Results for Magnus Lidström

Sonic Charge has released version 1.0.1 of Synplant, an innovative software synthesizer with a genetic approach to sound creation.

Instead of creating patches the conventional way by turning dials and knobs, Synplant lets you explore a world of organic sounds by planting seeds that grow into synth patches.

Changes in Synplant v1.0.1

• Implemented support for the “all notes off midi message”. Some hosts (most importantly Cakewalk Sonar) require this to stop notes from playing. In other words, the hanging note problems in Sonar should have been fixed now.
• Improved compatibility with older VST 2.3 hosts, including FXpansion’s RTAS wrapper (VST 2.4 is still the official requirement, this version of Synplant is expected to work well with the RTAS wrapper.
• Fixed a rare but serious problem with the GUI freezing up on Mac (never to defrost again, never to come back to life). Turned out to be a bug in Synplant in combination with some unexpected behavior from OS X.
• Some minor updates to the internal code libraries that will improve stability in general.

Sonic Charge has also released Crop of Year One, the first new patch package since the release of Synplant last year.

This package separates the wheat from the chaff among a year’s worth of patch cultivation. 163 patches created by Az’re-ul, elv, Elxicano, eXode, Hint, Magnus Lidström, rsmus7 and Tore Jarlo.

Crop of Year One is available as a free download for all registered Synplant owners.

More information: Sonic Charge

Sometimes I feel that we have so many virtual instruments and effects that it seems near impossible to come up with something new and exciting.

And then Sonic Charge brings Synplant, completely proving me wrong.

If you’re into electronic beats you may very well be familiar with Sonic Charge’s µTonic (or MicroTonic), Magnus Lidström’s top notch drum and percussion synth.

And if you’re a Reason user that name Magnus Lidström might ring a bell as well. Magnus worked on several things for Propellerhead Software, most notably designing and developing the Malström synth for Reason 2.0.

And now for something completely different

I hope you weren’t expecting I was going to tell you that Synplant is some kind of Malström 2.0… Just take a look at Synplant and compare that with Malström’s GUI.

This isn’t properly scaled, but I’m sure you’ll notice they don’t look much alike. Synplant has 7 sliders and a few buttons around the plant’s bulb, while Maltröm’s controls are… many.

Right, so let’s focus on Synplant then. Here’s what the product page reads:

Synplant is a software synthesizer with a genetic approach to sound creation. Instead of creating patches the conventional way by turning dials and knobs, Synplant lets you explore a world of organic sounds by planting seeds that grow into synth patches.

Aha, the lack of controls on that Synplant GUI is intentional! Btw, note how it says it has a genetic approach to sound creation, not generative. Although Synplant uses a generative synthesis engine, it isn’t actually a generative music system (you might’ve thought so when seeing the circle of notes on the interface…)

Synplant invites you to take a different approach to sound creation. Using seeds to plant, and branches to grow sounds isn’t something I’ve ever seen before.

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