FX-Mechanics MechanOdd is a free polyphonic physical modeling Synthesizer for macOS, Linux, and Windows with flexible feedback routing.
Two weeks ago, Phase Fiasco released Annulus, a free physical-modeling Synthesizer based on the Mutable Instruments Rings algorithm. A great gift for free plugin fans.
Today, French developer Oliver Doaré, aka FX-Mechanics, has released MechanOdd, another free physical modeling Synthesizer plugin.
FX-Mechanics MechanOdd
MechanOdd is a new free, open-source 8-voice polyphonic physical-modeling Synthesizer plugin for macOS, Linux, and Windows. According to FX-Mechanics, MechanOdd is built with JUCE.
Like traditional PM synth, it uses exciters and resonators. It’s not quite as classic as it seems, since you can do quite a bit of signal routing. Each of the eight voices runs its own set of sources, per-voice resonators, and a modulation engine.
MechanOdd is built around the idea that interesting timbres arise from the interaction between excitation signals and resonant structures, rather than from either alone.
Deep Dive Into The Exciter Resonator Relationships
The exciters or sources generate the raw signals here. You can choose between noise bursts, wavetable oscillators, and crackling textures. They are tweakable with various parameters, such as tune, a dedicated ADSR envelope, velocity, and a filter per source for shaping.
These excite various physical objects, the resonators, thereby generating sound. The resonator menu includes a vibrating string, a struck plate, a drum membrane, and a stiff beam.
A second tier of global resonators receives the summed output of all voices and processes it once per audio block, suitable for room-scale resonances shared across notes.
The built-in feedback matrix allows you to delve deeper into physical modeling. It lets resonators feed back into each other and into the sources, creating coupled systems with complex emergent behavior.
A modulation engine with various multi-wave LFOs and per-voice ADSR envelopes brings animation into your sounds. On a dedicated UI page, you can easily assign modulators to parameters
In the final stage of the signal path, FX-Mechanics MechanOdd offers a multi-FX processor with feature-rich reverb, delay, EQ, saturation, and cabinet simulation. Each comes with a nice range of parameters.
It’s a bit of a shame that there’s no preset browser or ready-made sounds.
First Impression
At first glance, an intriguing and powerful physical modeling Synthesizer that you can get for free. There are still a few things that could be improved, like a preset browser, but otherwise it’s a nice release.
FX-Mechanics MechanOdd is available now as a free download on GitHub. It runs as a VST3 and AU plugin on macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel), Linux, and Windows.
More information here: FX-Mechanics / GitHub
There’s no demo video, but I’m testing it right now and I have to say this is forth exploring. But you have to enable the source, the resonator and feed one into another in the matrix view to get some sound.