Pittsburgh Modular Synthesizers today officially introduced Taiga, a 3-oscillator paraphonic synthesizer.

It’s a semi-modular analog synthesizer that you can use without patching, or you can use its 60 patch points to access its components as separate modules. It follows the Moog Mother-32 precedent and can be used standalone, or you can remove the 60HP panel and install it into a larger Eurorack system.

They describe Taiga as “a tour de force of the Pennsylvania based analog synth R&D team’s recent inventions”, attributing the synth’s sound to three things: A trio of analog oscillators, the sound of the Pittsburgh Filter, and the warmth + punch of the unique Dynamics Controller.

These enable you to not only create sounds that would be traditionally expected from an analog synthesizer but also to explore new sonic textures and performance possibilities.

Key Features:

• Taiga oscillators – Waveforms generated by the three Taiga oscillators stretch beyond the basic geometric shapes and sounds associated with analog synthesis. Taiga waveforms pass through up to three cascading waveshapers, designed to precisely manipulate their symmetry and harmonic content. In addition, each oscillator includes a robust six-stage wave folder to add even more complexity and depth to the diverse sonic palate of Taiga.
• The “Pittsburgh Filter” – The Pittsburgh filter has defined the sound of Pittsburgh Modular from the moment it was introduced. A signature “gummy and relaxed sound with no dead spots that has been tweaked to perfection”. It offers a warm, smooth sweep through the full frequency range and a resonance that does not roll off the low end.
• Pittsburgh Dynamics Controller – The developers say that the Pittsburgh Dynamics Controller expands beyond the “one-dimensional VCA found in other synthesizers, by simultaneously managing both amplitude and harmonic content. When used in low pass gate mode, sounds shed harmonic content and become warmer as they decrease in volume. This mimics how sound waves react to their environment.
• Echos, Mixer, MIDI, and more – Pittsburgh has included MIDI to CV conversion, mixer, preamp with soft clipping overdrive limiter circuit, analog bucket brigade delay, dual envelope generators, digital multi-modulation tool, LFO, noise generator, clock-synced arpeggiator, and an internal clock with tap tempo (can be externally synced too).

Taiga, a deeper dive:

The Story of Taiga:

Pricing and Availability:

Taiga is available now for preorder for $799.99 USD.