Novation is a British music technology manufacturer founded in 1992 by Ian Jannaway and Mark Thompson, with a history that tracks closely alongside the development of modern electronic music production itself. From its earliest days the brand has been driven by a clear purpose — making music creation more accessible and more expressive, whether through synthesizers, MIDI controllers, or performance instruments.
The brand made its first significant mark with the Bass Station in 1993, a compact analogue monosynth developed with legendary British synthesizer engineer Chris Huggett, whose design philosophy — borrowing the filter and VCA from the iconic EDP Wasp — gave the instrument a distinctive, gritty character that became central to 1990s electronic and acid music. Artists including Radiohead, Massive Attack, and Nine Inch Nails all had the Bass Station in their setups during that era, and the instrument is now considered a genuine classic. The Supernova followed in 1998 as a polyphonic powerhouse that found favor with Orbital, Jean Michel Jarre, and A Guy Called Gerald.
The next landmark came in 2009 when Novation partnered with Ableton to release the Launchpad — an 8x8 grid controller that fundamentally changed how producers interacted with Live sessions and launched an entirely new category of performance hardware. The Launchkey keyboard series extended that philosophy into DAW-integrated keyboard control, and both lines have continued to evolve through multiple generations. More recently the Peak and Summit synthesizers brought Novation back into serious conversation as a high-end polysynth manufacturer, combining digital New Oxford Oscillators with genuine analogue filters and signal paths. The brand also collaborated with Aphex Twin on the AFX Station, a custom edition of the Bass Station II — a partnership that speaks to Novation's credibility across decades of electronic music culture.
At Wired Tunes, we carry Novation instruments and controllers for producers and performers who want hardware that connects fluidly to their DAW workflow while standing on its own as a musical instrument — from the first idea to the finished performance.
