Camel Audio has released Alchemy, a sample manipulation synthesizer for Windows and Mac.
It’s a synth powerhouse and yet is very easy to use thanks to its performance controls and remix pads. Just tweak the library of excellent presets from many of the world’s top sound designers or dive in and analyse your own samples – it’s up to you!
Alchemy features
Sounds
- 300 presets covering everything from pads and soundscapes to keys, basses and leads designed by many of the worlds top sound designers including Junkie XL, John ‘Skippy’ Lehmkuhl, Ian Boddy, Richard Devine, Arksun, Michael Kastrup, Beej, Summa, Xenox, Tasmodia, Jim Hunter, Antonio Blanca, Torben Hansen, Paul Nauert, Christian Kjeldsen, Rory Dow, Artvera, Bryan ‘Xenos’ Lee, Pendle, Dangerous Bear, Biomechanoid and Tim Conrardy
- over 2GB of samples and analysed content from in-house designers Tim Conrardy and Biomechanoid, as well as designers such as Ian Boddy, Robert Rich, Scott Solida and Nucleus SoundLab
- many years of dedicated sampling sessions of both unusual creative material such as the sound of chewing polystyrene to more conventional sampling of numerous acoustic instruments and voices, including a chamber choir
- advanced resynthesis engines help keep the library small, reducing the need for a huge disk-straining sample library
- samples are provided in open industry standard formats as SFZ and WAV files
- intelligent random preset generation
- add-on preset banks in development
Performance Controls
- 16 controls per preset carefully assigned by the preset designer, for instant access to each presets most tweakable parameters
- 8 remix pad variations per preset – click and drag to morph between variations
- two XY squares
- unique ‘auto assign’ feature to assign a full set of performance controls with two clicks
Morphable Sources
- 4 stereo sources each of which has additive, VA, spectral, granular and sampler engines
- morph between sources using advanced harmonic blending and precise time alignment
- crossfade between sounds with vector mixing
- modulatable stretch and position knobs for anything from tempo synced loops to wavesequencing
- up to 100 zones per source using any synthesis method
- easy to use file import browser with sample preview
- micro tuning support with comprehensive categorized library of scales
- highly optimized code including SSE and Altivec optimizations
Analog Filters
- up to 15 simultaneous filters
- 31 different filter types including 18 analog modelled filters, 2 comb filters, 3 CamelPhat distortion algorithms and polyphonic ring modulation
- each source can be mixed between 2 parallel main filters each of which has an effects mix control
- 3 filters per source configurable between serial and parallel modes; applications include formant filtering with free control over the frequency and bandwidth of each formant
16 Effects
- camel reverb, acoustic reverb, 2 delays, 2 mod fx (each capable of flanger and chorus effects), 2 distortions (each has bit crusher, tube, mech and xcita effects), bass enhancer, compressor, multi mode filter, 2 bandpass filters and band reject mixers, 2 three band EQs, panner and amplifier
- all of the CamelSpace and CamelPhat effects included
- virtually all effects parameters are modulatable
- acoustic reverb with detailed control of time, damping and room design
- up to five effects blocks can be applied in any order
- flexible delay featuring two filter slots, crossover, offset and initial delay controls
- band pass filters and associated band reject mixers allow you to apply effects to specific frequency ranges for effects such as multiband distortion
Groove Arpeggiator
- separate control of the velocity, pitch and pan of each note
- midi file import for drum patterns and melodies
- ‘groove import’ to synchronize to a particular drum pattern
- wide variety of modes including up, down, up/down, down/up, as played, random and chord
- many parameters including multiple latch modes, key splits, played key velocity control, octave and source controllable from the modulation system
- ability to control one source or all four
- up to 128 steps
Additive Synthesizer
- very high quality analysis and resynthesis – import vocal phrases, drum loops, …
- up to 600 stereo oscillators
- realtime modulation of amplitude, pitch and pan spectrums by any modulator – for example, control the odd/even harmonic balance, pan partials using LFOs, stretch or contract the harmonic spectrum and lots more
- individual amplitude, pitch and pan envelopes for each partial
- easy to use additive editor with unique detail knob to simplify sounds for editing
Virtual Analog Synthesizer
- PWM and symmetry control
- initial phase control
- up to 600 oscillator unison with pitch, amp and pan control of unison oscillators
- large library of single cycle waveforms from classic synths to new designs by Galbanum
Spectral Synthesizer
- phase vocoder analysis for high quality pitch and time stretching
- noise resynthesis mode using 256 band noise shaping
- advanced graphical sonogram editing – choose from a range of brushes and select the colour and opacity
- graphical spectral cut, copy and paste – cut or copy and paste specific frequency and time regions
Granular Synthesizer
- sampler or granular playback modes
- freely modulatable parameters including grain size, density (up to 10 simultaneous grains), random grain time and random pan
- selectable and customizable granular window shapes
Flexible Modulation
- up to 16 LFOs, 16 AHDSRs, 16 MSEGs, 16 step sequencers – only those you use are displayed
- virtually every knob is modulatable by up to five different modulators (including modulation-depth knobs, modulator parameters…)
- advanced mod-map feature for anything from drawing custom velocity curves to creating algorithmic random note in a scale effects
- xy-mseg shows you a vector style view of two parameters such as morph x and y position, with ability to import xy timelines
- per destination ‘smooth’ control
- modulation arcs intuitively show the range of modulation
- modulation details of selected knob automatically displayed
- right click on knob and select ‘add modulation’ to rapidly add and assign modulators
- playing speed modulation source allows variable response to fast and slow playing; for example to crossfade between staccato and legato samples
- unique flip-flop modulation source for customizable round robin effects
Other
- personalized keyfile for hassle free copy protection
- available as a 1.2GB download and soon on DVD
- tutorial videos
- graphic interface by BitPlant
Alchemy is available now for $249 USD / €199 EUR / £179 GBP. Crossgrades are available for Cameleon owners ($125 USD / €99 EUR / £89 GBP) and owners of other Camel Audio products ($199 USD / € 159 EUR / £143 GBP).
Camel Audio has also released two Alchemy add-on soundbanks.
- Atmospheric Alchemy is a collection of over 150 presets including beautiful pads, musical soundscapes, strings, vocals and sound effects.
- Electronic Alchemy consists of over 150 sounds covering arps, fat basses, soaring leads, synths and loops.
Each preset has fully programmed perform assignments which make them fun and easy to tweak, and comes with 8 remix pad variations for a total of over 1200 sounds per soundbank. The soundbanks cost $59 USD / €49 EUR / £39 GBP.
Visit Camel Audio for more information, videos and audio demos.
