Madrona Labs Sumu

[Borbolactic]

Trying the demo now. CPU is not that bad for me (M1Max) - it is playable anyway. I don't intend to stack lots of instances. I do like the sound but for an additive I would really like to have more hands-on manipulation of partials, it could do with a partials editor so you can draw the sound shapes you want instead of having to rely on importing resynthesised sounds.

Any morphing between two or more different sounds? Perhaps that's sort of what FM does, yes?

[aMUSEd]

I don't believe so

[WasteLand]

I really wanted to like this synth. I just can’t anything musical out of it. On paper it sounds great, but in practice… None of the demos I’ve heard or watched sound useful, either. Maybe sfx for sci-fi movies.

Edit: of the useable sounds I’ve heard people get out of it, they could easily be mimicked by dozens of other synths with 1/4 the cpu usage.

I had the same opinion as you at first and didn't buy it but I caved and eventually did and now that I've put the time in I think it's one of the best soft synths of the last 10 years or so.

The key to getting more musical things out of it while taking advantage of its features is all in what you choose as partials...

I'd like to ask you or whoever is reading this something I thought about that might be limiting my enthusiasm for Sumu so far and from what I'm hearing on YT for example: It usually sounds somehow thin. It sounds, at least to my ears, like a synth that's only running on one oscillator and without any detuned or sub-oscillator. Do you know what I mean?

How does/can one thicken sounds in it, besides using effects like chorus, spacial or reverb? Can sounds be layered and then detuned?

many here can explain it better, but there are 64 oscillators.... and they all do FM or AM, your choice. also the space module (....) has 64 audio paths so to say.

how deep it can go, it depends on the source, if it contains deep/low sounds of course. i made a preset, and it became the basis of a track, that has quite some lows in it. albeit augmented with a reverb... it can go deep.

[kraster]

I really wanted to like this synth. I just can’t anything musical out of it. On paper it sounds great, but in practice… None of the demos I’ve heard or watched sound useful, either. Maybe sfx for sci-fi movies.

Edit: of the useable sounds I’ve heard people get out of it, they could easily be mimicked by dozens of other synths with 1/4 the cpu usage.

I had the same opinion as you at first and didn't buy it but I caved and eventually did and now that I've put the time in I think it's one of the best soft synths of the last 10 years or so.

The key to getting more musical things out of it while taking advantage of its features is all in what you choose as partials...

I'd like to ask you or whoever is reading this something I thought about that might be limiting my enthusiasm for Sumu so far and from what I'm hearing on YT for example: It usually sounds somehow thin. It sounds, at least to my ears, like a synth that's only running on one oscillator and without any detuned or sub-oscillator. Do you know what I mean?

How does/can one thicken sounds in it, besides using effects like chorus, spacial or reverb? Can sounds be layered and then detuned?

It's kind of dependent on what you put into it.

If you have a sound that is dense in the lower end then it will be reflected in the output. You can restrict the amount of top end partials with the pulses section and restricting them to the lower end.

You can then plug the pulses in to the time input of the partials and/or to the amp input.

You can also adjust the Y axis of the vector field so that it favours lower partials.

Finally you can lower the pitch of the FM/AM modulator to be lower pitch.

In other words there are many ways to make it sound low and dark.

I think why you hear a lot of higher stuff is that most sound sources will have lots of mid to high end content/harmonics.

[foosnark]

In other words there are many ways to make it sound low and dark.

I think why you hear a lot of higher stuff is that most sound sources will have lots of mid to high end content/harmonics.

There's also going to be some spectral tilt and/or a max partials control in the final release version which should help tame the highs.

As for detuning or other movement in the sound, you can use (FM or AM) ratios just slightly off integer values to create some beating. You can alter the tuning of the oscillators so the harmonics are off just a little from each other. You can move stuff around in the Space section to get Doppler shifting. (But there's also no reason not to use chorus or another FX with it anyway, or stack a simple synth with it to add a sub...)

[M1st]

In the 1.0 release there will also be unison, however there's no info whether it will be mono or poly and how many voices will be available at least to my knowledge.

[catamorphism]

Performance seems much better in the new version. Not sure if placebo.

