While it looks like a normal keyboard with a wood block on the side, that wood block is one key to the expressiveness of the Polybrute. Using three dimensions of control and modulation—X, Y on the wood and Z by applying pressure—the Morphee controller can design your perfect patch for tonal, textural, or rhythmic interaction. In conjunction with a sneaky wooden ribbon control strip right above the keyboard, the Polybrute is a fun machine to play. Particularly because there is a sequence recorder which can free you from playing the keys letting you use the ribbon with one hand and the Morphee in the other hand.

A deceptively simple oscillator section is the beating heart of the Polybrute: there are two analog oscillators which each have their own unique characteristics and can be blended in a way to create luscious pads, sharp FM leads, and nasty sync'd basslines. The first oscillator utilizes a Metalizer to mangle the waveform and the second features a Sub oscillator. Both oscillators have the same saw-to-triangle shapes with an added pulse/square wave that can be added and each has their own dedicated mix level control. In the mixer section, there's a third Noise level control that lets you bring in the noise oscillator. All three of these can be routed to one or both of the on-board filters: the Steiner or the Ladder. These can be run in series or parallel with the ability to morph between the two stages; the Stiener is a multi-mode-morphing filter while the Ladder is a classic lowpass. With the routing and quality of the voices, VCAs, and filters, it's really easy to finesse amazing sounds.

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Finally, we need to touch on the modulation, because that is where the expandabilities become virtually endless. Across 3 LFOs, 3 envelopes, the aforementioned Morphee, aftertouch, and the ribbon controller, there is a lot to cover. Suffice to say: anything can modulate everything. Front and center is the Matrix, which can look daunting, but basically you find your modulation source on the left, tap one of the squares to the right and you're on your way to creating interesting, evolving patches. Like any instrument, it requires practice and patience, but it is fairly easy to get up and running with a full bevy of excellent presets. The Motion Recorder is another handy feature that allows you to record your knob and/or slider twiddling so each time you press a key, that same gesticulation happens. You can change the rate to happen faster or slower than you gestured. Combine that with the Arp/Sequencer and you have, essentially, a living organism.

A full featured, digital effects section is at the end of the chain with delay, reverb, and modulation effects each with their own parameters and flavors. Of course, these can also be added to the modulation matrix. An instrument this robust and full featured is hard to convey in words, let alone just a few paragraphs, so we suggest you try it in person for the full, ecstatic experience of the Polybrute. Just be sure to give yourself ample time to zone out.

Designed in collaboration between musician Alessandro Cortini and Make Noise's Tony Rolando, Strega is a self-contained semi-modular synth like no other. Deviating from traditional synthesis structures and instead encapsulating many of Cortini's own musical values in a single device, Strega presents a dark, murky sound world full of deep, buzzing drones and churning, bubbling noise. Perfect for dark, ambient soundscapes or experimental improvisation, Strega can go from tonal to chaotic at a moment's notice...and it remains deeply nostalgic and sentimental all the while.

Technically, Strega includes an oscillator, waveshaper, delay, filter, looping envelope, and chaotic CV generator, as well as a preamp/envelope follower for external signals. These individual submodules feature many dedicated patch points, as well as input/output routing via front-panel touch plates...allowing you to "circuit bend" or "patch" the synth purely with touch alone. To reduce Strega to a list of its components, though, would be unfair: it's a surprisingly organic instrument that can cause you to question what each of the individual submodules truly can do. The oscillator can be a source of random, aperiodic low-frequency clicks; the envelope can be a sound source; the delay can turn into a constant source of churning, undulating chirps and noise like the crunching of leaves; the list goes on. Strega also pairs splendidly with Make Noise's 0-Ctrl, creating a completely self-sufficient instrument for everything from twinkling sequences to unabashedly brutal noise.

Indeed, the coolest thing about the Versio line isn't just that whichever module you pick will instantly add a substantial dose of Noise Engineering's signature flavor of DSP effects to your rack. But the fact that you can easily pull out the module, flash a new firmware, and have a totally different effect to explore packs incredible value into what would otherwise be just a single module. Noise Engineering chose to build the Versio series on Electrosmith's Daisy, which is an open source, DSP programming platform. Doing this not only allows Noise Engineering to develop new ideas without sinking costs into additional hardware development, but libDaisy, the audio code framework upon which the modules are built, is available for anyone to explore and develop their own effects and synthesizers.

