MESI MONSTERSYNTHS/EOWAVE PRESS RELEASE - MARCH 2006

The Persephone is finally released!

The Persephone is a fingerboardanalogue synthesizer with CV and MIDI in and out. At the first sight, thePersephone reminds of the first electronic fingerboard instrumentsdeveloped in the 1920s. But beyond this vintage look, the Persephoneallies sensors technology and digital controls to a pure analoguegeneration of sound.

The Persephone respects the traditional way of playing of the first non-keyboard electronic instruments with the right hand controlling the pitch and the left hand controlling the amplitude. When scaled, the Persephone can be played like a regular keyboard. Though there are no fixed preset notes with the ribbon, keyboard players will easily find their way. Guitars and bass players will certainly play it like a chord instrument and get sounds that are closed to cello or violin, especially when using vibratos. Jazz players will enjoy slapping the Persephone’s ribbon to get wonderful sonorities. Movie music writers and fans of sci-fi effects will enjoy its bi-dimensional structure, which allows creating eerie sounds very easily.

A new fingerboard synthesizer
Just like any synthesizer, the Persephone offers a classical synthesis architecture with an oscillator section, a filter section, a modulation section and a LFO section. With its 100% analogue oscillator, the Persephone can generate notes with a range of 10 octaves. Its lower frequencies go from a deep and resonant cello tone to a nearly human voice. On the highest pitches, it can reach very high frequencies. The oscillator waveform can be set between triangle and sawtooth for a more or less brilliant sound. The filter is a 6dB low-pass filter. Its ribbon control surface is pressure and position sensitive. A scaling potentiometer allows scaling the Persephone’s ribbon from 1, 2, 5 to 10 octaves. The expression key, controlled by an optic sensor, can transmit the slightest vibrations on the key. The four play modes - A, B, C and D - offer different hierarchy of control between the pitch, the velocity, a filter modulation and a LFO. Connections are located on the rear side.

The Persephone as a CV/MIDI controller
The Persephone has a CV out and a MIDI in/out. With its CV out, it can control any other analogue synthesizers and modular systems. With its MIDI in/out, it can also be used as a MIDI controller, what turns it into a powerful new kind of instrument.

Technical Specifications
Suitcase version or desktop version available Scale : 1, 2, 5 to 10 octaves. Tune Finetune Brightness. Waveforms from sinus to triangle
website: www.monstersynths.com