Madrona Labs has announced the availability of Sumu, a new software synthesizer for Mac & Windows that they say “breaks completely new ground in software synthesis, combining additive resynthesis with FM and vector field spatialization”.
In Sumu, sampled sounds are represented as collections of up to 64 bandwidth-enhanced partials, each with a frequency, volume, and noisiness that can change over time. This representation of sound makes all kinds of creative changes possible, from natural-sounding time stretching to exotic timbral manipulations. Using the central multi-channel patcher, each partial in a sound can be manipulated independently.
As a balance to all of this very modern digital manipulation, there’s an analog-modeled filter based on the classic four-pole Moog ladder design. It can self-oscillate for big vintage sounds, or just round off those prickly edges.
Sumu Audio Demo:
A free companion app, Vutu, lets you make Sumu partials files out of your own sounds. Setting up the analysis parameters involves some creative choices and Vutu gives you access to all the controls needed.
Pricing and Availability:
Sumu is available now with an intro price of $129.00 USD (normally $179).
sounds awful
sounds great
Amazing. This puts an entire sound laboratory in an easy to use plugin.
I don’t find the Madrona plugins easy to use at all
They are always sluggish too and absolutely rip on CPU
i don’t mind when someone designs a new type of three legged stool, but they clearly don’t “break completely new ground in three legged stool design”. neither does this.
nor does any synth product of the last 20 years imho.
So there was this synth. It used drone motors for oscillators. It literally broke new ground, in terms of oscillator source on a synth. In other words, it was GROUNDBREAKING.
However, no one really noticed or cared, and cork sniffers still came on synthtopia to complain that “nO sYnTh PrOdUcT iN oVeR 20 yEaRs hAs BeEn GrOuNdBrEaKiNg!!@!!”
My lulz cup runneth over.
Long-term synth users find it harder and harder to get a satisfying fix.
You can make the case that just about every software synth builds on the archetype that the Minimoog established. And the Minimoog just repackaged existing circuits into a new case. And the Moog modular ripped off the electronic sackbut.
Meanwhile, I’ve got an open source modular system on my iPad that blows away the capabilities of any modular synthesizer in the world from 20 years ago. And there’s an explosion of technologies (MPE, new expressive instruments and controllers) that let electronic musicians perform in ways that were impossible or unobtainable 20 years ago. And there are hardware and software synths that make it possible for musicians to explore all sorts of synthesis approaches, which wasn’t really possible for most musicians 20 years ago.
When you say that no synth product of the last 20 years breaks new ground, your comment just makes you sound like one of those jaded synth addicts that struggles to get a satisfying fix.
sounds like a sloppy chicken
There are fastidious fowl?
Sounds like cats in a blender.
I hope for your sake that is strictly metaphorical.
demo sounds awful. first part pure Chipmunks crap that pushes you to stop listening. the rest is a mix of accidentally interesting things and irrelevant tweaking.
If you’re really into sound design, a couple of deep instruments like this should be plenty. Its smart to allow for user sound file input. It makes it a LITTLE less fidgety, but then, buyers of this kind of mega-widget are looking for fidgety. Madrona has found its niche, just like Pianoteq and Chromaphone.
If you don’t like how it sounds, then just buy Aalto instead, which is quite awesome (if you are into Buchla-style synthesis).
I remember buying kaivo and thinking you could simply drag and drop samples but no way they make it easy for you. I thought ok this will be the next update but a few years later still no update. This company sucks and on top their plugins need so much cpu and do nothing special. Just go with VCV rack and you have a million more options for free.
Sounds like you can do lot of experimental unusual stuff ..
The above demo is for SUMU Early Access.
Now that version 1.0 is out I am sure there will be better demos coming.
The UI is great: there is so much control and visibility.
Once you have started mangling your own sounds with the VUTU that when things start getting fun.
Thank you Madrona Labs!
Is Madrona Labs owned by Madonna?
More likely an arborist. Madrona is a type of evergreen tree.
Interesting mix of established methods. There are quite a few free or lower priced software that can accomplish much the same so there is a disadvantage (see H. G. Fortune, Native Instruments Razor, Rob Papen Blade, Arturia Pigments, Image-Line [several], KV331 SynthMaster, Matt Tytel Vital, &c and so on.) Additive alone can create any sound that can be heard. Adding oddball modulation to it is just a clumsy shortcut or cheating depending on how one looks at it. FM is a subset of additive. If one dedicates oneself to additive synthesis, no other device is needed. I do not know if anyone dedicates a lifetime to craftsmanship any more. I wonder what it is about synthesists that they do not concentrate on one instrument, as do acoustic musicians such as violinists or pianists. Do you know anyone who only owns one synthesizer and only concentrates on mastering it? That might be an interesting person.
Also, sumu means poison, which coincidentally is similar in name of one of Image-Line’s synthesizers, PoiZone, which contrarily is subtractive.
After four long and painful minutes I paused the video and in the more videos banner was a video with Why? emblazoned across the screen. How appropriate.
Been playing with the demo for a couple of days. Absolutely love the sound, like the interface too. I feel like it might be my favourite sounding synth.
At first glance, it’s a nice, interesting synth and goes along with my current sound design and performance focus. Groundbreaking,… Probably not, but that’s not my expectation anyway. My sole problem with it so far is its heavy CPU demand. My otherwise quite capable M1 MacBook Pro needs over 20% of its CPU to run one instance of this.