The Matrix 12: Arturia Nails It
What rocked twelve voices, two oscillators, an amazing 15-mode filter, five LFOs, a killer modulation matrix, and was deployed by synth heavies like Joe Zawinul, Keith Emerson, and Tangerine Dream? It's the Matrix 12 - Oberheim's legendary 1980s analog polysynth. If you could find one of these beasts for sale in good working order, you'd likely flinch at the asking price. But fear not! The meticulously modeled Arturia Matrix 12 V gives you all the sonic goodness of the original hardware - plus a host of modern conveniences that can can only be achieved in the software realm. Take it from us synth geeks here at Sweetwater: you're going to want the Arturia Matrix 12 V in your creative arsenal.
Related Videos: Matrix 12 V Analog Synthesizer Software Instrument
- The Matrix 12 story, in all its glory
- Arturia models it, to a tee
- Unleash your creativity: the sky's the limit!
The 1980s were an important - and interesting - decade in the synth world. Polyphony was becoming de rigueur and digital synthesis was gaining a foothold with the Yamaha DX-7 and various digital samplers, while stripped-down synths like the Juno 106 and Korg Poly 6 were making synthesis available to the masses. The stage was set for Tom Oberheim - who had been designing some of the best-sounding synths for over a decade - to introduce a no-holds-barred analog synth. And so the Oberheim Matrix 12 was unleashed upon the world in 1985. It was, indeed, an all-out assault on the state of the art, with glorious sonics and tantalizing modulation possibilities, but its near-five-grand price tag put it out of reach for all but a few fortunate souls. Around 1000 units were produced, many of which are still making sweet music to this day.
Arturia models it, to a teeWhen it comes to modeling vintage analog synths, many of us immediately think of Arturia - and with good reason. Their proprietary True Analog Emulation technology (TAE) is truly amazing, and is no doubt a critical component in some of the finest virtual synths we've heard. For the Matrix 12 V, Arturia modeled not only the tonal aspects of the original two oscillators and their waveforms, but the 15 filter modes as well. They knew that the Matrix 12's famously rich, complex sound was forged by its multiple filter modes and by the numerous modulation sources and destinations on tap. With nearly endless modulation-routing possibilities, you can sculpt wonderfully organic sounds not possible with other synthesizers.
Unleash your creativity: the sky's the limit!The Matrix-12 V is, just like its hardware predecessor, a multitimbral instrument. In Multi mode, each of the 12 notes can voice a different sound. These sounds can then be split on different zones of your keyboard, transposed individually, played unison - you get the idea! And Matrix 12 V's elegant software interface makes configuring all this a cinch. While the original Matrix 12 was an amazing synthesis achievement, Arturia upped the ante by adding a new effects chain for additional sound processing. They also doubled the allowable number of modulations from 20 to 40, giving you even more creative options. Factor in the ability to control all of Matrix 12 V's parameters via MIDI, letting you perform automation in your DAW, and you've got a total beast of a soft synth.
Arturia Matrix 12 V Virtual Synth Plug-in Features:- Multitimbral; 12-note polyphonic
- Redesigned preset browser
- Resizeable user interface for HD displays
- Two oscillators, each with:
- Triangle, sawtooth, and variable-width pulse wave with PWM
- Oscillator 1 may be frequency modulated
- Oscillator 2 equipped with white noise generator
- Single 15-mode filter with:
- Four Lowpass, three Highpass, and two Bandpass modes
- Notch and Phase Shift modes
- Four additional Combo filter modes
- Powerful modulation matrix with 27 sources and 47 destinations
- Mod sources include:
- Five Envelopes and five LFOs
- Four Ramp and three Track generators
- Velocity, Pressure, and Keyboard Follow
- Two insert effect slots with six studio-grade effects to choose from
- Arturia's amazing-sounding True Analog Emulation technology (TAE)
