ROB PAPEN QUAD
We’re always up for a synth that does things slightly differently from the norm. Let’s see what innovations Rob Papen has to offer in Quad
Quad was originally designed as a rack extension instrument for Propellerhead Reason and has now been relaunched for VST, AU and AAX users. Like many Rob Papen synths, most of the functionality is found in one jam packed window, and it’s fair to say this contributes to a functional rather than designer layout. However, if you’ve used Rob Papen synths before you’ll appreciate that the directness and efficiency are accompanied by incredible depth of features, a plethora of presets and an awesome sound that you’ll keep coming back to.
Quad Core
Quad features two core oscillators each with their own sub oscillator and 4 XY pads – two per oscillator. This four-fold ‘quad’ arrangement dominates the interface, forming the backbone of the synth. It works as follows: each oscillator can choose from 128 analogue modelled,
COMPUTER MUSIC
additive and spectral waves with tuning, detuned Spread and analogue Drift. The sub oscillators are fixed at one octave below and can be either sine or square wave and oscillator 2 can be synced to oscillator 1. Further interaction is available between the oscillators (see box out). However, the big ticket feature and the one that dominates the interface, is the XY pad system and these provide phase distortion and wave shaper distortion for each oscillator. The phase distortion influences how the oscillator is actually generated; meanwhile the wave shaper provides further manipulation of that waveform. Each process has 21 different distortion types and each of these has two adjustable parameters, which are assigned to the X and Y axes. So, you have incredible power to manipulate the sound of each oscillator at the most fundamental level and starting with a sine wave we quickly created a harmonically rich oscillator simply by selecting distortion types and manipulating the XY pads. Factor in the 21 distortion types and 128 core oscillators and the potential for tone creation is immense.
However, where things get really interesting is when we add in modulation, as each axis can be modulated via the 8-slot modulation matrix using either onboard sources (LFOs, envelopes and so on) or via MIDI CCs. A cursory delve into
“The big ticket feature and the one that dominates the interface, is the XY pad system”