ambikademo

Published on Mar 1, 2015 chris962x

"This video is of the Mutable Instruments Ambika, with 5 SMR4 MkII filter cards. Digital oscillators, analog filters. My sense is that its an amazingly flexible wavetable synth, similar in many ways to the Waldorf Microwave, with analog filters like the Microwave to warm things up. I've noticed that it sounds a little bit warmer when recorded on video than when playing live, for what it's worth.

Mutable Instruments has discontinued these, but you can get them built by a trusted builder, just sign into their forum and search for 'trusted builders.' There are also single voice versions of this called a Shruthi which can still be purchased as a kit from Mutable, or with a variety of different filters either used or from a trusted builder.

In this video, I'm still learning how to use the machine, so I'm fumbling a bit with the controls. Audio here was recorded in Logic. I'm mostly going through presets, and showing how the filter impacts them. I also try to check the mod wheel on each present to see how it effects things. While presets often only show a small fraction of what a machine is capable of, it's a start.

The video was recorded dry, no effects, and coming from the mono mixed output (the unit has a mono mixed out put, and single outputs for each voice, but no mixed stereo out). A few times in the video I add effects (reverb/delay), then remove them, just to show what it sounds like, it should be obvious when I'm doing that, as I step away for a second and you hear the sound change.

Enjoy!"