NANOBOX

Photos: 1010Music

nanobox FireballandLemondrop

1010 Music launches two brand-new desktop synthesizers that promise to provide some fresh flavor to your music but, which one do you choose?

1010 Music, makers of the Bluebox digital mixer and recorder and the Blackbox sampling studio, has just released two exciting new additions to their lineup, the Nanobox Fireball and Lemondrop. These new synthesizers are even smaller than their previous offerings. At 3.75” wide x 3” high and 1.5” tall, these Nanoboxes are just the right size for your mobile rig. They both offer many other features that are convient to mobile music making as well. Get connected

First of all, both models are USB powered with a standard USB-C connection at 5v, 500mA. They both feature 3.5mm audio in and out jacks, 3.5mm switchable midi in and out jacks, and a 3.5mm clock input jack. These connections are optimal for interfacing with other mobile devices, like the sync in and out jacks of the Korg Volcas, and the 3.5mm midi jacks of Arturia Beatstep and Keystep, among others. With the switching feature of the midi in and out, you can connect it directly to gear that uses either the A or B type of midi connection, with an audio cable, without the need of a converter. This function would be welcomed on all new gear that utilizes the 3.5mm midi input and output. Red hot

The Nanobox Fireball is a polyphonic wavetable synthesizer. It features 8-voice polyphony, two wavetables, an oscillator, and an intuative touchscreen for quick navigation. Sculpt the included 123 presents with 2 filters, 2 envelopes, 2 LFOs, and 1 motion sequencer. Add to that 6 onboard

effects, in two slots, for up to 12 possible combinations, including flanger, distortion, chorus, phaser, delay, and reverb. Morph and shape your sounds in real-time with the X/Y controller of the touchscreen. The Fireball also features an SD card from which you can load your own wavetables. The audio input allows you to route external sound through the onboard effects processors and the clock input allows all sound parameters and effects parameters to sync to the incoming tempo. The Fireball includes a huge array of sounds, from aggressive leads to atmosphereic pads. And with itʼs 8-voice polyphony, it provides something that is missing from many mobile rigs, namely chords.

Lemon zest

The Nanobox Lemondrop take a fresh approach to granular synthesis with itʼs 4voice polyphony, two granulators, and an oscillator. Similar to the Fireball, you can further shape your sounds with the 2 filters, 2 envelopes, 2 LFOs, and a motion sequencer. The effects are also the same as the Fireball with 2 effect slots and up to 12 possible combinations of flanger, distortion, chorus, phaser, delay, and reverb. The 153 presents and 311 wave files included on the SD card can quickly be morphed and shaped with the X/Y pad of the touchscreen. 16 grains per oscillator can be assigned for a total of 128. Up to 30 seconds of sample memory per oscillator is available. You can load your own wave files from the SD card as well.

The perfect recipe

As the options of mobile music devices continue to grow, we can choose which ones work best for our situation. The fact that 1010 Music have created two tiny synthesizers with such big sound tells me that the mobile scene is thriving and more manufactures are catering to mobile musicians. The Fireball and Lemondrop are spectacular devices that will provide the missing ingredients mobile musicians have needed for quite a while. Add to that the fantastic devices 1010 Music already make and you have the perfect recipe for creativity. The Nanobox Fireball and Lemondrop will be available February 4th at a price of $399. For more information visit: https://1010music.com