A legend
reborn
A technological marvel and status symbol, the Synclavier dwarfed literally every other synthesizer of the 1980s, in both power and price. Its unique approach to sound design is just as relevant today as it was all those decades ago.
The go-to inspiration station for Sting, Frank Zappa, Kate Bush, Michael Jackson, Chick Corea, and many others began life as an FM synth. It evolved into the first tapeless music production system long before DAWs, adding features like high-res sampling and resynthesis. Nothing got close to this Rolls-Royce of synthesizers, and with maxed-out systems fetching mid six figures, almost no one got close either. Co-created with original inventor Cameron Jones, Synclavier V changes all that.
Your Secret Weapon
No other instrument sounds like the Synclavier, even today. Synclavier V is a source of sounds and ideas as unique as your music.
Beyond the Original
We multiplied the sound-generation capabilities of the original three times over, building a hot-rod that was impossible in hardware.
Exclusive Club
Original Synclaviers are still in use even today because the pros love their sound. Join their ranks without the cost or headaches.
Sonic Chameleon
Combining additive, digital, and FM synthesis with unique sampling features, Synclavier V can truly produce any sound you may have in your mind’s ear.
An experiment
gone right
Born of a college team-up between musicians and engineers, the Synclavier started as a lab experiment and then became the most coveted synth in the music industry.
At prestigious Dartmouth College in the ’70s, students Cameron Jones and Sydney Alonso signed on to a research project with professors Jon Appleton (music) and Frederick Hooven (engineering). The goal: Make a computer behave like a musical instrument.
The prototype Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer became the Synclavier I. This used the FM technique pioneered by Dr. John Chowning of Stanford University, which would see widespread commercial success in the Yamaha® DX7.
Discover the history of Synclavier
In 1976 Alonso and Jones formed New England Digital in Vermont to bring their Able 100 minicomputer to academic and industrial markets. But the Synclavier (which used the Able as its CPU) caught the attention of two individuals who would become historic: Brad Naples, whose music and business degrees from Berklee and Harvard made him NED’s sales manager and eventually president; and film composer Denny Jaeger.
With Naples pitching and Jaeger driving musical features, the Synclavier II debuted in 1980. It sported a 16-track sequencer and soon after added audio sampling and re-synthesis, in which a sample could be analyzed and then reconstructed by the Synclavier’s core engine. A very big deal was that the four Partial Timbres, which were complete parallel additive/FM synthesis chains, made for huge sounds. What’s more, Timbre Frames captured time slices of each Partial, then could move through them to create rich, evolving soundscapes.
The next generation (called simply “Synclavier”) was visually defined by the piano-black VPK keyboard and increased the polyphonic voices, track count, and processing power. Marketed as “the Tapeless Studio,” it was essentially the first DAW. Owning one put you at the top of your game as a sound designer, composer, studio, or audio post house. Synclavier V will do the same for your music.
Your Starship Bridge
Awaits
With all this control, it has never been easier or more immediate to perform the sonic miracles the Synclavier made possible.
Users loved the Synclavier’s interface, which involved a bevy of buttons to select parameters and one knob to rule them all. We say lots of knobs are better than one, making the experience even more intuitive.
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01. Synthesis Without Limits
A single Preset can have up to 12 Partials. Each is a complete additive and FM synthesis chain.
02. Compelling Counterpoints
Every partial has its own volume and harmonic envelope. Timbres can weave around and through each other for ear-engaging sounds.
03. Sonic Surgery
Control every aspect of each partial here, including FM parameters and time-slice behavior. There is no more precise way to build sounds from the ground up.
04. Paint in Broad Strokes
Control settings that affect all Partials in common here, such as pan, transpose, and overall envelope offsets.
05. Space Station
Synclavier V provides very sophisticated control over a stand-alone vibrato and your sound’s movement in the stereo picture.
06. Get Animated
Bring your patches to life with our signature multi-pattern, tempo-syncable arpeggiator as well as polyphonic portamento.
Fantastic
Voyage
A computer screen option allowed precise editing on the original. Synclavier V injects you even deeper into the heart of the sound.
We kept the “green screen” look of the old-school VT100 terminal, then organized everything to enhance and empower your creative flow. Packed with functionality but intuitive, our advanced interface turns you into a sound design expert in record time.
Each Partial lets you use or design any waveform you want for both the carrier and modulator of the FM pair. Then, stack up as many as 12 of them!
Bring in samples as your sonic foundation, or re-synthesize them as the carrier, modulator, or both.
The same Partial can sound totally different at up to 50 snapshots in time. The progression syncs to tempo for sounds that move.
Mix, pan, tune, and transpose all the Partials in one place using the convenient Mixer tab.
Split, layer, and crossfade all 12 Partials across the keyboard, and make them respond to velocity and the modulation wheel.
With a 16 x 16 mod matrix for each Partial, you will never run out of expressive possibilities.
Three effect slots, microtunings, and control over exactly how vintage-digital Synclavier V sounds - it all adds up to a music-making system like no other.
