Here at Silicon Antiques we think about sound. A lot.
We're also pretty bored of using digital code to model analog hardware.
Free for macOS as AU, VST3 and Standalone. One form, three synths; we email you the links.
When we design sounds, the synthesis method behind the voices has a major influence on the sound itself. But so does the interface we interact with.
Some of the magick and wonder of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop was conjured via physical arrangements that, whilst on a clear journey to instrumenthood, had yet to be fully realised.
The pin matrix is a classic analog interface. Maybe the classic analog interface. Many older enthusiasts grew up visualising patches that way, and many younger explorers are returning to x/y patching to help visualise complex intermodulation relationships.
So we brought all of these wonderful opportunities for interaction to our instruments.
But we are not pretending they are analog. They are proudly digital. If you want analog sounds, use analog gear!
What we are about is building digital instruments, with the sound engines that digital does best, behind interfaces that recall the classic synths of the 60s and 70s. We have three synths: an FM one, a Karplus-Strong one and a wavetable one. These are the places where digital shines.
Mellt, Tant and Tonnau are thought experiments baked into life with engineering.
And we've pushed the opportunity that gives us.
One thing digital does better than analog is supporting huge modulation complexity: 2,299 pins on Mellt, and two complete pin sets you can morph between on Tant and Tonnau. People who know their way around a pin matrix also find FM, in particular, far easier to picture as a matrix than through a DX7's parameter slider.
Every envelope switches through six modes, from AD to that trapezoid, and each phase of each shape can be synced to tempo individually. Mellt adds eleven LFOs. Tant and Tonnau don't need any: a looping trapezoid does the job, and on Tonnau any oscillator can run at LFO rate.
In the two synths with built-in effects, eighteen effect controls are matrix destinations, so the effects are deeply integrated into the sound design process rather than bolted on after it.
The limiter, flanger, delay and reverb all look ahead, which makes effects possible that analog can't do. LIVE mode removes the latency while you play; switch it off and the plug-in reports its delay to your DAW.
Digital technology has evolved over the whole life of digital synthesis. Era starts at today's technology and dials back through earlier eras, so you dial in a sound, then dial in the era whose version of it you like best.
Each synth has an Input and a Sidechain bus feeding three envelope followers, so the kick drum can play the synth. On Tant and Tonnau the same inputs feed Ext In: your audio as a modulation source, or as the thing that plucks the string.
Each one is named in Welsh after the sound it makes. macOS. AU, VST3 and Standalone.
FM synthesis
mellt · lightning
7 operators · 23 voices · 12 algorithms · 2,299 pins
FM made hands-on. Operator routing is shown on a pin board, so you choose an algorithm by reaching for the connection you want, not by number. Every operator reads a wavetable.
Karplus-Strong string synthesis
tant · harp string
23 strings · 2 filters per voice · 6 effects · A/B matrix
Plucked and struck strings from one of digital synthesis's most elegant tricks. Pluck it with a noise burst or your own audio. Six effects, with their controls in the matrix.
Wavetable synthesis
tonnau · waves
3 oscillators · 16 voices · Era per oscillator · 6 effects
Wavetables with Sync, Bend, Mirror and FM warps, an Era control that scrolls back through the past, and any oscillator able to become an LFO.
| Feature | Mellt FM-1 | Tant KS-2 | Tonnau WT-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | 7-operator FM, each operator reads a wavetable | Karplus-Strong string, noise or external-audio exciter | 3 wavetable oscillators plus noise, 4 warps |
| Voices | 23 | 23 | 16 |
| Filters | None on the audio path; one per follower | 2 per voice, 5 types, Filter Era | 2 per voice, 5 types, Filter Era |
| Envelopes | 11 (7 operator + 4 modulation) | 4, six modes | 4, six modes |
| LFOs | 11 | None: looping trapezoids | None: looping trapezoids, or an oscillator at LFO rate |
| Era | — | Filter Era | Per oscillator, global offset, Filter Era |
| Effects | None, no latency | 6, look-ahead, LIVE mode | 6, look-ahead, LIVE mode |
| Matrix | 21 × 111, 2,299 pins, all automatable | 22 × 81, two sets, A/B morph | 23 × 93, two sets, A/B morph |
| Presets | 15 | 28 | 27 |
| Price | Free | Free | Free |
Mellt FM-1, Tant KS-2 and Tonnau WT-3, free for macOS as AU, VST3 and Standalone. Tell us which you want and we'll email you the links.