In January, Tracktion introduced BioTek – a virtual instrument for Linux, Mac & Windows that combines an advanced synthesis engine with a library of sampled sounds from natural, urban and mechanical environments.

Now they’ve released a free update, BioTek Sound Designer Edition, that unleashes the underlying power of the synth’s engine.

Or, as Traction’s James ‘Woody’ Woodbury demonstrates in the video above, they’ve introduced a new Edit pane, ‘where you can really get your supertweak on’. 

BioTek Sound Designer Edition retains the original version’s main interface screen, with its large XY controller and banks of macro controls. This screen can be used, as always, to blend and modify sounds.

But BioTek SD now also lets you dive deep into the inner workings of your synth patches, with seven new layers of controls, to allow modification of all sound parameters and the ability to create new sounds:

BioTek features 4 oscillators per sound layer, capable of creating multiple forms of synthesis: FM Synthesis, Virtual Analog, Sample Playback and Karplus-Strong. With unlimited sound layers per patch, you can create simple or extremely complex, expressive instruments. And any parameter in BioTek’s engine can be assigned to the front panel macro controls.

BioTek SD features 200 modulation routes and 32 modifier routes. It also features 8 unique Flow LFOs, each with 8 individual parallel syncable sub LFOs on every sound layer.

Here are a series of video demos that explore BioTek’s synthesis options, in depth:

Pricing and Availability

Tracktion BioTek Sound Designer Edition is available now for US $150. The update is free to existing BioTek owners. A free demo version is also available.

If you’ve used the update, leave a comment and let us know what you think of it!