Absynth 3's new Main Window

Absynth's Alien Green interface returns with some new tricks up its sleeve. NI, who takes a lot of warranted criticism for their clunky interfaces, revised Absynth so that all the action takes place in one window. Now just clicking named buttons at the top instantly calls up the seven screens, Main, Patch, Wave, Effect, Env, LFO and MIDI. The seven are also accessible as F-Key commands. This welcomed modification makes working with Absynth much more concise, and means it won't take up your precious screen real estate with multiple windows. Another notorious NI deficit has been the inability to resize their program's windows (Traktor, Guitar Rig). Absynth partly addresses this by letting your resize the right side horizontally and the bottom vertically for changing the timeline and the track height, but there is still no true Click'n'Drag resizing.

Absynth can either be accessed as a plug-in or as a standalone application. It runs natively via Core Audio on the Apple platform, and as DirectSound, MME and ASIO 2.0 on the PC. Absynth's sound engine is powered by three different sound sources dubbed Oscil Modules, each host nine different "modes" - single oscillator, double oscillator, ring modulator, FM, Subtractive Synthesis, Classic Sampling, Granular Sampling, Stereo External Input and Fractalization. Fractalization is a new mode which applies mathematical formulas to the waveform for creating undulating and formant-like sounds. The Stereo External In is another new mode that allows outside sounds to be as a source, used for modulation or, my favorite, to use Absynth as an effects processor. Nice!

Absynth 3's Waveform Window

NI added a great new feature to the synthesis functions, called Unison, which allows precise control over the number of voices produced. Up to eight can be specified and transposition can be detailed for each voice. This allows you to really thicken up a sound for dense, sophisticated tones..

Absynth's sampling is underrated and can be used in a variety of ways to create compelling aural textures. Sampling time is restricted to the amount of your computer's RAM, but I recorded about 2 minutes worth with 1 Gig of memory in our test Mac G5. Granular Sampling has several modifiers including Grain Size, Density, Speed, as well as a Randomizer for frequency, time and amplitude. Classic sampling parameters include adjustable start times, loop points and frequency. Definitely explore Absynth's sampling features to stamp your personal sonic brand on your synthesis creations.

Once you've cooked up a sound, you can apply one of fourteen different filters, and then stir in some effects before routing it through a mix matrix. This where things get really fascinating. The filters are wonderful for sculpting, and sound silky smooth. The effects are a little better than average, and while they provide many options for movement and space, I'm hoping that version 4 will bring a full repertoire of comprehensive effects to Absynth's palette. You now have the option to route each source to one of eight different individual outputs, or through one of 14 different Surround Sound scenarios. Yes, you heard correctly, Absynth 3 now has full support for full surround sound! Absynth 3 offers the most flexible and wide-ranging multi-channel integration of any synthesizer currently available and supports 3.1, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, and 8.0 surround formats.

68 Breakpoints can't be wrong. Note the Surround Sound envelope on the right!

All this is well and good, but what sets Absynth far apart from its competitors is that almost every parameter can be managed via MIDI controllable, user-defined envelopes. These are no girly-man envelopes either. Sixty-eight graphically drawn breakpoints can be applied to parameters way beyond your meat'n'potatoes volume and pan. The possibilities are virtually endless and you can easily lose yourself for hours tweaking. The limitless envelopes allow single sounds to dramatically morph, move and flow in sync with your host program, or based on "snapable" grid sizes down to 1/32. You can even stagger the triggering of the envelopes so that each one can ignite at a different interval. And if you haven't soiled your shorts already, each envelope can be manipulated by an assignable MIDI controller. This opens up the live performance possibilities for controllers like the new Alesis Photon, Roland's D-Beam, or even your brain with way out products like the IBVA Wow!

Absynth 3 offers several new envelope features including - Envelope Groups: Show and hide groups of envelopes, Multiple Selection: Select multiple breakpoints to then edit them all simultaneously, Envelope Cursor: A cursor per envelope indicating the current position makes editing envelopes much easier, Variable Grid Resolution: Display the optional grid using a variable resolution: in 8ths, 16ths, 32nds, beats or seconds, and Snap to grid: Optional when the grid is activated and ideal for tempo-synced envelopes. All the time-based envelope effects means that your patches can continually evolve for infinite, pulsating and organically-grown sounds.

Absynth's LFO screen shows just how easy assigning MIDI controllers are...

If all this talk of ambient textures makes you think that Absynth is just for New Age bliss, you haven't witnessed the Devil Inside. Absynth definitely has a dark side, and it's my secret weapon for creating nasty, grating, dive-bombing basslines that feel like your vital organs have just been tossed in a food processor. Absynth can easily be the playground bully who beats you up for your lunch money, and then spits in your face, adding insult to injury. For Junglists, Industrial producers and anyone else who loves the sound of nails scraping a chalkboard, Absynth is a must.

However if all this tweaking is beyond you, don't fret, Absynth comes prepackaged with close to 1000 excellent and useful presets with many more to be found online. Absynth 3 from Native Instruments is $339. For more information hit www.nativeinstruments.com

The Future: We'd like to see NI expand Absynth's effects section based on the same philosophy of the current Delay-based effects. Incorporating Guitar Rig's distortion engine would be huge, especially with Absynth's envelope control.
Make sure you download the latest update after purchasing Absynth 3. A few major bugs we encountered on our Mac review copy include no Copy and Paste, no Command-Z undo, and the RTAS plug-in limited to only stereo out.

Screenshot of Absynth's excellent tutorial DVD. See Off The Record on the left

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