MASK 1 is a new 10-voice polyphonic digital Synthesizer featuring bitmask synthesis. WHAT the synthesis? Bitmask synthesis first become a topic with the announcement of another Kodamo synth, the Bitmasker, a small portable digital synth. A project the developers are still working on.

According to Kodamo, Bitmask is a new synthesis method that splits a sine wave into many parts which are then rearranged into different ways. You can create classic waveforms with it like saw but also crazy new timbres. But they sound gritter and dirty than traditional oscillators say the developers. It reminds me of the design of the MOK Waverazor plugin where you also cut up waveforms and glue them back together to generate new harmonically richer timbres.

The MASK 1 engine consists of two oscillators with 200 built-in waveforms powered by the Bitmask technology. Then, you get a noise generator, a 12-state variable filter, digital, not analog, with four modes, self-resonance, and key tracking.

Modulation side, it has 7 envelopes (pitch, 4 ADSR envelopes, and 2 delta envelopes per voice), two multi-wave LFOs with noise, and 15 mod destinations. MASK 1 comes with a 5-octave FATAR keyboard with velocity and aftertouch.

There is also a polyphonic slurred mode that automatically slurs neighbor notes for great melodic expressivity while playing chords simultaneously says the developers. How this works, in reality, would have to be seen on the finished device.

Specifications