Not so long ago, Pittsburgh Modular introduced the Taiga to the world: a real tiger of a synthesizer with a thick and tasty analogue sound, countless patching options and a satisfying control panel. The original Taiga had minimal polyphony, no keyboard and was definitely built for pure experimentation, but that didn't stop it from becoming a hit. Now, with the dawn of the Taiga Keyboard, we're getting all of the same power plus a playable keyboard complete with a pitch-bender, a mod-wheel and aftertouch. This edition of the semi-modular Taiga even features an internal signal path so you can weave sound without any patching. The Pittsburgh Modular Taiga Keyboard In terms of sound, the Taiga Keyboard brings everything you would expect and more. The lion's share of the sound comes from waveshaping, which offers a bit more than your traditional sawtooths and square waves. Then there's the Pittsburgh-developed filter, which has an immediately warm and relaxed character to it and, since this is a semi-modular synth, fiddling with the patch bay has a radical effect on things. With the Taiga as part of your arsenal, you'll spend a lot of time trying out one patching configuration, then another configuration, and then another - only then can you really touch on the enormous potential on offer here. Expansion Options The new edition of the Taiga also features Eurorack slots, which supply space for 24 HP of modules, which amounts to one to three modules depending on the models you go for. They could be effects, oscillators or, in fact, anything, but if the Taiga is going to be your first synth, then we recommend getting to know it before starting to expand it. Essentially, this synthesizer has been built for the wide-eyed, die-hard sound designers and, while the price is a bit higher than the original, the Taiga Keyboard will reward you in spades.