Superbooth 2018: Xaoc Zadar 1973 Quadruple Envelope Generator
An unusual take on envelopes that’s based on the general idea of synthesis by deformable vector shapes. Zadar has 4 channels of over 200 unique shapes with complex looping and chaining. This seems a long way from ADSR.
Zadar
So it’s an envelope generator that uses a wide range of shapes to modulate sound rather than your regular and familiar ADSR style envelope. Here’s how they sum up the usage:
From basic and simple to complex transients, from looped modulation cycles to rhythmical patterns, from quasi-randoms to perfectly regular functions, natural envelopes extracted from various acoustic and electronic instruments, abstract fractals and physical models, etc. — they all work great as envelopes but also as stepped sequences, LFOs, resonator exciters and so on.
Starting with a stored shape you can then edit it as far as you wish. They are built on scalable vectors containing thousands of segments and so are completely manipulable. New shapes are just a knob turn away. Envelopes can then be looped, chained, repeated and controlled via a CV input for each channel.
The OLED screen shows you what’s going on. Menu diving is kept to a minimum and only really needed for advanced options. Otherwise, the 4 rotary encoders and channel switch button are all you need.
Zadar looks like quite a thing. Looking forward to seeing it in action. Currently on ModularGrid for €290.
More information
- Zadar ModularGrid page.
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