French music software and hardware company, Arturia is proud to announce the availability of Matrix-12 V. Arturia returns to its roots by bringing back the classic sound of Oberheim’s mighty Matrix-12 analogue polysynth as an authentic-sounding sensational soft synth, albeit one on steroids, boosted by modulation and effects extras in abundance.
“Now that I write most of my music on the road, having access to great soft synths is key to what I do. With the Matrix-12 V, Arturia has faithfully recreated one of my favourite classic machines — excellent sounds and great functionality!”
- DJ Sasha, 2014 (DJ/producer)
Matrix-12 V effectively emulates all the original parameters of Oberheim’s expansive (and expensive) mighty Matrix-12 analogue polysynth. Perhaps the crowning glory of legendary Californian synth designer Tom Oberheim’s namesake Californian company, the Modulation Matrix that gave rise to this innovative instrument’s notable name was a revelation at the time of its 1985 launch. Its ability to enable flexible routing to rival the monstrous modular systems that preceded it in decades gone by, but buried its ‘patch chords’ behind the vast vista of a futuristic-looking frontage for accessing multiple menu pages with few hands-on controls.
Top-tier synthesists such as British synth pop pioneer Vince Clarke and German electronic trailblazers Tangerine Dream were among its early adopters, attracted to the 15 filter types and almost endless modulation possibilities — cutting-edge even by today’s standards — and, of course, Oberheim’s trademark thick and warm sound that was thicker than ever thanks to 12 truly-independent analogue voices with two oscillators apiece.
Other features include:
- TAE® (True Analogue Emulation) engine enables Matrix-12 V to deftly deliver all that and more for a fraction of the cost of its hefty hardware namesake.
- New aliasing-free algorithms allowed the varied waveforms of the original Oberheim Matrix-12’s two oscillators to be accurately modelled and recreated for starters.
- MAIN (VCO 1, VCO 2, FM, FILTER, LAG, RAMPS, ENV, TRACK, LFO, and MODULATION PAGE) sections all feature dedicated parameter controls — unlike the original.
- All Matrix-12 V parameters can be controlled via MIDI, allowing automation within a DAW or manually with a keyboard controller.
- Includes 500-plus professionally-programmed presets across a wide range of musical styles.
- A drop-down MOD page to show each and every modulation source, destination, and its associated amount aids navigation.
- There are now 40 routable modulation sources.
- Users can choose from one of six studio-grade effects are available in each of the two drop-down FX slots provided.