Native Instruments drops Absynth from its product line: Native Instruments Absynth Is Dead, But Its Ideas Live On, says creator Brian Clevinger
Absynth had a remarkable 22-year run. Released in 2000 by independent software developer Rhizomatic, Absynth quickly caught the attention of not only in-the-know Mac music makers but also Native Instruments. Absynth has been distributed by Native Instruments since 2001, and brought it to the masses.
Absynth went on to become one of the soft synth success stories of the next decade, and was frequently hailed as one of the best instruments around. The soft synth was in need of an update, though, since the most recent version was introduced in 2009.
Absynth had a remarkable 22-year run. Originally introduced by developer Brian Clevinger’s Rhizomatic Software in 2000, Absynth has been distributed by Native Instruments since 2001. The soft synth was in need of an update, though, since the most recent version was introduced in 2009.
Native Instruments has quietly removed Absynth – the ground-breaking semi-modular software synthesizer – from its lineup.
Now, the company has launches Komplete 14, its latest bundle, and Absynth is missing in action. Existing links to Absynth 5, the latest version of the synth, now redirect to the main catalogue page on NI website.
“I don’t know if it will be possible to continue Absynth outside of NI,” notes Clevinger. “But I want Absynth’s unique features to remain available to musicians. For years I’ve had major plans for Absynth, and although this is a disappointing turn of events, these ideas could manifest as new stuff from Rhizomatic. So stay tuned!”
On a more conciliatory note, he goes on to say: “Regarding NI, I’m grateful that they’ve kept Absynth in their product line for so long.” Clevinger goes on to recognise that, without the German software giant, Absynth would never have reached the wider audience it deserved.
Absynth was one of the first real ‘power synths’, and one of the few plugin instruments from the early 2000s to still be around today.
Clevinger says that, even if this is the end for Absynth – and, who knows, it might not be – he hopes to keep some of its unique features and ideas alive in future Rhizomatic plugins.
Native Instruments hasn’t said anything about the demise of Absynth, but Clevinger shared the above statement via Youtube.
In fact, the company already has one instrument Plasmonic, available now. Plasmonic available for $149/€149 on the Rhizomatic website.
Fans of Absynth may want to take a look at Clevinger’s Plasmonic. While a very different synth, it also features deep modulation, plus support for recent technologies like MPE:
Check out Clevinger‘s statement and share your thoughts on Absynth, and it’s demise!
via Brian Clevinger, Angelos Dorizas
