Landscape Moon is a new passive-powered analog drone and rhythmic Synthesizer based on the concept of the Noon.
Synthesizers, samplers, and drum machines all require power to produce sound. What if the control voltage and gate alone provided this power, without requiring any active power source? Noon Synthesizer from the US company Landscape has been pursuing this idea since 2021.
Noon is an analog drone and rhythmic Synthesizer that is passively powered by CV signals. Moon is a smaller version of the larger Landscape Noon, featuring a modified analog circuit.
Landscape Moon
Say hello to Moon, the little brother of the Landscape Noon Synthesizer. Moon is a new 4-channel version of the analog drone and rhythmic Synthesizer. For this, Landscape teamed up again with Eurorack module developer Eli Pechman of Mystic Circuits.
Moon relies on the same technology as its bigger 8-channel brother, Noon. External CV and gate signals momentarily activate/power and modulate its circuit, casuing them to oscillate and move naturally.
Depending on the source used (sequencer CV, LFO, envelopes, gate length, etc.), this influences the behavior and sound of the instrument.
According to the developers, Moon has a darker tonality as Noon and offers modified analog circuits and voltage attenuation. Thus, not just a smaller version, but also an independent instrument.
Each Channel Is Unique
There are four channels that can be powered independently using the dedicated inputs on the side. Each of the four channels is a unique analog circuit with its own characteristics and controls.
They are described as hybrid, being a drum voice and a chaotic synth voice, depening how you power and use them. For example, because each circuit has a unique power loading characteristic, they respond dynamically and organically different to longer or shorter gate lengths.
Things get more interesting and wilder when you start combining the channels. Then the channels start talking together. They grow, inform and process one another in complex rhythmic ways.
The four controls allow you alternate the sounds without patching in very quick way by increasing or attenuating the connections between the voices.
Further, Moon has touch plates that can be used to change pitch or texture of the voices, turning it into a playable drone Synthesizer.
Just like Noon, Landscape Moon is not an ordinary Synthesizer at all. It is an original instrument that invites experimentation and is capable to produce weirdly beautiful drones to crazy, rhythmic organic structures.
On the connection side, it has six 3.5mm CV inputs, two audio inputs, and six audio outputs.
First Impression
The fact that this news was being released on Halloween night is quite fitting. The experimental sounds that Noon, and now Moon, can produce are sometimes so wild and outlandish that they would fit perfectly into an electronic Halloween soundtrack.
Noon and Moon are polarizing instruments, as many users struggle with their chaotic sounds. However, those seeking glitchy analog drums, organic drones, and textures that feel at home in the void will find an original instrument here that perfectly captures this.
I’m glad there’s now a sibling version of the Noon, making the concept more accessible in terms of price and ease of use.
Landscape Moon is now available for pre-order at $390. It’s made in the US and shipping is estimated for Winter 2025-2026.
More information here: Landscape FM
I’d like to see a Signature Model: “The MonoNeon MiniNoon”