Soma Laboratory Pulsar-23 £1,730
CONTACT WHO: Soma Laboratory WEB: somasynths.com KEY FEATURES Four-part analogue percussion synth with looping sequencers, copious patch points, distortion, DSP reverb and delay, and a multitude of utilities and control processors
The brainchild of Soma Labs founder Vlad Kreimer, Pulsar-23 is one of the most fascinating, inspirational and – at times – bewildering electronic instruments we’ve tried in a long time. Described as an ‘Organismic Drum Machine’, this is a four-part percussion synthesiser based around principles similar to those of Soma’s cult-classic Lyra 8 – replicating the interactions within a living organism through its non-linear design and multi-approach interface.
At a basic level, Pulsar-23 is a four-voice semi-modular percussion synth, with generators labelled Bass Drum, Bass, Snare Drum and Hi-Hat. The first two of these are more tonal, and it’s possible to play them melodically using MIDI and/or CV routings. The Bass Drum is a tunable triangle waveform with adjustable pitch sweep, capable of classic, meaty analogue kick sounds,
