French company Expressive E have teamed up with physical modelling experts Applied Acoustic Systems (AAS) to create a new software instrument that they describe as “a playful new world of unknown sounds”.
Whereas AAS's previous releases have used mathematical modelling to recreate the sound of real acoustic instruments, Imagine uses the same principles to generate unfamiliar tones that nonetheless exhibit realistic acoustic phenomena. It is thus possible to combine the attributes of drums and flutes, or tuned percussion with wind instruments, to create entirely new tones.
In addition to AAS's modelling algorithms, there are many traditional synth-style parameters on offer, such as envelope generators, LFOs and filters. Real-time performance is well catered for too, and includes full MPE support, which means that Imagine will work well with Expressive E's unusual Lié and Touché controllers.
Imagine comes in AU, VST and VST3 formats for Mac and PC, and is available to buy now for the introductory price of €83.40 (normal price €139). To get a sense of the sounds it's capable of, check out the overview video below.
