Madrona Labs News - Kaivo Arrives, Update on the Soundplane

via Madrona Labs

"Kaivo is here!

I've spent the last few weeks here in the labs finishing and tuning physical models for Kaivo, our new software synthesizer. I spent a lot of the previous two years taking it from conception to product, with the help of some talented friends. Today, you get to play with it! “Kaivo” is Finnish for “well,” as in, a deep well of sounds, and I've been working on deepening that well. Kaivo's models now include metal, nylon and gut strings, different sizes of chimes and springs, wooden instrument bodies, and true 2D membranes and plates.

In case you missed it, here's what Kaivo does:

Kaivo combines granular synthesis with physical modeling. Physical modeling is a way of making sounds using equations that model vibrating objects in real time. Every time a model is triggered, it makes a slightly different sound depending on the initial conditions when the sound starts. This gives sounds a subtle and lifelike variety that would be tedious, insane, or impossible to recreate with sampling.

Mathematically speaking, Kaivo's finite difference time domain (FDTD) models let you reach inside the instrument and affect the internal vibrations at any point. Imagine being able to hear the bridge rattles on a gut string model, for example, or the different places a stick might strike on a metal plate. While Kaivo is capable of making very realistic sounds, it is also designed to reward abstract exploration.

Expansive spatial sounds are possible in Kaivo, with independent panning available on grains, resonators, and body. Kaivo’s granulator feeds all of its models from a 2D map of sound with up to four channels. The body is a true 2D vibrating model of a physical object, with left and right pickups that create a spatialized mix of all the frequencies flowing through it.

We imagine that Kaivo will be right at home in the toolbox of sonic explorers, soundtrack designers, and lovers of warm, organic sounds. Those of you who are already Aalto users will find Kaivo's design very familiar; it's also fully resizable, with the same patcher interface to facilitate user-friendly experimentation.

Our beta testers have been hard at work putting together some crazy new sounds with Kaivo. You can hear some of their experiments on the Madrona Labs users group on Soundcloud, and try them out in the downloadable patches.

Kaivo is $129. Available now for Mac and Windows at http://madronalabs.com.

Soundplane News

Of course, Kaivo is designed to work wonders with the Soundplane over OSC just like Aalto. Now Soundplane owners have two software instruments specifically tailored for them. I can tell you this about controlling the granulator and physical model parameters by 3D touch: it feels amazing. And now that Kaivo is out, I'm excited to do some more playing myself.

The next run of Soundplanes is planned for this Spring. As soon as the dust settles on the Kaivo release, I'll begin taking orders. Please stay tuned.

Enjoy,
Randy"