The Novation SuperNova, released in 1998, was a 3U rack-mounted virtual analogue polyphonic synthesizer with 16+ note polyphony and

multitimbral Monotimbral (from the root prefix ''mono'' meaning one, and ''timbre'' meaning a specific tone of a sound independent of its pitch) is usually used in reference to electronic synthesizers which can produce a single timbre at a given pitch when pre ...

operation, made by the British company

Novation Novation, in contract law and business law, is the act of – # replacing an obligation to perform with another obligation; or # adding an obligation to perform; or # replacing a party to an agreement with a new party. In international law, no ...

. Unique to the Supernova was the addition of multiple effects options which were retained per part in multi-timbral use, allowing a much richer sound than had generally been possible with a multitimbral synthesizer. The SuperNova and its successor, the SuperNova II, have been used by a wide range of artists including Orbital,

ATB André Tanneberger (; born 26 February 1973), better known by his stage name ATB, is a German DJ, musician, and producer of trance music. According to the official world DJ rankings governed by ''DJ Magazine'', ATB was ranked No. 11 in 2009 and ...

The Faint The Faint is an American indie rock band. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band consists of Todd Fink, Graham Ulicny, Dapose and Clark Baechle. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes, with whom T ...

Ozric Tentacles Ozric Tentacles are an English instrumental rock band, whose music incorporates elements from a diverse range of genres, including psychedelic rock, progressive rock, space rock, jazz fusion, electronic music, dub music, world music, and ambi ...

, Sin,

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompani ...

and

A Guy Called Gerald Gerald Rydel Simpson (born 16 February 1967), better known as A Guy Called Gerald, is a British record producer and musician. He was an early member of the electronic group 808 State, contributing to their debut LP '' Newbuild'' (1988) and hit ...

Overview

The Novation SuperNova was first produced in 1998 in the midst of a highly competitive virtual analogue

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

market to compete with the

Roland JP-8000 The Roland JP-8000 is an analog modeling synthesizer released by the Roland Corporation in 1996. Overview The Roland JP-8000 was released in early 1997 as part of the first wave of virtual analog modeling synthesizers (VA synths). Others from ...

, the

Clavia Nord Lead The Nord Lead is a series of virtual analog subtractive synthesizers, manufactured by Clavia. Released in 1994, the original Nord Lead was the digital synthesizer that made the term ''virtual analog synthesis'' popular. The now widely accepted ...

, the

Korg Prophecy The Korg Prophecy is considered one of the earliest (mid-nineties) virtual analog (a.k.a. VA) synthesizers, although its synthesis capabilities went beyond many of its VA contemporaries. Details Along with the Korg Z1, the Korg Prophecy is a d ...

, the

Yamaha AN1x The Yamaha AN1x is a DSP-based analog modeling synthesizer (a.k.a. virtual analog synthesizer), produced by Yamaha Corporation from 1997 to 1998, and was marketed as an "analog physical modelling control synthesizer". Development The AN1x is a f ...

, and the

Access Virus The Access Virus is a virtual analog synthesizer made by the German company Access Music GmbH. It was first produced in 1997 and has since been upgraded frequently, with the company releasing new models about every two years. Early models includ ...

, among others. It offers many of the same features as its competitors, such as accurate digital imitations of analogue subtractive synthesizer architecture and a resonant (self-oscillating) filter, as well as having the MIDI functionality of a modern synth. Some key differences however are: it featured no triangle or sine wave (simpler waves such as these had to be arrived at using a unique ''hardness'' attenuator by ''softening'' either the saw or square), its

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

and multitimbrality were superior to its competitors, and it had an extremely powerful effects engine that could provide 7 simultaneous effects for each part with no loss of polyphony. At the time, the SuperNova's effects engine greatly surpassed all other synths and was considered a key element in the instrument's sound.

In 2000, Novation released the Nova synthesizer module (US$1,499 in 2000). It was a small, desktop, less powerful version of the Supernova, with the notable addition of a 40-band vocoder The SuperNova II (2000) was available in 24, 36 and 48-voice models with additional 12 or 24-voice expansion boards. Available again in a 3U rack-mount format, the SuperNova II was also available in a 61-note performance keyboard version with velocity and aftertouch, enabling sound tweaking during live performance.

FM synthesis Frequency modulation synthesis (or FM synthesis) is a form of sound synthesis whereby the frequency of a waveform is changed by modulating its frequency with a modulator. The frequency of an oscillator is altered "in accordance with the amplitud ...

capability was included along with

ring modulation In electronics, ring modulation is a signal processing function, an implementation of frequency mixing, in which two signals are combined to yield an output signal. One signal, called the carrier, is typically a sine wave or another simple ...

, dual analogue inputs and a 42-band

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

. An 8-part

arpeggiator A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

was also on-board and in its full version the product offered 8-part multitimbrality and 48-voice polyphony, with 57 and 2304 oscillators running simultaneously. A smaller version, the Nova II, was also available in 16, 24 and 36-voice models, with a 49-note keyboard and less physical controls. In 2001, Novation published a free OS update that added more features to the original Supernova series, including a Double Saw wave form and nine dual filter modes. Moreover, the new OS offered a partial compatibility with Supernova II series, via system exclusive dumps. The Supernova II was discontinued in 2001. In March 2018, British company Sector101 began selling a clone of the 24 voice expansion board for the SuperNova II and Nova II.

References

{{reflist Virtual analog synthesizers Novation synthesizers