I have to admit I was a little unsure if it was worth getting this tiny box. Now I know I made the right decision. I’m absolutely thrilled with this candy. Similar to the Digitone, in a few minutes I’m immersed in spheres that no one has ever seen before
Of course it’s not without flaws. I would like to be able to choose which oscillator goes into which filter or at least be able to control the volume of the two filters relative to each other. For me the envelopes aren’t slow enough and the reverb isn’t long enough.
But despite all this, the lemondrop is exactly what I was missing.
I don’t know if you’ve used the Tasty Chips GR-1, but on paper at least, it seems to be the more capable device of the two – though, the GR-1 is more expensive, of course. What would you say make the Lemondrop more capable than the GR-1?
I ordered the Lemondrop two days ago I and already received mine! I’ve only played with it for about two hours but I can safely say that this thing lives up to my expectations.
I often notice granular being used to create epic drones and synth washes with lots of reverb, which is awesome, but I’m mainly interested in using it as an experimental sample mangler and playback device. Meaning: sparser, with density and reverb turned down, and lfos shifting position, window, pitch, and speed. There aren’t too many examples of the Lemondrop being used this way, so I was slightly anxious with how it might work.
Upon taking it back home from Control Voltage, I quickly set it up and paired it with my M8, which I used as a sequencer. In a matter of 30 minutes or so, I was able to learn all of the basic functions, including how to control various parameters with midi ccs… this thing is awesome! It is the perfect balance of simplicity and complexity. It also pairs perfectly with my m8. They make such a powerful little combo!
Whatever people say to belittle the Lemondrop or make it seem like a frivolous toy, ignore them. If you want a tool that can make experimental sounds and soundscapes with ease, and you’re ok with the small form factor, this thing is well worth the price.
Yeah it’s verging on being too small, but love it for its portability. I can imagine taking the Lemondrop and a small battery on all of my travels. Everything is pretty easy to see and the screen is really responsive, thankfully. I also really like the way the knobs and screen interact with each other. You’ll feel right at home if you’ve ever used other 1010music gear.
Re examples- I’ll try to record some tomorrow after I get home from work
I feel the same, it isn’t portable if you need to plug in a battery pack and a keyboard to play it…to many umbilicals and there are plenty of all in one solutions. I will wait for the bigger version with a bigger screen and more knobs as it would just live in my studio… ring this small only has disadvantages for me.
I really can’t stress enough how you can use the lemondrop to actually apply real time fx not only on incoming loops and samples, but on actual polyphonic input. If you set the gate to constant open and then just play the lemondrop as it’s receiving input, you are effectively applying polyphonic real time granular processing in scales, on whatever goes into it.
I hear you on the size. It definitely would have been better if it had the Blackbox form factor. I can imagine that’ll lose some people who would’ve jumped on board if it was bigger, and I can’t fault them for that, especially if they have bad eyesight or big hands. I can see the small size growing on me though. Every electronic tool has a different psychological effect, and for me, the Lemondrop makes me feel like I have this tiny secret that holds immense power, like the One Ring or something, but much more polite. The M8 has a similar effect on me.
would buy … but the colours of the case and UI reaally turn me off. Black and turquoise … instant buy. Would love to see an indepth comparison to norns shield - anyone owning both?
One thing I don’t understand about this or any other granular processor is, and please excuse my ignorance, but how… Does it handle tuning? Does it automatically detect the incoming audio and thus when you press a C on the keyboard, the synth outputs a C even though the incoming note is a B? Or how does that work? What if your incoming audio is a chord? If it doesn’t do anything like that, how do you know what you are playing when you don’t have perfect pitch?
I set the gate to C3. Then, whatever I play into it, follows traditional scale perfectly.
I set the gate to anything else.
And all kinds of interesting things happen.
So it can be a straight polyphonic granular processor that outputs a four voice polyphonic result of whatever you run into it, or it can be really strange and oddly stuff that goes beyond that.
@topo_explo I’m super glad to hear that. I ordered one and should be here Monday…so I’m eager to get started. I don’t totally get why people are putting this thing down before it’s even been available. I, for one, am excited. I’ve been wanting a granular synth and the Lemondrop ticks almost all the boxes on my wishlist. Do I wish it was less expensive? Sure. But then again I wish every synth that I own was cheaper. For someone that doesn’t want a granular synth, this is probably outside the price where they would pick it up to “try it out”. But for me, there just haven’t been that many options out there with the depth of sounds, polyphony, # of grains, modulation options and not costing an arm and leg. So for me, $399 is worth it.
