The original ARP 2600 from the 70s is the holy grail among synthesizers for many. Large and powerful in sound and its dimensions, the instrument has always inspired listeners and users alike. With the 2600 M, ARP has brought back a primeval rock of synthesizer history and shrunk it down to a manageable size in one go. The instrument, littered with sliders, is more than comprehensively equipped with three analog oscillators, a switchable
The three analog oscillators deliver a stately sound foundation and can be continuously adjusted over a very wide frequency range. While the first and the third oscillator have to make do with sawtooth and square, the second one additionally delivers sine and triangle. Complex modulations among the tone generators can be done in no time. In addition, there is the ring modulator and the noise generator with crossfadeable character. If you want, you can feed two oscillators with square waveform into the open
The 2600 M as a whole is a guarantor of varied sounds that should appeal to experimental musicians and producers alike. This is not only due to all the tone generating and shaping elements, but also to the flexible possibilities to combine, mix and bend tones and modulations. What can't be done directly, i.e. pulling up a fader, can be modified via the Voltage Processor matching. In addition, there is nothing to stop you from beautifuling one of the oscillators in the
The 2600 M is semi-modular; this means that some connections, for example from the oscillator to the mixer, are internal, but if you need a different signal, this is simply replaced by patching. The same applies to all modulations: if a different control voltage source or a variant of it is needed, additional patch cables are used. Helpful here is also the imprint on each socket, which signal is present there by default.
Thanks to the preamp with envelope follower, the instrument can be perfectly used for processing other sources such as a drum machine. The synthesizer part can be completely integrated here: the CV output of the envelope follower opens the VCA and at the same time controls the pitch of the oscillator, which modulates the filter. All this can then still be distributed in the panorama and chase through the analog spring reverb.
Free of charge, ARP provides an extensive software package as download. For changes and runability on Windows and Mac systems, please refer to the Korg homepage.