This is mirrored beautifully on the letter-box waveform display, while in Harmonic mode it provides a Hawaiian-wave-like sweep as a visualisation. The Base control, acts rather like a high-pass filter, moving the centre of lower exaggeration. The sculpting fun begins as you alter the five primary controls within the Harmolator, which move the symmetry and alignment of the harmonic structure. Combining these partials together creates a harmonically rich sound, which in the case of the Harmolator, may be altered and tweaked in real time, to affect change in timbre. The guiding principal of additive synthesis is that each partial is a sine wave, assigned to different harmonic. The Harmolator mode offers a whopping ninety-six partials, which all all employed within the single oscillator mode. Both offer sonic similarities, but are intrinsically different operationally. The primary oscillator is switchable between two modes Harmolator and Additive. Talking of which, it all begins with the oscillators on the left of the instrument interface. It’s rather cool and gratifying, but it’s just a simple reflection of the parameters which are set elsewhere. This animated feature doffs its cap to other technologies, with an almost Fairlight-like representation of waveform, rippling into the distance. Directly above this, some new eye-candy has been built in, by way of a display which toggles between dynamics, harmonics and waveform.
The large central space is switchable between five different control elements, which include the arpeggiator/sequencer, modulation matrix and the infamous Papen XY panel. There is plenty of familiarity within Blade 2, with the oscillator section to the left of the plug-in window, while the filter, envelopes and effects occupy the space to the right. Previous users of Papen synths will feel right at home. It can feel counter-intuitive at first, becoming easier the more you play. Within the same arena, elements such as oscillators or effects require a toggling-click on the sections legend, to switch them on and off, while the circular saw might require a further click to bring the parameters to the foreground. This circular cutting tool also appears within various synth sections, requiring a click to produce the related settings. This has now been replaced with a circular-saw blade, placed behind the turquoise Blade 2 logo. Blade 2 however looks and feels sharp the textured backgrounds offer a visual depth which is easy on the eye.Īlthough a minor detail, we were never huge fans of the Samurai-esque blade adoring the top of the plug-in’s main GUI.
The initial release of Blade offered a GUI which felt a little dark and drab, although it did pack a punch sonically, albeit feeling a little brittle in some quarters. It was 2012 when the first version of Blade was introduced, and while it made a sonic impression, it’s fair to say that the technology, and Rob Papen, has moved on a considerable way since then.