Movement expands on Motion by adding a further 16 Motion Sequencers which takes it into new territory. It is also capable of much simpler sounds with ease using the simple Randomizer which adds a lot more scope for it’s sonic potential. There was an attempt at simplifying the powerful yet complex interface of Motion by keeping most parameters but that could be edited using a single Panel.
Movement uses 4 identical Synthesizers to create sound, each Synth has an Attack/Release Envelope, a Filter with the choice of 38 Filter Types, a single LFO with the choice of 6 Destinations and 31 LFO Shapes.
There are a total of 24 Motion Sequencers which include a Vector crossfade between the 4 Synths volumes, Pan, Tune, Filter Cutoff & Resonance, Synth Volumes, Start Offset, Bit Reduction, Samplerate Reduction, LFO Frequency and LFO Amount. The XY Pads can be recorded in realtime over 128 steps and have the ability to change the Amount and Frequency of playback. As well as the ability to Record the Motion Sequencers there is also an internal database of 200 prerecorded Sequences which are used by the Randomizers.
Like most other HGS Creations, Movement makes great use of optimized Global Randomizers with a choice of complexity as well as many Local Randomizers. The FX Section includes Chorus/Flanger/Phaser, a Reverb with 50 Impulse Responses, a Stereo Delay, an EQ, a Limiter, and a Microtuner with 300 Microtonal Presets.
Fragments is an attempt at exploring Granular style synthesis within the Kontakt system. It uses Long Evolving Waveforms and the sound is generated by playing Looped Sections from these WAVs. The Loop Position and Length can be Sequenced in real-time via the Dedicated Loop sequencers which can create both Glitchy and interesting Pads.
It has a Dual Synth Architecture with both synths sharing the same features. As well as the 2 Loop Start and Length Sequencers, there are also another 6 Per Synth which control Cutoff, Volume, Pan, Drive, Reverb Send and Delay Send. The Sequencers use tempo based divisions making them great for tempo Synched Patterns, have a maximum of 128 steps and 11 choices of tempo division.
There are also 2 XY Pads which represent the currently visible Sequencers and will animate to show their current state when the Sequencers are in play Mode. They can also be used to record the Sequencers in real-time. When a sequencer not in Play Mode the XY controls the static value used for the destination amount.
Fragments was designed to be intuitive and easy to use with all parameters + 4 Sequencers visible. As with other HGS creations full use of local and Global Randomizers are available to instantly create unique and varied presets.There is also an internal presets system in place with a built in Browser.
Both of these instruments get a great review, many thanks to Stefan for putting so much time into a very detailed look at both of these instruments.
The review is in German and here is a google translated English version although it does not display the videos correctly and so I recommend also visiting the German version as he has made some unique videos to accompany the review!
Whilst working on AirWaves which is more atmospheric than musical, it occurred that a traditionally musical synthesizer using the sine wave de-modulator signals would be interesting, and so AirTones was born.
The sounds use various tones and signals found on the radio to create the oscillators. They are lofi and come with whatever sound and noise is present to add a unique character to the tones.
It come with 100 samples which can be selected by either of the synthesizers two oscillators. The Synth is a dual synthesizer with 2 Filters, 3 LFOs, 3 Envelopes as well as a comprehensive FX Section. Also included is an Advanced Arpeggiator/Sequencer with 12 sequencers for various parameters, as well as many modes including standard Arps, chords and modulation only modes. There is also a Scale Remapper which can transform the pitch sequencer in real-time to any of the large types of Scales included.
This is a great companion Instrument for AirWaves which creates complex Atmospherics, but isn’t a particularly tuneful instrument and so AirTones provides exactly that purpose. Here is a video demonstrating some of the presets in action:
AirTones costs $39.99 but is available for the introductory price of just $19.99 until August.
