Taiga is a complete, modern, modular instrument that allows us to explore beyond the boundaries of a traditional analog synthesizer. More information is available at pittsburghmodular.com/
I think it is so fun that I also live in Pittsburgh and like synths so these guys are like my neighbors, and I have a West Pest! I am so glad they seem to be doing well and this new synth seems amazing with a great soundful presence even over youtube!
_CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP_ That is one robust synth with some super interesting features. A type of design that looks infinitely playable. And the colorful knobs? Superb. Really nice work Pittsburgh crew.
Wow! Looks great and even more innovations than I had anticipated. Love that you replaced the standard VCA with the DC! And 3 waveshaping oscillators, each with its own wavefolder! Awesome. :)
Reminds me of their early complete packages . Pittsburg has a very creamy but sonically thick and modulation rich instruments. In other words modular “systems “ not just euro rack modules which gives their stuff organic characteristics others don’t possess . Great work guys! 👽✌️
more reasons to be a fanboy. Pittsburgh was my starting foundation, and continues to be the main 3-voice structure in a relatively large modular system. I love that they are giving us extremely useable, but unique takes on traditional concepts. Call me cynical, but these mass uprising in 3U sized computers for a rack is just so antithetical; its very nice to see the analog realm pushed, for patching purposes. Their customer Service is also superb.
Amazing looking product and great presentation, but I also think you guys should make a synth version of the retro encabulator video because you'd be so good at it.
Sold. Preordered. Now a 60 HP Drum synth with your new Drum Modules, Dynamic Amps/Gates and Sequencing??????????????. Now that would be so awesome to compliment the Taiga. Peace!!!! Yea throw the Wolf in with that one.
Just recieved my Taiga from zzounds today after backorder status since release. Has ALL the PGH features I wanted in separate modules but puts them altogether +. I know what I'm doing this weekend. Loudly at that... =8^D
Yay a semi-modular follow-on to the excellent Microvolt! Curiosity question based on the review I saw from Loopop; any chance this is mountable in the Moog Mother ecosystem rack? This would be fun to pair with the Subharmonicon and that would just add a convenience to it. (I'd put it on the bottom and hook it up to a keyboard or sequencer...) Even if it can't this is on my radar for a 2023 purchase!
Just got a Taiga. Struggling with it out of the box. I followed the quick start guide but it still behaving hella weird! Really odd. I'm triggering from an Arturia Minialb 3. Can see the LED's on the ADSR's triggering when I pres a key. But, they're not behaving well at all. And everything else sounds pretty off as well. Very odd. Not sure if it's broken or am just doing something silly! Any tips?! May have to get onto Pittsburgh I think 😕
The synth is mono. I produce stereo effects by recording 2 takes and panning them. Yes, it is possible to make Buchla-like sounds with Taiga. It does a nice bongo.
Nice sounding synth. Strange watching you talk off camera to whoever is there. Hello I'm over here, look this way, it's me you are talking to isn't it?
Interesting piece, even though I’m usually hesitant buying something from designers that self-proclaim being “innovative”. The artists are going to decree that or not. This adv looks like teleshopping (maybe is wanted!)
Our films are meant to be very dry and tongue in cheek. Hopefully they made you smile. Our claims of innovation are rooted in our analog circuitry research. We are inventing new analog synthesizer circuits that produce new sounds. You are correct. How musically innovative the instruments are will be decided by the musicians.
If I may suggest some ideas, in no specific order : What a lot of oscillators miss, is a square wave that has a smooth (non-buszzing) sound usable to sound like a cylindrical bore instrument (clarinets et al). By the same token, synths are notoriously producing hgh frequency harmonics in amplitudes rarely if never found with acoustic instruments. I know synths are their own thing, but there is something to learn about the fact most acoustical processes decay in HF well before any electro-acoustic systems do. In that respect, "x-pass" filters are lacking and one needs more spectral shaping ability. Lots of emphasis is placed on wave-folding and it sounds "cool" but I believe an effect is only well-defined if its aural manifestation can be described verbally. Too many things happen at once with wave-folding. In comparison (even if it is often a one-trick poney), ring mods are easy to understand. Multi-mode filters are great but in many respect, naturally-occurring effects are both in the domain of resonators, and in formants. Filters should always be capable of selectively affecting formants. I would have loved to see a noise source, and one whose spectrum (at least red-blue) is controllable. By the same token, S/H-type tools with slew-rate control, would be cool. I believe that too many modular vendors conflate "random" generators, with "noise". the difference lies in the granularity of said noise ; few, in fact, are able to produce noise that sounds as smooth as breath. I think this points again to spectral shaping mentioned above. This is the reason I prefer two VCFs rather than one - more shaping capability ; more selectivity. Could it be that what's missing in the end is a parametric EQ ? For playability, nothing beats velocity-based modulation and aftertouch. I find LFOs to be an archaïc concept ; modulation should be parametrically-linked to note-length, velocity and pitch. If you ever do a polyphonic synth, 5 voices is enough for most chords, 8 covers music scores to 3 sigmas. Most poly synths sound awful in my opinion, because merely transposing the same sound to various pitches is NOT the way things happen in nature. A good poly design would morph each voice's parameters (user-defined, but I can think of a few simple heuristics) based on pitch. Never enough CV ins and outs... each step in an envelope deserves its own CV. Pulse wave modulation is one of the least useful things in the world, yet it's stuck with us since the 60's. I guess no one dares get rid of it. Unless you intend to do "synth for synth" stuff (perfectly valid) distortion and non-thru-zero FM are.. meh. Saturation and distortion belong in external pedals. Reverb, especially one that does spectrum-based effects like "shimmer", most def belongs in a synth. Effects should be digital, if well done. BBD delays can be adequately imitated digitally.
These are good observations that don't really have much to do with this specific synth, but I'd love to see if there's some synth (or collection of modules) that fits what you have in mind.
I have read through your comment several times. I appreciate the time you took to clearly lay out your thoughts. You make several good points that deserve to be considered. Thank you.
