"Soniccouture is pleased to announce the next in the Polarity series: a collaboration with Ian Boddy, UK synthesist and DiN label boss.
Polarity is a series of instruments exploring granular synthesis with different artists and sound designers.
Polarity | Modular is a dual-layer granular engine loaded with 250 custom waveforms crafted by Ian Boddy, utilizing his extensive collection of modular gear, including a Roland System 100M, Serge Modular, Buchla Sound Easel and much, much more.
Featuring a sound design library of 250 presets, NKS2 compatibility and the ability to load your own samples, Polarity | Modular aims to 'redefine the sound of analogue synthesis’.
"This was a long time in the making - B00GA, my new VST/AU/CLAP instrument with AudioThing is finally here! When I discoverd the HP 8006A, nicknamed "B00GA" in 2019, I was amazed by the precision funk it oozed. Making it a plugin was on my mind since 2020, but only now AudioThing and me found and approach that would make it worth as a virtual instrument. We turned it into a microsound sampler, that sequences tiny sounds and noises within the wonderful HP interface. This opens up new textures and sonic worlds to explore. We hope B00GA brings you joy!"
00:00 Intro Tune
01:33 Dry Rhythms Demo
02:43 Textured Rhythms Demo
04:09 Experimental Demo
06:05 MIDI Keys Demo
07:45 Tutorial
13:02 How To Make Banks
13:59 Hainpack Integration
20:31 Pricing and Platforms
21:29 Why Handles?
"B00GA is a studio and live instrument designed to create experimental rhythms and tonal textures. Inspired by a rare piece of lab equipment, the Hewlett-Packard Word Generator 8006A, it offers an excitingly different way to sequence clicks, pulses, and noise.
Use it to create tight grooves, off-kilter beats, and forever shifting micro-sound patterns. Speed them up into rich drones and tonal structures. It comes with a suite of five vintage-flavored effects that allow for unique radiophonic effects. From brain-dance to the dance floor to advanced sound design, let’s B00GA!"
"ZENOLOGY GX brings the full power of Roland’s ZEN-Core Synthesis System into GALAXIAS, giving you access to over 11,000 tones—from iconic vintage synths to cutting-edge hybrids. Explore the massive library of sounds or build your own from scratch using the same engine found in flagship instruments like FANTOM and JUPITER-X.
ZENOLOGY GX also includes a powerful browser to help you stay organized. Search, rate, and recall presets with ease. Each tone is built from up to four partials, each with its own oscillator, filter, amplifier, dual LFOs, and effects. Shape your sound with over 90 effects, including spacious reverbs, classic Roland choruses, and more.
Inside GALAXIAS, ZENOLOGY GX becomes a super instrument. Layer up to four instances, assign key ranges, apply per-layer effects, and use creative tools like ARPS and CHORDS to build massive Scenes. You can also export your sounds to ZENOLOGY Pro or compatible ZEN-Core hardware."
GALAXIAS brings 50 years of legendary Roland synths and drum machines together into one powerful Super Instrument. Access thousands of iconic sounds and freely combine authentic Roland instruments from vintage to modern. Explore supermassive GALAXIAS Scenes filled with intricate layers and deep macro controls. And discover exciting new worlds with infinite creative possibilities.
Legendary instruments. Iconic sounds.
Roland has been a pioneer in music technology for over half a century, delivering a continuous stream of influential instruments and effects that have fueled countless hits, defined genres, and driven cultural trends. With GALAXIAS, you can now explore and experience them all in one creative environment. From historic icons such as the JUPITER-8, TR-808, and D-50 to modern instruments like ZENOLOGY GX and SYSTEM-8, GALAXIAS harnesses Roland’s evolving sonic legacy within a single intuitive workflow.
A voyage of discovery.
Choose from your favorite Roland synths and drum machines, search specific sound types, or mine the ever-expanding collection of over 25,000 sounds to spark new ideas and build compelling tracks. GALAXIAS puts unlimited albums’ worth of inspiration at your command—from vintage sounds to futuristic hybrid tones—with more added each month.
Roland Super Instrument.
GALAXIAS lets you layer up to four instruments to create massive sonic superclusters called Scenes. Build an intricate setup of your favorite Roland instruments, such as a full stack of JUPITER and JUNO synths, or multiple eras of TR drum machines locked in perfect sync. Dial in an arpeggiator pattern (or four), quickly define key ranges and macro controls, and then play the whole thing as a single instrument in the studio or on stage.
