Tassman

Is this what Mary Shelly was writing about in her book 'Frankenstein'? Well words like: modular, physical modelling and builder show a certain affinity to this gothic melodrama. But where Frankenstein was only meant to imitate life, Tassman is capable of a whole lot more. It's able to generate sounds never known to the human ear (okay this may apply to Frankenstein, too). Most VST-musicians may know this way of working from NI's Reaktor, but again Tassman takes a slightly different approach. The interface isn't created from scratch - Tassman falls back on readymade modules which can be connected in various ways in the instrument's builder. Sadly it isn't possible to audition any sounds in the builder, and it's necessary to switch back to the player modus every time.

The 'physical modelling' engine is very interesting and responsible for its organic and realistic nature-like sounds. A modelled flute e.g. which was created in Tassman, sounds more real than most static bread & butter flute samples. Just because physical modelling doesn't describe the sound itself, but the physical circumstances of its emergence. So if you're playing the same note over and anon, it isn't starting from 'zero' again but evolves from where the sound is - at this exact moment.

And even though it's really no big deal to build a new instrument, the over 1000 presets are enough to please even the laziest musician. Instruments like: flutes, congas, marimbas, organs or synth like Moog or the ARP Odyssey are only a few of the available patches and they all sound pretty real. But when you compare the Odyssey preset to the Oddity you'll find a difference in note priority - still the sound comes really close.

So all in all, this is a great tool for sound designers and synth freaks. But $ 449 isn't what I call very cheap, still its versatility and great sounding modules are worth much of it. And for users of Reaktor or Reason, times are really good, since AAS has a very nice crossgrade-offer. There are downloadable versions (Mac/PC) of Tassman on their website for only - and now be prepared to get your wallet out - $ 199, while there's no need to send in your Reaktor CD, dongle or anything else. By the way, the AU upgrade for Tassman (and Lounge Lizzard 2) is free for registered users and can be downloaded from their website, too.Read Review