KVR Audio

ChamomileShark · Post by **ChamomileShark** » Sun Jan 25, 2026 2:55 pm

As the sun goes down the Zooplankton rise from the ocean depths to the surface. Some are luminescent and appear as sparkles and light swirls on the surface if disturbed. As the dawn approaches, they return to the abyss.
All sounds from the Synclavier Regen, most of them FM or Additive synthesis, with one resynthesized “cat call” towards the end.

ChameleonMusic · Post by **ChameleonMusic** » Sun Jan 25, 2026 5:07 pm

Interesting, atmospheric soundscape.

Synclavier Regen - that's one expensive bit of hardware (although nowhere near the cost of the original of course)!

Sounds really great...had the privilege of using the original way back when at Uni...music dept had one in its studio! They had to drag me off it most days!

ChamomileShark · Post by **ChamomileShark** » Sun Jan 25, 2026 5:13 pm

thank you! Where were you at Uni? Was it the smaller FM unit or the fully expanded sampling version? I wonder what happened to their Synclavier?

ChameleonMusic · Post by **ChameleonMusic** » Sun Jan 25, 2026 5:31 pm

Birmingham, UK very late 1970s / early 80s.

It was a Synclavier ii built in 1980 I think, not the original one from the late 1970s. what happened to it...no idea at all...might've been borrowed...can't remember.

https://beast.cal.bham.ac.uk/ was going at the time with Professor Jonty Harrison so there were direct links into experimental music / music tech etc.

Loved its sound editing features (you could really tweak the harmonics if I remember correctly).

Had built-in FM and additive synthesis, sampling, 64 voice polyphony (that might be incorrect...long time ago), few MBs of waveform RAM (but quite expandable), loads of outputs (32?), notation printing, multitrack sequencing, and digital hard-disk recording.

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Sun Jan 25, 2026 10:29 pm

I can easily imagine David Attenborough delivering one of his monologues accompanied by this. It's got some great sounds, and the evolving motion described in this slow-moving soundtrack would definitely be a great fit for an undersea adventure.

Good work

aaron aardvark · Post by **aaron aardvark** » Mon Jan 26, 2026 5:04 am

ChamomileShark,
I've had Arturia Synclavier V for years; have you tried that? If so, how does Regen compare to the Arturia? I just watched a Regen video; had never heard of it until today. Your recording isn't exactly melodic, but has some interesting sounds. I have written songs regarding sharks, giant squid, octopus, and whales. Perhaps you could check out my latest thread.

ChamomileShark · Post by **ChamomileShark** » Mon Jan 26, 2026 12:09 pm

@ Chameleon, that sounds like one of the big PSMT systems, nice! I'll have a look at the link, thank you.

@ seismic1 - thank you. Many years ago, around 1984 I think I submitted a tape to Electronic Music Maker and they commented it sounded like Vangelis doing an Attenborough soundtrack. Around 2016 some of my music was used by the BBC for some documentaries but not one of the Attenborough ones. My more melodic stuff is under the name Mark Ellery Griffiths although the last couple of releases are a bit more minimalist/ brutalist.

@ Aaron - I do have the Synclavier V - it was using that made me go for the Regen. The sounds on Zooplankton were originally created on the Synclavier V and then ported to the Regen unchanged. The Regen has all the Synclavier V in it plus more. Cool tracks btw!

Zooplankton (Experimental Synclavier Regen)