Chromaphone 2 Crack Reddit
2021年9月7日Download here: http://gg.gg/vx524
on Jan 08, 2017 in Synths & Sound Design 4 comments
*Aas Chromaphone
*Chromaphone CrackThere’s no doubting the joy of using a real hardware synthesizer. The tactile controls are difficult to beat. But when it comes to sound these 7 virtual synths more than hold their own.
Any top-10 (OK, top-7) list of virtual synthesizers will, ultimately, be pretty subjective—everyone has their own idea of what constitutes the coolest toys when it comes to making and mangling sounds for creative musical ends. Even so, a list of the most impressive soft synths will certainly end up including some models that would be on anyone’s wish list, along with a few more personal choices—and this collection pretty much fits that bill.
R2rdownload.org - team r2r, team r2rdownload. A professional audio software community for music producers,composers,sound designers,recording engineers & audio enthusiasts with daily updates of sample libraries,presets,plugins,video tutorials,remix stems,acapellas,& software updates news. Download chromaphone 2 trial version for free. Audio & Video tools downloads - Chromaphone 2 by Applied Acoustics Systems and many more programs are available for instant and free download.
I tried to limit this list in a few ways, to make it more manageable.. I omitted instruments that are primarily samplers—even though many of the models here utilize samples as source material, they don’t mainly present them as realistic simulations, but as raw material for heavy processing. I stuck to synths that are—at least to me—geared to playability, and not primarily sound design or scoring effects. And I selected synths that are not emulations of specific classic hardware models, but stand on their own merits.
So without further ado, here are a few of my choices for the slickest soft synths around. Imvu mac os catalina.1. Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2
Omnisphere is one of those synths that would probably turn up on just about everyone’s lists. Like many of the synths on this list, Omnisphere (currently Omnisphere 2) combines a number of synthesis techniques, including both oscillators and sample-based source material (including user waves), wavetable synthesis, granular synthesis, and even FM. Combining a huge factory library with comprehensive programming options, the emphasis is on heavily processed sounds of all kinds, from traditional synth tones to dense swirling pads to arpeggios to shifting, chugging, twinkling soundscapes and musical noises that defy easy description. Playability includes nice touches like the Orb, a real-time joystick-type controller that can simultaneously vary many parameters. Omnisphere has been around for quite a while, and has certainly earned its place on a list of soft synths that hardware synths really can’t touch.
Web:https://www.spectrasonics.net/products/omnisphere/index.php
Review: https://ask.audio/articles/review-spectrasonics-omnisphere-2
Courses:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/omnisphere2. NI Massive
Native Instrument’s Massive is another synth that’s been around for years, and its popularity and sound pretty much guarantee it a place of honor. Massive follows a traditional subtractive synthesis models, with oscillators (three, plus noise) filters (two), amplifier, modulation (LFO), and effects. But there’s much more to it than that simple description suggests.
Massive’s oscillators are more than just simple analog waves (like sine, square, sawtooth, pulse, etc.)—they’re Wavetables, which, besides those basic, traditional shapes, also include a large collection of richer and more complex wavetables to use as raw material, making for a much wider range of possible sounds. The overall subtractive architecture is familiar enough to be accessible to most synthesists, yet it offers extra levels of flexibility, accessed from the various programming tabs in its center panel, like the Routing panel, where you can view and tweak the signal flow of the various modules that make up a patch, and the drag-and-drop icons that make quick work of building up modulation patching. All in all, Massive’s combination of accessibility and flexibility have made it a perennial favorite among synthesists of all stripes.
