Tracktion has introduced SpaceCraft Granular Synth for Linux, Mac & Windows – a desktop version of the iOS app by Delta-V Audio.
SpaceCraft features two parallel granular engines that provide grain frequency/length control, sample position LFO, stereo reverb/filter and pitch/ring-modulation.
Grain pitch is controlled by a unique, arpeggiated note/grain sequencer grid which is capable of a wide range of styles, spanning classical granular effects, lush sample layering and organic rhythmic effects. Over 24 scales provides a wealth of melodic possibilities. With the grain control XY pad you can seamlessly morph from granular chords and drones to arpeggiated rhythmic sequences.
The desktop version of SpaceCraft adds several enhanced capabilities:
- Multitouch compatible interface
- Drag and drop samples directly into GUI
- Enhanced, higher fidelity granular engine DSP
- Up to x8 the number of grains (CPU dependent)
- Up to 16 minutes sample duration (RAM dependent)
Patch Demo:
Pricing and Availability
SpaceCraft is available now for Mac & Windows for $99; the Linux version is ‘coming soon’. The iOS version is available for US $6.99.
Looks good, I’ll get the linux version
That was a singularly good demo – excellent sounds and composition.
I’m normally not a huge fan of granular synthesis, because it isn’t really “synthesis” and can easily descend into a indistinct mush of smeared audio and unpleasant artefacts. But not here!!
Hoping that the Linux VST can work on ARM/rPi systems. This would be a great use for a spare rPi with a touchscreen.
The original app has been opening up all sorts of things with iOS musicking. It’s almost a case study as “what had to be done” with a multitouch interface and granular synthesis in this AUv3 setup we have. The research that Watt has done into granular synth produced something truly unique and useful.
And, yes, it’s a synth. We can acknowledge this despite major differences between different synthesis methods (granular, wavetable, vector, subtractive, additive, spectral, Physical Modelling, Frequency Modulation, Phase Modulation, Amplitude Modulation, Ring Modulation…).
Glad they’re pushing the MPE features. On the desktop, MPE’s probably where we can split between “same-old’ and forward-listening plugin devs.
What concerns me, though, is that the workflow is based on multitouch but the desktop plugin is meant for a single pointing device. Maybe the Linux and Windows versions make use of touchscreens (which don’t yet exist on macOS unless you use Sidecar, Luna Display, Duet Display…). But part of the Spacecraft beauty is in being so appropriate to the iOS context.
Then there’s the issue of price. Audio Damage has a straightforward pricing model: iOS plugins are 10% of the desktop versions (because of the way that market works but also because there’s less guarantee that a plugin will work across iOS versions). Tracktion has been selling 100USD plugins and they surely know a lot about price elasticity in desktop plugins. Spacecraft is probably as useful as Audio Damage Quanta (which sells for the same price). But I’m not sure there’s much of a motivation for us, iOS musickers, to invest so much money into a desktop plugin.
Best of luck to Mark Watt and Tracktion. I’m guessing it’ll be good enough. But iOS Spacecraft is what did it, for me.
The core problem for developers is that there is very little money, if any, to be made on iOS synths – you’re doing well if you cover your development costs! iOS pricing is geared to the mass market, synths are too niche and too few people buy them. They’re at best advertising for their desktop equivalents. As a result the number of new iOS synths being launched has plummeted over the last couple of years.
Alright, great demo. I’ll bite on pay day.
love this app on ios… easily my favorite granular synth app by far – as its almost always producing extremely musical results… not just experimental noises
but i think it requires a multitouch-screen interface to really get the most out of it
Tracktion have got their act together. This video was cool and experimental and the sounds were so interesting…..one cool video can sell a product and I reckon a lot of people would be up for getting this………..well done!