The Wasp

The Wasp is a quirky little synthesizer that, despite its toyish look, is quite capable of funky analog sounds. It really is black and yellow too, just like the insect it is named for. Probably its most distinguishing feature is the keyboard and its non-moving touch-sensitive keys. That's right, the flat little keys are only sensitive to your electro-static touch. It's a nifty technology for 1978, but in reality they are difficult and unreliable to play. There's also a little speaker built-in to the synth and EDP's own pre-MIDI connectors for linking to other Wasps and EDP gear.

A look under the hood, however, reveals some surprises. The WASP is powered by two digital oscillators supported by analog filters, envelopes and controls. This makes it one of the earliest digital/analog hybrid synthesizers to come in such a compact package, and it sounds great! The Wasp offers flexible and traditional synthesis of cool bass, synth, and other classic monophonic sounds. Its designer, Chris Hugget, also designed the Oxford Synthesizer Company's OSCar Synthesizer. The Wasp has been used by 808 State, Dave Holmes, Vince Clarke, Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran), WhiteHouse and Add N to (X).

The Wasp Deluxe

Later versions of the Wasp included the Wasp Deluxe (released 1979) which had all the features of the original plus a standard 3-octave keyboard, wood panels, an oscillator mixer, external audio-input, a larger built-in speaker and battery operation. Definitely redesigned for the practical musician. There was also the Wasp Special (released 1981) which also came with wood panels, a black and gold color scheme, and an internal power supply, but no more built-in speaker and a return to the touch-sensitive keyboard design. EDP also produced a heavily modified Wasp that was built into a guitar-form called the Keytar. It had a two octave keyboard and transpose and portamento buttons on the neck. However, only two Keytars were ever made as far as we know.

The Wasp Special

The rest of EDP's wild world of synthesis includes the Spider, a 252-note step, or 84-note real time digital sequencer designed to control the Wasp. The Caterpillar which is a 3-octave master keyboard for controlling up to four inter-connected Wasps played polyphonically. The Gnat which is a smaller, single-oscillator version of the Wasp that could be linked to another Wasp to form a makeshift triple-oscillator synth playable from either keyboard (the Gnat also came in three versions similar to the Standard, Special and Deluxe models of the Wasp). All EDP instruments could be inter-connected via their own pre-MIDI style connection interface. While the Wasp and it's fellow insects may seem quirky and even toy-like, their sound, technology, flexibility and portability make them surprisingly good instruments that can still be found in use today.

19 VISITOR COMMENTS

chris clarke

January 26, 2012 @ 10:28 pm

I saw the late kenny everett use one on tv at some awful awards show. Think he needed it to make a 'fart' sound for an effect after telling a bad joke. He then just threw it off stage! Probably smashed into a million pieces. Such a waste

A.S. Swanski

January 14, 2012 @ 10:52 am

The Stranglers used a Wasp in Two Sunspots and Just Like Nothing On Earth from TheMenInBlack. Apparently the synth costed only £100 back then.

Klaus

December 8, 2011 @ 9:06 am

Whitehouse more or less recorded their first couple of albums only with two Wasps. One of them modded by Crhis Carter of TG. In the Industrial/PE scene this synth is synomous with the band. Total Sex!

synthnut

December 6, 2011 @ 4:28 pm

contrary to the misinformation in an earlier post, the Wasp does indeed have a resonance control on its Filter ("Q").

Sian Howard

November 12, 2011 @ 5:37 am

The WASP certainly does have it's own sound - we used one of these heavily in our first album 'Alien Sky' in 1981 (also used an MS20 and an ARP Solus in equal measure).
Great sounding oscillators and filter. The (monophonic) output was a bit noisy with transformer hum, so a gate was essential. But it didn't seem to matter.
I am not quite sure what I would do with one if I had it in my studio today, but I do find myself feeling all nostalgic when I look at photos of one!
The MS20 and Arp Solus are a different kettle of fish, I think I'd definitely use both of those if I still had them.

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