Shakmat Modular Ballista Blast Synth Voice Module

• Digital oscillator core (16 bit / 48 kHz)
• Analogue filters & VCA
• Synth engines: subtractive, Wavetable & FM
• 4 filter types (12/24dB lowpass, bandpass, highpass)
• VCA/LPG with distortion
• Assignable envelope
• Gate-triggered randomiser
• 11 CV, gate, 1V/oct & Velocity inputs
• Mono audio output
• 256 presets (also saves the expander settings)
• MicroSD card slot (firmware, wavetables, presets)
• Select bus compatible
• Expandable with up to 2 Ballista Blast Expanders

Best-of collection of waveforms

The digital oscillator lets you choose between the three Classic (subtractive) modes, wavetable and FM. All modes require only a few basic parameters and are easy to learn:

• CLASSIC relies on the sawtooth and square waveforms in various combinations. Sub (waveform with sub-oscillator), dual (2 oscillators with detune for VCO2), Unison (4 oscillators with detune), Sync (classic sync sounds with 2 square VCOs), Width (sawtooth / square with PWM), Noise (waveform with noise) and Chord (Dub Techno!).
• Under WAVETABLE there are 12 normal wavetable banks, 4 banks each for the categories Chiptune, Formant and Harmonic WTs, 6 banks with acoustic instruments (Cello, Guitar, Pluck, Rhodes, Saxophone & Trombone) and 2 banks with vocal sounds.
• FM uses 7 algorithms, which are primarily based on the simpler Yamaha FM algorithms (2 to 4 operators in various configurations with very simple operation), a noise mix, Buchla West-Coast Style Wavefolder and a "soft-bedded" chord model.

The analog part, modulations and presets

The digital oscillator is followed by the analogue multimode filter with the four filter types 12/24dB lowpass, 12dB Bandpass and12dB highpass. The resonance can really pack a punch and provides a good basis, especially at higher values, for starting up the following distortion. This offers either soft clipping Distortion or the significantly harder asymmetrical distortion. The VCA as the last element in the signal path can work in envelope, gate or drone mode.

In addition to the 11 control voltage inputs for CV and gate, Ballista Blast offers three internal modulation sources: envelope, randomizer and velocity. The envelope can be switched between AR, AD, ASR and loop mode with linear or exponential curve progression. The randomiser generates a different random value with each new gate. Velocity is obtained from the velocity CV input. All three can be assigned to different parameters of the oscillator, filter, VCA and distortion; several destinations can also be set for each source.

To ensure that the carefully created sounds are not unique, the module offers 256 memory locations for your own sounds. The presets save the settings of the Ballista Blast Expander, up to two of which can be connected to the main module.