So there's been a lack of updates here recently, only because I've been very busy putting the finishing touches on my new synth, Phonec. It's all coming along very nicely.

I took a good break from developing it a few weeks ago and used the beta version in Ableton Live to make a full piece of music using several instances of Phonec. Doing this allowed me to get a different perspective of the features on this synth. I think a lot of times we developers make a plugin based on a concept, but we don't think so much about the workflow, like making sure all of the features are actually going to be used in music production rather than just flashy gimmicks. I notice that a lot of synths have features that might seem cool at first, but they never actually get used. So I think using the beta in an actual production made me realize what should stay and what should go. And also what needs improvment. I think I accomplished this quite well, and I believe Phonec is now a solid synth that will be a very usable tool with a unique sound.

So I'm setting a release date for Mid-August. And I will try to keep you all up to date in the meantime.

Below is the track I was referring to above. This track features 5 instances of Phonec for all the synth parts and Cerebrum for drums.

http://soundcloud.com/phonogeist/habitats
Last edited by jack [psychicmodulation] on Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:34 am; edited 1 time in total

I suppose this introduction was a bit vague, so I should probably explain a little about what Phonec is and what it does.

Phonec is an analog synth with a particular sound in mind. I got the inspiration from watching old 1980s VHS logos. You know the ones that flash across the screen before a movie. Alot of these had short analogue synth scores, but the fact that most of these were on VHS tape, which if watched today would be a very worn out VHS tape, gave that unstable synth sound an even more bizarre character. In fact I love this sound, and it's the main inspiration behind the initial concept of Phonec.

However, during development, this concept grew into much more than trying to recreate strange nostalgic sounds from my childhood, it became a really usable synth. Very programmable, with some interesting features uncommon in alot of VAs.

A breif rundown of some main features:

The oscillator section is quite simple, with standard functions, but there's an oscillator 'combination' feature that allows the waveforms to be mixed, synced and routed together in weird ways. The oscillators can also 'drift', producing an unstable 'analog' sound.

The Arpeggiator and Sequencer can work separately, but work together quite nicely. The Sequencer can act as an accompaniment to the Arp. It's got two simple 8-step gate sequencers, one for pitch and one for filter/amp. These basically act as accents to pitch or filter, or as a volume gate. All of which works well to accompany an arppegiated synthline without overwhelming it.

The Modulation section is very flexible and includes 3 LFOs, an HFO, and 2 envelopes. The HFO, or High Frequency Oscillator, can be used as an FM oscillator for producing bell tones, but can also modulate pitch.

The Echoshifter is a delay unit with a subtle pitch shifting function. The delays can be detuned and buffered to give you a strange, dissonant effect.

And finally the Melt function. This knob in the bottom right corner is linked to the modwheel, to make it an expressive effect. This knob produces a sound remeniscant of what I described earlier on those old VHS tapes. It can be thought of as running the synth through a worn out cassette simply by moving the modwheel. There's also a secret panel that can be opened up to reveal some small controls for adjusting the overall effect, and how extreme or subtle it can be. But keep in mind, this isnt meant to make your synthlines sound like crap, it's meant to add character. Subtlety is the key.

There's a couple more cool features I should mention also. Phonec's controls have the ability to be reset to default values by double-clicking them, and if you look at the screenshot, there's a numerical display at the very bottom. This is a universal display that will show the current value of whatever control you are tweaking, and it can be edited as well.

I hope this explains things. If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Nice new look skins. I also liked the old stuff from you, specially Aethereal.

The Demo sounds amazing and dense. Lovely.

Questions.

How many waveforms to select?
What about CPU? It is very intensive?
It will be free? Or there will be a lite version for free?

Have a good day, Jack

There are 5 basic waveforms: sine, triangle, soft ramp saw and square. However the waveforms can be combined in various ways. There is also a noise generator as a separate oscillator, as well as a sub oscillator for fattening up the overall sound.

The CPU is pretty low, not intensive at all.

I won't be freeware, but won't be very expensive. I'm talking the $30-$50 price range. I might do an introductory offer for an even lower price.

I'm not sure if I'll do a lite version, but I'll consider it.

Thanks for your interest.

How far can the Echoshifter detune, a whole step, a whole octave, 2 octaves ? Oh, and what are *T* and *V* on the Amp controls ? I'm guessing aftertouch for *T*, and velocity for the *V* maybe.

The demo tune sounded pretty cool, like very subtleyishlly old skool, but not like copied old school, just like some lost master tape from 1988 or something.

Thanks for your time Jack.
And just as a suggestion, maybe you could consider to make that lite version for KVR DC2012. What do you think?

Have a good day

The Echoshifter detunes 1 whole step up or down, while the delay buffer adjusts the time that the delay hits, which can create interesting effects.

'T' stands for 'Time', which increases or decreases the overall envelope time. So you can get really long attacks or ultra sharp bit sounds.

'V' is for 'Velocity'.

I'm glad you liked the demo track

I'm actually already planning something for DC12, but thanks for the idea