The AstroLab is a brand-new standalone synthesizer from Arturia. This 61-key stage keyboard is ideal for live performances because it is essentially the company’s Analog Lab software in hardware form. Ten dedicated sound engines and thirty-five virtual instruments—many of which are emulations of the renowned V Collection—are available for use with the synth. It also costs two thousand dollars.
This is a stage keyboard, however you could do it for less money by just purchasing a MIDI controller and some software instruments. Stated differently, it was created with live performance in mind. There are several useful sound design tools that should come in helpful when performing, and the case is strong and made to resist the demands of touring.
There are 12 insert FX options, with four control knobs, and the ability to loop any sound by up to 32 bars. The instrument even captures the MIDI, so people can easily swap out to another instrument and play the same part. The multitimbral feature allows players to set a split point along the keyboard, to make it easy to pull up two instruments at the same time. This is a big deal when playing live, as you never know how long a keyboard will take to load a preset.
If you want to get people dancing to the sound of a robot voice singing “around the world” over and over until 5 AM, AstroLab keyboards ship with a vocoder and a port to plug in a microphone. Of course, the synthesizer features the usual accouterments like mod wheels, an arpeggiator and various chord scale options. Finally, there’s an affiliated mobile app, AstroLab Connect, that lets users organize their presets and download new sounds from the store. The keyboard is available now through Arturia and various retailers.