Next-gen ZEN.
Seamlessly integrated into GALAXIAS, ZENOLOGY GX delivers over 11,000 genre-defining Roland sounds in one powerful instrument. Layer up to four instances with definable key ranges, sophisticated macro controls, per-layer effects, and creative tools like ARPS and CHORDS. Explore the vast collection of presets or craft your own using 23 authentic oscillator and filter models, over 7,000 PCM waveforms, 11 LFO shapes—including a versatile Step LFO for rhythmic movement—and 90+ effects. From studio to stage, ZENOLOGY GX puts limitless sonic potential at your fingertips.
Effectively awesome.
In addition to the formidable effects within each individual instrument, GALAXIAS gives you two insert effects per layer and two global send effects. Choose from the growing collection of authentic Roland and BOSS effects and take your sounds to new frontiers. You can also route layers to external outputs or channels in your DAW for further processing.
"Ascent is a sophisticated dual-reverb plugin that combines two powerful algorithms into one fluid interface: a lush, expansive hall reverb and an innovative pitch-shifting particle reverb that creates evolving, granular shimmer effects. Layer spacious, long-decay reverbs with dynamic pitch-shifted textures to craft everything from subtle ambient spaces to dramatic, otherworldly atmospheres. With intuitive controls, and built-in dynamic ducking that keeps your mix clean, Ascent delivers the acoustic character and creative possibilities of premium hardware reverbs in a streamlined, CPU-efficient plugin that works seamlessly across all major formats and platforms.
Features
Dual reverb engine architecture combining a spacious hall reverb with an innovative granular pitch-shifting particle reverb.
Particle engine features pitch transposition from -12 to +12 semitones with dual overlapping grains for artifact-free shimmer effects.
expanse control offers three room size modes (Small, Medium, Large) with carefully tuned delay networks for natural spatial imaging.
Built-in dynamic ducking compressor keeps reverb tails from swamping your dry signal, maintaining mix clarity.
Cross-platform preset manager with XML-based presets compatible across all plugin formats and operating systems."
"The Formanta P432, a Soviet digital synthesizer, originally featured a very distinctive, authentic noise and could have been significantly improved if it had supported ADSR. This flaw has now been corrected; as a plugin, it sounds more interesting. The noise, however, remains, lending a distinctive vibe.
LEL MIDIDRUM is a digital drum module from the company of the same name, dating back to the Soviet era. No other surviving example is known, so its sound can only be heard here.
Also available as a plugin. https://ultrarare.su/?post_type=product"
At its core, MAP features three powerful oscillators, a dual-filter architecture, and a deep modulation system with MPE support. Every sound invites hands-on discovery—from shimmering tones and gritty textures to sprawling ambient soundscapes.
Credits
Audio Tracks - Reverb Machine and K/V
Produced and Directed by AWD - All We Do
Creative Lead Team @allwedonow www.allwedonow.com
Note: During development, MAP’s design team studied historical modular systems, including those created by Serge Tcherepnin, Random*Source, and Buchla USA. MAP is an independent product and has no affiliation with, sponsorship from, or endorsement by these parties. Any references are made solely for historical and educational context."
00:00 Wavetables
01:43 Foley
03:30 Piano
04:18 Glitch
Turn any sample into an explorable landscape.
Solstice makes any sample into a unique, playable map, revealing hidden textures within your sounds. Made with ambient, experimental, and aleatoric music in mind, but versatile enough for any genre.
60 factory samples + 65 factory presets
Solstice comes with factory samples and presets, categorized and tagged. Filter by mode, style, or favorites. Every preset remembers its exact map position, ready to play.
Import your own samples
Drop your own samples in Solstice to generate their unique geography. Bright textures find their neighbours, transients drift to the edges, sustained tones form dense regions. Every imported sample is stored in user library and instantly accessible.
"With Theo off on hols this week Christian opens the lid on one of his favourite instruments, The Harmonium. Think Penguin Cafe Orchestra, think Jon Brion, think a leading (albeit inanimate) character in Punch Drunk Love."
