Soma Labs RoAT: Rumble of Ancient is an 8-bit noise Synthesizer and sequencer that takes you sonically back to times when computer games fit on floppy disks.
You will look in vain for classic synthesizers in the manufacture of Vlad Kreimer and his team at Soma Labs. The Russian developers are masters in developing experimental, beautiful-wired electronic instruments with innovative ideas and unique sound timbres.
They create instruments that challenge musicians around the world to look outside the box when it comes to composing. Rumble of Ancient (RoAT) is the latest development from Vlad Kreimer’s ingenious sound laboratory. It’s a new 8-bit synth, developed by Kakos Nonos, that is inspired by the early PC gaming era where video games was made to fit on a small floppy disk.
SOMA Labs RoAT
RoAT or Rumble of Ancient Times is a compact, portable 8-bit noise Synthesizer and sequencer. RoAT is not a normal synth, it is a noise machine that is capable of generating crazy noisescapes, glitchy rhythmic patterns, and more.
The core of SOMA Labs’s latest synth product contains 4 independently tuneable oscillators, 16 rich waveforms and a dedicated multi-wave LFO for each that can modulate the tone or the volume. So you have four voices, each with a waveform that routed together in a mixer with other signals using 1,536 variations of complex summing algorithms including FM, ring modulation, logic…
Then, you have 8-bit resonant lowpass filter allowing you to mangle the sound further. There is also a built-in sequencer that can be synced to an external device and also send clock out. Four AAA batteries powers the RoAT Synthesizer for jams which can take up to 130 hours.
8-bit synths often tend to create very wild, unpredictable noise walls. SOMA Labs, however, promises that the RoTA will produce noise that is musical and sweet sounding.
At first glance, the interface appears to be simple and intuitive. It uses a 7×4 matrix that gives you access to all available parameter. There are also touch plates giving triggering option. Handy, if you don’t just want to drift into the drone world.
One can almost believe that the RoAT is Soma Labs’ answer to the Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators in just experimental and crazy form. A very interesting, small noise Synthesizer for little money. It’s a shame that Soma Labs won’t deliver it until 2022.
SOMA Labs RoAT (Rumble of Ancient Times) is available now for pre-order for 155€ and starts shipping in Januar/February 2022.
More information here: SOMA Labs
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