Rhythmic Robot new product: Crack the riddle, win the thing!

This coming Friday, Rhythmic Robot will be releasing another way-cool instrument for you. (How do we do it? The answer, folks, is caffeine-loaded energy drinks, on the hour, every hour.) But this time, for a bit of fun -- and hopefully to whip up a frenzy of anticipation ahead of the release -- we’re going to taunt / tantalise you with a little competition.

It’s simple. Mongo has composed one of his dreaded Odes, only this time in the form of a riddle. Answer to the riddle = hefty great clue as to the name of the product we’re releasing next week. And the first person to answer the riddle correctly, with a brief and persuasive rationale as to how they got to the answer, gets a copy of Whatever It Is for free, plus any other product from our lineup that they want. Tempting, huh?

The only rule is that you use the Contact Us form on our website to send your answers in. This is fairly obviously a cunning ploy to get you on our mailing list so we can let you know about further Cool New Products in the future. Hopefully that’s a small price to pay. But if you really, really don’t want to be on the mailing list, just say so in your entry and we promise we won’t add you. Really. (But then you’ll miss out...)

As entries come in I’ll post them below (anonymously, don’t worry) so you can laugh at what other people are thinking, and hone your answers. And if everybody gets it straight off, I’ll have Mongo flogged. Good luck!


MONGO’S ODE

That ancient swift-winged messenger
The daughter of the light
Who onetime paced across the sky
And sang dispatches from on high
Her footsteps burning bright

Now joins the swiftest from below
In reckless wondrous dance
And tattoo’d patterns weaving round
Keep step with vaults of pulsing sound
Infusing their romance

The taste of this forbidden love
Is nectar to the bold
And sampling each forbidden bite
They dance away along the light
Toward their hidden gold.


Well, that's it, guys – good luck, and keep in touch!

Best wishes, The Professor (and Mongo)​

---
Okay, some first responses are coming in. These are the best (seriously).

• My guesses are:IrisNikeMercury or Hermes... after the sex change!
• The tattoo thing makes me think Celtic... is it some kind of folk instrument?
• Nectar... nectar points, nectar card... did you sample Sainsbury's?

All I can say is... :face palm:


Keep at it, folks!

 

Frank says:

Are you sampling one of the Junos, or the Roland MKS-7 SuperQuartet? My thought process is:The first verse seems to be referencing Iris. Iris was a character in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' where she also appears with Ceres and Juno. Juno is obviously the name of a series of synths by Roland. That made me think it might be one of the Junos. However, you then go on to reference some sort of "fusion" and allude to dancing which makes me think of rhythms of some sort... This led me to the Roland MKS-7 Super Quartet as it was a combination of the Juno 106 and TR707...

The Prof says: Ooh, that's not bad. But it's not right, either
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Tom says: Hi Rhytmic Robot crew,Awesome giveway this one. My answer is Vermona DRMBECAUSEthe riddle says "tattoo'd patterns weaving round" which makes me suspect that it's a drum machine and the first part says she's the "daughter of the light" and the only "female" drum machine I can think of is Vermona DRM.So there.

The Prof says: You guys are too good at this! Mmm.... impressive. The force is strong in this one. But still wrong.

 

Charles says:

Alectrona. I choose this answer because it is an early greek mythical goddess of the sun also called a daughter of the sun which can translate to daughter of the light, not to mention that would just be a bad ass name for and instrument because it almost sounds like Electronic.My second guess would be The Pheonix because you think of The Pheonix flying and being of flames that "her" foot steps would burn bright. Then you think of her joining the swiftest below signifing the later rise of the Pheonix.

