Created by Odyssey aficionados

Instrument Overview

The Oddity is modeled on the classic ARP Odyssey synthesizer which was manufactured between 1971 & 1976 and used by artists as diverse as Gary Numan, John Foxx, Herbie Hancock, Kraftwerk and Portishead. Its place in synth folklore is assured and well-deserved, but due to the small numbers produced, the chances of finding one in good working order nowadays for less than a king's ransom is slim.

The Oddity takes all that was unique and great about this instrument and thanks to a painstaking emulative process brings these qualities into the 21st century. Now you can finally have those famous Odyssey tones and the exclusive ARP operational method married to reliable tuning, non-breakable sliders and, something only dreamed about in the 1970's.....patch memories.

In fact the Oddity takes the ability to store patches one step further and allows you to morph between any two of the saved patches within a bank. Simply pick a start patch, a morph-time and a destination patch, and the Oddity will output some amazing and inspirational sounds all of which can be recorded by your host sequencer for subsequent playback. Additionally the Oddity has a unique Flying Slider feature whereby you can grab one or more sliders and throw them, recording their movements if desired.

Of course, because The Oddity was created by Odyssey aficionados much of what gave the original instrument its character and functionality was built-in too. For example, the way the ring modulator and duophonic mode interact to create sublime aggressive tones was carefully modeled, as was the effect the Lag Generator has on a keyboard triggered LFO.

Inside Info

There were several different Odyssey models, each with different filters. The first of these was a whiteface which is is often mistakenly described as having a Moog-type Filter. This isn't true, the whiteface Odysseys contained a 2-Pole SEM type filter which gave a distinctly different sound to that of later models.

Next page -> Oddity - More Info / Tour



Oddity & GForce are trademarks of GForce Software Ltd. All other product names are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with GForce Software Ltd. They are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during the sound model development.

Key Features

  • Extremely realistic analog modeling
  • Two syncable oscillators
  • Fully tuneable across a six octave range
  • Monophonic & Duophonic modes
  • Sawtooth, Square, Sine & Variable pulse width waveforms & sync
  • Ring modulator
  • Resonant 24dB/octave lowpass filter
  • Highpass filter
  • Timed Morphing between presets
  • Flying Slider feature
  • Full automation support

Awards

Since its release the Oddity has won numerous awards including the Future Music ‘Platinum Award’ and Computer Music ‘Value and Performance Award’. In his EQ magazine review, Craig Anderton stated:

"This is an aficionado's plug-in.....a product for synth connoisseurs. It feels more like a labour of love than an attempt to rule the world of soft synths with a Great Big Commercial Hit; somebody put a lot of time into getting the details right."

Essential Odyssey

  • Herbie Hancock: Chameleon & Ready or Not
  • John Foxx: Metamatic
  • Jean Michel Jarre: Oxygene
  • Gary Numan: Music for Chameleons
  • Klaus Schultze: Picture Music
  • Kraftwerk: Autobahn
  • Ultravox: Vienna
  • George Duke & Chick Corea: misc solos
  • Tangerine Dream: Atem
  • Manfred Mann’s Earth Band: Blinded By The Light
  • BBC Radiophonic Workshop: Dr Who Theme Tune
  • ELO: Out Of The Blue
  • Joe Walsh: Life’s Been Good
  • The Human League: Love Action
  • REM: Undertow & Leave
  • Ohio Players: Gold
  • The Sweet: Fox On The Run
  • Elton John: Rocket Man & Funeral For A Friend
  • Conny Plank (Can, Eno & David Bowie)
  • Adrian Utley (Portishead)
  • ...and many more...

Odyssey Links

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