Something interesting is happening in software synthesizer design: after years of trying to boast more of ingredient “xx” (whether it’s modulation, eight-zillion-point envelopes or other whiz-bang features), the new challenge is to make the user experience itself different. The challenge: don’t just do more sonically — make it easier to actually make music. I’ve personally been a big fan of the elegant tabs in Cakewalk’s Rapture, the minimalist aesthetic of Ableton’s Operator, and the drag-and-drop routing in Native Instruments’ Massive. Now, could one instrument really leap forward in terms of guiding its design?
Circle is one of the most ambitious soft synth designs I’ve seen yet. Its core features read like a wish list for what a modern soft synth would do:
- On-screen routing designed for the computer screen, with color-coded circles, drag-and-drop, previews — and no silly virtual cables. (Sorry, Propellerhead.)
- OpenSoundControl support for the Monome, Lemur, Wacom tablets, whatever you’ve got — along wih easy MIDI learn.
- “Live performance”-optimized UI — actually very much a kindrid spirit with tools like Ableton Live or FL Studio in design aesthetic, workflow, and accessibility, but in a synth — just the thing if you’ve felt a gap between the sequencing workflow and the synth / sound design working method. And you can even swap presets with an Apple Remote if you’ve got one.
- Easy sound design (more on this soon)
The sound engine itself is a good survey of the kind of tools you might want, with a mix of analog- and digital-style waveforms and modulation, but plenty of oddball wave shapes and modulation and effects thrown in, too.
What I like best about developer Future Audio Workshop’s approach: rather than be the most powerful or the most sonically unusual or the most feature-laden instrument, they want you to achieve a sense of creative “flow.”
But I really can’t talk about the instrument very well as a result — have a look at the demo videos, and I think you’ll be as intrigued as I am. (I’ve been working a little bit with an early build, and really like it a lot.)
Future Audio Workshop (skip to the videos, really)
Mac / Windows (Intel, Vista, AU, VST, RTAS)
Pricing TBD (but expecting a fairly reasonable price point); available soon
Stay tuned, as I’ll be making some music with this software over the coming days and want to report back in more detail — particularly when it comes to evolving OSC connectivity for hardware like the Monome (and software connectivity, too, naturally — would be great to couple this with Reaktor, for instance).
If you’re at Musikmesse in Frankfurt, stop by and say hi to the developers. They’re also keeping a Flickr stream of the new goodies at the show — not just theirs. Hope they’re able to break away from the booth and look around.
one look at the interface
and my mouth began watering…
Looks promising.
Why do so few audio software developers put their names/bios up on their websites? I see no names up there at all.
Personally, I like knowing who is behind the software I buy/use.
I love it!
Peter, I just checked the vids out. Wow man, wow. Thanks for the heads up on this beautiful synth. The Modulation preview alone had me floored. Peas to you.
this is awesome. will it be long until this comes out? i want this..like now lol
If you like what you see here, you should definitely take a look at Alphakanal's Automat. It's Mac only, free though and has an excellent sound and a pretty straight forward way to making sounds. Looks difficult in the beginning but is very easy to handle after you got used to it;)
I could really use this right now. I've preeety much exhausted all my plug-ins. I'm in need of a few curve ball plug-ins for the toolbox…This gives me inspiration by just looking at it…Whens the release date?
-iTunes, eat your heart out…
http://myspace.com/soundbeastdigital
Ok, so you know how Live has two samplers: Simpler and Sampler. See, I consider Operator, in all its minimal delight, comparative to Simpler. Therefore, we need a new integrated synth in ableton that has a semi modular design capable of emulating various other synths. Ableton contracted AAS for their new live 7 instruments, so why cant they do the same for this company? I don't know, this product is young but I think it has the potential to be the next big thing.
cool.
hey Cody,
no they just need an "expert" modulation matrix on Operator that could expand upwards like the spectrum plugin. everything in the synth is great, it just needs more > more mod routing more lfo etc. no need for another one!
Nice, the future of the soft synth world starts here would be my initial impressions.
Very nice GUI, very inspiring.
The solution of all our problems is here:
http://www.aqi.co.jp/product/ds10/en/index.html
[…] there just was a nice posting about Circle on Create Digital Music – thanks for that! Posted in Circle, FAW company […]
um, my interest is piqued.
Interesting, this was built with Julian Raw Material {developer of the Tracktion sequencer}'s . Cool to see stuff being done with that.
