It’s a big step ahead of modern samplers that only stretch or repitch your samples. It uses artificial intelligence to determine the best settings for a given sound.
AI-Based Synthesis
Using AI technology to expand the capabilities of music production, Synplant 2 is a significant step forward. Combining sampling and synthesis, this plugin introduces new possibilities for producers to explore uncharted sonic territory. This development heralds an era where human creativity and innovative technology work together to reshape the future of music production.
Sampling involves the transformation of recorded sounds into musical instruments. The process is flexible, allowing producers to manipulate sound elements by changing a variety of settings. It also enables producers to play back recordings at different pitches, a feature that is essential in many modern music genres. Synthesis, on the other hand, entails creating sound from basic building blocks such as waves. It can be used to create complex and unique sounds that are impossible to replicate by traditional samplers.
Magnus Lidstrom, the creator of the original 2009 Synplant, explains that the latest version offers new ways to create organic sounds that have a sense of surprise and personality. This is achieved through the software’s DNA view, which displays a range of parameters that can be manipulated to create unpredictable results.
The new Geno Patch feature is especially versatile when working with vocals. By removing specific modulations, it is possible to transform vocal samples into unique pads or atmospheric textures. This flexibility is a huge advance over traditional samplers that can only stretch or repitch recorded audio.
Genetic Approach to Sound Design
Rather than the traditional knob-twisting and adjustment you would expect from a synth, Synplant offers an entirely new way of sculpting sounds. Whether starting from a random seed, an existing patch, or a creation generated using Genopatch, the intuitive DNA Editor allows you to crack open and modify a sound’s underlying genetic code.
Sculpting sound in Synplant works like a tree, with each seed producing its own branch of sound. You can control the sounds produced by each of these branches, with the ability to grow or clone any of them at will. As you grow or clone each branch, the sound can change dramatically, from subtle tweaks to extreme changes as each branch develops a completely different sound.
This means that sculpting sounds in Synplant is very much a matter of listening and responding to what you hear. You can fine-tune the results through the Manipulate Genes feature (accessed by a dedicated button or by right-clicking on a gene helix), which opens a DNA-style window that allows you to get your hands dirty with each of the 37 genes that control the sound.
The controls that appear here are surprisingly comprehensive, ranging from basic parameters like filter and oscillator types to things such as atonality, wheel scaling (which changes the size of the Mod Wheel so you can grow or shrink your sound’s branches at will), velocity sensitivity, and more. As a result, it’s possible to create very complex and varied sounds with Synplant, even if you don’t have any experience with other synths.
Hundreds of Patches Included
In Synplant 2, instead of knob-twisting and dial-adjustment, your ears guide you through a forest of organic textures and evolving timbres. This is a huge leap beyond modern sampling, where you can only stretch or repitch the audio sample.
Genopatch crafts synth patches using AI to find optimal synth settings based on your source audio. As the strands in the user interface sprout and grow, they will generate patches that increasingly match your chosen audio. Sometimes you’ll get a perfect match; other times you will discover something completely new and unexpected.
The resulting patches are highly expressive and musical, providing a fresh new sound to any electronic or acoustic composition. The included preset bank features pads, keys, bells, leads, fx, atmospheres and basses that are ideal for ambient, electronic, cinematic and neoclassical music.
Synplant 2 comes bundled with hundreds of well-designed patches, and more are available for download when you purchase. Also included is a collection of drum patches that were crafted with machine learning from recordings of 10 legendary hardware drum machines. Version 2 also includes a rewritten audio engine, alternative ways to trigger branches (called “genes”), tempo synchronization, automatable genes and more. Eligible owners of Microtonic version 1 can upgrade to Synplant 2 for only $50/EUR.
Easy to use?
Synplant 2 is a synthesizer that moves beyond traditional knob-twisting and dial-adjusting and lets your ears guide you through a forest of organic textures and evolving timbres. The new Genopatch technology in Synplant 2 is a breakthrough for sound design, and it takes a completely different approach to music production by introducing an element of discovery and exploration into the process.
Genopatch works by seeding your chosen audio with genetic code that finds optimal synth settings based on the audio. Depending on the input sample, you can get a perfect match or something totally unexpected. It’s this balance of precision and unpredictability that makes Genopatch a powerful tool for musical experimentation.
The new Genopatch technology in Synplant is not only a breakthrough for sound design, but it’s also incredibly easy to use and maintain. The user interface is intuitive, and the included presets are well-crafted and offer a range of sounds from pads, keys, bells, leads to FX and atmospheres. The inclusion of a layer mode and polyphonic play modes with portamento and tempo sync adds another dimension to the synthesis power, giving you even more sound-design possibilities. The Genopatch engine runs entirely on your computer, so you can make music offline and does not require internet access. Synplant 2 is bundled with hundreds of well-designed presets to help you get started.
The user interface is not everybody’s thing, but probably you need to adjust your workflow a bit, because synplant 2 causes a couple of cognitive breaks. The parameters are difficult to reach, for instance. But for “just” around150 bucks you get a decent source of inspiration for your tracks.