Prof says: Nice thinking. Nice logic. Nice handwriting, even. But nowhere close. Also, we're looking for the name of a real instrument that we sampled, not just something cool we made up. (That would be WAY hard.)
The one thing I will say is that a bit of Geek – sorry, Greek – mythology is definitely the place to start
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Jason says: My guess is SELENE because her name means light. She is an ancient Greek Lunar Deity. "They dance away along the light" plus the old ARP SOLINA synth. My 2 cents

Prof says: Mmm.... nice try! Unfortunately, also wrong try. Try again! Mind you, we really should sample a Solina, cos they're neat

 

Charles says: Ok is it the Aroura step sequencer? I pick this becaus, In Roman mythology, Aurora, goddess of the dawn, renews herself every morning and flies across the sky, announcing the arrival of the sun (wikipedia)Since she is announcing the arrival of the sun that makes her a messenger. Aurora being a step sequencer puts it in the instrument category.

Prof says: This isn't bad at all! Good work on the classical mythology. But... sorry, no cigar. We want Greek, not Roman, and our gal is the "daughter of the light", not the light itself... Plus, there's more to the riddle than just the first stanza! You have to look at the second and third and put it all together to get the name of the Thing We Sampled.
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Ed says: You sampled the persephone! daughter of Zeus and a cool synth!

Prof says: Yes a cool synth. No, not the answer

 

Charlie says: Hermes is the swift winged messenger. Eos is the daughter of the god of light. Eos is a synth, maybe im closer (with the first part) Maybe its the EOS sampled with a step sequencer added or an arpegiator. I cant figure out what Heremes has to do with it though.

Prof says: You win some, you lose some. Unfortunately this time you lose some.

 

Christian says: This must be too twisted First part refers to Arce, daughter of ElectraSecond part refers to Achilles who received the wings of Arce which give him swift feetThen we've got 'footsteps burning bright', 'reckless wondrous dance', 'patterns weaving round', 'Keep step with vaults of pulsing sound' and 'They dance away along the light'Finally, 'Toward their hidden gold'Arce delivers messages traveling on a rainbow which ends in a hidden pot of gold. Arcade is derived from Arce.Achilles receives his fast feet when Arce's wings are joined to them. Said feet are handy for reckless, wondrous dancing along the light of patterns weaving round pulsing sound.Dance Dance Revolution is an arcade game where the object is to dance on flashing lights to the pulsing sound.One of the editions of Dance Dance Revolution is SuperNova.The obvious answer is Novation's SuperNova.~

Prof says: NOW we're talking! I think this is the first stab at an answer that tries to tie all of the riddle together. Almost everyone else has concentrated on just the first stanza. And it's not at all too twisted: Mongo's mind IS twisted, so you guys need to get plenty weird to follow his train of thought down the dark tunnel of his warped subconscious.

Well... it's not right, sorry. But you're really thinking in the right way. In fact, you've come perilously close to nailing several details, and we think that's cool enough that you're due a little encouragement. So let's take a look at what you're suggesting:

• The first stanza refers to Arce, daughter of Electra
• The hidden gold refers to a rainbow
• The "swiftest from below" refers to Achilles

One of these suggestions is spot on. One of these suggestions is completely wrong. And one of these suggestions is half right...

I should also mention that some of the earlier entries, though they didn't nail the whole riddle, may have touched on details that were correct. Might be worth checking them over again for that reason

Keep 'em coming, folks!
---
Okay, folks, drum-roll please... WE HAVE A WINNER! Many congratulations to Tomislav, who's nailed it

All it took was meticulous detective work and a careful reading of Mongo's rant to snag young Tom a copy of our Unreleased Product plus whatever else he wants from the website.

But... there's still four days to go till Friday, and it seems a shame to ditch this silliness just because someone's won. So I'm now EXTENDING THE COMPETITION. The next three people to solve the riddle will receive runners-up prizes of The Unreleased Product (just not the free choice of any other product as well; Tom's the only one to get that )

So there's still everything to play for. And it's been proved that Mongo's Madness can be penetrated. Go for it, folks...

