Aldo Calpini has released version 1.0 of Fatmoo, a freeware VA type synth built with SynthEdit.

FATMOO is a VST synthetizer, built with SynthEdit. it works on the Windows platform, and you need a VST host to use it. aaand, VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

it is basically a VA type synth, but with some deliberately unusual features.

first of all, the oscillators (2 main + 6 LFO) have variable fatness. they can range from square (approx) to sin (approx) to triangle to "less than triangle" form. the knobs give visual feedback about the current waveform.

second, all the usual parameters (OSC B pitch, cutoff, resonance, etc.) as well as oscillators fatness can be modulated with an LFO and an envelope. there are 6 LFOs and 6 EGs (envelope can also be inverted on parameters), you can mix them as you like.

finally, OSC B can modulate OSC A's fatness (sorta FM, but with a different meaning for "F" :-). (well, actually, it sounds more like PWM than FM).

this is actually more or less a "proof of concept", and it's my first experience ever with SynthEdit and with sound design in general. your mileage may vary, of course.

a few notes:

1. the synth is a little bit CPU hungry, typical usage takes about 30% on my Thinkpad (dual core Centrino @ 1.83GHz). it will probably not work well on less-than-powerful machines. sorry.

2. sound can get easily nasty and distorted (and unharmonic) with modulation. use with caution.

3. the OSC B Pitch control is very rude: it adds volts (in SynthEdit terms) to the base pitch, so -1 is one octave lower, -2 two octaves, etc. same goes with positive values. I may replace it with something more sensible in a future version, but for now take it as it is.

 

Visit Fatmoo page.