Audiokit Saga Synth is a new fun AUv3 Synthesizer for iOS that lets you build retro gaming sounds as fast as Sonic The Hedgehog runs.
The iOS music app market is constantly growing. A fascinating project that is super closely to the mobile music making community is Audio Kit Pro. An open-source development environment initiated by Matthew Fecher allowing you to build new apps with ready-made blocks.
In 2022, many exciting apps powered by AudioKits environment have hit the market. Among other things, the sequencer apps by Cem Olcay or their own apps like the VHS Synth. With Saga Synth, we welcome another new Synthesizer app from the AudioKit developers.
Audiokit Saga Synth
In May 2022, the lovely VHS Synth ushered us into the warm, lo-fi “cheezy” sounds of the 80s. In Saga Synth, we can explore the sounds from the 16-bit gaming console area.
It’s however, more than just another chiptune-oriented synth. AudioKit promises an instrument that is capable to create expressive pads, sound fx, drums, leads, and more.
For Saga Synth, the developers have used all-new code for the first time. There may still be bugs at the beginning, says AudioKit. The core hosts a sample-based engine packed with sound content (150 MB compressed) created from 5 different vintage hardware YM2616 sound chips. With this they want to guarantee that a wide range of sounds is covered.
A Saga patch consists of two sound layers, which can be exchanged at will. For each layer, you can adjust the level, tune, fine-tune, and pan. Plus, you can mix both layers together and have dedicated ADSR envelopes with a link function.
Sound Shaping And Sequencing
Then, you shape both layers at the same time with a wide range of effects. On the one hand, you find a circuit processor with sounds like a bitcrusher effect, a filter with resonance, a sonic enhancer, a reverb with size/lowpass, autopan, and a tremolo on the landing page.
On a dedicated page, you can also work with a chip phaser, chip flangaer, a stereo delay, and a harmonic filter with a docked ADSR envelope generator. And for the first time, there is also a built-in free-running 16-step sequencer that can produce the classic 16-bit rhythmic sounds in seconds. It has controls over the division, gate step amount and destination.
Further, AudioKit ships the app with over 350+ professionally created presets from best-known mobile musicians:
MobyPixel, Electronisounds, Red Sky Lullaby, Gavinski, The GarageBand Guide, DJ Puzzle, The Audio Dabbler, Sound of Izrael, Marc Hupkens, AnalogMatthew, Brian Funk, Shazaam the Producer and more.
SAGA Synths runs as a standalone app but also as an AUv3 plugin in your favorite DAW or host. This has the major advantage that you can also use multiple instances of the synth in your production. Also onboard is:
- built-in audio recorder with wav file export
- full MIDI support
- Ableton Link
- …
A super fun Synthesizer with which you can build great sounding retro gaming sounds without much Synthesizer sounds. This is about having fun making music less about diving deep into the sound design process. A lovely new Audiokit app with great sound to start with, even at a very reasonable price during the introductory period.
AudioKit SAGA Synth is available now for a limited for $2,99 USD instead of $14,99 USD. Plus, you get all 350+ presets for free. The app requires iOS 14+ and runs as a universal app on iPhone and iPad.
More information here: AppStore
I got it. There are plenty of presets that made me smile. Definitely worth $3.
What a Wonder!