Ashun Sound Machines introduces Hydrasynth, the eight-voice polyphonic wave-morphing synthesizer with three oscillators per voice, seemingly endless amount of modulation options, and many other unique features such as Mutators. Besides traditional analog modeling, oscillators 1 and 2 sport a Wavescanning feature, which allows you to smoothly scan through hundreds of waveshapes at will. Mutators open up potential for ever more extreme sound shaping with PWM, FM, and more. Then there are two filters: a twelve algorithm multimode, and a classic state-variable 12dB/oct, which can be routed in parallel, and in series. Hydrasynth also has a ton of effects, from Delays to Reverbs to Flangers, and much more. The desktop version of Hydrasynth is equipped with a grid of polyaftertouch-enabled sensitive pads. More than that, the synthesizer also includes a complex arpeggiator with comprehensive options for the note sequencing, direction, and probability.

ASM Hydrasynth - Sound On Sound ASM Hydrasynth - Sound On Sound

You can set the levels and pan the input source with the mixer. A balance control allows you to adjust the amount of signal you route to each filter from each source. Polyphonic aftertouch, or poly pressure, allows the player to modulate notes individually from within a range already held down. This requires sensors for every key and is therefore more complex to produce than channel or mono aftertouch. Typically based on a strip beneath the keyboard delivering a single value to the whole synth, channel aftertouch is ideal for monophonic instruments but less effective when applied to a whole chord. This is where the CS‑80 — and just a handful of other synths — score so highly. With the Hydrasynth Desktop, you have the same great sound engine found in the Hydrasynth Keyboard but without the keyboard. Industry-standard MIDI and USB/MIDI interfaces are available on the Hydrasynth, but we go deeper and allow the use of CV / Gate interfaces for connecting to the modular world. This opens a door to the unlimited expansion of your musical horizons.There is something of a learning curve but remember we are dealing with a lot of complexity. The Hydrasynth is a deep synth, so it’s always advisable to sketch out mental maps of your sounds first, then go in. I also suggest reading the manual too. It can't hurt. But if you’re into modular then the Hydra, with its module-based layout, will be very easy for you to get to grips with. Glen Darcey is VP of their product development team, a hugely respected figure in the industry who is behind products such as Arturia’s ‘Brute’ synthesizer range, Akai’s MPC Renaissance and Studio samplers, and many more. When scrolling through the waveforms, it's easy to notice that a number of them have rather complex shapes. Upper harmonics manifest as higher frequency waveforms themselves, and depending on the distribution of partials may cluster together into dense, noisy timbres or appear as discrete, discernible tones. At the extremes, the highest harmonics add sparkle on top of the more tonal portions of the waveform, but by tuning down the fundamental frequency of the oscillators into sub-audio territories, what was once textural becomes the primary component of a sound. Of course, should the lower harmonics still be somewhat audible, lightly applying a highpass filter to your patch will clean up the low-end rumbles. If you’re looking for a sound that’ll surprise, inspire and frighten you at every opportunity it gets, the Hydrasynth is ready and waiting. As mentioned earlier, its virtual analog 8-voice polyphony is already exciting – but it becomes a different beast entirely when you dive into its full capability. The second filter works similarly to the classic SEM filter. It is a 12dB per octave and gives you a continuous sweep from Low pass, through bandpass and up to High Pass.

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I'm talking about the Yamaha CS‑80, of course. This mighty instrument, in the hands of virtuosos such as Vangelis, proved that synthesizers really could be responsive, expressive musical instruments after all. As well as performance controls, we saw earlier how straightforward it is to rope in conventional modulators. Of those, the five LFOs are identical, having all the expected waveforms, noise, plus a user waveform with up to eight steps. Each step of this 'almost sequencer' is programmed by those ever-present encoders, with a smoothing option if necessary. With 32 slots to fill, the Hydrasynth's matrix is the tool for programming the interaction with those expressive controllers. It can reach parts of the synth not always open to modulation, such as the effects, arpeggiator parameters, envelope stages and even the levels of other slots, with only a few omissions as of the current firmware (such as Glide and envelope shapes). The Hydrasynth Macros are designed to allow deep control over the engine in live performance. They're easy to make and fun to use. Of course, you can also modulate these effects and make them become an integral part of the sound design process. ASM provides an onboard arpeggiator that is comprehensively featured with a number of octave modes, tap tempo (for when jamming along live), gate, swing, ratcheting with probability (called ‘chance') – plus 64 preset phrases, chord mode, latch and sustain.Of course, there is more! Using the macro facility, each knob and related button can control eight user-assigned parameters at once – meaning that you can set up your go-to performance parameters and tweak them on fly during a performance or studio jam. Note: each button also has several trigger modes. Filter 2 is a 12dB per octave state-variable filter, which means it can sweep continuously from either low pass > bandpass > high pass or low pass > notch > high pass. It is similar to the classic SEM filter in many ways. In fact, you can also loop the envelopes, which turns them into LFOs that can be shaped by any source in the modulation matrix.