![]() ![]() You’ve certainly seen the launchpad in at least one of its many iterations. In 2009, after a string of tactical MIDI keyboard controllers with Automap tech, Novation’s 8×8 grid controller arrived as a companion for Ableton Live. Harking back to the goal of making music technology accessible, Matt and his team sought out a new type of controller – one that would make performing with software easier than ever before. “Our goal was to make work as seamlessly as possible, he says. Product manager Matt Derbyshire tackled this head-on with the Remote 25 MIDI keyboard in 2003. As DAWs like Reason gained momentum, the question on the brand’s mind was ‘wouldn’t it be good to have a controller that mapped to the virtual instruments?’ The Novation team saw another opportunity in the face of this newfound predicament. “Within eight weeks, the software was cracked and killed it completely.” Thankfully, these synths saw the light of day again earlier this year and are now available as a free download. So far, so good – until pirates had their way with Novation’s new software. “We were selling about 1,000 a week of these things,” says Jannaway. To contend with the demand for software-based synthesizers and sequencers, Novation translated its iconic Bass Station and K-Station synthesizers into plugins. ![]() ![]() Credit: Simon Vinall for MusicTechĪnother innovation would disrupt the studios of producers in the early 00s, though – the DAW. You can explore the sounds of some of Novation’s classic synths in its Legacy Sample Pack. As the brand puts it, the Supernova synths were primed for the new millennium. And, in true Novation fashion, it carried a record-breaking USP: “the launch of the Supernova rack was the first ever multitimbral synth with a complete multi-effects processor per part,” Jannaway told us in 2015.īoasting ASM (Analogue Sound Modelling) digital oscillators and eight-voice polyphony, the Supernova and subsequent Supernova II were powerhouse polysynths and were loved by Orbital, Jean-Michel Jarre and A Guy Called Gerald. Storming out of the late 90s and into the 00s – and feeding producers’ appetite for effects-equipped synths – was Novation’s Supernova series, launched in 1998. The Bass Station paved the way for Novation’s Drum Station, Super Bass Station, Bass Station plugin, and the Bass Station II – which was released in 2013 and became the basis for Novation’s collab with Aphex Twin, the AFX Station. ![]() It certainly had its questionable quirks – as did its sibling, the Bass Station Rack – but it remains a stone-cold classic synth. Arriving at a time when music producers were hungry for sounds akin to the squelchy acid palette of the Roland TB-303, the Bass Station nestled nicely in the studios of Thom Yorke, William Orbit, Laurent Garnier, Nine Inch Nails, and Massive Attack, to name a few. Novation’s first monosynth harnessed the power of the Wasp’s filter, an analogue signal path, and digitally-controlled oscillators. A collaboration with the late synth designer and soon-to-be longtime Novation mastermind Chris Huggett – creator of the legendary OSCar and EDP Wasp synths – transformed the keyboard into the Novation Bass Station, which was a tremendous success. Let’s make it make some noises rather than just send MIDI data out the back,” Jannaway continues. “It became clear that…we’ve got this two-octave thing. Credit: Simon Vinall for MusicTechīut even the MM10 had its artistic limitations. Solving problems is the driving force behind Novation’s creations. Sure, this two-octave MIDI keyboard is a far cry from the backlit buttons, sturdy sliders and tactile transport controls of Novation’s modern keyboards, but it was a practical solution to bring a “miniature workstation” to producers, as Jannaway says. Novation created the MM10 MIDI keyboard that year to accompany the Yamaha QY10 – a portable 12-bit music-making workstation that was dubbed a ‘walkstation.’ The battery-powered synth and sequencer is pretty primitive, and Jannaway’s desire to play the QY10 with full-size, velocity-sensitive keys led to the inception of the ‘never-before-conceived’ MM10. Ian Jannaway and Mark Thompson founded Novation Electronic Music Systems in 1992 with a mission statement that still rings true today: to make music production more accessible. ![]()
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