Dave Smith Instruments SYNTHESIZERS

On Sun, Dec 14, 2003 at 04:05:42PM +1100, mr julian wrote:
>    I  just  went  to  the  elektron website, and looked all around it for
>    actual
>    solid  information  about  what  this  synth  is  they're selling, and
>    buggered if
>    I  can  find  out  what the hell it even is... Ok.. it seems to have a
>    couple of
>    different  synth  engines  (but  no  explanation  about  any  specific
>    features they
>    have!)

I can see your point there. keep in mind that the people who've
mentioned it (myself included) have pre-release versions of the
Monomachine. it hasn't officially been released yet; and I'm sure that
Elektron will add better descriptions to the website once it's actually
being released (which should be soon).

however, the site's descriptions of the synthesis engines gives at least
an idea of what it does. for example: digital waveform synthesis, SID
emulation, analogue saw/pulse emulation, FM, vocal synthesis, etc.

the key is that its focus is multitimbral monophonic synthesis (although
some synthesis engines offer polyphonic modes). it's also designed very
well for live manipulation (regarding its interface and controllers).
the onboard sequencer is quite incredible as well - it offers 64 step
sequencing for each of the 6 internal synthesis tracks and each of the 6
external MIDI tracks; it also has "parameter locks" whereby one can lock
any (or all) parameter value(s) for a specific step (and considering
that most internal tracks have 56 parameters, this is quite powerful).
each internal track also has dedicated: delay engine, 3 LFO's and
arpeggiator (which is very flexible).

>    does  it  have any analogue synthesis components?

no, it's all digital.

>    what kind of control
>    over
>    what  kind  of  parameters does it offer?

it depends on which type of synthesis method you're using. each engine
has the same amp, filter, LFO's and effects sections (the effects
section includes the delay, delay filter, EQ and sample-rate-reduction).
but their synthesis parameters are catered to the type of the synthesis
engine itself. for example, the pulse engine includes pulse-width and
modulation/depth parameters while the FM engines have frequency
selection/combination/modulation parameters. (if I haven't explained it
properly, let me state that for each internal tracks, one can select the
synthesis engine which should used on that track.)

>    how much will it cost?

$1900 USD; the order page has it kind of disguised, but still visible.

>    With
>    product
>    info like that how do they expect to sell any?

you have a good point (after having typed all of that above :-), but
again, it hasn't been released yet. they pre-released 100 units back
in september to Elektron friends (people on their mailing list; usually
owners of their other products) and sold all of them in a day. so I'm
guessing that once they release it and put more info out (and get some
reviews in), it will sell as well as their Machinedrum does. it really
is quite something, believe me :-)

Joe