Press release follows:
The Crow Hill Company announces availability of VAULTS - HARMONIUM, bringing bellows to DAWs as latest free VI abiding by its Make Music, Your Music motto
EDINBURGH, UK: The Crow Hill Company is proud to announce availability of VAULTS - HARMONIUM — bringing bellows to DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) as its latest free VI (Virtual Instrument) monthly drop, allowing anyone to experience the timbral complexities and harmonic layers of its gorgeous and, some might say, quaint instrument namesake for the rest of their lives, abiding, as always, by the Edinburgh-based enterprise creators’ collective Make Music, Your Music motto — as of October 24…
Its iconic appearance in Director/Writer Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2002-released dark romantic comedy Punch: Drunk Love — look it up! — may make many think of the harmonium in a certain way. What is certain, though, is that the small free-reed organ was patented way before, back in 1842 by Frenchman Alexandre Debain. By being smaller and less expensive than traditional pipe organs, it quickly became popular through Europe, India, Africa, and the southern United States. Travelling through the north of the UK, harmoniums can still be found tucked away in the corners of many recording studios. Saying that, those that are there are not just set dressing; after all, the harmonium captured the hearts of artists such as The Beatles, Supertramp, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and Tori Amos, all of whom featured it in their music.
Making music with a harmonium is easier said than done, however, since the instrument in question generates sound by pumping air — using two foot-operated pedals joined to a mechanism that operates a bellows or by pushing and pulling a handle joined to the bellows back and forth with one hand — past a thin piece of metal in a frame and making it vibrate. Vibrations then resonate through the harmonium’s wooden body, thereby producing the distinctive, church-like sound. Thankfully, The Crow Hill Company has succeeded in capturing this sound to produce VAULTS - HARMONIUM, making it much easier for many more appreciative sound-seekers to experience its musical magic.
Composer Christian Henson — original founder of The Crow Hill Company — freely admits to being a big fan: “It’s got to be one of my favourite instruments. It can bring a simplicity to music — dare I say it, a quaintness, but because of its timbral complexities, it’s also massively expressive.”
"Meticulously modeled on one of the most coveted hardware synths of the ‘80s and ‘90s techno and acid house scenes, Iona delivers timeless basses, leads, and sequences in a powerful new form. https://inmusic.to/34ueevrm
With a 128-step pattern sequencer and graphical editor with flexible performance controls—all integrated for standalone MPC, MPC Desktop, and DAW users—it fits effortlessly into any workflow.
From the moment you select an initial preset and start experimenting with Iona’s intuitive interface, nearly any sound you can imagine is at your fingertips.
From groundbreaking tech innovations in the early days of electronic music to futuristic sounds that define emerging genres, analog synthesizers have done it all. That’s why so many artists and producers still crave the sound of vintage monosynths like the Model D, MS-20, and SH-101 today.
Enter Iona. Meticulously modeled on one of the most hardware coveted synths of the ‘80s and ‘90s techno and acid house scenes, Iona delivers timeless basses, leads, and sequences in a powerful new form. With a 128-step pattern sequencer and graphical editor with flexible performance controls—all integrated for standalone MPC, MPC Desktop, and DAW users—it fits effortlessly into any workflow.
From the moment you select an initial preset and start experimenting with Iona’s intuitive interface, nearly any sound you can imagine is at your fingertips.
KEY FEATURES
Back to Basics: Sleek Design, Simple Controls
Music production tools are meant to inspire—not add complexity to your creative process. Iona was carefully designed with your MPC or DAW workflow in mind. It has an intuitive front panel display with familiar controls and simple navigation so that you can focus on creating.
Dynamic Pulse-Width Modulation
Add complexity and character to your sound with robust pulse-width modulation via LFO, envelope, or manual slider. For deeper modulation exploration, Iona’s BPM-syncable LFO has nine selectable waveshapes.
Classic Filter Sound and Behavior
Iona features a vintage-inspired filter with envelope, LFO, and keyboard tracking; ADSR filter envelope assignable to VCA; portamento, and customizable modulation control.
Customizable Look to Match Your Vibe
Personalize the visual identity of your Iona while you dial in your signature sound. Choose from five different color skins—grey, red, blue, white, and yellow—each saved per preset.
"Motion: Fractal unleashes endless motion, texture, and modern sonic transformation through dual granular engines, a reactive trance gate, and stutter-repeat effects.
