Applied Acoustics Systems has announced the release of Chromaphone, a new creative percussion synthesizer for Mac OS X and Windows.

Chromaphone combines acoustic resonators to create drums, percussion, mallet, string, and synth-like instruments. Drum skins, bars, marimbas, plates, strings and tubes form pairs that are sparked to life by a configurable mallet and a flexible noise source. At the heart of Chromaphone lies a novel coupling technology that precisely models how vibrating objects interact and influence each other capturing key acoustic behaviours of musical instruments. This, combined with access to the resonators' physical properties, results in a library of truly expressive instruments as well as a vast range of sonic colors.

"This new resonator coupling technology we are introducing in Chromaphone brings our physical modeling platform to a whole new level," said Philippe Derogis, CTO of Applied Acoustics Systems, "Musical instruments are made from combinations of interacting mechanical objects and coupling allows us to take into account this complex dynamics with great acoustic precision and sharpness. It has been really exciting and rewarding to see how our partner sound designers took advantage of these new synthesis possibilities and put together a creative library of vivid sounds that feature the richness and presence of real-life instruments."

Pricing & Availability

Chromaphone is available now. The suggested retail price is set at $199, but until December 5th, 2011, Chromaphone is available at the special introductory price of $169.

Chromaphone runs on both Mac OS X and Windows in host sequencers supporting the VST and Audio Units plug-in formats.