 (normally £149.99).
• M-Tron Pro Complete is available now with an intro price of £199.99 (normally £333.00).

Synthesis Technology has released a selection of their most popular Eurorack modules in software form for VCV Rack, the open software modular synth platform.

Synthesis Technology’s Paul Schreiber let us know that the four modules are authentic re-creations of the original hardware designs, with accurate DSP models of the analog circuitry and digital firmware optimized for VCV Rack.

Since they are software, the VCV Rack versions can go beyond the original’s capabilities, adding support for VCV Rack’s polyphonic patch cables.

Synthesis Technology VCV Rack modules include:

• E340 Cloud Generator – The Synthesis Technology E340 is a super-saw/sine oscillator that’s capable of generating up to 8 waveforms per output. It’s designed to create massive bass and lead voices like the JP-8000 supersaw, thick ambient drones as if played from a slow rotary speaker and more. The module supports VCV Rack’s polyphonic cables, so with 16 voices, you can generate a total of 128 waveforms per output. The module uses the original firmware from the hardware Synthesis Technology E340 module.
• E350 Morphing Terrarium – The Synthesis Technology E350 is a wavetable oscillator, with 1D and 2D position modulation, including 3 banks of 64 waveforms. Wavetables are scanned using a glitch-free interpolation algorithm by Synthesis Technology, and the module can operate as an audio-rate VCO or CV-rate LFO. The software module uses the original firmware from the hardware Synthesis Technology E350 module.
• E355 Morphing Dual LFO – The Synthesis Technology E355 is a dual wavetable LFO that generates two related waveforms. The LFO1 RATE knob sets the frequency of the first LFO, at the LFO1 OUT port. The MORPH knob sets the wavetable position, modulated by the MORPH CV input and MORPH MOD attenuator. The BANK switch selects which of 3 wavetable banks to load. The second LFO, at the LFO2 OUT port, uses the same frequency, wavetable position (MORPH), and phase as the first LFO, except for the function specified by the LFO2 mode switch. The VCV Rack software module uses the original firmware from the hardware Synthesis Technology E355 module.
• E440 Discrete OTA VCF – The Synthesis Technology E440 models the SSM2040 lowpass filter architecture used in the Prophet 5 Rev 2, the Voyetra 8, and others. This software module is based on a virtual analog circuit model of the hardware Synthesis Technology E440 module.

The Synthesis Technology VCV Rack Modules are available individually for $15, or as a bundle for $39.