Crows Electromusic Lore is a new pocket-sized FM drone Synthesizer with two analog oscillators with crossfading.
I first reported on Crow Electromusic in 2023. The developer unveiled the OVUM, a cute-looking drone synth with five mixable analog oscillators. It was a synth release with a minimal feature set. However, these are often the synths that are fun to play.
I want to mention the Korg Monotron, which offers just a little but is super fun. Tip: Attach it to an effect processor, filling an entire jam evening. Today, the developer is back with its second synth, which is just as minimal. It’s called Crows Electromusic Lore and is a new FM drone synth.
Crows Electromusic Lore
Lore is a new pocket-size FM drone Synthesizer with two all-analog triangle core oscillators, based on the Ovum drone synth.
Each voice is made of an independently controlled triangle-core oscillator with separate controls for volume and pitch. Plus, you can crossfade each voice between a bright square wave and a triangle wave.
Compared to the Ovum Synth, the extended-spectrum archives the Crows Electromusic Lore synth with simplified DX-style frequency modulation. It has two routing options: without or with FM.
In the first scenario, you can send the left oscillator to the audio output, where it will create harmony or dissonance with the first oscillator. Alternatively, you can switch the Crows Electromusic Lore to FM and modulate the second oscillator’s frequency with the primary’s. Indeed, a straightforward concept.
The synth is intended to explore frequency-modulated sounds in a straightforward, immediate, and feature-reduced way without digital components, screens, quantization, or annoying key combinations to memorize.
Then, take a look at the backside. Here, you can find a USB-C port for power and a 3.5mm audio output jack for headphones or line-out on the backside. Further, the developer says Lore is enclosed in a sturdy, transparent, green, petroleum-free bioplastic case.
First Impression
The developer continues where he left off with the OVUM synth. The Lore is just as fascinatingly simple and rudimentary. Hardcore synth users might wonder why they need something like this.
I can speak for myself, and I find it refreshingly different and fun to play around with something unexciting and simple. There are many who think the same way. I can only report from various synth meetings. Lore falls right into the Korg Monotron’s or Stylophone category. Add some effects, and you will have a lot of fun with drones and FX.
Crows Electromusic Lore is available now for $59 from the official website or for EU customers for 68,73€ + 25,24€ from Reverb.com with shipping from Canada. UK customers can buy it from Juno for £45,83.
More information here: Crows Electromusic
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