Cherry Audio Novachord + Solovox

It doesn't get much more vintage than Cherry Audio's latest, as virtual valves are warmed up, and two legacy synths unite in one package

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$59 PC MAC

If you thought Hammond was all about organs, you’d be very wrong. They were also one of the first companies to produce early forms of synthesiser, in an era long before microchips and transistors.

The Super-Nova-Chord

The Novachord was quite an astonishing machine; utilising 163 vacuum tubes and well over 1,000 capacitors, it’s gone down in history as one of the first fully polyphonic electronic instruments, packed full of vintage electronics which would give your central heating a good run for its money. Weighing in at 500lbs, you’ll not be taking one on a pub-gig anytime soon, but thankfully Cherry Audio has lovingly crafted the Novachord into a virtual form.

Despite its limited architecture, the charm of the instrument lay in its purity of tone. The beautifully designed interface provides a tonal construct section to the left of the instrument, with basic modulation controls to the right. Tones are created in an additive sense, by increasing the volume of three individual resonant tones, which sum to an overall wave and timbre. Within this section, there is capacity to deepen or brighten the tone, meaning that it’s possible to create impressive pad and string textures, not dissimilar to the string machines which followed many years later.