Monowave

The MonoWave is a monophonic 2U 19" rack synthesizer by Modulus Electronics, UK.

#9 of the 25 serial MonoWaves build by Modulus Electronics. Shown here with a clear lid

History

This synth was first shown 2001 by its inventor Paul Maddox on a PPG user/fan meeting. Because its attraction to some synthesizer players at the event, the project was started with 5 beta test units to test the software and hardware. By spring 2002 the serial production of a 25 piece limited run started. About a year later all units were sold.

Late in 2005, after many attempts at designing new products, Paul decided to close Modulus Electronics and its website (modulus-music.com). In order that people could still enjoy the Monowave he worked with Elby Designs to create a kit version of the monowave, with the same features. The software was released at the same time under the GPL license, in the hope that others would continue to develop its features.

Features

It features two digital oscillators with 256 different waveshapes selectable individually. There is also a unique de-res, a function to lower the digital waveshapes' sample resolution, to give a sound very much like the famous German PPG wave synthesizers from the eighties. The signal of these oscillators and their suboctave signals are mixed together and then feed in the pure analog part of the synth:a 24 db lowpass filter a la Moog synthesizer. and a VCA. Both of them controlled by their own ADSR envelopes. Depending on the EEPROM software, it may either have an arpeggiator or a midi velocity to wavenumber function. The MonoWave has no patch memory. It can be played by ingoing MIDI signals from software, sequencers or MIDI keyboards.

External links

• http://www.vacoloco.net/synths/monowave/ - the MonoWave pages, on Pauls own website.
• http://www.till-kopper.de/monowave.html - bi-language page by a MonoWave user, manuals author and beta-tester.
• http://www.elby-designs.com/monowave/monowave-about.htm - Monowave kit at Elby Designs.