Ever read about a vintage synth with a mythical sound, then discovered you'd have more luck finding a unicorn than a working unit? That's the Gleeman Pentaphonic. Fewer than 70 were ever made, so almost nobody has heard one in the flesh, let alone owned one.
Cherry Audio has now modelled it in software. Pentaphonic is a plugin recreation of that 1981 polysynth, and it's available now.
Let's dive into what makes this one worth a listen.
A Rare Architecture, Rebuilt for Your DAW
The original was designed by Bob and Al Gleeman. It was a five-voice instrument with digitally controlled oscillators run by Intel microprocessors, feeding Curtis CEM 3320 four-pole filters. That hybrid digital-oscillator, analogue-filter approach gives it a distinctive character, and Cherry Audio's recreation is built to reproduce that architecture. If you want pads and leads with a bit of early-'80s grit and personality, this is the kind of voice that stands out from the usual suspects.
Play It Your Way: Mono to 16 Voices
Pentaphonic scales from monophonic up to 16 voices, so you can go from a punchy lead to wide, layered chords. Unison, pulse width modulation, a noise generator and oscillator sync are all on board, along with a second LFO (both LFOs carry the eight original waveforms), a two-pole filter mode, keyboard tracking and a limiter. Velocity, channel and polyphonic aftertouch are supported if your controller can send them.
Sequencing and Effects Built Right In
You don't need a pile of extra plugins to get ideas moving. There's a sync-able arpeggiator, a 16x4 polyphonic step sequencer with humanisation options, and a Parameter Animator for modulating several destinations at once. Add 22 built-in effects and you can finish a sound inside the synth itself.
The Specs, In Plain English
- Voices: monophonic up to 16-voice polyphony, with unison mode.
- Filter: modelled on the original's four-pole design, plus a two-pole mode for brighter, lighter tones.
- Built-in tools: arpeggiator, 16x4 step sequencer, Parameter Animator and 22 effects.
- Formats: VST, VST3, AU, AAX and standalone.
- Compatibility: Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.13 or later.
Ready to add some rare colour to your palette? Shop Cherry Audio at Koala Audio.
