Alpha Forever Modular have announced an update to their Windows-based software instrument. The polyphonic modular software synthesizer which shares the company’s name has gained a range of new modules, as well as a selection of GUI and workflow improvements.
Modules
The company say that the main focus of the 2022 update is distortion, with a variety of anti-aliased waveshaper modules capable of high-quality saturation effects being introduced. Due to the modular nature of the instrument, these new processors can be combined as well as used individually, providing users with the ability to produce a wide range of complex distortion effects.
Clipper and Saturator modules merge incoming signals with hard clipping and arctan functions respectively, whilst anti-aliased foldback distortion can be applied to the signal using a new Foldback module, and a new Sine Folder allows users to apply an anti-aliased sine function.
In addition to new modules, Alpha Forever Modular has received some GUI and workflow improvements. Bi-polar input signals can now be converted to unipolar in one of two ways, with a Polarity module carrying out the task by discarding values outside of the chosen domain, and a Reflect module merging all of an incoming signal’s values to the chosen domain.
Another new module, the Allpluss Resonator, is described by the company as a Karplus-Strong-inspired resonator which uses an all-pass filter in place of a delay, with a second filter placed in the module’s feedback loop in order to simulate the frequency loss of a resonating string.
Enhancements & Fixes
In addition to the selection of new modules, the update also brings with it a range of workflow and GUI enhancements. A new Exchange Node function allows users to right click on an empty area of a node/module, and simply replace it with another from the instrument’s Palette, whilst a Replace Node(s) feature can be used to replace any selected node (or multiple nodes) with the most recently selected alternative by pressing the R key.
Some small GUI changes have been implemented, with some windows receiving subtle new looks and font sizing changes being applied to the Palette. Alpha Forever Modular say that they have also fixed the following known issues:
- Frequency shifter - fixed the noise caused by the frequency shifter
- Inactive nodes - fixed an issue where several nodes became inactive when pasted
- Clipper AA - replaced the hard clipper with a more efficient anti-aliasing algorithm
- Fixed reverb nodes phasing artefacts and reduced the amount of modulation
- Filter 4p NL Modulated has been redesigned
Compatibility
Alpha Forever Modular is available on PCs running Windows (no minimum OS requirement provided) and can be used in host applications that support VST2.4 plug-ins.
Pricing & Availability
Current users are able to update via the company’s website, and for those wishing to purchase Alpha Forever Modular, it is currently available for $80.
