New Gear Report: Novation Circuit

If you visited Novation’s website in the past couple of weeks, you may have seen a teaser image like this:

Well, Oct. 1 is here, and so is Circuit.

What is Circuit? The literal answer is a comprehensive grid-based synth, drum machine and groovebox all in one. Novation sees it as the answer to musician’s eternal dilemma: the first few steps in creating a track. The Circuit gives you different avenues to that initial spark: lay down a pattern on the drum machine, tap out a vamp with some synth chords, or run the Circuit in sync with one of your other MIDI devices.

Another roadblock in the creative flow is the time it takes to set up, launch your DAW, get your samples and synths in order and get grooving. The Circuit is faster than plug-and-play — In fact, it’s just play. No laptop is needed — you can create beats completely from scratch. You don’t even need to bring headphones — Circuit has its own built-in speaker. And it’s battery-powered, so you can literally build beats anywhere you go.

Will Circuit change the way artists produce electronic music? We’ll have to wait and see. But if you’re looking for some inspiration to start that latest piece, or are new to electronic music and could use a comprehensive device with a ton of applications, Circuit may just be the right device for the job.