AudioKit Pro has released Viral Synth 2, a major free update for the virtual analog synth for iPhone, iPad, and AUv3 hosts.
New in Viral Synth 2:
2x Oversampled Oscillators – Saw, Sine, Triangle, Square, and PWM oscillators are now 2x oversampled for bigger lows, cleaner highs, and a more polished sound.
Two Modern VA Filters T-12 and T-24: two new modern virtual analog filters with smooth self-resonance.
Snappier Filter Envelopes & Improved Filter Key-tracking – The new T-12 and T-24 filters respond with tighter, punchier envelopes.
Microtonal support – 150+ curated microtonal scales, including North Indian scales, Hexanies, and scales by Irv Wilson, Marcus Hobbs, and more.
World scales – Explore 60+ international scales with selectable root keys. Choose from Arabic, Egyptian, Eastern, and other world scales, then pick the base key that fits your song.
Western Key & Scale Support – Choose a key like C minor, Bb, F minor, and more. Select from Major, Minor, Blues, Pentatonic, and other familiar scales. This lets you keep your arps, sequences, and external MIDI locked to a Western or World scale, or go fully microtonal.
Viral Synth 2 is available now for $4.99 USD. It’s a free upgrade for existing users.
At WWDC 2026, Apple introduced the Music Understanding framework, an on-device audio analysis tool for Apple platforms.
It allows apps to process audio and extract detailed, time-stamped information across six core musical dimensions: rhythm, key, loudness, pace, structure, and instrument activity:
Analyze Rhythm: Detects beat positions, bar boundaries, and tempo in beats per minute (BPM).
Key: Identifies the musical key (tonic and mode) over specific time ranges.
Loudness: Measures perceptual loudness (integrated, short-term, momentary, and peak) matching industry standards.
Pace: Measures the perceived energy and momentum as events-per-minute, independent of the fixed tempo.
Structure: Breaks down songs into structural sections, segments, and phrases.
Instrument Activity: Identifies which instruments are playing and exactly when they are active.