Desmodus Versio was the first one released, offering Noise Engineering-style destruction in the form of a wild, CV-friendly stereo reverb effect. It was always promised that other firmwares would follow, given the flexibility provided by the Daisy platform, and NE certainly delivered. Our Patch Pals Jacob and Wes took a look at the Versio series earlier this year when the crushing Ruina Versio was released, after the lovely multi-tap delay Imitor Versio had been unveiled a few months prior. Since then, NE has added even more firmwares since then, including Melotus and Ampla Versio, with more always on the way—whether they be from Noise Engineering themselves or the online community of users at large.

Each of the four sequencing tracks is independent and can be programmed to have up to 64 steps. Programming the Keystep is pretty straight forward with the option to manually program notes in, or you can record your notes in real time. When recording the notes, you can have the sequence be quantized to the tempo/divisions or not allowing for more organic patterns to emerge. The velocity, aftertouch, mod wheel, and CC knobs are also recorded. The patterns can be left at that, however, the performance controls bring sequencing to the next level. You can transpose all or some of the tracks, randomize the step order, randomize the step trigger probability, randomize the notes, dynamically shift pitches that are quantized to a scale, nudge the entire sequence, add individual swing per step—the list can go on.

Performance was well thought out when designing this interface and everything is easily accessible thanks to the many buttons and well placed indicator lights. The Keystep Pro is a fun instrument to play and with so many ports of expandability this can really be the center of your studio and performance workflow. The 4 Voice CV outs each have Pitch, Mod/Velocity, and Gate outputs and the addition of 8 individual Gate Outs for the Drum sequencing means you can power a full Eurorack with ease. The incredibly handy addition of two MIDI outs makes connecting multiple devices a breeze and syncing everything is simple, too, with dedicated clock outputs.

To start, the eight audio tracks have tons of flexibility over their timbre with sample editing, a filter and amplitude section, bitcrushing and overdrive, and two flexible LFOs that can be assigned to almost any parameter. These audio tracks not only play back the sound or sample loaded to the track, but can swap between up to 127 different designable sounds via the Sound Pool option, and that's per project! Incorporating your other synths and machines is simple with the eight MIDI tracks—capable of setting up MIDI channel, program bank and changes, velocity, pitch bend, and even eight specific CCs.

Equally if not more powerful, Elektron's brilliant sequencer pushes Digitakt to some amazing boundaries with probability, retriggering, automation, and more. Initially, each track on Digitakt follows a simple 16-step sequence a tempo, quantized to the beat—this is simply a canvas for you to create beautiful sequences with control over each track's step length (up to 64) & clock division/multiplication AND each step's microtiming & retrigger conditions. On top of all that flexibility you still have a variety of conditional and parameter locking that allow you to give individual steps conditions on when they're played and whether or not to follow the base parameters or a specific set of parameters.

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Whether you're starting to get into modular or are looking for an easy to use interface, the 8-Step Sequencer provides tons of room for realizing ideas. Each step offers control over pitch CV ranging from 0 to 10V (10 octaves), and this not only outputs one but two identical CV sequences with individual glide controls. Although these aren't quantized to a scale, that makes them all the more flexible to add very specific tunings for modulating pitch, filter frequency, LFO rate, and so much more. Each step also determines the play mode dictated by the RUN-SKIP-RST switches, in which you either play the step, skip the step, or reset to the first step after passing. These switches are quite performable for making malleable and poly-metric patterns, anywhere between one to eight steps long.

Running off an external clock, you have a RUN/STOP switch for bringing in and out the sequence, and with a THRU CV out, you can keep your clock going throughout your modular case without the need of a multiple module. If you'd rather not use a clock source, you can manually step through your sequence via the CLOCK button. Holding and resetting the sequence are as easy as a press of a button, but you can also use CV to trigger them—since the inputs are comparator-based, you can use any type of CV (not just gates/triggers) to control these! The 8-Step Sequencer from Wavefonix offers dynamic and easy-to-use controls for molding intriguing and creative sequences.