SOMA PULSAR-23 Interactive User Manual
- June 9, 2024
- SOMA
Table of Contents
SOMA PULSAR-23 Interactive
INTERACTIVE MANUAL FOR SOMA PULSAR-23
Mastering the interface of a complex semi-modular synth with hundreds of
controls and functions onboard is not an easy task even for the most seasoned
producer. It’s too much to memorize, and continuously checking the user manual
gets annoying and interferes with the creative process. Even with using the
search function you still end up scrolling up and down dozens of pages and
going back and forth to understand how related features interact, a process
that is more fiddly than convenient.
Why does it have to be like that? Instrument manuals – even for complex
machines – are still just plain linear text with a structure that doesn’t
reflect the actual interface or workflow of the product it describes. Despite
all the technological advances of our digital age, user manuals are still
based on the same principles of how information was organized and accessed in
manuscripts from over 2,000 years ago.
It’s high time someone changed this! SOMA Labs designed a new and more user-
friendly approach to synthesizer manuals that we believe should become the new
industry standard, offering unparalleled efficiency and immediate access to
relevant information through a visual (touch) interface.
What really is a synth’s interface? You can compare it to a territory, like a
town or a forest, where we have various objects placed in space. If each
control has just one function we can compare it with 2D space, if we have
multifunctional controls or menus we can speak about a 3D space. How do you
best describe a space to someone else? Of course, with a map!
What should a 21st century map be like? Interactive!
SOMA is therefore proud to present its new interactive manual for the
PULSAR-23 drum machine, SOMA’s most complex synth to date. It consists of a
map of the synth’s interface where each element is clickable.
Just click on any button, connector or knob and get its description along with
highlighting elements that are connected to or depend on it with the immediate
possibility to check what they do.
As PULSAR-23 is a semi-modular instrument, all patching points have
suggestions about which other patch points you could connect them to (about
1,000 patching tips!).
So it’s also a kind of light patching tutorial.
The concept of interactive manuals can be developed much deeper and better,
and we therefore invite our industry colleagues to further develop and refine
this approach to user manuals for musical instruments. Let’s make synth
manuals more user-friendly, easy to learn and more efficient, lowering the
learning curve for new musicians and freeing up users’ minds for pure
creativity!
Welcome to the world of PULSAR-23!