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Sound Design

Synthesis, sampling, and the architecture of sound.

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All Sound Design articles.

Atavism spectral pad effect from Parallel Minds, with the main knob and a dusk landscape behind the controls
Sound Design

Atavism Makes a Pad From the Track Itself

Atavism by Parallel Minds turns a track into an in-key spectral pad. Launch price is $29, then $39. VST3 and AU on Mac and Windows, about 300 ms latency.

Priya RamanSep 30, 202610 min read
Overtonium free additive synthesizer plugin with 32 partial channel strips
Sound Design

Overtonium: A Free Additive Synth Built Like a Mixer

Overtonium is a free, open-source 32-partial additive synth laid out like a mixer, with per-harmonic control and continuous microtuning, for Mac, Windows and Linux.

Marcus FeldSep 29, 20268 min read
Thenatan DIAL radio plugin with the tuning dial, Warm Tube, Transistor, Shortwave, and Cheap Speaker models
Sound Design

Thenatan DIAL Puts Your Track on the Radio

Thenatan DIAL is a radio-signal plugin with seven stations, four radio models, and zero latency. The intro price is $12 until 16 October 2026, then $50.

Priya RamanSep 29, 202612 min read
Hügelton Nikolator physical modeling Tesla coil synthesizer plugin interface
Sound Design

Hügelton Nikolator Models a Tesla Coil to Make Sound

Hügelton Nikolator is a physical modeling synth that simulates a musical Tesla coil, with arc, discharge, and branching controls, for macOS and Windows from $1.

Marcus FeldSep 28, 20267 min read
All The Machines The Remnant drone synthesizer interface showing the feedback matrix
Sound Design

The Remnant: An 8-Voice FM Drone Synth for $19

All The Machines The Remnant is an FM drone synth with an 8x8 feedback matrix, four acoustic filters, and morphing snapshots, out now for $19.

Marcus FeldSep 26, 20267 min read
Phase Fiasco Kazu interface showing a stacked rack of creative effects with the sequencer and X/Y performance pad
Sound Design

Phase Fiasco Kazu Puts 50 Effects Into Motion

Phase Fiasco Kazu is a $29 creative multi-FX plugin with 50 effects, a step sequencer, and a one-click Animate button that moves the whole rack at once.

Marcus FeldSep 23, 20268 min read
PolyChrome DSP NanoPitch artwork showing the micro-pitch plugin name and a guitar-and-synth width pitch
Sound Design

PolyChrome NanoPitch Adds Width in 25-Cent Steps

PolyChrome DSP NanoPitch pairs two detune voices at ±25 cents with slapback, a detunable delay, chorus, and flanger. The intro price is $59, sold direct.

Elena MarshSep 23, 202610 min read
blepfx spectra plugin showing envelope morph, carrier morph, formant shift, and the spectral visualizer
Sound Design

blepfx Spectra Moves a Spectrum From One Track to Another

blepfx spectra morphs spectral envelopes between two signals and shifts formants by ±24 semitones. Official price starts at $25, on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Elena MarshSep 22, 202611 min read
Oddment ODD-1 granular synthesizer hardware panel, the basis for the ODD-1V plugin
Sound Design

Oddment ODD-1V Review: The ODD-1 Granular Synth as a Plugin

Oddment ODD-1V brings the ODD-1 hardware granular synthesizer into your DAW as a VST3, AU and standalone plugin. Full review of features, specs and price.

Marcus FeldSep 17, 20269 min read
Aqeel Aadam Sightlines harmonic filter with a tuned resonant bandpass bank and cairn-style band faders
Sound Design

Sightlines: A Playable Harmonic Filter for Any Sound

Aqeel Aadam Sightlines is a playable harmonic filter and resonator for desktop and iOS. $20 sale against $30 list; iOS AUv3 is $7.99. One-week free trial.

Priya RamanSep 14, 20269 min read
Dillon Bastan Iota II visual multi-sampling workstation interface
Sound Design

Iota II Review: Drawing Sound on a Spectrogram

Dillon Bastan Iota II is a visual multi-sampling spectral and granular synth you play by drawing on a spectrogram. Full specs, how it compares to Portal, and price.

Theo NakamuraSep 13, 20269 min read
Unusable Engineering Quadrant Modulator plugin with drawable oscillator, Clean and Diode ring-mod modes, and an eight-slot waveform sequencer
Sound Design

Quadrant Modulator Draws Bézier Waves for Ring-Mod

Unusable Quadrant Modulator is a €29 four-quadrant ring-mod with a drawable oscillator, pitch follow, one-shot shaping, and an 8-slot sequencer. AU/VST3.

Marcus FeldSep 11, 202610 min read