SOMA Pulsar-23 Zanzibar Blue analogue drum synthesiser

General

Surely there is something irresistible about drum synths, those big desktop devices full of controls. Even if only a handful of tracks are present, these kinds of machines generally offer enough sound-shaping to make the sound particularly diverse. The SOMA Pulsar-23 is just such a drum machine; hands-on, and with a huge mountain of timbres. Don't expect acoustic sounds in the Pulsar, this is one-and-only synthesis. Perfect for alienating soundscapes, as a bottom for EDM and Urban. Perhaps even as a bottom for modern film music. It includes a delay effect, for an atmospheric spatial vibe. There is another distortion effect on the master for a rather aggressive timbre.

Creative possibilities with the SOMA Pulsar-23

You get four tracks: kick, bass/percussion, snare and hi-hat. Each track has its own unique parameters, and with just those parameters you can thus turn the bass channel into a percussion channel, and vice versa. Those who know something about sound design will recognise the methods by looking at the control panel, and if not, there are always the many informative videos. Very many producers are delighted with it, and even dare to call it the best drum synth ever. And that's only natural, it's not a budget machine at all. Also very solidly built, by the way, this can definitely be labelled as a product in a professional bubble. It is the experienced pros who understand exactly why this is such an inspiring machine. Many possibilities, a thick sound, build quality that stands like a house and a hippy blue colour. A very pretty thing indeed!

• The Pulsar-23 has two variants: the screw version and the turret version. These 'pins' serve as connection points for the alligator cables. The turret version is slightly more luxurious/pretty, and consequently also slightly more expensive than the screw version. In terms of musical functionality, the two types of Pulsar-23 are identical.