[muki]

Performance seems much better in the new version. Not sure if placebo.

i also had that impression
not extremely:
still not able to get up to 8 voices (with my old i7) but 4 voices seem to be troublefree now...

[synth_nyc]

Hi there,

Following my 50 custom patches for Kaivo, I thought I gave Sumu a shot.
Sumu is even pushing further the sonic boundaries; you can create some never heard before sounds.

I have designed 50 custom patches from scratch (using the Default patch) for Madrona Labs Sumu (1.0.0b15)

You can listen to them in high resolution (24bit 96kHz PCM WAV masters, FLAC encoded) on my site (optimized for Chrome on MacOS and Windows):
https://synthnyc.com/index.php/album/ma ... es-bank-1/

or in low resolution on my bandcamp:
https://synthnyc.bandcamp.com/album/sum ... hes-bank-1

All sound demonstrations have external FX.

The first 25 patches are using factory Partials.
The last 25 patches are using PPG WaveTerm samples / transients
https://www.hermannseib.com/english/syn ... htm#sorted
http://ppg.synth.net/waveterm/wt_lib.shtml
which I transformed into Partials using Vutu (0.9.9).
Those are my favorite PPG sounds; I have used them in my Waldorf M ‘The Blue Journey’ sound bank.
https://waldorfmusic.com/produkt/sounds ... e-journey/
From patch 25, each patch name and sound file name has the PPG Transient name embedded in it; e.g. Sumu 34 T864 is using PPG Transient T864. I invite the audience to listen to both the PPG original sample and Sumu patch I created from it to assess the transformation (the objective is to create something new and different, not a 1:1 replica).

Starting from Patch Sumu 17 Clouds (and almost exclusively used till Patch 50), I’ve discovered an another way (compared to Default patch / most factory patches and user manual recommendations) to patch the Sumu Partials module. This opens up Sumu to ultra innovative sounds; you can use Sumu as a granular synthesizer with each grain harmonic having a different envelope / amplitude…

Sumu has become one of my all time favorite digital synthesizer along with Waldorf Iridium, Fred’s Lab Manatee and Korg modwave native.

I hope you’ll enjoy the sound bank as much as I enjoyed programming it.

Lastly, Madrona Labs has acquired my 50 Sumu Custom Patches, they will be free Factory Presets in an upcoming release.


All the best,


synth_nyc
synthesizer custom patches
https://synthnyc.com/

[pekbro]

Sumu is still basically useless on my modest computer, likely will pass on it unless there is some significant improvement in the area of cpu efficiency. Clearly (imo), there's room for massive improvement in the graphics dept (if they can pull it off). The sound engine may be a different story.

[aMUSEd]

'50 custom patches for Kaivo'

Where do I find these?

[synth_nyc]

Hi @aMUSEd,
Thanks for your interest in my custom patches, this is the information I have today:
- For Sumu -> "patches will come out as part of the next Early Access release"
- For Kaivo, unfortunately I don't have any information. Would it be possible for you to reach out to Madrona Labs (they acquired my Sumu and Kaivo banks at this point)? Here are 2 links:
https://madronalabs.com/support
https://madronalabs.com/forums/3-software?locale=us
Respectfully,
synth_nyc

[aMUSEd]

OK thanks, guess I'll just have to wait for updates with the patches. I just assumed since you were promoting them you must have them for sale somewhere.

[Funky40]

I have designed 50 custom patches from scratch (using the Default patch) for Madrona Labs Sumu (1.0.0b15)

I like how these do sound in the audio Demos !
This could pull me over, finally.


not exactly interested to learn to patch with synths in the PC.
I couldn´t gel anything with Kaivo for example.

some few, not too many! , GOOD presets are VERY welcome !

[synth_nyc]

Hi @Funky40,
Thanks for your kind words. It's very appreciated. I always try to highlight what I think is unique about that synth. Create something different that was never heard before (I rarely program a 2 VCOs detuned Saw patch!). I also pick hardware or software synths which I think bring sonic innovations. And lastly, it's a hobby / passion, I take my time to craft the patch (1-2 hours per patch) and release them on my own schedule (you can see on my site; they are few and far appart). As you meant (I guess), I strive to deliver quality over quantity.

I've updated my website "about" page with your quote:
https://synthnyc.com/index.php/about/

Musically yours,

synth_nyc