MANDRAKE
Kick Drum Synthesizer
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".
DIMENSIONS
- 14HP.
- 25mm, Skiff-friendly.
POWER CONSUMPTION
- 130mA @ +12V.
- 120mA @ -12V.
I/O SP
How much is my shipping?
Shipping is automatically calculated before you submit your payment information. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll be offered shipping options and their prices. In the UK it's normally around £4 for order values under £150, and free above that. Shipping to mainland EU is typically between £7 and £20, depending on the shipping method and the size and weight of the order.
Do you ship to my country?
Almost certainly - the site will give you an estimate of shipping costs if you add an item to the cart and then enter your country and postcode. If you have specific requirements (such as if you prefer UPS over FedEx, for example) then let us know in advance and we'll try to work something out for you.
Shipping methods
We use a combination of Parcelforce, DPD, Royal Mail and UPS for the UK, and for international orders it's either Royal Mail, UPS, DHL or FedEx depending on where you are in the world. If you have a particular preference then try to let us know BEFORE you order so we can look into it for you. Please note that there may occasionally be additional shipping charges if you live in a remote area, depending on what surcharges are applied by the shipper. We'll get in touch to discuss this with you in such cases.
Dispatch times
For UK orders, we normally dispatch the same working day if we get the order before 15:00. If you have a really urgent situation then of course drop us an email before ordering and we'll always do our absolute best to accommodate you.
For international orders, we normally dispatch the same day if we get the order before 13:00 but again, occasionally it might be the next day before we can send it out, and sometimes FedEx or UPS may come a little earlier than scheduled which would also push an order into the next day.
Shipping times
Since April 2020 the couriers we use have suspended guarantees for shipping times, so even though we're paying them for priority services - 24-48 hours for most of the world - in practice it's often an extra day on top and sometimes it can be longer.
There is absolutely nothing we can do about this unfortunately. If you are outside the UK and it's a life-or-death situation where you absolutely MUST have that passive mult for the next day then... it may be better to find a local supplier.
Saturday shipping
If you're in the UK and you order before 15:30 on a Friday then we can send something for a Saturday delivery (NB: this applies to UK mainland addresses only). The success rate with DPD is about 95% so it's worth a punt most of the time. Please note that if you select Saturday shipping on an order placed earlier in the week, we'll wait until Friday to ship it.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch if you have questions.
Product Overview
MANDRAKE
Kick Drum Synthesizer
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".
Technical Specs
Shipping Details
How much is my shipping?
Shipping is automatically calculated before you submit your payment information. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll be offered shipping options and their prices. In the UK it's normally around £4 for order values under £150, and free above that. Shipping to mainland EU is typically between £7 and £20, depending on the shipping method and the size and weight of the order.
Do you ship to my country?
Almost certainly - the site will give you an estimate of shipping costs if you add an item to the cart and then enter your country and postcode. If you have specific requirements (such as if you prefer UPS over FedEx, for example) then let us know in advance and we'll try to work something out for you.
Shipping methods
We use a combination of Parcelforce, DPD, Royal Mail and UPS for the UK, and for international orders it's either Royal Mail, UPS, DHL or FedEx depending on where you are in the world. If you have a particular preference then try to let us know BEFORE you order so we can look into it for you. Please note that there may occasionally be additional shipping charges if you live in a remote area, depending on what surcharges are applied by the shipper. We'll get in touch to discuss this with you in such cases.
Dispatch times
For UK orders, we normally dispatch the same working day if we get the order before 15:00. If you have a really urgent situation then of course drop us an email before ordering and we'll always do our absolute best to accommodate you.
For international orders, we normally dispatch the same day if we get the order before 13:00 but again, occasionally it might be the next day before we can send it out, and sometimes FedEx or UPS may come a little earlier than scheduled which would also push an order into the next day.
Shipping times
Since April 2020 the couriers we use have suspended guarantees for shipping times, so even though we're paying them for priority services - 24-48 hours for most of the world - in practice it's often an extra day on top and sometimes it can be longer.
There is absolutely nothing we can do about this unfortunately. If you are outside the UK and it's a life-or-death situation where you absolutely MUST have that passive mult for the next day then... it may be better to find a local supplier.
Saturday shipping
If you're in the UK and you order before 15:30 on a Friday then we can send something for a Saturday delivery (NB: this applies to UK mainland addresses only). The success rate with DPD is about 95% so it's worth a punt most of the time. Please note that if you select Saturday shipping on an order placed earlier in the week, we'll wait until Friday to ship it.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch if you have questions.
