Moog Spectravox

The Spectravox is an analog spectral processor offered by the Moog brand.

Spectravox, the latest member of the Moog semi-modular family, is a revolutionary tool for sound sculpting. It is an analog spectral processor based on a 10-band filter bank. Spectravox creates dynamic drones and tonal sweeps colored by itself and adds resonant depth and psychedelic spectral movement to any external sound. Plug in a microphone and Spectravox becomes a 10-band analog vocoder with innovative modulation of all its filters built-in. An exploration and expansion of vocoder and filter bank topology, Spectravox is a highly flexible instrument and signal processor with a full patch bay for integration into studios of any size.

Synthesizers have delighted in playing with the sound spectrum since the appearance of the Moog 907 Fixed Filter Bank in the 1960s, creating lush vowel tones and multicolored timbral animation with manual control of each frequency band of a sound. Unlike old fixed filter banks, however, Spectravox's unique filters are no longer fixed in place and will move together in frequency space, allowing for the creation of voltage-controlled spectral animations and vibrant phaser sweeps. With 10 filters whose variable resonance can shift from gentle precision to sparkling chorus effects, Spectravox reshapes the sounds you love and brings a new world of sonic possibilities to your studio.

Spectravox is a fascinating sculptable synthesizer voice on its own thanks to its built-in sound source of a thick Moog analog oscillator and white noise generator. With its combo XLR/jack input, Spectravox becomes a fully-equipped 10-band vocoder with a secondary filter bank for analyzing the spectral composition of incoming sounds. In VOCODER mode, its 10 analysis filters map the timbral characteristics of any external sound onto any other sound you can imagine. Shape Spectravox's warm analog oscillator with the dynamics of your voice, or use a drum machine to animate guitar chords into a wide and captivating percussive space.

Spectravox draws on the pioneering vocoding work of Bob Moog and Wendy Carlos in the late 1960s as inspiration, work based on Homer Dudley's original designs from the 1930s and prominently featured in Stanley Kubrick's 1972 film, A Clockwork Orange. Innovating further from these early designs, Spectravox uses 10 state-variable filters for its filter bank, all of which can be swept with its internal triangle waveform LFO or external control voltage. With the ability to foreground vowel sounds via the Moog 16 Channel Vocoder's Hiss and Buzz features, Spectravox is both a major advancement for analog filter banks and a loving exploration of the history of musical technology.

Blur the frequency spectrum and create wonderfully unpredictable textures with patch points for each filter in the filter bank and included patch cables. Add analog warmth and subtle phasing to synthesizers and digital sound sources. Integrate Spectravox with other Moog semi-modular instruments or Eurorack modules with an extended patch bay providing control over almost all of its parameters. Spectravox is an instrument that pushes boundaries and invites you to explore new creative ways of shaping and sculpting sound.