Shakmat Ballista Blast is a new hybrid synth voice for Eurorack with digital multi-engine oscillators, analog filters, built-in modulation, and presets.
At Superbooth 2024, the Belgian company Shakmat Modular presented the Ballista Blast, an exciting hybrid synth voice. The advantage of a synth voice is that all elements – VCO, VCF, modulation, and VCA – are integrated into a single module instead of four or more. Plus, they are also more space-efficient.
A highlight of the Ballista Blast is that it combines the best of digital and analog technology in a single module. After two years in development, the Shakmat Ballista Blast is now ready and will be shipped shortly.
Shakmat Ballista Blast
Ballista Blast is a new, compact 12HP full-featured hybrid multi-engine Synthesizer voice for Eurorack.
At the core of Shakmat Ballista Blast is a 16-bit 48kHz digital oscillator, featuring three main synthesis types: subtractive (VA), wavetable, and FM. These can be easily selected via the user interface, providing a dedicated set of parameters.
The subtractive virtual-analog engine offers classic waveforms, a built-in sub-oscillator, unison, chord functionality, and more. Then, the FM mode ships with different algorithms, adjustable via various controls, for crafting complex timbres with ease.
The wavetable mode, the last one, houses 32 wavetables to choose from, ranging from digital to chiptune to realistic emulations of acoustic and electronic instruments. If you need more, you can import custom wavetables via the onboard microSD card slot.
These wavetables, either factory or custom, can be mangled, blended, and modulated in different ways. In addition to manual control of the engines, each parameter can also be modulated with CV, as is typical for a Eurorack module.
The Analog Part
Besides the digital part, the Shakmat Ballista Blast also incorporates analog components, making it a truly unique hybrid synth voice.
It offers four distinct types of analog filters, including two-pole low-, mid-, and high-pass filters, as well as a resonant four-pole low-pass filter, allowing you to shape the digital VCO engines.
These also offer parameters that can be modulated manually or with CV. They give you a wide range of classic filtering options, including for squelchy basslines. Also onboard is an envelope generator that can be routed to various parameters.
Alongside the analog filters, it also includes an analog distortion circuit with both symmetrical and asymmetrical soft clipping. This adds extra grit and warmth to your hybrid sounds.
Also, a highlight in the Ballista Blast is the ability to save and recall your settings instantly with the built-in preset memory function. It has space for up to 256 total presets, giving you plenty of room for your own sounds.
Further, it has a virtual dice or a gate-triggered randomizer with per-parameter depth control, with which you can create instant new sounds. So, you can have a slight variation of your actual sound or flip your sound into completely controlled chaos.
In addition to CV inputs for all parameters, it also has a velocity CV jack, which allows you to use keyboard velocity as an additional modulation source
The Expander
In case you need even more power, there is also an expander for the Shakmat Modular Ballista Blast. It adds an additional modulation source to the main module, which can be freely assigned to nearly every parameter.
The Expander “modulator” can act as an envelope or an LFO, with manually adjustable shape, time, and depth, or via a CV input. Plus, it has a CV input to trigger or clock the envelope or LFO. Nice, you can add up to two expanders to the Ballista Blast.
Shakmat Ballista Blast First Impression
When the module was announced in 2024, I was already very enthusiastic about the idea of hybrid voice on just 12 HP. Two years later, the Ballista Blast is finally finished, and I have to say I really like it from the first demos.
It offers a great deal of flexibility, covering both digital and analog domains. The preset functionality is very practical, making it ideal for live performances and saving significant time preparing sets.
Shakmat Ballista Blast is now available for pre-order at $419. The expander is $129.
More information here: Shakmat Modular
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