PWM Malevolent semi-modular synthesizer review
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
- Malevolent is a synth with an unhealthy dose of attitude. Let me take you through the hot spots and weak spots of this gnarly beast of dual-oscillator loveliness.
You can buy one from:
Thomann - thmn.to/thoprod/531778?offid=...
Perfect Circuit - tinyurl.com/perfectcircuit-ma...
www.1pwm.com/
Here's an extended sound demo:
• PWM Malevolent synthes...
Written review:
moltenmusictechnology.com/pwm...
Index:
Intro - 0:00
First Impressions - 2:32
Initial annoyances - 6:42
Overview - 12:57
Oscillators - 15:40
Wave shaping - 16:36
Combination waveforms - single oscillator - 20:14
Oscillator level - 23:45
Fun with two oscillators - 25:05
Routing - 30:39
Intervals - 32:01
FM modulation - 32:25
Resonance self-oscillation - 34:00
More FM action - 35:14
Droning - 37:09
Sounds with effects - 40:18
Patching - 47:18
FM again! - 49:18
Playing the oscillators separately - 50:43
Conclusions - 53:35
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Resonance self-oscillation section woke up the cat: she was not best pleased
Hi Robin, nice vid as always!
Two things to note about the OSC section:
1) The waveforms will be more regular shaped/less "fall apart" if their levels are a bit lower. Theres overdrive built in to the level after 3:00 or so
2) You can still get sound out with the wave shape buttons all turned off by letting the filter self-oscillate. It's really nice to be able to remove the oscs from that sound.
Oh, and the mixer/VCF jacks are offset to maintain the "outs on top/ins underneath" layout decision. :)
Subscribed!
Sounds like a MS 20 with Covid and that's not a bad thing just Malevolent ha. I like the looks/sounds of this nice review as always :)
It’s got long covid.
You played that the way it should…Awesome and inspiring. Ty
Ouwie! That thing is brutal. But very nice. Thank you for showcasing the Malevolent. I've never heard of it before. For that price it's almost a must-have-item, especially, as you've indicated, for the MS-10/20 fans. Ace! Thank you.
Edit: OMG! Love that drone!
Fab review, as always, Robin! Loved this thing at Gearfest earlier in the year and had a lovely chat with Paul Whittington of PWM, yes, that AM1 knob had me foxed, too! Thought I'd broken it!
Not watched yet but really looking forward to this... tried it out at synthfest and it was about the most impressive thing I played with while there... Great sounding oscillators. 👌
I just got one this week and I have to say this is sooooo much fun and I haven't even touched any patching yet. Looking forward to seeing this instrument in more people's setups , defo much more fun than adding a Key step or Beatstep to a set. Too easy to get lost for absolutely hours and hours in happy little mistakes all mangled together in pure unadulterated noise
Fantastic review, thank you so much, a HUGE help
I’m in love with this little acid dirt box! What a lovely review Robin! And great demo of its capabilities..❤
Jack The Tab territory
@@billybartcody3591 exactly 🤟
A great take on the 21st Century Throbbing Gristle synth! I would argue that the noticeable notches heard sweeping the oscillator shape is a feature to be exploited on this synth - its character manages to turn its shortcomings into strengths. The 39-minute mark is where this thing gives a glimpse. It's a quirky little acid industrial maniac, love it to pieces. This married with a Plasma pedal would be murder.
Has anyone ever licensed The Gristleizer circuitry from the band and offered it to the public?
Yes - Future Sound Systems who also designed the Malevolent
@@MoltenMusicTech wow! Now I have to get the combo
I have a Plasma Drive module and was definitely considering the PWM Malevolent already!
Oh, I adore Throbbing Gristle...😻👍
Yes, that filter. Man! As you have an arpeggio playing the filter is pulling notes out of its (as the Brits would say) bloody arse! Thank you for pointing out the “features.” It would drive me nuts not knowing the quirks. I think figuring the work-around s would be fun though.
The filter is beastly 👍👽
Thanks for this review Robin. You”re the best. I bought mine on pre order and haven’t given it the attention it deserves. Did I mention that I have set up a Facebook group for this very instrument? There’s only me in it atm. Come and join if you wish. Also look out for something new from PWM maybe Springtime next year.