 

Jason says: My guess is Electra or Ion. Both are female greek mythological figures who have audio equiptment named after them. I had an alesis ion

Prof says: Lucky you, having an Ion! But no, sorry. No luck here.
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Charles says: Ok last try. Arce daughter of elktra which I got from another post, was the winged messanger, who also has a twin sister iris, who is the goddess of the rainbow(hence riding light and gold). After searching iris synth I seen a company that makes a mars vsti I believe, mars being the daughter of the light possibly since it is the closest planet to the sun. My answer is Vermona M.A.R.S this is hard for me because I'm a guitar man with a healthy hobby or MIDI.

Prof says: It genuinely pains me to say this, cos you're putting in so much effort here... but... no. Back to your guitars!
---
Steven says: vermona drum

Prof says: If this was the right answer, you'd have to show your working a bit so we could see how you got there. But since it's wrong, don't worry
---
Kirill says: I think,it's Audio Damage Tattoo,no?

Prof says: Aw, sorry, no. We didn't just put the name of the product in the riddle, you know!
---
Kevin says: is it an Oberheim?

Prof says: Nope.
---
Kevin's had another shot at it, and now says: THETIS anointed Achilles in ambrosia, so THE TIS (totally integrated synth), or the Virus TI?

Prof says: Eww, anointed in Ambrosia. Imagine how sticky he'd be afterwards. Personally I hate rice pudding and always have done. Oh, and this is still wrong. :lol:
---
Okay, important update: EDWARD has got damn close to the right answer, so I'm not publishing what he's written here. But Ed, you haven't actually named the product. Remember, they're in love, so they're together, right? Email me again. (I tried to email you directly but the message bounced back. DID YOU USE A FAKE EMAIL ADDRESS TO AVOID GETTING ON OUR MAILING LIST? DID YOU? If so you're too clever by half )
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Josh says: Mercury?

Prof says: No thanks, I'm fine right now. Oh, it's an answer? Then it's wrong.
---
Doug says: I believe the characters in the first two stanzas are Iris and Zephyrus, based on your corrections to Christian's post. They had children Eros and Pothos, but I can't find any instruments by these names. I also feel like I'm sidestepping several clues with these answers. Am I on the right track?

Prof: You're on the right track... partly. I'd say you're half-right to start with. But yes, you've sidestepped several clues. Keep trying!

 

Joe says: Is the answer a Roland lucina. I did accidentally post that on gearslutz so you ll probably get lots of answers like that oops haha anyway my answer isThe Roland lucina ax-09 I think because of lucina being light bringer

Prof says: No, it's not that! Have an imaginary cuddly toy as a consolation prize.
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Ed says: Feel free to add me in your spamming list, it seems you have some great products!

So the synth is the Eowave Persephone?

Hope I'm right but I can't see what else it would be!

Ed adds: Maybe you missed Mark II !
Eowave persephone mark II is the complete answer!
I hope!

Prof says: Hope gives us the courage to climb mountains, cross deserts and speak our souls to the ones we love. Unfortunately, hope doesn't get us the right answer to Mongo's riddle. Nowhere close.
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Charles says: OK man look I have spent hours and I cant figure it out but I need to know the answer before i go crazy (you dont want that on your hands do ya) I withdraw from the competition but I need you to Email me the answer LOL. Seriously though please. I promise i will not tell anyone nor will I create a fake email just to send in the answer you give me. This has made me learn all about synths and Roman mythology which is cool but I dont wanna learn any more haha. Stuff like this will not leave my mind till i figure it out but I need to sleep, so please help me.

Prof says: We really don't want to drive people mad. That would be mean. I promise you a complete breakdown of Mongo's ode, explaining all his twisted thinking... first thing Friday.

You can wait that long, can't you?

 

Doug says: I will second Charles's sentiments: this riddle is making me obsessive. I can't wait to hear the answer Friday.The first stanza HAS to be Iris. Am I right to say that? But the only lover I am seeing whom she took is Zephyrus, and even that much is controversial.

Prof says: We're no strangers to controversy. Or obsession, come to that. (Mongo particularly.) Are you right to say Iris? Well... that name does seem to keep coming back, doesn't it?
---
Tim says: Mercury

Prof says: If it didn't work for Josh, why do you think it'll work for you?