AirWaves is a unique Synthesizer which uses 24 XY Motion Sequencers to build collages using Shortwave Radio signals as its Sound Source. Shortwave Radio is an Alien World that has fascinated me since childhood and I’ve been wanting to explore making an instrument such as this for a long time. The Motion Sequencers ensure that you will always get something new using the many Randomizers, and presets can have an organically complex lifespan. Each Sequencer can be recorded manually by pressing Record, playing a note and moving the corresponding XY controller. Once the sequence is recorded it will be played back immediately. Alternatively there is a large database of prerecorded Sequences included which are used by the Randomizers.
The intention for the Scripted Instrument was to take some of the ideas used in Motion, adding 4 more Motion Sequencers and attempt to create a Synth that is visually less complex. As a result all of the sound generation is available on a single Panel, and there is only one other Panel which is dedicated to the FX and Preset Browser. The only XY controllers which cannot be recorded are those assigned to the Envelope Attack/Release which is a bit pointless as they cannot be manipulated in real-time by Kontakt.
The samples themselves are taken from many hours of recorded material, attempting to bring out the most interesting loops and to hopefully create a diverse collection of Sounds. The Radios are essentially used as synthesizers to create unique designed loops which are only possible using a radio. There are quite a few number stations captured too, although for the most part these days they tend to be either Morse or Electronic broadcasts as opposed to actual numbers although a few of these were captured. The samples are provided as WAVs as opposed to .ncw so that they can easily be used outside of Kontakt for those that wish to do so.
Features
508 Wavs recorded using shortwave radio and carefully looped
The Wavs are provided in their native format so they can be used easily outside of Kontakt
4 Synthesizers with an XY Pad to mix between them
Each Synth has a Filter, AR Envelope, LFO and plays a single Waveform
28 XY Motion Sequencers which can be manually recorded or use Sequences from the built in database.
Comprehensive FX Section with Reverb, Delay, EQ and Phaser/Chorus/Flanger.
In built Preset System for Browsing/Saving and Loading Presets
200 Presets Included.
Microtuner with a huge selection of Scales
7 Global Randomizers with different Algorithms and many local Randomizers.
This video shows some of the Presets:
AirWaves costs $59.99 but is available for the introductory price of just $24.99
Motion is an advanced Vector Synthesizer designed to create Evolving landscapes and Atmospheres with little effort due to a series of 8 tuned Global randomizers which generate unique and playable sounds most of the time. It is most useful for signature Ambience in a track and most definitely has a distinctive sound of it’s own. It uses short and single cycle waveforms to create sound and in this sense is a true synthesizer, like any other Subtractive synth sounds are generated by the User interface rather than relying on sampled presets. There are 504 Waveforms/Sounds over 4 Banks which use just 55mb of RAM. Some are drum/percussive one-shots which are very interesting in the Arpeggiator when Wave sequencing.
The Group buy aims to add content to the Motion Package through extra scripted instruments and waveforms as more people take part. It costs just $24.99 with instant access to Motion. Motion is normally priced at $59.99.
Custom Filter Types – the Options Panel now has a section for choosing which Filters are loaded into each of the 6 Filter Slots. Be warned that changing Filters can take quite a few seconds as Kontakt replaces the Filter in all groups. This causes a potential delay to loading presets with non standard filter types, so it is best to start browsing/loading patches from the default filter assignments. You can achieve this by using the Global Default or the section’s default button. Unless you have changed any of the Filter types, it will already be the standard configuration.
Added Prev/Next Preset Buttons to the browser Page (A preset needs to be loaded through the browser before these will work)
Fixed an issue in Cubase where the first note could be missed occasionally in cycle mode. May have occured in other hosts too.
When a preset is loaded, playing sequences/notes will be cancelled and must be re-triggered.
Fixed a Crash that happens using Kontakt 5.6 when loading presets in Cubase and possibly other hosts.
Kosmology now requires Kontakt v5.5
All Releases have been re-structured to make it much easier to combine them to a single Folder, just choose the same directory to extract them and select yes to all replace messages. Unfortunately this does mean downloading them again but it will make life easier in the longrun.