Awww, that sounds lonely :D unfortunately I have to give this back so i won't be thinking about it anymore. I think it's quite a niche synth but hopefully this will help people into taking one on.
Sounds lovely.
Too right about the initial accesibility issues. Saw this synth at an expo making no sound - everybody walked up, tried the cutoff and oscillators for a bit, realised they also couldn’t get any sound out of it, and just walked away. A shame for such an awesome sounding synth!
I reckon we could do with a lot more of this kind of thing from synth designers.
If only I had the cash.... (sigh)
4:11 that's what I heard immediately and I wanted to see how long it took for you to mention :D
(Edit: I started laughing so hard when you mentioned envelope 2 is the main envelope )
I love the intro lol...
I think it should be neon orange and the knobs should be pink, yellow etc. Rather than the afterthought on their part of sticking it in an olive-greenish flavored black case.
I'm not in love with the colour scheme
The 2 osc subtractive analog synth is done. Ive got 5 of em that i love. This is different. Which is great. But id rather go in the ultra sweet direction. But lately drum machines and new modules are all trending to the raspy distorto direction. Probably in 10 years that is going to be the future. Hope i catch up.
It and the Norand are on the way ! 👽
:23 - Sold.
I concur with all of your concerns and it went back as a result. 👽✌️
I just picked this up... thank you for breaking this down in the vid... there is no manual.... I haven't gotten through the whole vid yet, but do you mention what the voltage of the patchpoints are? I have a bunch of Moog semi Modulars, that are +/- 5v.... and I think I read somewhere that this might be 10v... which would make me pause from using them together.
No need to pause as it’s not going to hurt anything. I only had it for the review so I can’t answer your question, sorry
Because I haven’t added enough comments on one post to be boorish and annoying yet, a random question? I’m admittedly ignorant of modular, and haven’t been especially curious about it…I’m from a small remote west Texas town; therefore I’m ignorant re many things lol jk I think..?). So if I were to order some Behringer modular filter, or oscillator(s), is it a matter of taking cables and trying it in this synth’s various cyborg vaginas to see what I get? Or of course it isn’t that simple I’m sure.
It is both that simple and more complex. It's simple in that you get an oscillator, it makes a sound, you turn the tuning knob and make music. It gets more complex because you want the sound to be more interesting, so you add filters, you add effects, you add things that move pitch to play tunes, things that wobble things to change tone and so on and so on. But yeah, plug outs into ins and you can go far wrong.
I like the idea of this and like it in use but the quirks are kind of a bad thing for the most suitable user i.e. the relative euorack novice. I think the quirks and the hype are due to its hobbyist origins in the Brunswick Kit. Are the tall knobs
in fact trimmer tops on stalks? Is the supposed noisy dirty noisy wildness a forced choice to compete in the market
due to using the 4046 pll to derive the oscillators instead of the usual suspects found in Behringer clones of classic synths which would generate 'better' waveforms?. My main irritation at the grinning hype merchant videos on the usual
other channels is that surely a lot of this 'oh wow it takes you to strange places' claim is due almost entirely to
unusual scaling of the controller knobs compared to other eurorack whch has linear or mildly exponential curves.
Nearly all controls on this seem to go up slowly then wildy and suddenly near the top end. I kind of feel this is like
putting more sugar in an energy drink and telling you its more amazing. I thnk you can soon grow tired of this
non conventional knob scaling. As I say I like this in use and the idea but most of the content about it is misleading
I think. And probably reflects a modern general malaise of repeating press releases to fill space
You’ve made some fair points. It is an unusual machine and for tired old hacks like myself it gives you something to talk about. I didn’t have it for very long so you do have to go with your gut. I think it could have been more elegant but that probably would have added greatly to the price. And there’s definitely a market for less refined, edgier synths.
For a first time hardware synth, they really need to at least get a good pdf manual with basic patches on the website.
Sounds weak and a bit digital. I don't like it.
My initial thought too, just started listening I don’t think it’s gonna get better. The keys look like it’s designed for child’s hands. Robbie did a great review for the Cre8audio West Pest recently, I was considering treating myself and his demo helped me make up my mind. It’s got a great sound. Oh no, as I’m writing this I can hear something that resembles Pac-Man arcade game.