Fathom Synth Development Thread

[zzz00m]

Some of the presets were made on my super system using Ableton (which is highly efficient) and you can easily simplify them within range of your system without hurting the quality at all. For instance in a very complex patch if one of the oscillators is using 5 detune voices instead of 2 you can change it back to 2 without it making any real difference in sound.

Top priority in 2019 is handling the CPU.

Don't take it personal! I get the same result with Diva in "Divine" mode with 16 voices!

I have Ableton Live and also a couple other DAWs, and the particular DAW doesn't seem to be a big factor with synth CPU usage on my rig. I agree that Live is probably the most glitch free from a host perspective though.

My CPU is getting a bit dated, and so it's probably time to update it soon to take advantage of the more powerful software we have today!

[Rumdrum]

Glad to see it will reach CM. Congrats! Great mag BTW. I would also like to mention that Fathom was shortly presented in John "Skippy" Lehmkuhls (Plugin Guru) video livecast end of May last year. The livecast can still be obtained from his website for those interested.

As mentioned I hold Fathom as the second best synth I have, after Omnisphere. It is above things like Zebra, Serum, Dune, Massive ..... just to mention a few. I really like the Interface and the modular build of sound. If Fathom gets to handle the CPU right, it will be even more awsome.

[SparkySpark]

CM - fantastic news! Congratulations - well deserved. I think Fathom is the best-sounding synth I've ever heard.

[FathomSynth]

Many thanks for the comments. There are some great quotes there for the web site.

You're right about Omnisphere, still the best sounding synth ever made. I still use that synth for my own stuff. Technically I guess Spectrasonics is a competitor, but they are one of the last great American music tech companies left, so part of me hopes that they remain at the very top of the heap.

I also have to admit though that U-HE's Diva is next on my list to download and try.

I also agree about Computer Music. I started reading CM cover to cover after they noticed Fathom. I like the fact they are split between reviews and real world expert tutorials. It actually sort of boggles the mind how they are able to find and organize all that information every month.

Also, I've started work on Fathom 3.0. This will include GPU CUDA processing and a complete reorganization of the oscillators.

Oscillators will be re-organized in the sense that all the individual oscillator features will be applicable to all oscillators. This includes: Shift, Expand, Ripple, Impulse, Odd/Even Harmonics, Skip Cycle, etc. Currently these are features which apply to the oscillator you select. But in the future all these options will apply globally to any oscillator.

Backwards compatibility will be maintained in the sense that you can still select individual oscillators of the existing types, and the parameters will be set to invoke that oscillator to start with. But the underlying object will be the same for all oscillators and include all possible parameters, so you will be able to have complete freedom to morph and modulate between any of the oscillator types in real time. The exception is the wave table, which may still be a separate animal, haven't quite decided that yet.

Additionally Skip Cycle will be implemented for all the oscillator types which means for instance you can invoke the impulse or frequency pulse oscillator every second, third or fourth cycle. There are also going to be massive new features in phase doubling and distortion.

Also, like I said before, the big feature here will be real time spectral morphing made possible with the GPU processing. If my GPU plan works out you will be able to assign a random noise source to both the amplitude and frequency of each individual partial or range of partials creating a type of orchestral cloud of sound which detuning alone can not emulate.

I've been wanting to do these changes for ages and have finally set aside the time.

I will try to make sure that the Serum wave tables can be loaded in the next release.

I have also been experimenting with a new type of random noise which uses the selected waveform itself rather than a sin wave or random signal. This creates a massive but gradual dispersion of the waveform which is impossible to describe in words but simply sounds like an old analog circuit board.

[willsavino]

Oscillators will be re-organized in the sense that all the individual oscillator features will be applicable to all oscillators. This includes: Shift, Expand, Ripple, Impulse, Odd/Even Harmonics, Skip Cycle, etc.

Oh my god, that would be so useful. Didn't even realize that was a feature I wanted until I read this. So much flexibility!

[FathomSynth]

Thanks.

[FathomSynth]

My triple monitor Dell U2415 UltraSharps arrived yesterday, in case anyone is interested to see where Fathom is developed, this is where it all happens.

fathom computer.jpg

[Frantz]

My triple monitor Dell U2415 UltraSharps arrived yesterday, in case anyone is interested to see where Fathom is developed, this is where it all happens.

I see you have an important coding aid -- multiple cans of Heineken.

[Sinthoid]

How appropriate that the desktop background is space, as you're developing a space age synth on it.

[SparkySpark]

Wow. Just wow. What a cool setup! I'd spend my time drinking in front of these beauties too.

[CHOOS]

SWEET!!!

[provoc]

Nice! .. would be cool to see a shot with your dev tools running to see how you spread the various windows across monitors

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

........wow!! That blue looks great with the dark room. Need a comfy chair for sure.

[Tj Shredder]

And don‘t forget to see enough of the day light...

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

A short video on the bezier functanality in Fathom.




sameless plug included.