 

Doug says: This is Iris fetching a ewer of water from river Styx, or possibly her encounter with Styx. Styx + Iris = the Styrus synth?

Prof says: Sorry, no dice.
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Irion says: Well, the Iris thingie is all over the place, the quick messenger in the Greek Mythology. Daughter of Electra (the light).The rainbow, which in spanish means Arco Iris (here you go the Iris name again), it makes me think on spectral colors of the light, so in audio world, spectral synthesis or even a spectrogram to check the samples, but i think you said it's a synth, not an effect. Maybe i'm wrong. Anyway, we all know that when we use a spectrogram, the low freqs are showed as burning marks "Her footsteps burning bright". So still a bit confussing.Also, it makes me think in a Step Sequencer or in a synthesizer with one on-board, maybe an arpeggiator, because is a Midi messenger, dancing patterns, "Keep step with vaults of pulsing sound".Even it could be a drumsynth with step sequencer on board.This is difficult as hell to be honest. And i need some more clues, Mongo's head is very deep.I will re-try until Friday (if i'm allowed to do it).Have a good day, and well, here you go my e-mail lol.

Prof says: Another good stab at it! Not bad at all. Definitely re-try... you're not all that far off...
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Charles says: Ok I have lost my mind completely so here we go. Iris was the messenger to Achilles in the war of troy, she relayed zues will to him. When I think of burning foot steps I think of a sequencer and nectar I think of wine being the nectar of the gods. Winecountry was formed by members of sequential circuits (hence sequencer). Iris was somewhat of a profhet to achilles. So I come to the brain screwed conclusion it is the sequential circuits profhet 5.

Prof says: We're going to send you some medication, promise.
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Ed says: My best guess is: Eros. Eros is the only one mentioned as an offspring of Iris.

I was also thinking of: Morpheus, whom was associated with Iris. However, he usually took human forms. I know that Morpheus is also a music product.
cheers,
ed

Prof says: Aargh, sorry Ed. You were closer with your other idea.

 

Charles (a different Charles, I think) says: Ok iris is the swift winged messenger, her being of the rainbow we do think spectum. Neptune the god of the sea but thats Roman not Greek. Spectral Audios Gold faced original Neptune is my answer.

Prof says: What's the god of the sea doing in there?
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Charles (still a different Charles, we think) says: Sorry in my last message i meant to say Neptune would be the one i think may be the swiftest below.

Prof says: Mmm... to my mind the sea is best known for being wet, not being quick. But perhaps my seaside experiences were different from yours...
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Charles (still a different Charles) says: Well yes it is wet, but think how fast sharks move in the ocean I would imagine Neptune being the god of the sea would surely move extremely fast right?

Prof says: If he wants to keep out of the way of the sharks, you've got a point. Unfortunately it's still wrong.
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Charles (still a different Charles) says: Ok all the stuff I said before but instead I use Posideon instead of Neptune. It is a virtual synth but who knows maybe you sampled a virtual synth. Posideon is my answer.

Prof says: Nope. Sorry. It's crusty, it's old, it's hardware, it's sitting on the lab bench right now in all its glory.
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Lou says: Hi Professor,After reading some of the incorrect answers, I was going to go with the God of the wild, Pan the shepherd (or rather his pan flute), however, I didn't think that was very cool. Beside, I already have pan flute libraries and I would like something different and interesting.After struggling to remember my Greek mythology it occurred to me that Pan named his flute after a water nymph named Syrinx. I believe a Dutch mono synth exists with this same name, so I'm going with Syrinx.I hope I got it right!Kind regards,Lou

The Prof says: Panpipes. We really wouldn't inflict that on you. Honest. Weird Dutch mono synths are a far better bet... but unfortunately, still not right!