Web:https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/massive/
Courses:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/massive3. NI Reaktor
Another entry from Native Instruments, Reaktor (currently Reaktor 6) is not really a synthesizer per se—it’s potentially every synthesizer you could imagine. Reaktor is an object-oriented programming environment for building your own synthesizers, and it’s one of the most powerful tools available for those who want ultimate control over their instruments. But you don’t have to have a degree in computer programming or DSP to use Reaktor—while it does contain a daunting set of under-the-hood tools and building blocks, it also comes with a large collection of finished synthesizer designs—called Ensembles—and there are many more available from third-parties as well. Some of these are available as separate, stand-alone synths, like NI’s own Razor (an additive synthesis design), Prism (a physical modeling instrument), and Monark (a well-regarded take on the venerable Minimoog).
But the real power of Reaktor comes when you go behind the front panel, and delve into the nuts & bolts of synthesizer architecture. Taking full advantage of everything the programming environment has to offer may require a significant investment in time and energy, but for inveterate tweakers it’s well worth the effort, going well beyond even the possibilities available from assembling your own modular synth in the real world.
Web:https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/reaktor-6/
Review: https://ask.audio/articles/review-native-instruments-reaktor-6
Courses:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/reaktor4. Rob Papen Blue II
Rob Papen offers a number of popular synths (like Predator, Blade, and others, including the now-discontinued Albino), but Blue (currently Blue II) is probably the flagship of the line. Utilizing when Papen has dubbed “Cross-Fusion Synthesis”, Blue II combines FM, Phase Distortion, Waveshaping, and Subtractive synthesis, to create one highly flexible and great-sounding instrument. No less than six (!) oscillators freely combine all the different methods of sound generation in a single patch, and the graphic display makes routing and processing relatively easy for a synth with so many options. The helpful graphic displays include features like a straightforward FM matrix and graphic envelopes, along with sequencer and arpeggiator pages, and make Blue II’s programming power readily accessible, making it easy and efficient to tweak sounds—far easier than twiddling hardware knobs blindly.Review: https://ask.audio/articles/review-rob-papen-blue-ii5. LennarDigital Sylenth
LennarDigital’s Sylenth has become a very popular synth of late. Unlike many of the other entries in this list, it’s not a be-all, do-all, end-all design. Sylenth is designed to do one thing—emulate classic analog synthesis—but do it exceptionally well. It’s a dual-layered design, with 4 traditional analog-style oscillators, and a classic subtractive synthesis architecture. All the virtual analog components were carefully designed to offer the rich sound of their real analog counterparts, with alias-free oscillators, and filters that include nonlinear saturation and self-oscillation options.
A comprehensive set of envelopes, modulators, and an arpeggiator is rounded off with a full array of audio effects—everything needed to achieve classic analog synth sounds with the warmth and edge of traditional hardware synths is included. A faux LCD panel helps simplify programing the more tweaky features, and flexible routing allows for the two oscillator layers to cross-feed the filters, making for an especially nice bit of analog character in the digital world.
Web:https://www.lennardigital.com/sylenth1/
Course:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=topic/sylenth6. U-he Diva & Zebra 2 & Repro 1
U-he is not a synth, it’s a company—actually it’s software developer Urs Heckmann (plus a small staff), who’s come up with many excellent and characterful synth designs (and effects plug-ins) over the years, many available as freeware (like the popular Zoyd synth, and the unique Triple Cheese, which uses comb filters to generate/process its sounds). The U-he line includes several synths, but I want to focus on two of the most popular, Zebra 2 and Diva.
Urs describes Zebra 2 as a “wireless modular synthesizer”—it incorporates many types of synthesis, including subtractive, additive, and FM, along with an equally versatile array of sound-modifying tools like comb-filtering (physical modeling), all freely patchable. Only modules used in a particular patch are displayed, reducing front-panel clutter, and making for a more streamlined interface. The centrally-located modulation grid offers an easy way to connect modules, and helps visualize signal flow in complex patches. And for performance, Zebra 2 offers a “Perform” panel, with no less than four (!) programmable and assignable X/Y pads.
