With MalevolentPWM (Paul Whittington Music) presents a semi-modular analog synthesizer that opens its full potential with the use of the patch jacks. The monophonic keyboard instrument is clearly structured and with its open architecture is aimed at beginners and professionals alike. All control voltage inputs and outputs are Eurorack compatible. Of course Malevolent also works without patch cables plugged in, the green labels on some jacks indicate pre-wirings that can only be used elsewhere by patching.
Analog sound generation with many facets
The two analog oscillators are equipped in the same way and offer variable waveforms in addition to pitch control and two FM inputs. For the square wave this means classic PWM, for triangle the result tends towards Cloud generator and for sawtooth to the simple Supersaw. All waveforms can be activated and routed to the mixer simultaneously, which creates a very dense and lively sound foundation. In general, all three waveforms can be set manually at the same time and modulated with any control voltage. The mixer contains not only the two oscillators, but also the adjustable noise generator and the audio input with its own level control. The signal of the mixer can be tapped separately and flows into the Sallen-KeyMultimode filter, which has a very biting to slightly aggressive sound character and is for some "the better MS-20 filter". Without adding a patch cable the Lowpass of the filter leads into the VCA. This can be switched to pull-through for drone sounds and the application range of a filter box for external signals and is also equipped with a distortion.
The patch panel
Often one or two cables are enough to turn the sound completely upside down. If you connect any oscillator output to the FM input of the other oscillator, you get crossmodulation, which is useful for metallic sounds. If the cable is connected to the filter instead of the oscillator, the result is filter FM, which is one of the most extreme modulations. It also gets exciting when the VCA is modulated by an oscillator in the audio section, which produces AM respectively sideband modulation. Since the MIDI CV/Gate interface also outputs control voltages, the filter could also be played with keytracking while the waveform of oscillator 2 is animated withvelocity. These examples cover only a small part of what Malevolent alone is capable of.
MALEVOLENT // Official Promo
PWM Malevolent Sound Demo with Empress Reverb
PWM Malevolent // Raw Raucous and Unruly // Review and Demo