Mark Watt recently introduced SpaceCraft, an iOS granular synth with an inviting and simple user interface that turns any sample into an unusual musical instrument with expressive pads and arpeggiated rhythms.
Slow rotation spacecraft would also enable professional crew to perform their duties without experiencing issues like space motion sickness and lower back pain that are typical during initial microgravity exposure.
Granular Synthesis
Granular synths are tools used for breaking apart sampled audio into individual “grains.” It is one of the most sought-after sound design techniques, used to produce everything from lush pads to experimental glitch effects.
Granular parameters that you can manipulate include grain length and density, envelope shape (also referred to as shape), pitch shift and stereo width. Shorter grain lengths tend to produce glitchier sounds while longer grains can bleed into each other for more continuous sounds.
Most granular synths include features for shaping the timbre and tonal qualities of grains, which can be modified with various modulation sources like envelope, LFO, or two rhythmic modulation envelopes. Portal provides an extensive set of settings to customize sonic textures as well as time stretching effects by altering grain size or speed – this gives much wider time stretching possibilities than standard DAW features!
Pitch Shift
No matter if you’re trying to create intricate vocal harmonies or give your lead voice some extra depth, having a pitch shifter plugin in your toolkit is invaluable for producers. While inbuilt pitch shifting tools create new audio files which take up valuable hard drive space, VSTs work non-destructively by leaving original files intact – an indispensable asset when working with Vocal Sequencer Technologies (VST).
Devious Machines’ Pitch Monster stands out as one of the top pitch shifter VSTs available on the market with its user-friendly interface and range of simple controls that enable pinpoint pitch/timing adjustments. Combine this with its advanced granular engine and chord generator capabilities, and Pitch Monster allows you to produce unique melodies or chord progressions.
MIDI I/O
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a standard communication protocol and digital interface used to link electronic musical instruments, computers, and related audio devices together. Live performances often use this digital interface to control lights, animatronics and other entertainment effects found at amusement parks using this MIDI protocol.
Multiple types of MIDI message types are supported, including note on/off, program change and control messages to VST instruments. As MIDI is bidirectional it also enables communication between applications on your computer – such as sending control messages directly.
Spacecraft can be used as either a standalone application, an AUv3 effect, or as a fully integrated MIDI instrument. The app features Inter-App Audio and Ableton Link support to keep its tempo in sync with other apps, and two parallel granular engines provide grain frequency/length control, sample position LFO modulation, pitch/ring modulation modulation as well as pitch/ring modulation modulation – inspiring creative flow and making creating expressive pads or singing melodies easy! Furthermore MIDI and MPE support allows dynamic expression through both engines as well as grain pitch sequencer.
Audio Processing
Spacecraft is an exceptional virtual instrument that offers auditory interstellar exploration. The user-friendly xy pad interface makes you feel like the captain of your own ship through soundspace. Spacecraft features a powerful granular engine equipped with arpeggiator-type grid rhythmic effects and 24 different scales to explore sonic space with near infinite sonic possibilities. Plug in any MIDI/MPE device and instantly play any sample loaded into Spacecraft without additional configuration steps or delay.
Developer Mark Watt has leveraged iOS to make Spacecraft instantly fun and intuitive to use, regularly updating it since launch – now thanks to Tracktion Presents initiative it can also be found as an AU/VST plugin which takes its wonderful functionality and turns it into something truly useful for desktop music production.