The filter might be the star of the present, by the way in which. Often it’s what brings essentially the most character to the sound of a synth, and this one delivers. It’s variable state, going from low cross, to band cross to excessive cross. But it could additionally mix these in attention-grabbing methods. It does acid bass traces and nasal reedy sounds. There’s a cause the filter cutoff knob is about 4 instances bigger than all the opposite controls on the entrance panel: It’s most likely essentially the most highly effective instrument right here for shaping your sound.

Both Cre8Audio and Pittsburgh Modular wish to brag that this distinctive filter has “no dead spots”, that it’s actually “all one large sweet spot”, and you already know what, they’re most likely proper. I had an actual exhausting time making this filter sound unhealthy. No matter how a lot you crank the resonance, in each mode, even with the filter mod set to ludicrous ranges, it’s surprisingly musical. It doesn’t self-oscillate, which may be a bummer for some, however it doesn’t hassle me an excessive amount of.

West Pest

The West Pest is form of just like the East Beast’s hippy cousin. It’s a tad unusual, and has to do every thing a little bit in another way, however it’s no much less compelling – only a bit harder to tame. It has lots of the identical options and a really comparable oscillator, however it trades the variable state filter and ADSR envelope for a lowpass gate and provides a wave folder.

I’d enterprise to say that, just like the East Beast, the Pest is most comfy with bass and plucky leads. But the timbre is totally totally different. It’s extra aggressive and sharp, buying and selling within the creamy goodness of its counterpart for the plasticky weirdness extra typically related to Buchla synths.

Because it travels in much less acquainted territory, it could really feel a little bit more durable to make work in an association. But, it may be a extra satisfying solo instrument. Both synths have strong randomization options, together with randomly biking by way of oscillator waveforms and generative sequencing capabilities, however these really feel extra at house on the West Pest.

Setting the digital mod instrument to random, and connecting it to the discharge mod jack will alter how lengthy notes ring out. Then utilizing the random sample generator with morphing will play a repeatedly evolving sequence. And then you will get the oscillator wave to alter for each notice, supplying you with one thing actually unpredictable. Feed that by way of an epic reverb pedal and also you’ve obtained a customized, soothing soundtrack for working or studying to.

Yes, you can accomplish the same factor with the East Beast because it has many of the identical randomization instruments (save the discharge mod), and it’s most likely the extra versatile instrument, however I discover the outcomes on the West Pest extra pleasing. And, actually, this is likely one of the methods I typically use synths in my studio – passively as a form of fidget toy or to set a temper whereas I plug away on enhancing articles for Engadget.

With different gear