Diva, on the other hand, is a more dedicated analog-style synth—it models the sounds of various classic analog synth modules. But two things set it apart from other analog modelers. The first is that you can mix and match components/modules inspired by different synths, creating hybrid designs. The other is Diva’s cutting-edge approach to modeling analog circuits, which promises to achieve the next level in emulating the nuance of real analog instruments. This faithfulness to real analog sound brings with it a bit of a CPU hit, but users have embraced it, so this Diva may be worth her high-maintenance ways.
Web:https://www.u-he.com
Review: https://ask.audio/articles/review-uhe-repro1
Course:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/uhe7. AAS Modeling Collection
As I said earlier, lists like this typically combine entries that are on everyone’s top-10 with choices of a more personal nature—this last entry probably reflects my interest in physical modeling techniques. AAS—Applied Acoustic Systems—makes a variety of virtual instruments and “sound banks”—their instruments are based on physical modeling, which, as you may know, is a method of creating a sound by emulating the physical way that sound is created in the real world. So instead of traditional oscillators, filters, and envelopes, you’ll typically find exciters, disturbers, and resonators—simulations of different vibrating materials, striking, plucking, bowing, and blowing techniques, and complex resonances and timbral responses.
AAS’s modeling collection includes instruments that put these kinds of tools to use emulating strings, guitars, electric pianos, and even analog synth circuitry, but the two I want to mention are Tassman, a general-purpose physical-modeling synth, and their latest, Chromaphone, which is dedicated to modeling all manner of percussive sounds. Both of these instruments let the user synthesize highly realistic sounds, thanks to the physical modeling of acoustic sound-generation, but those sounds don’t necessarily have to emulate actual instruments—for more creative applications, the modeling tools can be used to create very acoustic-sounding instruments that don’t—maybe couldn’t—actually exist in the real world, but sound (and play) like they do! Physical modeling technology is widely used nowadays for processing—component modeling is routinely employed to simulate the circuit path of classic analog hardware, including synth components like oscillators and filters—and it’s gradually being applied more to instrument design.Web:https://www.applied-acoustics.com/modeling-collection/Wrap-up
Like with any list, there are plenty more great synths I could have included but didn’t, for one reason or another (I decided to limit my choices to separate plug-ins, eliminating obvious possibilities like Alchemy and Sculpture, which are exclusively built-in to Logic). I also didn’t include any audio examples—how can you boil the characteristic sound of synths that each offer so much variety into a few seconds of one or two patches? There are plenty of audio demos available online, along with trial versions of most, if not all, of the synths I mentioned, and I think the best approach for anyone who wants to get to know what particular models are capable of is to go ahead and try ‘em out yourself—a little homework that, for once, should actually be a lot of fun!Related Videos
Chromaphone is regarded by many as AAS’s jewel in the crown. Now with version two, there are even more facets in that jewel to dazzle us.
by David Baer, May 2016
This is a review of the Chromaphone 2 instrument from Applied Acoustic Systems (or, more commonly, AAS). I will be assuming the reader has no experience with the first version. But before any Chromaphone veterans run off, let me point you to a previous article I wrote about how Chromaphone works its unusual magic in producing sounds in an earlier SoundBytes article. That can be found here:
In it, we explore how sounds are programmed by deconstructing several of the factory presets. Although it was written using the earlier Chromaphone version, it’s still 100% relevant.
Here’s one more interesting note for longtime AAS followers. The story goes that one reason for there being a Chromaphone 2 was so that AAS could convert Chromaphone to their new architecture, something they’ve gradually been doing to most of their other existing instruments. “But wait”, you say … “wasn’t Chromaphone (1) the first instrument to be mounted on that new platform?” It turns out that it was, but that “new platform” got some improvements subsequent to the completion of the first Chromaphone. It being the first software to be taken in the new direction, things were learned along the way. The new architecture got improved to the point that AAS wanted to make Chromaphone fully compliant with the most advanced version. Now, back to basics …Getting Started
Chromaphone 2 (hereafter we’ll drop the “2”) creates sound through mathematical modelling, meaning a lot a hairy calculations are undertaken to produce the data that comprise the output audio waveforms. Synthesis via modelling is that for which AAS is renowned. In this case, what is modelled is some configuration of objects that include one or two resonators, a mallet to excite one or both and a noise source to likewise excite one or both.