That said, I don't see what's particularly winning about this synth's interface yet, though the click and drag's nice.
Arg, I never get tags right here.
JUCE
Screw it. Is there no way to preview a post on CDM?
@Steve: Happy to let you get to know the developers; I've been talking to them, and they're all CDM readers. I sort of whipped this up in a hurry in the Continental lounge in Austin. 😉 But I agree — I like to get to know the people developing the tools. I'd say that's equally important at the big devs, too, when the individual personalities tend to get obscured by the Corporate Brand.
@Niall: I swear we'll implement this one day. Last month we did a bunch of behind-the-scenes template cleaning and server fixes, so that makes it easier to work on now…
[…] Link via CDM […]
I had a look at this earlier, and I really like it. The website's a bit short on details at the moment, so I'll patiently wait for the demo, but the large interface (finally!) and overal seemingly ease of use have me quite excited already.
Peter, you mention using OSC with a wacom, how would you go about doing this? I was under the impression you needed something like max/msp to make use of that, or is there an easier solution? I hate to have my tablets sitting by idly while I'm doing audio.
Actually, the same goes for my gamepad/joystick, but that's another story…
Ah, sorry — I mean, using another app to translate hardware input into OSC. Only Monome, Lemur etc. actually send OSC currently. But that still means that OSC is more useful with a lot of gamepads, Wacom tablets, etc., than having to translate those inputs to MIDI, which often doesn't make sense in terms of messages and resolution.
@ Jon Silva — thanks for the link to Automat…its spare design looks both pretty powerful and simple to use. I'm all over it.
Circle looks nice too…
very cool.
credit where it's due, though… : FabFilter has been doing the drag/drop mod routing for a few years, now.
http://www.fabfilter.com/products/twin.php
love the interface. i think Zebra has it beat by miles under the hood, but i will definitely take the demo for a spin when it comes out. man, did i mention i love the interface?
Later that day day…having downloaded Automat and taken it for a spin (both v. 1.0b & 0.4.2), it's a lot of fun, but it isn't standalone — AU plug-in only. Seems to perform like a serious road-hog in Live, by my trial anyway…neither able nor willing to allow for other instruments to be loaded anywhere near it. A drunk road-hog too: crashes Live often. To their credit, the makers do admit its not fully road-tested or worthy. Probably best for non-Live, and slower, recording methods. Still, it's sleek, sounds amazing, and free.
@fiz, i agree, its a nice plug but god is it a hog on the cpu and a live crasher.
It's refreshing to see a softsynth where the emphasis is on interface design and workflow. It's also refreshing to see a commercial product embracing the OSC protocol from the outset. This is definitely a step in the right direction, but for me it's just the starting point in terms of what an audio UI could be…
@Wes — Good to get your confirmation. Seems to be precious little user feedback on the 'nets. Also, fwiw, this a.m. I gave it a whirl on Logic 8, and there the zen-like Automat seems to really shine. Looks good, feels good, sounds good, didn't crash at all, even while runningmultiple tracks at once…and wow, its noiZe quality really is impressive.
I like the GUI.
My biggest concern is how it will sound. Will it at least compare to or exceed these, soundwise: GForce, WayOutWare, u-he? Most other companies start from a generic template: these few code from the ground up. That's why their respective pure unfiltered waveforms sound so damn good .
[…] I had the opportunity to visit Future Audio Workshop’s office in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland to have a chat with Gavin Burke about their upcoming synth, Circle. While instrument design is a collaborative process for FAW, Gavin’s area of expertise is in Signal Processing algorithms. I wanted to talk to FAW to find out some more about how the synth came to be, the company’s ethos, and the inclusion of OSC. What I got was a fascinating insight into the world of softsynth design and a sense that a shift may be about to occur in this area. If you haven’t heard of Circle check out CDM’s preview. […]
VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT
[…] been lucky enough to break the story of Circle, a new soft synth with a creative user interface, and to take you behind the scenes of its creators […]
[…] been lucky enough to break the story of Circle, a new soft synth with a creative user interface, and to take you behind the scenes of its creators […]
The UI is so clean! I can't wait to get my hands on this.
fyi, audiocubes also support OSC (see blog.percussa.com)
This is way after the fact, but let me say… Circle sounds and works great. One of the best apps I have on my system.
[…] CDM Posted 05-22-08 » […]