Synplant is back, Version 2 Enables You Create Synth Patches From Samples Using Artificial Intelligence
Synplant is back, and version 2 uses AI to grow sounds based on any audio file you feed it. And it looks, blooming marvellous.
Sonic Charge has announced that – after a decade of development – Synplant 2 is now available.
When the original Synplant arrived, back in 2008, it emboldened a whole generation of green-fingered synthesists to create new sounds by ‘growing’ rather than programming them.
Having spent a considerable amount of time in the development polytunnel, we can now finally get our hands on version 2. And the horticultural soft synth has blossomed into something even more impressive.
Synplant 2 is a major update that introduces ‘Genopatch’ technology, which lets you create synth patches based on audio source samples. Import a file and Synplant 2 will gradually start to synthesize a sound (there’s no sampling involved) that gets ever closer to resembling your original file.
It’s this element of unpredictability that could be Synplant 2’s biggest strength. This is an instrument that puts the emphasis on “exploration and discovery”.
It also features a vastly improved synth engine, a new DNA editor, alternative ways to trigger branches, tempo synchronization, automatable genes, and more.
However, if you want to grab your sonic shovel and dig deeper into a sound – whether it be derived from a random ‘seed’, a preset or a Genopatch – you can do so via the new DNA Editor, which offers more familiar features such as envelopes, oscillator types and filters. The settings for these are represented graphically.
Synplant’s familiar main interface remains intact. This enables you to grow sounds from seeds and play variations on them via different MIDI notes and velocities, and you can also layer them up. You can switch between polyphonic and monophonic play modes and apply portamento, tempo sync and more.
New in Synplant 2:
- Genopatch crafts synth patches from audio recordings, using AI to find optimal synth settings, based on your source sample. As the strands in the user interface sprout and grow, they generate patches that increasingly match the chosen audio.
- Rewritten audio engine with new parameters (“genes”) and improved DSP algorithms for every part of the signal chain.
- New DNA editor with a structured parameter layout and animating graphs of the various settings. You can automate and control all genes with MIDI CC.
- New “bulb modes” give you alternative ways to trigger the different branches: velocities, different ranges over the keyboard, and a “layered” mode that triggers multiple branches simultaneously.
- New performance features, such as support for mono patches, glide/portamento, and tempo sync that synchronize any rhythmic components of the sound to the host tempo.
- Instead of growing all branches, the mod-wheel can easily be reassigned to control various standard destinations, such as filter cutoff, LFO amount, envelope time, and more.
- Rudimentary MPE support with per-channel mod-wheel, pitch-bend, and pressure.
- Extendible and moddable with Javascript support, skins, etc., just like Microtonic.
Synplant 2 is available now for Mac and Windows for $149, while users of version 1 can upgrade for $50. Find out more and grab a three-week trial version on the Sonic Charge website.