OK, that’s a bit abstract. Think of one such configuration: a drum stick (that’s a kind of mallet) hits a stretched circular membrane and creates a “whack” sound. Even with such a simple scenario, there are a lot of things that can cause the result to sound a certain way. How hard is the head of the drum stick – is it a small wood head or a fabric-tipped softer type of drum stick? How tightly stretched is the membrane?
But the membrane is probably not floating free in space, but rather is stretched over a circular drum body. Now we have two resonators. In this case the membrane responds to the mallet and the drum body responds to the excited membrane. The energy may flow two ways: first from the membrane into the body, exciting the body, and then flowing back from the excited body to further influence the resonance of the membrane.
Now you’re hopefully starting to see what Chromaphone is all about (and don’t worry, we’ll get back to the noise exciter component before this is all over). But it’s not just about creating un-tuned percussive sounds. As you’ll see, Chromaphone can create all manner of tuned musical sounds that both mimic real-life instruments and create sounds from imaginary ones. The breadth of types of sounds is really quite remarkable, as is ably proven by the factory presets.Sound Production Components
At the top of this article, we see one of Chromaphone’s three UI views, the Play View. Immediately above, we see the Edit View, in which most of the serious work of sound design is done.
Let’s talk about the resonators first. We have the following types (this mostly verbatim from the user manual):
*String: a perfectly elastic string,
*Beam: a rectangular beam with constant cross-section,
*Marimba: a beam with variable section allowing one to obtain partials having a quasi-harmonic ratio,
*Plate: a rectangular plate,
*Drumhead: circular membrane (this one is new to Chromaphone 2),
*Membrane: rectangular membrane,
*Open Tube: a cylindrical tube with both ends open allowing one to obtain the complete harmonic series (even and odd harmonics),
*Closed Tube: a cylindrical tube with one end closed allowing one to obtain only odd harmonics,
*Manual: In this mode, one can create a custom resonator by selecting up to four partials; the rank of each partial is fixed using the Partial 1 to Partial 4
A preset can use just one of these resonators or two. When using two, they can be fully independent, fully coupled (the first resonator being the exciter of the second), or something in between.
Depending upon which resonator type is selected, certain parameters can be set that include things like Material, the setting for which influences how fast partials decay in relation to one another. This is at the heart of Chromaphone sound designing and I’m certainly not going to attempt to explain it all. I’ll leave that to the excellent user manual, which is of the high quality we’ve come to expect from AAS in documentation. I’ll also suggest once again that the truly curious may wish to check the aforementioned SoundBytes tutorial to learn more on this topic.
The resonator coupling is controlled by a Balance control and the Coupled switch. When Coupled is not enabled, the two resonators (assuming both are active) just do their thing and the Balance dictates their relative loudness. When Coupled is on, Balance dictates how easy it is for one resonator to set the other in motion.
If you are finding all of this this a bit baffling (if not downright intimidating), you are certainly not alone. Little of this is intuitive stuff. But a little time spent examining the presets will reward you with a lot of insight. Some experimentation will take you even further. That said, the one thing I would really like to see added to Chromaphone is a Random button to instantly throw serendipitous variations together. I truly believe this would be a fascinating way to create some fabulous sounds by building combinations that one would never think of trying.Exciters
As stated earlier, there are two mechanisms that introduce energy into the resonators: the mallet and the noise generator. They can be used singly or concurrently. Some portion of either can be routed directly to the output mix. The mixer controls can be seen to the right. The two controls labelled Direct govern the output level that goes directly to the output mix.
