You might remember Artisan Electronics from Knobcon 2016. Their latest synth is the Nucleus. It's a new mono and 4-voice synth for #NAMM2021. Note the above is only a render of course. Below are two demos of the prototype followed by pics and details. Don't miss the keyboard version.
video upload by Mike @ Artisan
Basic 3 Osc+Sub and 24db Filter sound.
Nucleus Oscillator 1
video upload by Mike @ Artisan
Starts with left channel audio only.
"Intro to Oscialltor One: Nucleus
Analog Saw Core with PWM, Folding, and Sub."
Pictured here is the desktop prototype followed by renders of the keyboard version, and a couple of the circuit board for those interested.
The next step in voice architecture Osc 1: Analog Saw Core with Wave-folding & PWM Sub Osc 1 with its own Low Pass VCF Osc 2: AnalogSaw Core with PWM, Sync and and FM Osc 3: Digital wavetable + Noise Source 4 input Digital Ring Modulator 8 Pole Multi-Mode Dual Peak Filter VCA with soft and hard clipping distortion 4 ADAHSR Envelopes with variable shape 3 LFO with key-sync and delay Modulation Adders, multipliers, lag, contouring.... Full MIDI interface User selectable CV In and Out 100 user patches and built-in standard patches
Man-Machine-Interface Bright OLED graphic display Shows the details of whatever knob moved or button pressed Quick access to Save and Load patches Quick Access to the Modifiers Setup MIDI. SYSEX, Poly Modes
Modifiers Combine and shape normal modulation sources to create new ones Add, Average, Multiply, Invert Min/Max, Quantify,Limit, Switch Lag and Shape Contouring Link knobs and route CC to parameters
"Not Old, Not Borrowed, Not Blue...But New
In this day when it seems like so many are just resurrecting the past, we, at Artisan Electronic Instruments think art and technology have moved forward. And we want to bring something new into the world of synthesis. NUCLEUS is a unique and powerful monophonic Synthesizer that combines the sound design of East and West Coast ideas, blends Analog and Digital technologies, and packs a vast sound palette into an intuitive user aesthetic.
Don’t be fooled by its compact size. The NUCLEUS is anything but a classic remake or just a “more of the same” Synthesizer. There is a lot of sonic synthesis power hidden behind that 60hp panel, an extraordinary amount for such a small instrument.
A Beast Of Raw Sonic Power
Nucleus fills any harmonic space with its complex 3 Oscillator block. Its analog and digital circuits churn out some serious walls of sound. This little machine ROARS!
Oscillator 1 is based on an analog discrete Saw-core circuit providing those classic Saw, Triangle, and variable pulse/PWM waveforms. Tied into it is a modulate-able 4 stage wavefolder for awesome metallic tones. The Sub-Oscillator has its own variable filter producing smooth pounding sine waves or all the way through a rich square.
Oscillator 2 is also a fully discrete analog design with Saw, Variable Pulse/PWM, and PWM with Sub-Octave. But that’s just the start. It also has a selectable 2 or 3 stage Digital Ring Modulator. The DRM combines the waveforms of all three Oscillators for some amazing tones heard nowhere else. If that were not enough, Oscillator 2 can Hard-Sync to a separately controlled digital 4th oscillator. Wait, there's more, when not in Hard Sync, it can be Frequency Modulated by Oscillator 3 through a dedicated VCA controlling the FM depth in real-time.
Oscillator 3 is digital, why? To provide those unique sounds only found in the digital world. It still provides some clean anti-aliased standard shapes, like Sine and PWM but adds a few tricks, such as a variable slope Saw to Triangle wave, an adjustable width Swarm wave, and String tones using the Karplus-Strong physical model. There are ten slots for custom waveforms and a noise source. Oscillator 3 also has a bit-crusher/sample reducer effect to get into some dirty digital color.
And you can modulation just about anything! From pitch, wave-shape, and mix levels and the oscillator “special effects” of sub-shape, hard-sync frequency, FM depth, and bit crusher strength.
