Frap Tools Announces Magnolia Stereo Analog Thru-Zero FM Synthesizer

Frap Tools, known for their Eurorack and 500-series modules, has announced its entry into the high-end keyboard synthesizer market with Magnolia, an '8-Voice Analog Thru-zero Fm Synthesizer'. Magnolia is designed to offer sounds associated with 'West Coast' modular synthesis through a classic keyboard interface, while also being capable of traditional subtractive synthesis. Two pre-production units will debut publicly at Superbooth 2025. Magnolia features eight analog voices, each with two oscillators (carrier and modulator) and 24 dB/oct resonant HIGH-PASS and LOW-PASS filters. The carrier oscillator has a thru-zero core for analog FM sounds. The synth includes continuously variable waveform shapes and a wavefolder circuit per voice. The oscillators are derived from Frap Tools' Brenso Eurorack module, with Oscillator 1 being the 'West Coast' style with TZFM, wavefolder, and Flip Sync, and Oscillator 2 being 'East Coast' style with PWM and fine-tune. The filter section is derived from the Cunsa Eurorack module. The synthesizer features a FATAR keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch. It also includes a per-part arpeggiator and a per-part 16-step sequencer. A deep modulation section provides flexibility with LEDs on every source and destination. Features: 8-voice analog thru-zero FM synthesizer. Two oscillators per voice: Carrier (thru-zero FM, wavefolder, flip sync) and Modulator (PWM, fine-tune). 24 dB/oct resonant high-pass and low-pass filters per voice. Continuously variable waveform shapes per voice. Wavefolder circuit per voice. Derived oscillator and filter designs from BRENSO and CUNSA Eurorack modules. FATAR keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch. Per-part arpeggiator and 16-step sequencer. Deep modulation section with source/destination LEDs. Bi-timbral programs (SINGLE, MORPH, DUAL, and SPLIT MODES). All-analog signal path. Three loop-able DAHDSR envelopes. Three digital LFOs. 512 preset memory slots. Availability Frap Tools aims to release Magnolia as a production product by the end of summer 2025, noting that the final interface may be more refined, potentially including digital effects and possible removal of some current features. Magnolia can be seen and heard at Superbooth at Booth B049. YouTube/NG6tRjGuWJE Read More