Hear it
in action
The Synclavier was designed to cover any sonic territory and be the last synthesizer its users would ever need.
These audio demos demonstrate the power of Synclavier V in that same spirit, using it for nearly all of their sounds.
Crystal Bells
Victor Morello
This demo was made exclusively with the Synclavier V.
Many Mallets
Victor Morello
This demo was made exclusively with the Synclavier V.
Pet Wad
Victor Morello
This demo was made exclusively with the Synclavier V.
Synclav Techno
Victor Morello
Solace
Paul Schilling
This demo was made exclusively with the Synclavier V.
Jamaican
Paul Schilling
All sounds come from the Synclavier V!
Revenge
Baptiste Le_Goff
So Digital
Sebastien rochard
This demo was made exclusively with the Synclavier V.
North
Paul Schilling
This demo was made exclusively with the Synclavier V.
Celestial
Simon Gallifet
Complex ambient track made exclusively with Synclavier V2, using presets that make the most out of the newer features.
New Land
JMB
All sounds were created with the Synclavier V2 except the snare drums, Hi Hat and cymbals sounds
Paltan
Victor Morello
Electro and melodic track. The presets used in this track are : Butter, Morphing Chorus, Yet So Efficient, Squary Mellow and Initialize System. Additional drums from the Ableton core library.
Artistscorner
Included in
V collection
Legendary Keyboards Reinvented
This instrument is also part of the V Collection -your complete dream line-up of the legendary synths, organs, pianos and more that made keyboard history. They’re modeled with the most advanced technologies for authentic realism, and enhanced with new creative options. Whether you use it as DAW plugins in the studio or standalone at gigs, V Collection puts the greatest keys of all time at your fingertips for instant inspiration.
Learn More
Die Features
Du brauchst
Integrierte In-App-Tutorials führen dich durch jeden Aspekt des Instruments, von individuellen Parametern bis hin zu Tipps unserer Sounddesigner, damit du dich auf deinen kreativen Moment konzentrieren kannst. Das kann doch nicht so einfach sein, ist es aber!
Mit dem Arturia Software Center kannst du deine Arturia Software an einem Ort herunterladen, organisieren und aktualisieren und alle deine Lizenzen für mehrere Geräte verwalten. Einfacher geht es nicht!
Unsere virtuellen Instrumente und Plug-Ins wurden so entwickelt, dass sie problemlos direkt in dein Setup passen. Unabhängig von deinem Style kannst du jeden Sound erkunden und gleichzeitig die volle Kompatibilität mit den wichtigsten DAWs sowohl unter Windows als auch unter macOS genießen.
Finde sofort den richtigen Sound mit dem intelligenten & optimierten Preset-Browser. Suche nach Schlüsselwörtern, nach Instrumentenart, Musikstil und nach vielem mehr - du kannst sogar deine Favoriten speichern, um diese später schnell aufzurufen.
Egal, ob du mit einer Vollbilddarstellung in unsere klassischen Instrumentenemulationen eintauchen oder kostbaren Bildschirmplatz sparen willst – die Bedienoberflächen für alle virtuellen Arturia-Instrumente können beliebig skaliert werden – ganz nach deinem Geschmack.
Unsere Instrumente sind für den nahtlosen Einsatz mit der Arturia KeyLab-Serie vorkonfiguriert - aber sie funktionieren natürlich auch mit anderen MIDI-Controllern. Und mit dabei: Makros für direkte Sound-Optimierung, einfache DAW-Integration und Standalone-Betrieb.
Gallery
Main Features
Software synthesizer playable through a MIDI keyboard
450 presets sounds
Original programmer + original code = the original Synclavier synthesis engine
Powerful FM (frequency modulation) synthesis
Full additive synthesis:
- Time Slice engine for dynamic additive synthesis
- Additive waves for both carrier and modulator waveforms
Expanded number of partials to 12 (the original had 4)
Variable bit depths (original was only 8-bit)
High-quality output effects
Algorithmic reverb
50 presets from the original Synclavier library
VST, VST3, AU, AAX, and standalone operation
Support for Native Instruments NKS format
Platform specifications
Windows
- Win 10+ (64bit)
- 4 GB RAM
- Vierkern-CPU, 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost)
- 3GB freier Festplattenspeicher
- OpenGL 2.0 kompatible GPU
- ARM Prozessoren werden unter Windows nicht unterstützt
Systemvoraussetzungen
- Arbeitet als Standalone, VST, AAX, Audio Unit, NKS (nur mit 64-Bit DAWs).
Apple
- Mac OS 11+
- 4 GB RAM
- Vierkern-CPU, 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost) oder M1 CPU
- 3GB freier Festplattenspeicher
- OpenGL 2.0 kompatible GPU
Arbeiten mit dem ASC
- Eine elegante und einfache Lösung, die dir bei der Installation, Aktivierung und Aktualisierung der Arturia-Softwareinstrumente hilft.
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