This updated sees the introduction of a Microtonal System, Scales can be loaded via the inbuilt preset browser. There is also an online facility for converting Scala (*.scl) files to the Cassetto format. Over 300 scales are included covering a lot of territory.
The introductory group buy for Cassetto has been extended until December 1st, and currently you will get 6 bonus products as well as Cassetto for just $14.99.
Cassetto v1.4
Added Randomize Waves on Load Preset – An interesting alternative when scrolling through the Presets.
Replaced the loaded Wave displays with menus so that they can be selected via the menu as well as the slider and -+ buttons.
Added a Microtonal Engine that loads Microtonal presets through the existing browser.
Ability to intelligently map scales of less than 2 octaves to 12 note mappings so that they make more sense on a standard Keyboard.
Support for scales up to 88 notes in size.
Support for Scales that span multiple octaves in total range as well as the more common 1 octave interval scales.
Added an online facility to convert most Scala (.scl) Files to Cassetto format.
Cassetto has been reviewed on Producer Spot. and gets a major update adding a 3rd Envelope and LFO with some interesting destinations. The introductory group buy is now halfway and currently has achieved 3 bonus products with the new option to buy multiple credits for further bonus products.
Cassetto v1.2:
Added Filter Swap Button which exchanges the settings of the filters
Added Buttons to assign LFO→Volume amounts to pitch instead
Sequencer Lights now switch off when no notes are playing
Added LFO Sync Mode
Added Advanced Panel with extra controls for FX
Added LFO3 with destinations for Resonance 1 & 2, Filter 1 & 2 and LFO1 Frequency
Added ENV3 with destinations for Resonance 1 & 2, Filter 1 & 2, LFO1 Frequency and LFO3 Level.
No Purge Option added (‘P’ next to ‘D’ in the master section
Oscillator Waves now have a randomizer each
Improved delay contamination when changing presets
Some sliders can now have negative values so that 0 is the centre, a black mark at the centre of the scale shows this.
Cassetto gets a major update, most importantly a few people requested a version for Kontakt 5.5 and so Micro Cassetto is born. It is functionally identical to Cassetto but uses Panels. There are also an additional 63 hand crafted Single Cycle Waveforms, after making presets with the existing single cycles I wanted to expand the digital side of the synth. It has increased the amount of sounds it can make extensively.
The Introductory Group Buy is currently at 84 members with only 16 to go to achieve the 2nd Bonus product.
Changelog
Added Micro Cassetto, a smaller version which is identical feature-wise yet compatible with Kontakt 5.5
63 Digital Single Cycle Waveform Added
Added some Dotted Tempo values to ARP Tempo
Fixed an issue where HOLD and As Played didn’t work correctly
Increased ARP Length to 300%
Decreased CPU Usage significantly and raised Polyphony to 64
Improved GUI slightly
Fixed an issue with Automation in Ableton Live
A few more presets demonstrating the new Waveforms
Essence is a collection of 175 presets for Bassline-101 by TAL. Consisting mainly of Sequences and Pads this collection attempts to explore this classic architecture to the full. The sequencer patches also use unique presets behind the sequencer which can be used by disabling the sequencer. Note that some of the sound demos use the free TAL Juno Chorus and some delay which is highly recommended with this synth.
13 Arps
9 Bass
10 FX
15 Keys
6 Lead
36 Pads
86 Sequences
Essence is priced at $19.99 but is available for $14.99 as an introductory offer using the code INTRO25
Lifelines is a collection of 96 expressive presets for the virtual synthesizer Spire. Good use is made of both the Modulation Wheel and Channel Pressure (Aftertouch). The main feature are the Pads and Keys which are oozing with atmosphere. Spire 1.1 is required as some of the patches used the new FM Module.
Movement expands on Motion by adding a further 16 Motion Sequencers which takes it into new territory. It is also capable of much simpler sounds with ease using the simple Randomizer which adds a lot more scope for it’s sonic potential. There was an attempt at simplifying the powerful yet complex interface of Motion by keeping most parameters but that could be edited using a single Panel.
Motion 
Cassetto 
Cassetto
