GForce’s MAP was up against some tough competition in October, but don’t sleep on this one. Or, alternatively, do let its dulcet West Coast sounds lull you to sleep.
I got my MAP build a bit close to release time, so I wasn’t quite ready with a demo. But after the story was done, I wound up spending an evening improvising with it. Here you go:
I didn’t even get to set this up for Osmose and MPE yet, but that’s next now that I spent a little more time on sound design. (I played this on a Novation Launchkey Mini, ha!)
If you’re very kind to me I might release these presets (there’s a reason they say “init”).
Sometimes, arpeggiators and effects can seem like icing or even a distraction. But on MAP, Colour, Space, Time, and the Arp with its generative options feel really part of the ethos.
You can read my breakdown of how to think about this instrument:
And if that’s not enough, GForce also shares this video review, which includes a preset walkthrough for a better sense of the sound.
Uh, yes, I should write about a certain other monster soft synth, too, with a three in the name (it caught me in the midst of some other things).
You can get your copy of MAP on sale:
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I made the comparison to Madrona Labs’ Aalto. Check the gate / low pass gate / waveguide sections, especially, and the feedback you can do with that waveguide. Aalto also has robust MPE support (of course, as its developer was a driving force behind MPE), so this is great fun to play on Osmose, too, and supports Ableton Tuning Systems right out of the box. It’s something really special, and you’ll notice that this nicely complements MAP, in that they take different approaches.