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The Persephone is a fingerboard analogue synthesizer with CV and MIDI in and out.
At the first sight, the Persephone reminds of the first electronic fingerboard instruments developed in the 1920s. But beyond this vintage look, the Persephone allies sensors technology and digital controls to a pure analogue generation of sound. The Persephone musicality will be determined by the way it is played. The Persephone respects the traditional play of the first non-keyboard electronic instruments with the right hand controlling the pitch and the left hand controlling the velocity.
The ribbon zone can allow all kinds of play. When scaled, the Persephone can be played like a regular keyboard. Though there are no fixed preset notes with the ribbon, keyboard players will easily find their way. Guitars and bass players will certainly play it like a chord instrument and get sounds that are closed to cello or violin, especially when using vibratos. Jazz players will enjoy slapping the Persephone’s ribbon to get wonderful sonorities. Movie music writers and fans of sci-fi effects will enjoy its bi-dimensional structure, which allows creating eerie sounds very easily.
Just like any synthesizer, the Persephone offers a classical synthesis architecture with an oscillator section, a filter section, a modulation section and a LFO section. With its 100% analogue oscillator, the Persephone can generate notes with a range of 10 octaves. Its lower frequencies go from a deep and resonant cello tone to a nearly human voice. On the highest pitches, it can reach very high frequencies. The oscillator waveform can be set between triangle and sawtooth for a more or less brilliant sound. The filter is a 12dB low-pass filter. Its ribbon control surface is pressure and position sensitive. While it requires the most advanced sensor technology and allows all kind of glissando a Theremin or les Ondes Martenot would allow. A scaling potentiometer allows scaling the Persephone’s ribbon from 1, 2, 5 to 10 octaves. The expression key, controlled by an optic sensor, can transmit the slightest vibrations on the key with an accuracy the mechanical systems never had. All the controls are digital. The four play modes - A, B, C and D - offer different hierarchy of control between the pitch, the velocity, a filter modulation and a LFO.
The Persephone can also be used as a CV/MIDI controller. The Persephone has a CV out and a MIDI in/out. With its CV out, it can control any other analogue synthesizers and modular systems. With its MIDI in/out, it can also be used as a MIDI controller, what turns it into a powerful new kind of instrument.
> tech specs
Suitcase version or desktop version available
ribbon scale from 1, 2, 5 to 10 octaves.
Tune
Finetune
Brightness
analogue oscillator waveforms from sinus to triangle
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> interesting links
manufacturer's web site
www.monstersynths.com
audio demo 1
audio demo 2
audio demo 3
audio demo 4
Peter Christopherson & le Persephone
"Just to let you know that I have been playing my Persephone live
with my band Throbbing Gristle
to great acclaim! We played in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern Gallery in London (The largest space in the most important of Britain's National Art Galleries) to a sold out audience of about 1000 and received a 10 minute standing ovation! (The first any artist has received there!) And also just played for 3 days at London's Institute of Contemporary Art on the Mall
where I used the Persephone to record tracks for a forthcoming version of Nico's Desertshore album.
The Persephone is a truly fantastic instrument to play live. The range of frequencies extraordinary - the low end was literally shaking the building and apparently could be heard on the bridge outside! It is the most intuitive and enjoyable live instrument I have ever had the privilege to play."
Peter Christopherson
throbbing gristle/coil/threshold/houseboys choir
www.thresholdhouse.com
page myspace de thresholdhouse
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