The mallet parameters are simple: Stiffness, No
https://diarynote-jp.indered.space
on Jan 08, 2017 in Synths & Sound Design 4 comments
*Aas Chromaphone
*Chromaphone CrackThere’s no doubting the joy of using a real hardware synthesizer. The tactile controls are difficult to beat. But when it comes to sound these 7 virtual synths more than hold their own.
Any top-10 (OK, top-7) list of virtual synthesizers will, ultimately, be pretty subjective—everyone has their own idea of what constitutes the coolest toys when it comes to making and mangling sounds for creative musical ends. Even so, a list of the most impressive soft synths will certainly end up including some models that would be on anyone’s wish list, along with a few more personal choices—and this collection pretty much fits that bill.
R2rdownload.org - team r2r, team r2rdownload. A professional audio software community for music producers,composers,sound designers,recording engineers & audio enthusiasts with daily updates of sample libraries,presets,plugins,video tutorials,remix stems,acapellas,& software updates news. Download chromaphone 2 trial version for free. Audio & Video tools downloads - Chromaphone 2 by Applied Acoustics Systems and many more programs are available for instant and free download.
I tried to limit this list in a few ways, to make it more manageable.. I omitted instruments that are primarily samplers—even though many of the models here utilize samples as source material, they don’t mainly present them as realistic simulations, but as raw material for heavy processing. I stuck to synths that are—at least to me—geared to playability, and not primarily sound design or scoring effects. And I selected synths that are not emulations of specific classic hardware models, but stand on their own merits.
So without further ado, here are a few of my choices for the slickest soft synths around. Imvu mac os catalina.1. Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2
Omnisphere is one of those synths that would probably turn up on just about everyone’s lists. Like many of the synths on this list, Omnisphere (currently Omnisphere 2) combines a number of synthesis techniques, including both oscillators and sample-based source material (including user waves), wavetable synthesis, granular synthesis, and even FM. Combining a huge factory library with comprehensive programming options, the emphasis is on heavily processed sounds of all kinds, from traditional synth tones to dense swirling pads to arpeggios to shifting, chugging, twinkling soundscapes and musical noises that defy easy description. Playability includes nice touches like the Orb, a real-time joystick-type controller that can simultaneously vary many parameters. Omnisphere has been around for quite a while, and has certainly earned its place on a list of soft synths that hardware synths really can’t touch.
Web:https://www.spectrasonics.net/products/omnisphere/index.php
Review: https://ask.audio/articles/review-spectrasonics-omnisphere-2
Courses:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/omnisphere2. NI Massive
Native Instrument’s Massive is another synth that’s been around for years, and its popularity and sound pretty much guarantee it a place of honor. Massive follows a traditional subtractive synthesis models, with oscillators (three, plus noise) filters (two), amplifier, modulation (LFO), and effects. But there’s much more to it than that simple description suggests.
Massive’s oscillators are more than just simple analog waves (like sine, square, sawtooth, pulse, etc.)—they’re Wavetables, which, besides those basic, traditional shapes, also include a large collection of richer and more complex wavetables to use as raw material, making for a much wider range of possible sounds. The overall subtractive architecture is familiar enough to be accessible to most synthesists, yet it offers extra levels of flexibility, accessed from the various programming tabs in its center panel, like the Routing panel, where you can view and tweak the signal flow of the various modules that make up a patch, and the drag-and-drop icons that make quick work of building up modulation patching. All in all, Massive’s combination of accessibility and flexibility have made it a perennial favorite among synthesists of all stripes.
Web:https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/massive/
Courses:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/massive3. NI Reaktor
Another entry from Native Instruments, Reaktor (currently Reaktor 6) is not really a synthesizer per se—it’s potentially every synthesizer you could imagine. Reaktor is an object-oriented programming environment for building your own synthesizers, and it’s one of the most powerful tools available for those who want ultimate control over their instruments. But you don’t have to have a degree in computer programming or DSP to use Reaktor—while it does contain a daunting set of under-the-hood tools and building blocks, it also comes with a large collection of finished synthesizer designs—called Ensembles—and there are many more available from third-parties as well. Some of these are available as separate, stand-alone synths, like NI’s own Razor (an additive synthesis design), Prism (a physical modeling instrument), and Monark (a well-regarded take on the venerable Minimoog).
