Yellowjacket synthesizer is a stunning value-packed tribute to the venerable Wasp synthesizer, released by the British synth company EDP in 1978. Cherry Audio has reproduced the singular buzzy tone and drone of this legendary monophonic, digital/analog hybrid, from its quirky oscillators to its distinctive filter. Further influenced by the pioneering spirit of its inventors, we've added several innovative features to Yellowjacket, reenvisioning what could have been. These include elements of other EDP instruments, unison and 16-voice polyphony, emulation of the Wasp's integrated speaker, an expanded multimode filter, and a new-to-Cherry advanced arpeggiator with probability and humanise controls.

We've replicated the look of the notorious touch-capacitive yellow and black keyboard of the original, enhanced it with diatonic scales and transpose, and extended it with customizable pressure control with support for expressive channel and polyphonic aftertouch. Perhaps the most exciting feature of Yellowjacket is directly inspired by EDP's innovative pre-MIDI system that allowed multiple synths to be chained together: multi-voice modes that add adjustable "mini synths" that can provide subtle or extreme variation in tone, single-fingered chords and arpeggiated patterns, lush stereo effects, and more.

In short, there has never been a Cherry Audio plugin quite like Yellowjacket, and we know that today's musicians and producers will get a real buzz from it.

Yellowjacket includes over 270 spectacular presets

Producers will find immediate inspiration in Yellowjacket's extensive preset library, created by a talented sound design team led by veteran sound designer James Terris. And don't miss the Hive Mind for Yellowjacket Preset Pack (sold separately), featuring an additional 100 additional presets by James Dyson.

James Terris

James Dyson

Drew Schlesinger

In 1978, British studio engineer Chris Huggett collaborated with synthesist Adrian Wagner to create the Wasp synthesizer for Electronic Dream Plant. With a focus on affordability, the Wasp was priced at £200 and featured a distinctive black-and-yellow plastic design. It included a touch-sensitive keyboard, a built-in speaker, and an innovative digital/analog hybrid synthesis system, making electronic music more accessible to a wider audience.

Despite the commercial challenges that EDP eventually faced, the impact of the Wasp synthesizer is undeniable. It became an influential instrument for many UK musicians, including Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, Dave Greenfield of The Stranglers, Thomas Dolby, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, and Chris Carter of Throbbing Gristle, among others. In 1979, the musical duo of Thomas Leer and Robert Rental released an influential early synthpop album titled The Bridge, which exclusively used the Wasp and showcased its range.

Chris Huggett is remembered as Britain's greatest synthesizer designer. He continued to innovate by creating the more affordable single-oscillator Gnat synthesizer for EDP and later developed groundbreaking instruments such as the OSCar and Novation BassStation. Although Chris Huggett passed away in 2020, his contributions continue to inspire the next generation of musicians and engineers. Cherry Audio dedicates the Yellowjacket synthesizer to his memory.

Cherry Audio and Tim Shoebridge have again teamed up to produce an extensive introductory video for Yellowjacket. This deep dive highlights the history behind the instrument as well as its standout features, including the extraordinary filter, the new arpeggiator, and the innovative multi-voice modes.

Yellowjacket Features:

• All aspects of the 1978 EDP Wasp monophonic synthesizer have been precisely modeled in exacting detail, and enhanced with several imaginative new features

• Over 270 professionally-designed presets in a dozen categories: sizzling Leads, sublime Arps, atmospheric Pads, single-fingered Chords, stunning Strings, deep Basses, and more

• Monophonic, unison, polyphonic (4, 8, or 16 voices), and cycle voice modes with glide

• Innovative Multi voice modes for unison, poly, and cycle that add per-note variation by adding three additional "mini synth" panels, each with their own pitch, pan, filter frequency, VCA Envelope Attack, and VCA Envelope Release settings. 

• Quick-access Multi voice panel presets such as Hard Panned, Slightly Detuned, Well Worn, and more to simulate subtle or extreme variations between multiple chained synths

• Dual panel views with a main Edit view for synthesis controls, and an Arp/FX panel with extended features

• Two distinct oscillators with ramp, pulse, square wave, and an enhanced modulated pulse-wave based on the EDP Gnat

• Oscillator sync

• Mixer for both oscillators and a white noise signal generator

• Syncable control oscillator (LFO) with free and retrigger modes, and sine, ramp, sawtooth, square, noise, or random waveforms for pitch, filter, and amp modulation 

• Vintage-correct two-pole 12dB state-variable filter based upon the CD4069 logic chip of the original, with lowpass, bandpass, or highpass, with an extra notch mode, and the "Q" resonance setting

• Two envelope generators: a VCA Envelope for volume control with a repeat function, and a Control Envelope that modulates filter cutoff frequency with positive and negative modulation, as well as looping and adjustable attack settings

• Output control with meter and settings for volume, panning, master tune, and limiter

• Support for velocity, channel aftertouch, and polyphonic aftertouch with compatible USB/MIDI controllers

• Keyboard pressure control with six modulation routings: volume, pitch, filter cutoff, mod wheel, reverb decay/mix, and an assignable control that allows a user to select any one of 29 preset synth and effects parameters

• Enhanced capacitive-style keyboard with root and diatonic scales controls, and a transpose control that quantizes notes from the USB/MIDI controller

• Multi-touch enabled (Windows only) - capacitive-style keyboard and pressure meters on the keys respond to multi-touch vertical motion on compatible touchscreen monitors and gesture-capable tablet devices such as Surface Pro. UI can be Maximized to make Yellowjacket fullscreen

• User-selectable pitch bend depth from 0-12 semitones

• All new and dynamic arpeggiator with Chance (step probability) and Humanise to add degrees of randomness to arpeggiated patterns. Combine with the Cycle modes and Scales to create varied patterns, even with the touch of a single key, and create transposable four-note step sequences through Multi voice panels

• Speaker effect (mono) with Hiss and Hum controls that simulates the original instrument's onboard speaker for a lo-fi tone 

• Five more studio-quality integrated effects: new Octafuzz multimode overdrive/distortion effect, 4/6/8/10-stage Phaser, Flanger/Chorus, three syncable Echo delays, and five Reverb types. Global FX Out panel with On/Off, Level, and Stereo Expand

• Standalone virtual instrument and plug-in versions included

• Super accurate DAW sync

• User-adjustable oversampling control

• Complete MIDI control and DAW automation for all controls, with easy-to-use MIDI learn and mapping (Preset and Global)

• Cherry Audio's popular Focus zoom-in feature, as well as standard UI zoom and resize via drag

• Complete documentation available directly online from the instrument or in downloadable PDF format

Specifications

Yellowjacket synthesizer is available in AU, VST, VST3, AAX, and standalone formats.

macOS Requirements: macOS Requirements: macOS 10.13 or above. 64-bit required. Intel or Apple Silicon processor. 3.4 GHz Quad-Core or Apple Silicon CPU with 8GB of RAM is recommended. Hard disk space: 96 MB. 

Windows Requirements: Windows 7 or above (including Windows 11), 64-bit required. 3.4 GHz Quad-Core computer with 8GB of RAM recommended. Hard disk space: 96 MB.

NOTE: Internet connection required for product activation

Wasp® is a registered trademark of Music Tribe Global Brands Ltd.. There is no association, affiliation or endorsement of Cherry Audio or its products by Music Tribe. References here to the 1978 Wasp synthesizer by Electronic Dream Plant are included as historical reference.