Update: Magnolia Frap Tools 8-Voice Analog Thru-Zero FM Synthesizer
It’s an analog FM synth from Italy, with a new firmware update
This is a boutique synth – a euphemism that means high-end – that among many other features has a 5-octave keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch (made by Fatar). Listening to the demos, it’s capable of sounding like familiar FM, there’s a track that could be Steps Ahead, other sounds are more bread and butter. Here’s the release, edited lightly.
MEDOLLA, ITALY: having effectively established itself as a high-end keyboard synthesizer manufacturing force to be reckoned with, working well beyond its roots as a manufacturer of Eurorack modules and accessories alongside professional audio compressors in the 500-Series format, Frap Tools is proud to make Magnolia an even more attractive proposition as an 8-VOICE ANALOG THRU-ZERO FM SYNTHESIZER with the availability of firmware 1.10 — enabling enhancements aplenty alongside bug fixes — as of July 6…
It is a polyphonic, bi-timbral analogue synthesizer that — besides classic analogue polysynth sounds — allows for programming some less conventional timbres closer to the world of modular synthesizers, especially those of so-called ‘complex oscillators’. Frap Tools soon sold out of its first batch, before shipping a second batch boasting firmware 1.10.
This firmware update include 200 additional memory slots, bringing the total to 400; full MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) CC (Continuous Controller) implementation — in and out — over every parameter; MIDI over USB (Universal Serial Bus); user-definable aftertouch curves with 11 degrees of hardness/softness; and adjustable LED (Light-Emitting Diode) brightness — choose from high or low brightness factory presets or define a custom user setting with independent controls over the red, white, and orange LEDs, as well as the Static Value display itself.
It is only fitting, then, that Frap Tools took this opportunity to also apply some bug fixes, including one that prevented the keyboard from retaining a parameter value after the Static Display was used and another that incorrectly played incoming MIDI notes.
Frap Tools Product Designer and Founder Simone Fabbri: “We put all our signature sound tools — analogue triangle-core oscillators, thru-zero FM [Frequency Modulation], wavefolders, analogue distortion, and a wild, resonant filter inside. It’s a powerful instrument, capable of a wide gamut of sounds that range from soft, glass-like pads to earth-shattering distorted leads. And a hands-on modulation matrix allows you to connect 16 modulation sources to 32 modulation destinations by just pushing a button and twisting a knob. Needless to say, we always design every single circuit from scratch, and Magnolia is no exception to this as an actual shrunken version of our popular Eurorack modules — without any stock ICs [Integrated Circuits] whatsoever! We at Frap Tools are all thrilled — and even a bit jittery — by Magnolia‘s release.” Reality dictates, though, that there is nothing ‘jittery’ about Magnolia itself — all the more so with the welcomed release of firmware 1.10!
Price: €4,199.00 EUR (including VAT)
(Updates for existing owners are available from the product page, along with a video explaining how to do it)