But the real power of Reaktor comes when you go behind the front panel, and delve into the nuts & bolts of synthesizer architecture. Taking full advantage of everything the programming environment has to offer may require a significant investment in time and energy, but for inveterate tweakers it’s well worth the effort, going well beyond even the possibilities available from assembling your own modular synth in the real world.
Web:https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/reaktor-6/
Review: https://ask.audio/articles/review-native-instruments-reaktor-6
Courses:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/reaktor4. Rob Papen Blue II
Rob Papen offers a number of popular synths (like Predator, Blade, and others, including the now-discontinued Albino), but Blue (currently Blue II) is probably the flagship of the line. Utilizing when Papen has dubbed “Cross-Fusion Synthesis”, Blue II combines FM, Phase Distortion, Waveshaping, and Subtractive synthesis, to create one highly flexible and great-sounding instrument. No less than six (!) oscillators freely combine all the different methods of sound generation in a single patch, and the graphic display makes routing and processing relatively easy for a synth with so many options. The helpful graphic displays include features like a straightforward FM matrix and graphic envelopes, along with sequencer and arpeggiator pages, and make Blue II’s programming power readily accessible, making it easy and efficient to tweak sounds—far easier than twiddling hardware knobs blindly.Review: https://ask.audio/articles/review-rob-papen-blue-ii5. LennarDigital Sylenth
LennarDigital’s Sylenth has become a very popular synth of late. Unlike many of the other entries in this list, it’s not a be-all, do-all, end-all design. Sylenth is designed to do one thing—emulate classic analog synthesis—but do it exceptionally well. It’s a dual-layered design, with 4 traditional analog-style oscillators, and a classic subtractive synthesis architecture. All the virtual analog components were carefully designed to offer the rich sound of their real analog counterparts, with alias-free oscillators, and filters that include nonlinear saturation and self-oscillation options.
A comprehensive set of envelopes, modulators, and an arpeggiator is rounded off with a full array of audio effects—everything needed to achieve classic analog synth sounds with the warmth and edge of traditional hardware synths is included. A faux LCD panel helps simplify programing the more tweaky features, and flexible routing allows for the two oscillator layers to cross-feed the filters, making for an especially nice bit of analog character in the digital world.
Web:https://www.lennardigital.com/sylenth1/
Course:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=topic/sylenth6. U-he Diva & Zebra 2 & Repro 1
U-he is not a synth, it’s a company—actually it’s software developer Urs Heckmann (plus a small staff), who’s come up with many excellent and characterful synth designs (and effects plug-ins) over the years, many available as freeware (like the popular Zoyd synth, and the unique Triple Cheese, which uses comb filters to generate/process its sounds). The U-he line includes several synths, but I want to focus on two of the most popular, Zebra 2 and Diva.
Urs describes Zebra 2 as a “wireless modular synthesizer”—it incorporates many types of synthesis, including subtractive, additive, and FM, along with an equally versatile array of sound-modifying tools like comb-filtering (physical modeling), all freely patchable. Only modules used in a particular patch are displayed, reducing front-panel clutter, and making for a more streamlined interface. The centrally-located modulation grid offers an easy way to connect modules, and helps visualize signal flow in complex patches. And for performance, Zebra 2 offers a “Perform” panel, with no less than four (!) programmable and assignable X/Y pads.
