for me and many others, the most remarkable softsynth of 2008 was sonic charge's synplant. the swedish company scored a big hit with the microtonic drumsynthesizer, and i think it's quite courageous they followed it up with something so outlandish as synplant. i decided to do a couple of presets for it, and offer the results here. just download the zip and unzip it to your synplant folder.
what makes synplant special? it's not the sound, even though it sounds very good. nor is it the synth engine, which is a fairly basic 2-oscillator synth with cross modulation and a few twists. in fact, you could easily knock it up in something like reaktor, although it would be quite hard to nail the typical crystal clear sound that also characterizes microtonic.
what sets synplant apart from the herd is how you get to sounds. normally, synthesis means turning knobs to change parameters of a sound. in synplant, you plant a seed from which you grow branches. got that? here's what it looks like:
main page left and editor right (click to enlarge)
by planting a seed in the middle, you create a random sound, and extending branches manipulates multiple parameters of the underlying synth in a seemingly random way. every branch controls a different set of parameters and how much you extend a branch controls the amount of change of those parameters. fully retracted, all the branches sound the same, and the more you extend branches, the more difference there is between them. that's synplant in a nutshell. but there's more:
as you can see in the left image above, every branch is connected to one of the twelve notes. manipulating the branch connected to the note c for instance, changes all the c's across the keyboard. to me, this is pure genius. it means every note can be a subtle or not so subtle variation of a basic sound, which can make for pretty organic melodies. it also means that for every seed, there are 12 simultaneous ways to explore the sound space, which are accessible by simply running your fingers over the keyboard. this can result in out of this world kits, as demonstrated in the following audio example:
that's just 1 synplant sound, without any external effects. near the end i manipulate all the branches simultaneously with the mod wheel.
then there's the rotation parameter, which is controlled by the little dot inside the ring of notes. with it, you can rotate the branches and the note you play gets the parameter values of the branch that passes it. because that last sentence probably doesn't make any sense, here's an audio example demonstrating the effect:
after the first 2 bars, the branches are rotated, making the notes sound different every time they're played. the synplant showcase illustrates this and the ability to make kits even better.
there are a lot more cool features, but there's no point in copying the manual here. i just want to share my excitement so that maybe you might want to try synplant for yourself. just download the demo, put on your gardening gloves and grow some sounds.
for some tips on how to explore the sound space: i usually start by generating a new random seed, or pick a seed of my liking from the 'elemental' preset folder. from there i run my fingers over the keyboard and extend all branches simultaneously with the mod wheel. when i hit on something, i either make that my new seed or clone that branch to cover all keys. i also record the output, as synplant is a goldmine for cool samples. finally, i might fine tune the branches to get subtle variations between keys or create interesting kits.
as with all random sound generators, there are a few typical limitations to synplant. the first is that there is no way to create specific sounds. there's no strategy for bass sounds, for instance. all you can do is manipulate seeds and branches, listen to what the synth offers and decide whether you like it or not. that said, the presets i offer are not about my synth programming skills, as i really only decided whether i liked a sonic result or not. so they're intended to show synplant's possibilities and a bit of my taste in sounds.
another problem with random sound generators is that you often get a sound that's about 90% right, but then there is no way to make it perfect. sonic charge have therefore added the genome editor, which allows you to change some synth parameters directly. as can be seen in the image above on the right, they've kept the parameter names pretty cryptic and styled the knobs as part of the dna double helix. it's beautifully designed, fits the concept perfectly, but it is just not very inviting. i think sonic charge did this on purpose, just so that you work on your gardening skills, instead of treating this as a traditional knob synth with a cool skin. the editor is for fine-tuning, not for making sounds from scratch.
concluding, i think synplant is a good synth to get you out of a creative rut. as i see it, the greatest achievement of sonic charge is that they have succeeded in making random sound generation and exploration enjoyable. it has to do with the user interface, the sound, the careful design of the synth engine and being able to explore the sound space in 12 directions simultaneously, which gives you more chance of a hit. while it's definitely not a bread and butter synth, i think it's a really valuable addition to any plugin folder. it turns listening into a creative act.
quick download:
more downloads and terms of use in the goodies section.