Whether you're crafting fractured beats, shimmering ambience, or glitched-out sequences, Fractal makes it musical, immediate, and deeply customisable.
What can Motion: Fractal Do?
Enhance static sounds with mesmerising granular textures.
Sculpt hypnotic, pulsating rhythms with an intuitive trance gate.
Trigger engaging, glitchy repetitions with flexible stutter repeats.
Control parameters with your cursor for mind-bending sound design.
Discover endless possibilities with flexible effects routing.
Bring modulation to life through an immersive, reactive 3D visualisation."
Version 2026 introduces new and inspiring ways to explore, shape, and perform sound with precision and character. Discover 4 new oscillators, 3 new effects, 2 new modulators, a new script, numerous UI refinements, and 100 new exclusive presets showcasing all the new features.
"Score dynamic, shifting soundscapes that bring scenes to life with Odes. The third chapter in the tale, building on the legacy of Lores and Fables, Odes propels the plot with a unique library with rhythm at its heart."
Narrative through rhythm
Compose living soundscapes with an eclectic ensemble driven by rhythm
Bridge musical traditions and harmonize instruments from around the world, like the shakuhachi and nyckelharpa, with smart tonal sculpting tools
Weave intricate tales by layering three instruments with up to three articulations apiece
Drive your stories forward
Score dynamic, shifting soundscapes that bring scenes to life with Odes. The third chapter in the tale, building on the legacy of Lores and Fables, Odes propels the plot with a unique library focused on rhythm. String and woodwind-based tempo-synced loops spring from the surface, filling the shimmering oasis. Kamanchehs skate across the sands. Alto flutes float by overhead. All brought in frame with smart tonal sculpting tools.
Write with rhythm
Tell stories that move with sounds that stretch across continents and centuries. The jig of the nyckelharpa, the breeze of the shakuhachi, the saunter of the tenor saxophone. All these and more are yours to compose. Shape evolving, expressive textures with virtuosic articulations, and fine-tune the feeling of every scene with smart tonal sculpting tools.
Knit nuanced threads
Layer up to three articulations per instrument. A distant legato dancing through the mirage. A tense marcato rising from the dunes. This is music in motion. For composers who don’t just support the story, but drive it forward. Bring the tapestry together with Odes’ clean interface, building on Lores and Fables with added rhythmic controls.
Immerse your audience
Guide the emotion of the moment with built-in mic mixing. Reflect real spaces with convolution reverb. Build atmosphere with screen-ready sounds, meticulously recorded with the expression only maestros can provide. Odes continues the narrative drive of the series while infusing fresh rhythm and movement.
"Everything about Uhbik 2.0 is new: A new GUI, the new preset browser, a new family member (Compressor), the new modulation matrix, new extra LFO and envelope follower, built-in oscilloscope for viewing audio and/or modulation signals, CLAP support, IPluginCompatibility support for easy migration from VST2 to VST3, all-new filter and surround code... what could be better?"
A web-synthesizer that generates sound from the binary code of any files. It can synthesize sound directly in the browser, or be a generator of MIDI messages to external devices or DAWs, turning any file into a score. All the application code is written in Javascript and along with everything you need is packed into a single .html file of about 750kb. The synthesizer doesn't need internet, it can be downloaded and run locally on any device with a browser.
0:00 I 9:35 II 11:51 III 18:24 IV 20:13 V 23:06 VI 26:08 VII
All data on any computer or smartphone is in the form of files. The contents of these files are ultimately just zeros and ones. And these zeros and ones are basically all the same, so we need an interpreter to extract meaning from these texts. Basically, the file format (.mp3, .docx, etc.) is just a pointer to which interpreter we need to pass the text in order to extract meaning from it.
But what if the file format and the interpreter don't match? In the case of musical experimentation, there have been earlier attempts, for example, to "play" a file through an audio editor, which expectedly produced mostly glitch and noise; it might be more interesting from a conceptual than a musical point of view.
We could go further and write our own interpreter that would look at the files without regard to format, use its own "manner of reading" the original zeros and ones, and on that basis provide a complete system for controlled synthesis of sounds.
The tool, called Binary synth, is available at: https://bs.stranno.su.
The application is a web synthesizer that runs in the browser and is written in Javascript. All the application code along with everything needed is packed into a single .html file of about 750kb.
"We've been busy! :-) Omnisphere 3 is available October 21st."
