KVR Audio

BetaAltairVII · Post by **BetaAltairVII** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:43 pm

At this time all we have is this tweet from BT:

There it is! Coming this year the first adaptive and harmonic convolution synthesizer: Phobos my first collaboration with @SpitfireAudio

And the teaser currently dominating their homepage.

Given that BT's last two products were both fantastically innovative in their own right (even if a lot of that potential seems to only reveal itself when you peel past iZotope's marketing hype), and also given that he says this is an apparently entirely new form of synthesis, I am reasonably excite for more details

acYm · Post by **acYm** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:49 pm

Here's to hoping Spitfire is less laughably pathetic at product support than iZotope.

BetaAltairVII · Post by **BetaAltairVII** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 6:08 am

And we have an actual demonstration!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKXXgn0rZuU

First thought: I don't know enough about convolution to know exactly what's going on here, but I know similar morphing effects have been achieved before. The full potential of this thing is as yet unseen.

The thing about BT IMO is that he invents his own ways of doing things that others were achieving before him, and then pushed the envelope beyond what previously existed. Stutter edits existed before him, but no one turned them into a coherent effect with character like he did, much less married that technology to a drum machine. The full potential of this thing may not end up being as obvious as the marketing hype that surrounded Stutter Edit and BreakTweaker was saying about those products, but given how much BT knows his shit I'm sure we'll be seeing some amazing things from this device yet

BasariStudios · Post by **BasariStudios** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 6:42 am

Who is BT?

asksol · Post by **asksol** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 7:08 am

Nobody turned stuttering into a coherent effect like BT did? I'm pretty sure it was an art form way before that (see idm, glitch)

I'm kind of disappointed in Spitfire now actually, I really liked them and didn't see this coming at all. Maybe the incoming cash flow will give them the means to give us some even better instrument libraries.

Winstontaneous · Post by **Winstontaneous** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 7:22 pm

BasariStudios wrote:Who is BT?

Bacillus thuringiensis (or BT) is a Gram-positive, soil-dwelling bacterium, commonly used as a biological pesticide. B. thuringiensis also occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types of moths and butterflies, as well on leaf surfaces, aquatic environments, animal feces, insect-rich environments, and flour mills and grain-storage facilities.

With a pretty boy hipster haircut - and a forward thinking approach to instrument and sound design.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of his music, but I do respect his skillzzz.

BetaAltairVII · Post by **BetaAltairVII** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 9:54 pm

BasariStudios wrote:Who is BT?

Basically one of the bigger names and innovators in electronic music ever, with a hell of a resume (17 film scores including the original Fast and the Furious and Monster, two acclaimed software plugins, collaborations ranging from David Bowie to N*SYNC) and a discog that ranges from trance to hip hop to breaks to indie rock to chillout to ambient and beyond. Admittedly his sound isn't for everyone, but I find his ability to switch between so many different styles while staying true to himself hugely inspiring - it's something I want to emulate in my own music.

I highly recommend his albums These Hopeful Machines and This Binary Universe. The latter contains some of the most intricate pieces of electronica ever written:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPK9nLLFbUQ

BetaAltairVII · Post by **BetaAltairVII** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 9:55 pm

Also I just found that this interview he had with DJ mag indicates that Phobos is apparently only the first of three collaborations with Spitfire.

acYm · Post by **acYm** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 10:06 pm

asksol wrote:Nobody turned stuttering into a coherent effect like BT did? I'm pretty sure it was an art form way before that (see idm, glitch)

I would argue that he turned it into a musical effect (see genres other than idm, glitch)

bmrzycki · Post by **bmrzycki** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 10:06 pm

That was one disappointing demo. From what I saw it's a 4-part drum sample player with basic cross-fading using an XY interface. The "advanced" sample mode was little more than EQ. It may be a lot more advanced under the covers, or maybe because it's alpha and needs heavy development. Even so, they knew they were presenting at winter NAMM and should have prioritized the key selling aspects of the tool. It almost looked like a kontact instrument in the alpha stage.

The BT loops were the most innovative thing but they're still just loops and have next to nothing to do with the interface and overall presentation. I'd be far more interested to hear those same loops pushed through something like Zynaptiq Morph and seamlessly converted between content and rhythmic passages. Maybe BT doesn't want to release the loops as .WAV for fear of content protection.

acYm · Post by **acYm** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 10:17 pm

I'm guessing they are focusing on making it a live performance type of instrument, a rare thing with such sample-based stuff. It's gonna look a bit bland all by itself, but it will integrate well with controllers for jamming during a set.

TheKid · Post by **TheKid** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 10:59 pm

Quite underwhelming demo... Hello Spitfire, please do what you do best.

BetaAltairVII · Post by **BetaAltairVII** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 11:10 pm

bmrzycki wrote:That was one disappointing demo. From what I saw it's a 4-part drum sample player with basic cross-fading using an XY interface. The "advanced" sample mode was little more than EQ. It may be a lot more advanced under the covers, or maybe because it's alpha and needs heavy development. Even so, they knew they were presenting at winter NAMM and should have prioritized the key selling aspects of the tool. It almost looked like a kontact instrument in the alpha stage.

The BT loops were the most innovative thing but they're still just loops and have next to nothing to do with the interface and overall presentation. I'd be far more interested to hear those same loops pushed through something like Zynaptiq Morph and seamlessly converted between content and rhythmic passages. Maybe BT doesn't want to release the loops as .WAV for fear of content protection.

Yeah I really hope the demo isn't the be-all-end-all of this thing. Again I don't know enough about convolution to know what harmonic convolution means or how it could apply to this, but I'm hoping the final product will enable much more complicated stuff. Hopefully the package doesn't limit the potential of whatever BT's come up with, such as what happened with BreakTweaker. I've seen pics of him giving a demo of this thing though, so hopefully a video of that is released soon.

I really hope the final product includes some form of sample import and processing. Atm I don't really think i have a use for this compared to other devices, and I haven't really delved into SE and BreakTweaker yet as it is.

BasariStudios · Post by **BasariStudios** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 11:11 pm

BetaAltairVII wrote:
BasariStudios wrote:Who is BT?
Basically one of the bigger names and innovators in electronic music ever,

Thank You Sir...i did some research now too. In the last week 2 big people i never heard of.
Greg Wells and this guy...lol.

bmrzycki · Post by **bmrzycki** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 11:24 pm

BetaAltairVII wrote:Again I don't know enough about convolution to know what harmonic convolution means or how it could apply to this...

I don't know what Spitfire Audio mean by that phrase either. I do know morphing of samples can be very powerful, check out some of the examples from (again) Zynaptiq Morph:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWbHZj2wfPQ

Melding between percussion lines would be a very interesting, and musically practical, use of such a device.

Spitfire Audio & BT present PHOBOS