Character and More Character
There is so much to NUCLEUS before ever reaching the filter. But that bad boy does not want to be outdone. It is awesome in its own right. First off it offers a unique cascade multi-mode design. The filter runs in 2 pole Low Pass, Bandpass, and High Pass modes, as well as 4 pole versions of each. It’s the Dual-path Regeneration and 8-pole design that really give a unique character to the Bandpass modes, providing variable and modulate-able bandwidth and dual peak resonance. Since the filter can track over a wide range you can “play” these peaks and get a 5-oscillator sound or chord!
The filter has modulation inputs for cutoff, resonance, and filter shape. And after all that, the asymmetrical soft clipping circuits can bring in some much loved “dirt”. Just crank that Overdrive knob.
Band Pass Close Up.jpg
Modulation Mania Until You Drop
With all this sonic power, the Artisan NUCLEUS Synthesizer controls it all with an deep and powerful modulation matrix. There are 50+ modulation sources and 30+ destinations that all available simultaneously. An impressive amount for such a compact mono synth. There are 4 six-stage Envelope Generators (delay, attack, hold, decay, sustain, release), with looping, linear, and expo shapes and time and sustain modulation. 3 LFOs provide 9 waveshapes, key-sync, delay, and rate modulation. 2 external CVs and 4 modulation paths from the keyboard to add more real-time modulation control. And now it gets wild. You can take those modulations sources and Add, Multiply, Average, Lag, Quantize, Switch, Sync knobs, contour, and route MIDI CC to create new modulation effects. A modulation engine that has far more on offer than a classic mono synth."
"Based on the Nucelus voice card - 3 osc, 8pole multimode filter, 4 LFOs 4 Envelopes, the Iliad
is a four voice poly (expandable up to 16).
Each voice has a single analog, plus two digital Osc with wavefolding and many other modulation points.
Its still in development and we weren't able to hear much of it today. There are demos of the Nucleus available (and you can buy it) on the @Mike @ Artisan channel
The Iliad is going to be built to order (he thinks around 20 units a year).
The four voice base setup will be around $3400 with and extra $400 a voice."
See the Artisan and Knobcon labels below for more.
"Introducing the basic features of the NUCLEUS synthesizer
There is too much for even an 8-minute video, so this is just a "quick" overview.
Please watch the full set of videos to discover the full depth of this synthesizer."
"First Demo of the Iliad. 4 Voice Analog-Hybrid Polysynth
A walk-through of some of the sound patches.
Join the waitlist at ... https://www.artisanelectronicinstruments.com/shop
Tech Specs: ----------------------------------------------------- 4-Voice Polyphonic (expandable to 16) Arpeggiator Parameter Morphing Patch Favorites Initialize button starts your custom setup for sound design. ------------------------------------------------------ Osc 1: Analog Saw Core with Wave-folding & PWM Sub Osc 1 with variable Pulse Width Osc 2: AnalogSaw Core with PWM, Sync, and FM Osc 3: Digital 2 and 3 input Digital Ring Modulator -------------------------------------------------- 8 Pole Multi-Mode Dual Peak Filter --------------------------------------------------- VCA with soft and overdrive distortion -------------------------------------------------- 24-bit DSP on-board effects Modulatable parameters ------------------------------------------------- 4 ADAHSR Envelopes with variable shape 4 LFO with key-sync and delay Modulation Math Functions: multipliers, crossfader, lag, contouring. ------------------------------------------------ Full MIDI interface 500 user patches in 10 banks of 50. Over 60 Modulation Sources and over 35 destinations..all simultaneously available!"
"Nucleus Sound Engine (same as used in the Iliad)
Starts out with a Wavetable on Osc3
Adds Wavefolder or Osc1, then its Sub octave.
Adds Osc2 saw and octave up
Switches to High-Pass filtering and inverted ADSR"
The next step in voice architecture