00:00 Introduction
01:42 The Sounds
03:33 Global Controls
07:08 Mutations
09:10 Synthesis Features
09:42 Dual Frequency Shifter
11:13 Wavetables
12:53 Quadzone
16:30 MPE
20:53 Analog Synthesis Features
23:03 New Soundsources
23:46 Hardware Integration
26:26 New Effects
28:52 Closing
Omnisphere® is the flagship synthesizer of Spectrasonics - an instrument of extraordinary power and versatility. Top artists all over the world rely on Omnisphere as an essential source of sonic inspiration. This award-winning software brings many different types of synthesis together into one amazing-sounding instrument that will spark a lifetime of exploration.
Thousands of Fresh New Sounds, Faster Access, Same Size
Truly massive new factory collection of 18 stunning libraries of thousands and thousands of super creative and inspiring new sounds from the award-winning Spectrasonics Sound Design team.
Curated Rapidly find exactly the sounds you need within the highly curated new libraries, meticulously organized by type of use.
Remastered All of the original classic Omnisphere patches have been carefully remastered and refreshed with the latest v3 features and Effects.
Optimized With new lossless optimization technology, the stunning Omnisphere 3 sound library actually takes NO MORE hard drive space than Omnisphere 2.
New Adaptive Global Controls Quickly customize the overall sound of a patch with the new adaptive global controls that allow easy tweaks to the most important sound characteristics:
Tone, Ambience, Filter, Envelope, Vibrato & Unison. These smart controls automatically analyze the patch, so they always work with musical results…no matter what patch you select.
New Patch Mutations At the click of a button, Omnisphere 3 can now instantly create fascinating and useful variations of any patch - from Subtle to Extreme! Every mutation you generate is automatically saved and you can easily come back to them later.
Ocean Swift Launches “Sample Tester” - A Free, Instant Tool for Sonic Curation
and Auditioning
Ocean Swift announces the release of Sample Tester, a
compact, zero-friction instrument designed for rapid auditioning, tuning checks,
and curation of oscillator-style samples. Sample Tester is available now as a
free Kontakt Player-compatible tool, empowering producers, sound designers, and
sample library creators to streamline their workflow.
A Tool That
Speeds Up the Process
With Sample Tester, users can drag and drop a
sample file and immediately hear it played polyphonically, allowing quick
assessment of tuning, harmonic behavior, and musical context. The instrument:
Automatically
detects or permits manual setting of the root note Displays MIR-derived
metrics such as pitch, peak, RMS, and loudness at a glance Offers an engine
toggle to compare Direct-From-Disk streaming versus Time Machine Pro sample
stretching Provides one-click amplitude envelope shapes (Perc, Bell, Piano,
Lead, Pad) Supports NKS / NKS2 mappings, compatible with hardware control
surfaces Works fully in the free Kontakt Player—no full Kontakt license
required In modern production environments, sound designers and producers
often sift through large volumes of raw samples. Determining which ones will
behave musically, tune correctly, or integrate well into a kit or melodic
instrument can be time-consuming. Sample Tester accelerates that
decision-making:
Instant feedback: No waiting for heavy DAW setup Precise
metrics: MIR data gives insight beyond the ear alone Real-time auditioning:
Hear the sample in chords or context, not just as a solo note Flexible
workflow: Works for tonal, looped, oscillator-style materials These
features combine to let creators “decide faster, tune with confidence, and build
better libraries.”
Ocean Swift positions Sample Tester as a perfect
companion to its Spectral Oscillators Toolkits, but the tool is equally useful
for any user working with tonal or looped sample material.
You might be familiar with DSP56300's Waldorf, Access, and Clavia/Nord emulations from previous posts. The emulations stand out as they are ports of the original code running on emulations of the motorola DSP56300 chip.
It looks like they will be tackling the Roland JP-8000/8080 next with the JE-8086, however, the JP-8000 runs on a custom Toshiba DSP chip, not Motorola. They are branching out.
via Google AI: "The Roland JP-8000 synthesizer contains a custom Toshiba-made ESP2 chip for its digital signal processing, which was a key component for its virtual analog (VA) synthesis and the creation of its iconic Supersaw waveform. The ESP2 chip was a general-purpose DSP developed by Toshiba and used in several other Roland and Boss products of the era."