 

Greg says: I think the Aries300 - general thoughts - it is the sort of thing you would sample.reasoning - Aries = Ares, forbidden love = Ares and Aphrodite (wife of Hephaestus, daughter of Uranus = the sky)

The Prof says: Nope. Though absolute kudos for including Uranus, the Comedy God, in your answer

 

Ed C says: Hello, I'm EdC on KVR forum.Here is my neural cells movement: first part relate to Achille as we know so I'd say Odissey; in the second we are talking about a celtic tatoo.. Harp, maybe? And what about gold in the 3rd one.. mark II has beautiful golden graphics on it that differentiate it from other odysseys; so what's my answer? Obvious, Juno 60 eeehm no.. I meant: Arp Odissey Mark II

The Prof says: Like your thinking here. It's wrong, all of it, but I like it

 

Doug says: The answer is the Access Virus. No, I haven't cracked your riddle. But it's the only synth model I can find with -iris in its name.

Prof says: Wouldn't that make it the Viris, though? Anyway, it's wrong...

 

Chris says: OK - It's a Rhodes Chroma. I'll deliver my long winded explanation if you don't say I'm wrong


Prof says: You're wrong

 

Charles says: iris=spectrum. is it the casio sd (spectrum dynamic) series? maybe the casio HT-6000?

Prof says: No, it's not.
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Christian says: Movement MCS-2! Screen on top (first stanza), joined with the original MCS-1 below (second stanza), gold case (third stanza) (ok, not so hidden...), plus all manner of dancing lights and pulsing rhythms. Please say I'm right before my head explodes.

Prof says: You're.... not right. Please don't explode your head. We don't want that on our hands (or on our carpet).
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Well, folks, there is now ONE DAY TO GO on Mongo's Competition. Remember, we have our Grand Prize winner – Tomislav – so it can be done. However, we've already set aside those three runners-up prizes, and we don't want them gathering dust in the lab, so I'm going to GIVE YOU SOME HINTS in the hopes that some of you can break the mental logjam and win a freebie...

Here goes. Some clues coming up.

"That ancient swift-winged messenger,
The daughter of the light"...

Quite a lot of people have got this right now, so you should be able to work it out just by looking back at the posts. The most popular answer is correct. But maybe you should be thinking of other meanings here. Again, some people have already done this, so I'm not really giving much away. And then there are all those other clues: hidden gold and so on. C'mon, what might we be talking about here? And what is that thing known for?

"Now joins the swiftest from below"...

The first bit was mythological (hence "ancient") but this bit isn't. It's real. What's the swiftest thing? Again, a couple of people have got this right, so glance back at previous posts...

"forbidden love"...

...would join them together. Cos that's what love does, dudes.

"And sampling each forbidden bite"

...this should've been a big clue, but it's gone pretty much unnoticed. Sampling is what we do here at Rhythmic Robot, right? And what about "bite"? Different meaning (perhaps a different spelling...?)

Right. That's enough clues to be going on with. Remember, we're after the name of the PRODUCT WE SAMPLED, not some made-up name that we invented. And you've got until tomorrow to crack this and win yourself The Thing for free :lol:

 

Charles (a third Charles, we reckon!) says: I found this riddle after I should have already been asleep, but it vexed me. Hence, my reasoning may be a bit vague, but here goes quick progression:Early associations went through Apollo, Phoebe, Titans, and so on. COmpress that for time.The offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, living in the gold palace under the sea - one of them is named Triton.Could the answer be Korg Triton? Well, that doesn't fit your product line so much. It is too modern and not a "crusty old artifact"(The Trident is just a 'tool' of Poseidon's, though perhaps it would be a good sampled synth)So to continue the clue trail, with another offspring, named Rhodes...The fastest thing is not imaginary, not a god, not even a fish perhaps, but light itself.So, final answer, one that fits your history, and indeed should be sampled, even if it is NOT the correct answer... Rhodes Chroma?It is barely rational at all, and the more I think on it, the more I am sure it is wrong. ^__^Nice Ode/riddle for sure. Must sleep now, safe in the arms of Morpheus...

