The Hewlett-Packard Word Generator 8006A has become an unintentional legend of sound lovers, transforming this obscure lab equipment into a kind of instrument. So you knew that a Hainbach/AudioThing collab to produce a software version was inevitable. B00GA is available now as a macOS, Windows, or Linux plug-in, or an iOS/iPadOS AUv3 plug-in or app.
There’s a lot you can do with this generator. Run it with the bits audible, and you get glitchy rhythms and clicky experimental sound sources, and it can be remarkably groovy. Speed it way up, and you get “microsound” patterns as those bits melt into drones and textures. It’s capable of really tight, precise patterns, plus ghostly, haunting sounds and deep, organic pads.
The reason this device was designed like this was that you’d program in whatever waveform you needed to test a particular piece of equipment. That gives you elaborate, precise control over a waveform, via a uniquely analog interface. Don’t miss Hainbach’s original video on that history:
AudioThing and Hainbach have built a versatile instrument that doesn’t lean too hard in any one direction. You’ve got the necessary 8006A controls — word length and per-bit switches to set patterns — but also a unique noise source and pulse bank. You could just “ping” other instruments with it, too — a modal resonator would be an ideal situation. But AudioThing has built in a decent, middle-of-the-road set of sound tools for you so you can do most things right in the box.
Here’s a playthrough of how it sounds:
There’s also an effects section, and it is very Hainbach-y. Phaser, Spring Reverb, Tape Echo, yes, and they’re all nicely done, but the highlight here is the octave filter.
But you also get ample pattern controls, which really reimagine an alternate universe where word clocks are just how you make rhythms and design waveforms. And that’s a nice universe to go dreaming in. They could have left this esoteric, but why not add copy/paste, precise pattern controls, an easy word length slider, and pattern switching?
There’s really so much you can do with this. Just remember to keep that host transport running — or switch into free-trigger mode.
I do feel a little bit like this one is begging for a V2 or a “Pro” version or something, but maybe with all the hosts and effects we have, that’s overkill. For instance, wearing my old-school “reviewer” cap, I might complain that it’s got fairly vanilla effects but no resonator, or that there’s not much in the way of internal modulation. (There’s some simple randomization, which you may have seen in other AudioThing software.) But… I’m describing an imaginary use case here, because I just mapped to Ableton LFOs just now, and I have a bunch of resonators that it could ping. If you want modular software, anyway, see below.
This one is a must-buy for me: rare equipment and esoteric historical techniques made musical and invaluable.
B00GA is available now at a steep discount through the end of the year, direct or via Plugin Boutique:
If you buy something from a CDM link, we may earn a commission.
B00GA on sale at Plugin Boutique
Gavinsky has a walkthrough/tutorial:
And Synth Anatomy takes a look with some free sounds to download:
Previously, I gushed over the presence of the HP 8006A as a free and open-source VCV Rack module:
But let’s finish on this beautiful live set from Hainbach: