Faded Instruments first plugin releases are Blumen und Pflanzen, Slimer FM & Ghost Tones, three highly experimental synthesizers, where one is for free.
The plugin market is huge and is growing daily. To attract attention you have to do something special that others don’t do. Not another Eurorack inspired synth to be honest, I think we are now well covered. What Faded Instruments has developed goes in a direction where is less competition.
Three new synthesizer plugin, each with an experimental concept and none that trusts in classic simple virtual analog synthesis, promised.
Blumen und Pflanzen
Blumen und Pflanzen is a pulsating FM feedback Synthesizer/groove machine that is designed for creating odd rhythms, bizarre/horrifying timbres to complex noise textures perfect for improvisions, jams, re-sampling or sequencing. The engine is based on two identical oscillators that are set in an FM feedback loop, each pulsating with its own speed and envelope. Each oscillator can FM or PM and modulate each other where the real fun begins. To make it more interesting, the developer includes an XY control pad for creating powerful and expressive opportunities to make everything from smooth sine tones to brutal noise.
The X controls the attack time, the Y the decay time of each oscillator, and the tempo is calculated based on the combined attack/decay time. You can also speed up or slow down both oscillators together with which you can liberate the instrument from traditional timing, giving it a much more intuitive and playful approach. Each oscillator also includes a MIDI-enabled internal cock that enables synchronization to a tempo or more precise rhythms. On the FX side, it comes with an additional distortion FX including 4-pole lowpass filter for even more punch and craziness and a delay effect.
The examples from the demos sound very promising and nothing that usually happens in traditional synths.
Slimer FM
Slimer FM goes in another direction and turns your DAW into a modular FM synth. The engine is based on a carrier only system, so no modulator you know from classic FM synths. It only has an audio input that enables you to route all possible signals (synths, drum machines, effects chains…) into it which become the modulators of the synth. With this option, the possibilities are endless. Your whole DAW becomes an FM Synthesizer with the right routings.
The engine of Slimer FM uses a single oscillator that can be faded between sine & saw that equipped with a knob for controlling the level of the FM mod input. There is a knob for fading between FM (frequency modulation) or PM (phase modulation) synthesis what could be also an inspiring sound design feature. The synth offers a lowpass filter with an AD enveloper and another AD envelope for controlling the carrier oscillator. It is nice here that relatively simple sounds can be very alienated and can be transformed into something completely new.
Ghost Tones, An Free Virtual Instrument That Never Plays The Note You Want It To
Ghost Tones is a simple synth that takes a MIDI input, so you can play it like a normal synth, but instead of sounding the note you play, it plays two random notes that create a third note that only happens in your ear: the note that you wanted to play. Do a spectrum analysis and you’ll see that it never plays the note you’re playing, but you’ll hear it anyways.
Apparently it’s a phenomena called Otoacoustic Emissions or Combination Tones or the Third Eear (Maryanne Amacher) which tricks your ear into hearing something it isn’t. This technique only works at loud volumes, high frequencies, and if there aren’t other sounds happening. It’s quite sensitive. But, it’s real, it’s fascinating, and it reveals something about how we listen and how our bodies work. And yes, Ghost Tones is free of charge.
Faded Instruments plugins are available now and costs: Blumen und Pflanzen ($19.69), Slimer FM ($9.09), and Ghost Tones is a free download. The plugins are compatible with PC & Mac and run in VST/AU plugin formats.
More information here: FI
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