Published
Fri, Jan 4, 2013, 12:00
- The plug-in maker is branching out with its first software instrument, a synth modeled after classic analog hardware.
Waves has rolled out Element, the company's first synthesizer.
Known primarily for their widely used VST plug-ins, which run the gamut from convolution reverb units to emulations of classic API EQs, Waves is stepping into a new market with Element. It's fitting, then, that they've chosen a bedrock of electronic music-making—subtractive synthesis—for their first software instrument project.
Element features the sort of sound-building tools you'd find on old-school hardware synths (two oscillators, LFOs, VCF and VCA), all powered by something they're calling "Virtual Voltage technology," in addition to an arpeggiator/step sequencer for building patterns and a modulation matrix for more intricate tweaking. Unlike the hardware the served as its inspiration, it comes with an array of preset sounds like drums and snares, plus a number of effects that can be toggled into different stages of the signal path. The synthesizer's website has the full rundown of its features and video of the Element in action.