It might have an interface straight out of 1998, but if the specs are anything to go by, Channel Robot’s Firewalker could be capable of creating some pretty state-of-the-art pad sounds.
The story starts with three hybrid oscillators (there’s also a sub-oscillator), each of which is set up to use one of more than 300 sound sources. These were all created using Channel Robot’s wavetable generating system.
Evolving, emotive pads are the order of the day here, and if you combine the oscillators you can create lengthy sounds from a single note.
After the oscillators, there’s a volume envelope and waveshaping module, followed by a multimode filter and a sequenced volume gate. There then follows an effects section, before the sound is put through the Drift analogue-tuning emulation engine and a legato system.
Firewalker comes with 100 presets, while more can be created instantly using the randomise function.
Running on PC and Mac as a standalone instrument or a VST/AU plugin, Firewalker is available now priced at £30 (regular price is £50). Find out more and download a demo on the Channel Robot website.
