ACL Sinfonion

Modular is addictive. One minute you′re nervously combining your first kick and mono bass modules… the next thing you know, your partner′s left and you′ve downsized to a one room to pay for kit. But that′s not the problem, of course. How can you get all these delicious oscillators and complex sequences playing together in perfect harmony? Meet Sinfonion, a completely unique harmonizing module. It employs three quantizers (think of them as ‘snap-to-grid’ devices for pitch) for playing four note chords, arpeggios, and complex progression sequences (more on these later). All are controlled from one easily understandable interface, and all automatically in key, even when you modulate or sequence those key changes. Now, with a total of eight pitch outputs, four gate outputs, 11 CV inputs, four trigger inputs, and gate inputs, and a large number of controls and buttons, Sinfonion can seem a little intimidating. But it′s actually simple to use. Essentially you define a key for the whole instrument, and this then forms the basis for the different sections. The key can be changed on the fly, and can even be modulated and sequenced. Now, let′s take a look at those sections… Firstly, Sinfonion features three quantizer channels, giving direct access to harmonic scale notes via dedicated buttons (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th) for each channel. Essentially, it pushes any incoming pitch data to the nearest note that fits the current scale – either delivered from a sequencer, from live play on a piano-style keyboard or strip, or even a more random modulator, such as an LFO.