By Gino Robair
The Swarmatron doesn't have a power switch—it has an ignition key. Turn that key, and you’re in for the same weird, wonderful ride that Trent Reznor took when he used this handcrafted analog synth on his soundtrack to The Social Network. Not only was I impressed by the synth’s ability to replicate the dissonant clusters of a horror-movie soundtrack, I was also thrilled that it used two ribbons to control this effect. Its design—part steampunk, part sci-fi—includes a wooden case and heavy-duty knobs, reflecting the retro-modern sound world it promises.
What Is It?
The Swarmatron is a ribbon-controlled analog synth that lets you play up to eight sawtooth oscillators at once. Although it calls the oscillators “voices,” the only independent control you have over each one is tuning and an on/off switch. Active oscillators are triggered all at once,
so technically this is a monophonic synth, but the whole point is that you can play their relative pitches on one of the ribbons, creating pseudo-chordal textures.
A single four-stage envelope controls the volume and the resonant lowpass filter simultaneously. You get knobs for cutoff frequency, resonance, and the amount of envelope control (positive and negative) and tracking that the ribbon has over the filter.
The longer ribbon controls pitch. Tuning knobs are provided for setting the lowest note playable (called the pitch floor) as well as the overall pitch range. A pair of fine-tuning knobs adds an extra $200 to the cost, but they’re worth it if you plan to interface the Swarmatron with externally generated control voltages.
Other than a mono 1/4" output, the synth has four 1/4" control inputs: an envelope trigger and control voltage (CV) inputs for pitch, filter cutoff, and “swarm.” The inputs are compatible with the ten-volt range of most modular synths. There’s no MIDI input, so to drive the Swarmatron from a MIDI keyboard or sequencer, you’ll need a MIDI-to-CV converter.
It was easy to control the Swarmatron from my Frac- and Euro-rack synth modules, and the CV inputs let me do sophisticated things, such as “playing” parameters from an external sequencer to create rhythmic variety. A nice addition would be CV outputs so that the ribbons could control external synths.
You can trigger the envelope from the ribbon, via external CV, or via both at once. The most inspiring setting was the latter, allowing me to create gated rhythms when I triggered the envelope with a randomized external pulse. Another way to spice things up is an overdrive knob for the filter, which results in a very musical instability at higher settings.
The Ribbons
Ribbons have always been popular in electronic music because they offer gestural subtlety that traditional keyboards lack. The Swarmatron’s ribbons have two layers of resistive material suspended over conductive elements, with leads soldered to the edges and tension springs at one end. The ribbons are unmarked because you can set their ranges from one note to several octaves. To hit precise pitches, it helps to mark their spots on a piece of masking tape placed along the ribbon.
Although the Swarmatron feels well built, the ribbon mechanisms—the leads and springs in particular—look somewhat vulnerable for road use. Touring musicians should protect them with a hard case. Dewantron recommends replacing the resistive layers of the ribbon if they show signs of wear.
12-2011 REVIEW: Dewanatron Swarmatron by KeyboardMag
Swarming
The Swarmatron offers five tuning presets, one of which can have its pitches modified by the smaller ribbon. This is the Swarm setting. As you hold a note position on the upper ribbon and move your finger from left to right on the lower ribbon, the lower four oscillators move down in pitch while the upper four move upwards. The result is a spreading of notes from unison to separate, equidistant pitches, and it’s the transition that sounds like a “swarm” of something.
With all eight oscillators on and the swarm range at zero, you get an old school string-synth sound. I was pleasantly surprised to find that once I turned up the swarm effect, it yielded more than just a beehive buzzing. As I moved my finger on the smaller ribbon, the sonority moved in and out of unusual chords—some highly dissonant, some very pleasant.
One way to play is to trigger a pitch with the upper ribbon, then adjust the blend of notes with the lower ribbon. Then, hold still on the lower ribbon and move a finger along the upper ribbon to slide the entire chord in pitch. You can also play each ribbon individually to get an ever-changing cluster. With a little patience, I approximated the Dolby Labs film trailer sound, where a cloud of pitches slowly coalesces into consonance.
Although there’s only one “swarmable” setting, it can be reconfigured in a clever way: The toggle above the center dial switches the lower ribbon to control filter cutoff, while assigning the envelope to sweep oscillator pitches. At that point, the large knob in the middle sets the amount of swarming, while the filter’s polarity knob controls the direction in which the pitches glide. I got stepped filter effects by playing the lower ribbon rhythmically.
The other four presets tune the oscillators to intervals: thirds, fifths, sixths, and octaves. By design, the intervals aren’t perfectly in tune. For example, the fifths and octaves were slightly flat with each successive interval, resulting in a surprisingly musical sound. You can retune the presets’ intervals via adjustments inside the unit. As with the swarm setting, you can sweep the filter with the lower ribbon.
Conclusions
Taking all of its features into consideration, the Swarmatron is more than a ribbon-controlled monosynth. Its unique way of controlling pitch clusters is only the first level of what it has to offer. Once you begin exploiting the CV inputs and the triggering modes, the Swarmatron goes from being simply fun to play to being creatively inspiring.
Bottom Line
If Theremins don’t get weird enough, “analog” means more than prog leads and funk bass, and you drool over the TARDIS console, you’re in the right place.
$3,250 direct | dewanatron.com | distributed by bigcitymusic.com
Snap Judgment
PROS Turns unison detuning into creative musical expression. Lets you play real-time textures that would be difficult to create by other means. Handmade. Visually striking.
CONS Oscillators do sawtooth waves only. Ignition key could get lost. No CV outputs. Power cable is not detachable. Pricey.
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