Diva, on the other hand, is a more dedicated analog-style synth—it models the sounds of various classic analog synth modules. But two things set it apart from other analog modelers. The first is that you can mix and match components/modules inspired by different synths, creating hybrid designs. The other is Diva’s cutting-edge approach to modeling analog circuits, which promises to achieve the next level in emulating the nuance of real analog instruments. This faithfulness to real analog sound brings with it a bit of a CPU hit, but users have embraced it, so this Diva may be worth her high-maintenance ways.
Web:https://www.u-he.com
Review: https://ask.audio/articles/review-uhe-repro1
Course:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/uhe7. AAS Modeling Collection
As I said earlier, lists like this typically combine entries that are on everyone’s top-10 with choices of a more personal nature—this last entry probably reflects my interest in physical modeling techniques. AAS—Applied Acoustic Systems—makes a variety of virtual instruments and “sound banks”—their instruments are based on physical modeling, which, as you may know, is a method of creating a sound by emulating the physical way that sound is created in the real world. So instead of traditional oscillators, filters, and envelopes, you’ll typically find exciters, disturbers, and resonators—simulations of different vibrating materials, striking, plucking, bowing, and blowing techniques, and complex resonances and timbral responses.
AAS’s modeling collection includes instruments that put these kinds of tools to use emulating strings, guitars, electric pianos, and even analog synth circuitry, but the two I want to mention are Tassman, a general-purpose physical-modeling synth, and their latest, Chromaphone, which is dedicated to modeling all manner of percussive sounds. Both of these instruments let the user synthesize highly realistic sounds, thanks to the physical modeling of acoustic sound-generation, but those sounds don’t necessarily have to emulate actual instruments—for more creative applications, the modeling tools can be used to create very acoustic-sounding instruments that don’t—maybe couldn’t—actually exist in the real world, but sound (and play) like they do! Physical modeling technology is widely used nowadays for processing—component modeling is routinely employed to simulate the circuit path of classic analog hardware, including synth components like oscillators and filters—and it’s gradually being applied more to instrument design.Web:https://www.applied-acoustics.com/modeling-collection/Wrap-up
Like with any list, there are plenty more great synths I could have included but didn’t, for one reason or another (I decided to limit my choices to separate plug-ins, eliminating obvious possibilities like Alchemy and Sculpture, which are exclusively built-in to Logic). I also didn’t include any audio examples—how can you boil the characteristic sound of synths that each offer so much variety into a few seconds of one or two patches? There are plenty of audio demos available online, along with trial versions of most, if not all, of the synths I mentioned, and I think the best approach for anyone who wants to get to know what particular models are capable of is to go ahead and try ‘em out yourself—a little homework that, for once, should actually be a lot of fun!Related Videos
Chromaphone is regarded by many as AAS’s jewel in the crown. Now with version two, there are even more facets in that jewel to dazzle us.
by David Baer, May 2016
This is a review of the Chromaphone 2 instrument from Applied Acoustic Systems (or, more commonly, AAS). I will be assuming the reader has no experience with the first version. But before any Chromaphone veterans run off, let me point you to a previous article I wrote about how Chromaphone works its unusual magic in producing sounds in an earlier SoundBytes article. That can be found here:
In it, we explore how sounds are programmed by deconstructing several of the factory presets. Although it was written using the earlier Chromaphone version, it’s still 100% relevant.
Here’s one more interesting note for longtime AAS followers. The story goes that one reason for there being a Chromaphone 2 was so that AAS could convert Chromaphone to their new architecture, something they’ve gradually been doing to most of their other existing instruments. “But wait”, you say … “wasn’t Chromaphone (1) the first instrument to be mounted on that new platform?” It turns out that it was, but that “new platform” got some improvements subsequent to the completion of the first Chromaphone. It being the first software to be taken in the new direction, things were learned along the way. The new architecture got improved to the point that AAS wanted to make Chromaphone fully compliant with the most advanced version. Now, back to basics …Getting Started
Chromaphone 2 (hereafter we’ll drop the “2”) creates sound through mathematical modelling, meaning a lot a hairy calculations are undertaken to produce the data that comprise the output audio waveforms. Synthesis via modelling is that for which AAS is renowned. In this case, what is modelled is some configuration of objects that include one or two resonators, a mallet to excite one or both and a noise source to likewise excite one or both.
