Tags: Battery powered synthesisers

Notes: Another intriguing experimental offering from Soma Labs. ROaT is a digital synth inspired by 80s video games. Four oscillators combine with a sequencer to create drones, soundscapes and glitchy loops.

Supplier's Notes:
Rumble of Ancient Times (RoAT) is an 8-bit noise synthesizer and sequencer inspired by the clever programming of the early PC era when an entire video game would fit on a floppy disk. RoAT is capable of a wide variety of sounds ranging from dense noise scapes to diverse glitching rhythmic patterns. The compact and portable instrument contains many elements that can be combined into surprising musical results.

The "heart" of the synthesizer contains 4 sound oscillators, each with a tunable waveform and an individual LFO, which can modulate the tone or volume of the oscillator. The modulated signal of each oscillator is mixed with other signals using 1,536 variations of complex summing algorithms that contain FM, ring modulation, bitwise logical operations and more.

The synth contains an 8-bit resonant lowpass filter with a distinct Lo-Fi character.
The built-in sequencer can be synced to an external device and also send clock out.
RoAT is battery powered and can work up to 130 hours on one set of AAA batteries.

Rumble of Ancient Times is built on a very simple 8-bit microcontroller similar to the ones used in the "brains" of old refrigerators and other simple electronic devices. Thanks to some very clever programming, it's also able to drive a very capable synth with many features!

In stark contrast to modern consumer electronics, this synth celebrates and emphasizes what can be achieved with efficiency of code and using chips considered obsolete by industry leaders. We live in an age where text editors can be 1GB or more and simple things like checking email require the latest OS and powerful processing, despite the core tasks being no different than 15 years ago with a fraction of the computational power.

So RoAT proposes a new kind of ecological thinking with the innovative use of chips that were developed and produced decades ago, instead of turning them into millions of tons of trash. We can still use technology that the industry forced us to consider obsolete, with the added benefit here of extremely low power consumption. It's an environmentally friendlier approach than galloping in the rush of planned obsolescence that damages our planet and wastes precious resources.

Rumble of Ancient Times was designed and programmed by Kakos Nonos, a new creative mind who joined the SOMA development team. His very unique style of building electronic musical instruments combines quality craftsmanship, advanced programming and a love for medieval acoustic instruments such as gusli, wheeled lyre and bagpipes.

Specifications:

Sync out voltage: 5 V
Minimum syn in voltage: 0.2 V
Current input: 20 mA
Maximum output voltage: 5 V
Audio output:3.5 mm jack
Sync out: 3.5 mm jack
Power Supply: 4*AAA battaries
Size: 122 x 136 x 40 mm
Weight (without batteries): 145 g

Notes: A hardware take on the bytebeat genre, in which simple computer code generates music. Hands-on touchpads allow you to modulate the code behind the sound, creating constantly evolving tones.

Supplier's Notes:
Honey is a palm-sized, touch-based noise instrument based on the bytebeat principle. It runs on a single AAA battery and emits sound through a speaker. It doesn't have an audio jack. It creates dynamic sounds by manipulating variables and mathematical operations through touch.

The internal dynamic equations consist of five variables and four operations, with six possible operators for each operation. They are constantly changing and forming new equations, creating chaotic randomness.

If the unit does not respond correctly, the battery needs to be replaced.

Powered by one AAA battery

Notes: Arpeggio is a powerful and portable melody maker with a built-in speaker, and battery power. It's a synthesizer, arpeggiator, and sequencer all in one. You can compose and perform anywhere, save hundreds of melodies and create millions of arpeggiator styles. It creates a looping sequence of the notes you select in real time. It's a completely new musical instrument designed to give you the freedom to make melodies with nuance and distinction. Save hundreds of melodies and create millions of arpeggiator styles. Control your gear wirelessly with MIDI over bluetooth or go old school with control voltage and gate. The notes you select from the one octave keyboard instantly create a looping sequence. Unlike a step sequencer, Arpeggio does not limit you to a set number of notes in your sequence. Add rests into your melody and adjust note lengths, tempo, octave, portamento, and swing. Save your melodic phrases as they are created into one of 512 memory banks. They can be chained together to create more complex melodies.

It's equally at home on stage, in the studio, or on the couch. With an editable 2-oscillator virtual analog synthesizer, a built-in speaker, and battery power, Arpeggio can help you make melodies wherever inspiration strikes.

Sequences are created and saved on the fly. You can create a sequence and then save it to a bank while it's playing. Sequences are monophonic and can be up to 128 notes long. Individual steps in a sequence can be of different note lengths, and gate lengths. Like an arpeggiator the sequence length expands as notes are added. You can link melodic sequences together, add rest notes, and delete notes all in real time. Attach the advanced sequencing overlay and scrub through your sequence to delete or insert notes, add slides, and adjust swing to create the exact melody in your head.

A monophonic virtual analog synthesizer. Turn the voice knob to cycle through 24 different synth patches and adjust shape, attack, and portamento. Synth features include: dual oscillators, dual ADSR Envelopes, dual LFOs, six oscillator waveforms, low-pass filter & detune. Dive deeper using the synthesizer overlay and completely customize all synth parameters, create and save your own sounds.

A one octave keyboard from low C to a high B is where you'll play the notes to create your own melodic sequences. Turn the octave knob to shift the pitch of the keyboard up and down to play any note you want. Notes may also be input using an external MIDI controller. In transpose mode the currently playing sequence can be shifted up and down by either selecting a note from the built in one octave keyboard, a whole octave by turning the octave knob or by playing a note on an external MIDI controller. The melody will be shifted up by the number of steps the selected key is away from the low C.

Arpeggio is an amazing instrument all on its own, but its expansive I/O makes it a powerful companion for your other electronic instruments. Add an arpeggiator to any synth. Connect a larger external MIDI keyboard and record a full chord's worth of notes into arpeggio instantly. Expand your sonic palette by using it as a sequencer to control other synthesizers and sound modules. Sync it up to external clock sources for integration with drum machines, samplers, iOS devices and computers. Instant looping sequences. Up, up-down, down, down-up, sequence (as played), reverse styles. Or activate the Arpeggiator Overlay to create your own arp styles and rhythms. Millions are possible.

The Arpeggiator Overlay gives you an insane amount of control over custom arp styles. Start by mixing and matching any two of the base note orders (or just pick one): Up, Down, Sequence, Reverse, and Random. Then apply and combine separate modifiers to each like Inside Out, Skip Forward, Alternating First, Zig Zag, and more. Each arp style can also have an Arpeggiator Rhythm of up to 16-steps. The result of all this is that literally millions of unique arp styles are possible.

The Sequencer Overlay lets you go through each note of your saved sequences and change the pitch or octave, add slide notes where you want, adjust swing, and note probability. Here you can also customize global settings and create sequence frequency patterns to add sections of silence before or after your melodies.

The Synthesizer Overlay lets you explore new sonic territory, tweak and fine tune Arpeggio's built-in synth engine, and create and save your own custom synth presets. The virtual analog synthesizer architecture is designed to reproduce a wide range of timbres. Features include: dual oscillators, dual ADSR Envelopes, dual LFOs, six oscillator waveforms, low-pass filter & detune.