Homegrown Sounds

In German or Google Translated English

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.

Product Page

Cassetto has been updated to v1.67:

• Improved the Filter Randomization
• Fixed an issue with Env2 when used for Osc 2 Volume.
• Various minor improvements

As usual it is available on your downloads page

Cassetto Product Page

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.

Product Page
A review of AirWaves and AirTones on buenasideas.de – (Translated English)

About AirWaves

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

AirWaves Product Page

Motion for Kontakt has been updated to v1.1 with the following changes:

• Pitch Bend Extended to 48 Semitones Max
• Pitch Bend now ignores Preset change
• Pitch Bend Glissando Mode Added (on the FX Panel)
• Bank of 43 great presets kindly created by aMUSEd called Tangent!

Motion Product Page

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.

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