Taiga Keyboard - Pittsburgh Modular - SonicLAB Review

The latest release from @pittsburghmodular is a supersize version of their Taiga synthesiser. Based on three wavefolding/complex oscillators with multiple seed waves: Sine, Tri, Saw, Square plus blends they give you the backbone of a powerful synthesizer.
The Taiga Keyboard adds a 3 octave velocity and aftertouch enabled keybed, wooden end cheeks, and a couple of modifications that make it a more tweakable instrument.

First up there’s an OSC fine tune knob for each - a small thing but makes it way quicker to get three oscillators tuned how you like. Also the function generator which is an assignable digital affair with a single CV out has easier to access settings - all linked to the Mod Wheel and buttons - the 5V output, Tri LFO, Decay Envelope and Random (you can choose one at a time) are all set by the depth of the mod wheel, and with shift functions, press and hold the assign button to access clock division (LFO and Random) and decay length (Envelope).

With more room to stroll around the front panel, it makes general operation a lot more intuitive.
The other Big addition, is the inclusion of a 24HP module bay, remove the screws from the plate and there’s power for three modules - we put the Mutable Clouds in ours - just to add more processing to the overall sound, but you can choose whatever you want as long as it's not too deep - Disting requires a couple of spacers under the fixing bolts to fit in the provided depth.

Aside from these additions, there’s no functional difference between this and the Taiga module except cost, with the Taiga Keyboard at $1299/£1150 and the Taiga Module at around $800/£650.

Personally I found he extra size does make more sense of this instrument for performing and working on sounds. We would like to have seen a legato envelope mode, currently every note triggers the envelope, not something you can fix with an extra module, and a couple of the knobs response are quite sensitive - notably envelope release is somewhat on even with a small adjustment at the start of it's travel, ditto FM depth for the oscillators. However this is consistent across both Taiga models.

However, like the original Taiga having the blend of complex West Coast style Oscillators, a multimode filter AND a resonant Low Pass Gate really gives a wide palette of sounds fore the curious synthesist.

If you just want a taste of that there’s also the West Pest from Cre8Audio - which while a much less capable instrument will give you more of a West Coast vibe to explore.

|--------|
00:00:00 Start

00:00:32 intro + overview
00:01:46 24HP Hole
00:02:32 Oscillators
00:07:45 Sound Examples
00:13:19 Paraphonic
00:21:15 Conclusion

#soniclab
#taigakeyboard #pittsburghmodular

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[sonicstate]

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[craig_z]

Such a great idea to have the little modular section, so you can customize it the way you want.

[AndyVonal]

Nick, dearest Nick! Please stop tempting me! As Oscar W said: "I can resist everything except temptation!". Damn it!

[radred]

Only a matter of time before someone creates replacement sides for the new taiga that adds a whole ass modular rack across the top...

[intheblink]

As usual, SonicState does it best. Best gear reviews anywhere. This is a cool keyboard. Wish I had the space!

[Dudderlyful]

They should have got you to do the Dune sound track Nick!

[badoedipus]

I don’t totally know why, but I’m m totally digging on Nick’s sound design.

[amphora]

Wonder if we’ll see more of these ‘blank rack HP option’ synths over next few years?

[ChrisPx]

Nick always does an awesome demo and makes killer sounds.

[adognamedshinji]

Lots of mojo in this synth. I wonder if they'll be able to add legato mode in a firmware update. Kind of important on an analog monosynth like this

[digitaldobbie]

Just love these reviews. Hope to see you down the forum Nick. Many thanks for the vid, Tip-Top!

[Demoulous]

Great demo Nick, and yeah the expanded kb version looks more compelling to me than the somewhat cramped desktop version. Love the Modular possibilities with this version of the Taiga as well.

[PaulBoos]

Such a beautiful sounding synth. Love the sounds you got out of it…

[davidsobel]

Oh Nick, you make it look so easy....

[BF-upxw]

A great review demonstration and review, as ever. I only wish you could teach me to create such wonders on my own Taiga (desktop)! Not that it is hard to get wonderful sounds; it's just that you always seem to know how to add just a touch of magic, a last refinement, that really pushes the quality into the top tier.

[jonbirchartist]

Looks nice. Sounds nice. Some lovely patches you made there!

[nobodysuspected]

i would buy a Nick Batt soundtrack made with this. its vibey. and obviously every time the man touches keys magic happens

[joebrewer]

I don’t know if it says to record, but I would like to think that every cool moment that he’s found a patch that he’s found interesting in a review it sounds like the human league more specifically early human league.

[neuroactive]

Great sounding device! Good review...

[leroycarr]

Great in-depth overview of the Taiga. Thank you. And as others have noted, you created some really evocative sounds, showing some of the potential of this synth. Love it!