Prof says: YOU'RE RIGHT! – we should sample the Rhodes Chroma. But unfortunately the rest of it is wrong. (Which you said yourself. So I guess you were right about that, too )

PS At the moment, Gearslutz is still hacked (it's been turned into a porn hub... Mongo can't get enough of it!) so for now, the competition is only running here on the NI forum and over on KVR :lol:
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Charles says: swiftest below makes me think of a cheetah and bite is byte which is 8 bit. so is it Cheetah MD8 - 8 bit MIDI drum machine.

Prof says: Ooh... interesting, interesting.... mmm.... some very good thinking here! But what about the first stanza of the Ode? How does that fit with this? Come on, nearly there...
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WE HAVE ANOTHER WINNER!

Charles (um... the third Charles, we think; we seem to have waaaay too many Charleses) is our first runner-up. He kept at it, and he got there. Congratulations! Tomorrow, when we release The Thing, he'll get one for free.

There are still TWO MORE TO GIVE AWAY. Come on, guys, don't give up yet... keep at it! And while Gearslutz is still advertising Granny Dating Sites and Asian Babes, this is the chance for you NI guys to steal a march on 'em... :lol:
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Charles (our winner!) says: Dude I feel like i figured out the answer to life HAHAHA. I told you I couldnt let it go. Thanks for the hours of lost sleep and all the knowledge I receieved from Greek mythology to vintage synths and drum machines. Most of all thanks for the freebie . Tell Mongo to ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................keep up the good work.

Prof says:

 

We have ANOTHER WINNER!

Looks like those clues are really taking hold.

Matt has got the answer spot-on, with a nice little explanation, too. He goes on the runners-up list alongside Charles. That means there's just ONE runners-up prize left to give away – so you guys had better get cracking...

 

Morgan says: Iris = your eye and the "swiftest from below" = light, so when the two meet it's something that you see. Perhaps it's a PPG Waveterm that displays "tattoo’d patterns" and you've sampled every "bite" of its digital sounds.

Prof says: Mmm.... something that you see? Wouldn't that be... almost anything at all? Sorry, better luck next time! (Though isn't the PPG Waveterm a neat machine?)

 

Jonathan says : I know the contest is probably over, but that's fine! I just wanted to throw in my two cents and get on the mailing list The first stanza is about Iris, and I'm guessing the second is about Mercury, but I can't for the life of me figure out what the hell it's leading toward! Hahaha. The curiosity was killing me, so I had to write in! Does it have something to do with a lyre, or a caduceus?

Prof says: It's not over till someone wins that last runners-up prize! But... unfortunately, that someone won't be you. Sorry!
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Jay says: Did you sample the Atari2600/Jaguar?Iris = Daughter of light and she was the Goddess of the Rainbow...which happens to be part of Atari's logo, they had a whole spectrum/rainbow on alot of their systemsJaguars are pretty swift..and Atari also released a Jaguar game system...And if I'm not mistaken, Atari was an 8-bit system?

Prof says: I love Ataris. I had the Mega 2 ST back in the day. You have to love a computer whose operating system is called TOS. Anyhoo... you're wrong.
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Okay, folks, brace yourselves please...

THE COMPETITION IS CLOSED!

Doug and Christian both got the correct answer within minutes of each other. Rather than choose between them, we're calling them the joint-third-runner-up and giving them both The Thing. Well done to them!

Now... presumably, you want to know the answer, right? What the riddle meant? What the product is? DAMMIT, TELL US, YOU CRUEL FREAK? That kind of thing?

Patience, young ones. The answer, the entire winners list, and the product launch details will all be coming your way in less than 12 hours. All will be revealed this evening. (Who knows... perhaps by then Gearslutz will be up and those poor sods can join in?) And meanwhile, although the competition's done with, if you'd like to join our mailing list – or just browse round the website – do head on over to www.rhythmicrobot.com and pay us a visit.

WATCH THIS SPACE. COMPLETE ANSWER, PLUS EXPLANATION, PLUS PRODUCT LAUNCH DETAILS, PLUS WINNERS, all coming your way at 1900 HOURS GMT!


:lol: