Klevgrand Tomofon

Klevgrand introduce a new take on wavetable synthesis.

Available for Mac OS and Windows (AU/VST/AAX), the Tomofon plug‑in might best be described as ‘a wavetable synth, Jim, but not as we know it’. Klevgrand say that the instrument employs a new ‘Audio Model’ format, containing thousands of waves based on real audio as its sound sources. It is not a sampler, though you can feed it with samples, and it isn’t your usual wavetable synth either. As I understand the process, Tomofon analyses a monophonic sample, which can contain different notes, and then spreads the pitches across the keyboard in keygroups populated by separate wavetables.

Sounds are created by repeating single‑cycle waveforms in a similar manner to the more familiar wavetable synthesis. It is possible to modulate the position (Depth) within the wavetable from which waves are taken, which is what gives the sounds movement. Klevgrand explain that when playing a note at a certain pitch and at a certain Depth, the engine will find the nearest two pitch zones and inside those two pitch zones find the nearest two waves according to the Depth value, then it will render a new...