Herbs and Stones Mousse is a new semi-modular patchable dual-voice Synthesizer with built-in sequencers and more.
The Italian company Herbs and Stones has released some very lovely, original synthesizers and FX in recent years. Most readers are probably familiar with the Liquid Foam, a dual analog groovebox, or the Gentle Wham, an analog drum machine.
The young Italian company’s latest project and product is a new semi-modular Synthesizer called Mousse, again with a groovy feature set.
Herbs and Stones Mousse
At the time of writing (9 Nov), there is no official feature list, and Mousse is also not yet listed on the official website. However, Herbs and Stones has already introduced Mousse on YouTube with a small description.
We see a Synthesizer (30×20) that follows the beautiful black-and-white look of the other H&S products. The design is somewhat reminiscent of a chessboard, but don’t worry, it isn’t one.
The interface has a variety of knobs, buttons, and inputs & outputs. The I/O is highlighted using black-and-white elements. It’s currently hard to say whether the inputs are black or white or vice versa. One thing is sure: the design is original and eye-catching. This also applies to the concept.
Mousse has a dual engine with two independent hybrid synth voices. On the interface, you can see that both oscillators are designed differently. While voice A has controls for mod and feedback, voice B has functions for wave and noise.
A future official feature list will tell us where the differences lie and whether they are analog or digital. We can also see that both voices have an independent resonant multimode filter with selectable lowpass, bandpass, and highpass.
Modulation & Sequencing
Then, Herbs and Stones Mousse offers two envelope generators, each with a decay knob. One might wonder whether these are just decay envelopes or whether there are hidden functions. There are also two LFOs with extra built-in functions described as modulation sources.
A highlight of the Mouse is two built-in sequencers, each with four steps. The full feature set of these is not unclear, but we can see that you can change the direction with a rotating function. Plus, sequencer A has a slew limiter.
The second picture shows that the Herbs and Stones Mouse Synthesizer is patchable. Like other semi-modular synths, a part of the signal path will be pre-wired internally.
Thanks to the 30 patch points, you can also break these fixed connections and create your own Mousse signal flow. Of course, also integrate other external signal sources because I’m assuming that these are Eurorack compatible.
On the connection side, Mousse has independent voice outputs (A/B) and a shared output (A+B). At this point, however, it is impossible to say whether there is also MIDI in/out, USB-MIDI, or an external input.
First Impression
At first glance, it is an intriguing new semi-modular Synthesizer. The interface looks wild, but I like it because it is different and stands out. In terms of sound, it’s nothing groundbreakingly new from the first sounds, but I think you can do many wild things with it.
You hear groove box-like things with rhythmic elements, drum and melodies, bleeps and bloops, noise, random events, and more. I’m looking forward to hearing more demos of Mousse, as it seems like a super fun experimental-flavored semi-modular synth.
Herbs and Stones Mousse availability and price TBA.
More information here: Herbs and Stones
Herbs and Stones synthesizers and FXs are available at my partner.
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