Malstrom Audio released Mandrake

Malstrom Audio released Mandrake, a new kickdrum module for eurorack.

A kick drum lays down the foundation of your track, the root of your beat. You need the low end to create a pumping motion and the high end to cut through the mix. All this while maintaining spectral room for other sounds. So it can be quite an undertaking to get right.

Which is why we developed Mandrake. A kick drum synthesizer that targets kick drum sounds for Dance, House and Techno music. Inspired by physical models, DAW drum synthesis and sound mixing techniques. It divides the sound into a “Hit” and “Body”, with sound shaping possibilities for both sections.

Mandrake’s “Hit” is a resonating filter which is saturated to have a square-like shape. It generates a short pulse that can be tuned and attenuated. Which results in a short click that will cut through the mix when and where you need it.

Mandrake’s “Body” is made up from another resonating filter. Its wave is slightly saturated and filtered to resemble the harmonics of a drum. More saturation can be added in the form of uneven harmonics to create harsher tones. The result is then sent to a damping circuit that is used to tame the sound. Finally the body can resonate which leads to more liquid sounding drums, or specific frequency boosts. All of the body’s parameters are connected which makes it super fun and playable!

A few more functions allow Mandrake to be adaptable to different situations. Two shapes with different harmonic content and volume decay shape. An envelope output to provide a normal or ducking envelope to further sculpt your sound, or to side chain other sounds. An accent or volume CV input to provide two volume control options. And a clean-up switch which adds a high-pass at 25Hz to remove the rumble, a spectral dip at 300Hz to make the kick sound less “boxy”.

Mandrake is not another 808 or 909 clone; its analog circuitry is entirely built from scratch to create an original sound. Also nothing more than a great kick; ranges to get into detail, and useful kick drum sounds throughout its settings!

Features

“Hit” and “Body” sections to sculpt the most important parts of a kick drum.
Hit-timbre and Hit-volume controls to shape sound of the transient.
Body saturation, resonance, decay and damping controls provide a varied sound palette.
Clear pitch control section that is carefully scaled to match a kick drum.
Two VCA shapes that provide different flavours.
Ducking or normal Envelope output to further sculpt and modulate.
Accent or VCA CV input switch to match your sequencing method.
Clean-up switch to remove rumble and decrease “boxiness”.