GLX Balsam is a new 8-voice modal Synthesizer that reimagines the classic polysynth with eight pitch-bender sliders.
Synthesizers are usually played with a keyboard with white and black keys. However, other concepts are also possible, such as Termin, Soma Lyra, and Elmyra, which use touch strips and pads.
The new American developer GLX is taking a different approach and has developed the Balsam, a polysynth that is played with eight sliders.
GLX Balsam
Balsam is a new original 8-voice desktop hybrid modal polyphonic Synthesizer. You’ve probably already noticed that the GLX Balsam isn’t a traditional polysynth. It features a striking array of eight sliders arranged like a mixer layout.
This is not an 8-channel mixer; instead, the Balsam concept is based on these sliders and aims to reimagine a polysynth.
According to GLX, the concept is inspired by pedal steel guitars and vintage synths such as the Oberheim OB-8 and the Yamaha CS-80. Eight independent pitch-benders let you bend and manipulate each voice individually.
Additionally, each pitch bender also has a dedicated white button to trigger the sound. These can be individual notes or chords, each with its own tuning, including just and equal intonation modes.
There are different tuning banks built into the hardware, or you can use the browser application to upload other banks. While playing, you can instantly transpose the tunings or make octave transposes. The following two features are more special.
Viscosity is a parameter that adds slew limiting (drag) to your pitch bend movements. As viscosity increases, the oscillator moves more slowly toward its target. Imagine you’re pushing the pitch bend more slowly than usual until you reach the target.
This sets Balsam as the viscosity parameter, giving your sound a very slow, drifting character. There is also a polyphonic glide with various modes.
On top of that, each oscillator can have its own glide and viscosity speed values, giving you unique thickening and phase interference type results. Plus, there is a key-latch function.
That’s not all that the sliders can do. They also handle the unique, reimagined built-in polyrhythm sequencer. It allows you to cycle notes on/off at some subdivisions of the clock in a quantized or unquantized way.
Once set, you can adjust the subdivisions by moving the sliders and achieve a wide range of polyrhythmic sequences. Neat, it also supports MIDI Polyphonic Expression, aka MPE, with a dedicated output.
Hybrid Synthesis Engine
The first video doesn’t mention the engine yet. However, the official website already provides that information. The synth part is hybrid and can be tweaked to a very hands-on interface that very evokes Buchla vibes. However, it’s not based on it.
At its core is an 8-voice virtual analog polyphonic engine, featuring two independent oscillators with controls over the waveform, tune, and glide/viscosity. A sync option, a noise generator, and a sub-oscillator are also part of the engine.
Then it houses a stereo analog state-variable (4P/2P) filter with a dedicated tone control. According to the website, the stereo VCA is analog as well.
On the modulation side, it has three ADSR envelopes (amp, filter, and mod) and an LFO. A mod matrix manages the modulators even though it’s not visible on the hardware. The modulation is also slider-tracked and key-tracked, the developer says.
Since both the filter and the VCA are analog, I refer to it as a hybrid rather than a virtual-analog synth. The oscillators, envelopes, and LFOs may be virtual-analog here. That sounds already rich and juicy.
Connectivity
On the connection side, GLX Balsam has a stereo output with two Line 6.35mm inputs, a headphone socket, an expression pedal input, and an external input.
In addition, it includes USB-C with MIDI in/out, 5-pin MIDI in/out sockets, and 3.5mm analog clock sync in/out.
GLX Balsam First Impression
At first glance, Balsam is a very special polyphonic Synthesizer. Bravo GLX. The idea of playing individual voices with pitch-bend sliders is fascinating and raises my interest.
Sonically, it certainly won’t be a mega-deep polysynth like a Hydrasynth or so, but the new, innovative playing concept with the voices makes it versatile in a unique way.
I hope we get more answers about whether the engine is hybrid or fully digital. Whether virtual or hybrid, Balsam is not only a feast for the eyes but also an instrument that sparks our interest.
GLX Balsam is now available in a pre-sale, limited-edition run in tornado-felled American walnut for $2049, down from the $2249 MSRP. The pre-sale will be delivered in Q1 of 2026. For now, it’s limited to US readers.
More information here: GLX
Be the first to comment