Bastl Instruments NEWS at Superbooth 2017

via Bastl Instruments:

"We have a lot of exciting news to share at Superbooth 2017 - finally our flagship effects processor Thyme comes to life! Peter Edwards a.k.a. Casper Electronics will show his new invention: a portable, experimental synth called the softPop. We have a new eurorack module drum pad interface Kong. Dude is a new portable mixer with concept of modularity in mind. We are starting to offer our trusty microGranny as a DIY kit and we will also show the aluminum panel designs for our Eurorack line of modules for the first time. And as the Bastl community is growing we have more updates in the wide range of activities that we make, too.

The Thyme effects processor [see here for a Superbooth video] will finally scrap off its vaporware label at Superbooth, where we will give the first public demo in two years after announcing an early prototype back in 2015. The Thyme is best described as a sequenceable robot operated digital tape machine. With a lot of parameters at hand it enables the exploration of all the time based effects and the vast space in between their classical multi-effects categories! Each of the 9 different parameters (Tape Speed, Delay Coarse & Fine, Feedback, Filter, extra heads Spacing and Levels, Dry Wet Mix and Volume) has a dedicated and very flexible modulation source - called the Robot - which can be phased out differently for left and right channel to create psychedelic new sound effects. The Robot can either be an LFO with many different waveshapes, external CV source or an envelope follower to enable effects reacting to dynamics. On top of everything there are 8 buttons to select a preset and those presets can be sequenced by a built in meta sequencer. The Thyme is ready for production and pricing and availability will be announced in May 2017.

softPop is a playfully organic, semi-modular light and sound synthesizer with wide variety of sounds: from random dripping water pops to heavy subtractive basslines. Its fully analog core consisting of heavily feedbacked system of dual triangle-core oscillator, state variable filter and sample and hold is played through an intuitive interface of 6 faders that provides countless combinations which can be explored by anyone. It can also process external audio thru the filter while using the envelope follower to intuitively synchronise to the incoming signal. The analog soul is enhanced by a quantize feature (auto-tune) and pattern generator with two memories A and B. For adventurous and courageous souls there is a secret chamber in the back for hacking & modding. We will launch the pre-orders in a couple of weeks with price somewhere below 300 eur.

KONG

The expressiveness of a drumming performance and the freedom of a eurorack modular synthesizer finally have a dedicated interface! Kong is a dual drumpad interface that amplifies the drumpad signal and converts it to trigger and velocity CV signals. The Gain knob helps to amplify signal from any drumpad and serves as a sensitivity setting for the velocity, too. The whole architecture is fully analog and the Velocity CV signal is generated by sample and hold circuit with extremely low drift which makes it perfect for controlling crazy patches by hitting a bunch of drumpads. Kong is available NOW for preorder from noise.kitchen for 109 eur without tax. Preorders will ship in June.

Dude is a portable battery operated 5 channel audio mixer with mini jack inputs and output. Each channel has a dedicated mute button and up to +20dB gain to boost weak signals or saturate line level signals. It is a monophonic mixer but can drive your headphones and therefore its perfect for small portable rigs or submixes on stage. It runs on four AA batteries (or external powersupply) and it is almost as small as its batterypack. Because each channel has enough gain that it can be turned into tone generator by feeding the output back to an input thru a passive eq and other simple circuits. The first batch of the Dude is available NOW from noise.kitchen for 75 eur excluding tax.

microGranny2 as a DIY kit

We have announced the microGranny2 about 3 years ago and it still is very popular machine. After several updates we can finally offer it as a DIY kit! microGranny is a granular sampler with built in microphone that operates samples on a microSD card. It is available NOW from noise.kitchen for 130 eur excl. tax!

Aluminum panels for Eurorack modules

We dedicated a lot of effort to make our wooden panels look and feel great. Now after quite some requests from people we finally found a manufacturing partner for the aluminium panels that meets our high expectations. We are using silkscreen printing in between of the anodizing phases. This method bakes the color perfectly into the material making the colour full, rich and yet very durable!

The modules will be gradually available from selected retailers from 1st May 2017. Note: the wooden panel version of the modules will NOT be discontinued

Further updates from the Bastl Community

● We have made a zine about the Bastl community which will be presented and distributed on demand at the Superbooth 2017 and further
● Noise Kitchen Synthfest: Connecting Distant Patchpoints organized by Bastl and partners takes place in the coming days after Superbooth 2017 in 4 different cities: 23.4. Berlin, 26.4. Praha, 28.4. Brno, 29.4. Wien . Join us there <3 http://noise.kitchen/synth-fest-2017/
● Two new films were published about the Bastl community: Cuckoo’s in depth documentary & Electronic Beats INSIDE: Bastl Instruments
● 2 recent releases on our Nona Records label: NONA004 Family Matter, NONA005 607f/s by ~emb http://www.nona-rec.com/
● We are opening new coffee store front called Koffein at Panská 13, Brno, Czech Republic. Learn how to make great coffee at home, enjoy the best coffee made by Valentino at Bastl and patch a modular synth in the meantime!
● Project 60 knobs is getting finalised
● Due to the recent shift of the Czech Currency (CZK) and rising living costs in the Czech Republic we
will be adjusting our international prices accordingly from 1st May"