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The Oscillator 13

The Oscillator is where we generate posts on analog and digital, and virtual synths, beat-making gear, and much more.
10 months ago How-To Guides, The Oscillator

Novation MiniNova Synthesizer: A Legacy of Innovation

Dubstep. I keep staring at those words, sandwiched prominently between “R&B/Hip-Hop” and “Techno/House” on Novation’s MiniNova, and I keep thinking: “What were they thinking?” You see, that Novation MiniNova synthesizer, released in 2012, and bought by yours truly not too many years later, remains a compelling, if not slightly confounding, synth. From above, the MiniNova’s […]

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11 months ago The Oscillator

Roland JD-08 Boutique Synthesizer: A Link to Roland’s Past

I’ll be the first to admit, my first impression of Roland’s JD-08 was one of surprise. I thought: How would Roland fit all of its original inspiration into something smaller than your computer’s keyboard? That question drove me to give it a chance — I’d revive my niche of “The Oscillator” and share some thoughts […]

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2 years ago The Oscillator

ASM Hydrasynth Explorer: A Film Score at Your Fingertips

Compact synths are becoming more powerful by the day, and what you can do with a desktop hybrid synth today is astounding! The ASM Hydrasynth is one particular specimen that has been proving this rule over the last few years. After that original model’s release, Ashun Sound Machines had an epiphany: they thought “this…but smaller!” […]

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3 years ago The Oscillator

Serato Studio Review

What exactly is a DJ company doing making a DAW? I wager, just like me, you had this same thought running in your head when word of Serato Studio software came out. It’s the elephant in the room anyone reviewing this software (as we’re wont to do today) must address. The Road to Serato Studio […]

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4 years ago The Oscillator

Monophonic vs. Polyphonic vs. Paraphonic Synths

Monophonic, polyphonic, paraphonic, what do these confusing and occasionally overlapping terms really mean? There’s no need to be scared of all the jargon — we’re here to give you the lowdown on all that noise! The components inside synthesizers that generate sound are called oscillators. Synths assign oscillators to different notes depending on what keys […]

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4 years ago The Oscillator

PreSonus Atom SQ Review

From trackers like Renoise to DAWs like Ableton Live, Bitwig Studio, Logic and more, I believe I’ve seen/used enough tools to understand how most work. So, truth be told, I both admit to: A: Never using PreSonus’s entry into the digital audio workstation world, the Atom, three years ago, and B: Jumping at the chance […]

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4 years ago The Oscillator

Bustin’ Out the Korg Volca Keys

The Volca Keys was one of the first synths released in Korg’s Volca series in 2013, and it’s also one of the most versatile. The Volca series offers a few options for monophonic sounds and drums/rhythm, but the Volca Keys is the only polyphonic, analog synth in the lineup (at the time of this writing). […]

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5 years ago The Oscillator

Exploring the Korg volca modular

It’s a “West Coast style” modular synthesizer! It has 50 patch points! It’s… perhaps a little intimidating at first glance. The Korg volca modular is a “micro modular synthesizer.” This means that it’s made up of individual modules: the sections of a synthesizer that perform different functions, such as selecting the sound source, adjusting the […]

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5 years ago The Oscillator

Analog Filtering Tracks With the Korg Volca Mix

With all the great plug-ins available these days, is there really any advantage to using analog outboard processing? In this post we’ll take a listen to some sound samples that have been processed by analog filtering so you can hear for yourself. For our purposes we’ll use the Korg Volca Mix, a very affordable portable […]

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