OK, that’s a bit abstract. Think of one such configuration: a drum stick (that’s a kind of mallet) hits a stretched circular membrane and creates a “whack” sound. Even with such a simple scenario, there are a lot of things that can cause the result to sound a certain way. How hard is the head of the drum stick – is it a small wood head or a fabric-tipped softer type of drum stick? How tightly stretched is the membrane?
But the membrane is probably not floating free in space, but rather is stretched over a circular drum body. Now we have two resonators. In this case the membrane responds to the mallet and the drum body responds to the excited membrane. The energy may flow two ways: first from the membrane into the body, exciting the body, and then flowing back from the excited body to further influence the resonance of the membrane.
Now you’re hopefully starting to see what Chromaphone is all about (and don’t worry, we’ll get back to the noise exciter component before this is all over). But it’s not just about creating un-tuned percussive sounds. As you’ll see, Chromaphone can create all manner of tuned musical sounds that both mimic real-life instruments and create sounds from imaginary ones. The breadth of types of sounds is really quite remarkable, as is ably proven by the factory presets.Sound Production Components
At the top of this article, we see one of Chromaphone’s three UI views, the Play View. Immediately above, we see the Edit View, in which most of the serious work of sound design is done.
Let’s talk about the resonators first. We have the following types (this mostly verbatim from the user manual):
*String: a perfectly elastic string,
*Beam: a rectangular beam with constant cross-section,
*Marimba: a beam with variable section allowing one to obtain partials having a quasi-harmonic ratio,
*Plate: a rectangular plate,
*Drumhead: circular membrane (this one is new to Chromaphone 2),
*Membrane: rectangular membrane,
*Open Tube: a cylindrical tube with both ends open allowing one to obtain the complete harmonic series (even and odd harmonics),
*Closed Tube: a cylindrical tube with one end closed allowing one to obtain only odd harmonics,
*Manual: In this mode, one can create a custom resonator by selecting up to four partials; the rank of each partial is fixed using the Partial 1 to Partial 4
A preset can use just one of these resonators or two. When using two, they can be fully independent, fully coupled (the first resonator being the exciter of the second), or something in between.
Depending upon which resonator type is selected, certain parameters can be set that include things like Material, the setting for which influences how fast partials decay in relation to one another. This is at the heart of Chromaphone sound designing and I’m certainly not going to attempt to explain it all. I’ll leave that to the excellent user manual, which is of the high quality we’ve come to expect from AAS in documentation. I’ll also suggest once again that the truly curious may wish to check the aforementioned SoundBytes tutorial to learn more on this topic.
The resonator coupling is controlled by a Balance control and the Coupled switch. When Coupled is not enabled, the two resonators (assuming both are active) just do their thing and the Balance dictates their relative loudness. When Coupled is on, Balance dictates how easy it is for one resonator to set the other in motion.
If you are finding all of this this a bit baffling (if not downright intimidating), you are certainly not alone. Little of this is intuitive stuff. But a little time spent examining the presets will reward you with a lot of insight. Some experimentation will take you even further. That said, the one thing I would really like to see added to Chromaphone is a Random button to instantly throw serendipitous variations together. I truly believe this would be a fascinating way to create some fabulous sounds by building combinations that one would never think of trying.Exciters
As stated earlier, there are two mechanisms that introduce energy into the resonators: the mallet and the noise generator. They can be used singly or concurrently. Some portion of either can be routed directly to the output mix. The mixer controls can be seen to the right. The two controls labelled Direct govern the output level that goes directly to the output mix.
The mallet parameters are simple: Stiffness, No
https://diarynote-jp.indered.space
コメント