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The Doppler is a desktop FM synth designed for ‘ultra-tweakability’

Artium Instruments has announced the availability of The Doppler, a synthesizer that they say offers ‘a bold take on FM synthesis’.

Housed in a stompbox-like chassis, The Doppler is a two-operator, 8-voice FM instrument designed with a knob-per-function interface. The synth engine makes use of two sine wave generators arranged in a carrier-modulator relationship.

The modulator’s frequency is quantised and can modulate both the frequency of the carrier and the carrier’s phase, either individually or simultaneously. The synth also has a pink noise generator that can be used to modulate the carrier for additional grit.

According to Artium Instruments, The Doppler is a simple synth designed to be ‘ultra-tweakable’: “It features a single, powerful algorithm, but the magic happens when you start adjusting its parameters. Even the subtlest tweaks lead to big shifts in the overall sound, making every turn feel like a discovery.”

Although The Doppler only has a single ADSR envelope for modulation, there are a few interesting settings that make this more versatile than it first appears. For one thing, the envelope can be switched to affect either just the carrier signal, or both the carrier output and modulation amount. There’s also a Mod Trail control that can alter the attack of the modulator signal.

With onboard effects and the ability to process external audio, The Doppler can also function as a stereo delay and reverb pedal.

Connectivity-wise, The Doppler features a pair of TRS inputs and a pair of TRS outputs – the left of which can also be used as a stereo headphone output when nothing is connected to the right. There are also two USB ports, one purely for power and one to act as a MIDI host input.

Features:

• 8-Note Polyphony
• 2-Operator FM Engine
• Quantized Modulator with Octave and Semitone Control
• Onboard FX Including Tap-Tempo Delay and Lush Reverb
• External Audio Processing via Rear Input Jacks
• USB-C MIDI Host Compatibility

The Doppler is now available, priced at $397.10

 

German synthesist Hainbach – in his latest video – explores the Jörgensen Tuttivox, a rare vintage instrument created by Harald Bode & Rene Seybold.

Here’s what Hainbach has to say about it:

“I have been very interested in the work of German inventor and engineer Harald Bode. His essays and instruments were hugely influential on Robert Moog, Don Buchla and many others, and laid the ground work to the synthesizers of today. Sadly, most of his more experimental designs don’t survive.

But some of his more conventional instruments do, like his adaption of the proto-synth Clavioline he made for Jörgensen, the Tuttivox (with involvement/Patents to Rene Seybold).”

Check it out and share your thoughts on the Tuttivox in the comments!

Sound designer Anton Anru shared this Shut Up & Play style demo of the Behringer UB-XA synthesizer.

The video demos Anru’s Analog Flow – new library of 64 patches for the Behringer UB-Xa. The sound library covers a wide range of arpeggio timbres: warm, deep, dreamy, soft, noisy, bright, dark, distorted, cold, metallic. You can also disable the arpeggio mode and used it as a collection of diverse plucks.

“Since the UB-Xa is a recreation of a vintage classic, this collection embraces its retro character—highlighting detuning, subtle noise, and analog warmth to evoke the sonic aesthetics of the 70s and 80s,” notes Anru.

The library is compatible with both the UB-Xa keyboard and UB-Xa D desktop synthesizers.

Patches & timings:

00:00 Random

01:01 Jitter

02:03 Apollo

03:04 Accent

04:16 Island

05:27 Fellow

06:10 Light

07:16 Land

08:30 Data

09:25 Stack

10:37 Reso

11:34 Duo

12:27 Spot

13:32 Grand

14:27 Clone

15:17 Zen

16:23 Drums

17:09 Line

18:07 Chip

18:52 Rust

19:44 Rider

20:39 Oxygen

21:37 Maze

22:19 Heat

23:19 Hook

24:20 Front

25:11 Droplet

25:57 Prompt

27:04 Clash

28:03 Balance

28:54 Mirage

29:56 Mercury

30:48 Dozen

31:53 Glow

33:09 Oak

33:53 Case

35:01 Week

35:44 House

36:29 Punch

37:33 Steps

38:43 Quant

39:50 Echoes

41:02 Boiler

41:57 Driver

43:07 Mix

44:09 Bait

45:16 Joke

45:57 Neo

47:01 Queen

47:50 Clip

48:46 Glass

49:51 Chrome

50:42 Wind

51:47 Flight

52:43 Spiral

53:35 Nasty

54:09 Toy

55:01 Public

55:52 Marker

56:56 Error

57:57 Finder

58:37 Black

59:40 Pool

01:00:00 Snake

Analog Flow is available now for $19.95