Novation Digital Music Systems Ltd. is a UK musical equipment manufacturer. Founded in 1992 as Novation Electronic Music Systems, the company specialises in MIDI controller

MIDI controller

MIDI controller is used in two senses.*In one sense, a controller is hardware or software which generates and transmits MIDI data to MIDI-enabled devices....

s and analog modeling synthesizer

Analog modeling synthesizer

An Analog Modeling Synthesizer is a synthesizer that generates the sounds of traditional analog synthesizers using DSP components and software algorithms to simulate the behaviour of the original electric and electronic circuitry, in order to obtain the sound in a more precise manner from the...

s, which they have manufactured in China.

Novation's first technical director was Chris Huggett

Chris Huggett

Chris Huggett is an engineer/designer who co-founded Electronic Dream Plant and Oxford Synthesizer Company, who is currently technical director at Novation Digital Music Systems, all manufacturers of audio synthesizers.- Electronic Dream Plant :...

, who designed the Wasp and OSCar

OSC Oscar

The OSCar was a synthesizer manufactured by the Oxford Synthesiser Company from 1983 to 1985. It was ahead of its time in several ways and was one of the few mono-synths to have MIDI. Around 2000 were made.- History :...

 synthesisers and wrote the operating system for the Akai S1000

Akai S1000

The Akai S1000 is a 16-bit professional stereo digital sampler, released by Akai in 1988. The S1000 was among the first professional-quality 16-bit stereo samplers. Its abilities to splice, crossfade, trim, and loop music in 16-bit CD-quality sound made it popular among producers of this era...

. While working for Akai

Akai

Akai is a consumer electronics brand, founded by Saburo Akai as , a Japanese manufacturer in 1929. It is now headquartered in Singapore as a subsidiary of Grande Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, which also owns the formerly Japanese brands Nakamichi and Sansui. The Akai brand is now used...

, he gave Novation's founders advice and support, later joining full time to design the Supernova.

In August 2004, Novation was acquired by Focusrite

Focusrite

Focusrite is a musical equipment manufacturer based in High Wycombe, England. Focusrite design and market audio interfaces, microphone preamps, consoles, analogue EQs and Channel strips, and digital audio processing hardware and software.-Early Years:...

 Ltd. and became a subsidiary called Novation Digital Music Systems Ltd.

Novation synthesisers have been used by a range of electronic acts including drum and bass

Drum and bass

Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...

/Rock group Pendulum

Pendulum (band)

Pendulum is an Australian drum and bass and electronic rock band founded in 2002 in Perth by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen, and Paul Harding.Swire and McGrillen were members of the rock band known as Xygen. After hearing Konflict's "Messiah" at a club, they were inspired to enter into the drum and...

, French Composer Jean Michel Jarre

Jean Michel Jarre

Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...

, and British group Orbital

Orbital (band)

Orbital are a British electronic dance music duo from Sevenoaks, England consisting of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll. Their career initially ran from 1989 until 2004, but in 2009 they announced that they would be reforming and headlining The Big Chill, in addition to a number of other live shows...

In the track "Triumph" by the rap group Wu-Tang Clan, Novation is referenced by Wu-Tang member RZA.

Products

Products made by Novation include

• Bass Station
• Super Bass Station
• Drum Station
• Launchpad
• Supernova
  Novation Supernova
  The Novation SuperNova is a virtual analogue synthesizer made by the British company Novation. It was the predecessor of the cut-down Nova and was considered, at the time, to be the company's flagship synthesizer.-Overview:...
  
  
• Nova
• Supernova II
• Ultranova
• A-Station
• K-Station
• V-Station
• KS Series
• X-Station
  X-Station
  The Novation X-Station is a virtual analog synthesizer, audio interface and MIDI controller made by the British company Novation. It is the end-result of adding an audio interface, a KS-class synthesiser and an effects section to the company's ReMOTE controllers. The product was sold for a short...
  
  
• Xio-Synth
• Twitch

External links

• The official Novation website
• Vintage Synth Explorer, an online database, includes many instruments Novation has produced.