Those sprawling synths are great, but when it comes to exploring a sound design idea compositionally, there’s nothing quite like a modular patch. I’ve long admired Adam Pietruszko’s work for AAS, so it’s a treat to watch him break down a patch and hear what he did on Rotors, bringing those leftfield sounds to dancefloor contexts.
Applied Acoustic Systems has long been a name in software modular and physical modeling. And if you dig into the soundbanks for their current stuff — the Chromaphone instrument or Multiphonics CV-3 modular — you’ll see Warsaw, Poland-based sound designer Adam Pietruszko’s name appears a lot.
If you’re looking for an excuse to dust off CV-3, too, here’s some added motivation. Adam’s Rotors sound pack is built around taking the full range of the modular into percussion, bass, textures, and effects. That costs just a few bucks (especially with a sale on now), but having advocated CV-3 for a while now, this makes me want to get back into patching. I also like that CV-3 has a pretty clean sound; you can always feed that into effects or dirty it up with modulation.
I do not have access to this for teaching, but if I were running a lab, I’d pick it up, as it does have a real sense of focus. The breakdown for me is the highlight — a nice quick guide to the workflow here.
And he’s done some showcases with this, as well. Now, obviously, you could adjust this to your own tastes (though I’m digging the 90s-ish vibes here), all based on how you color those sounds and (especially) how you program the rhythms and approach pitch. But there are also some nice tips to be gleaned for how to map this for live use:
Plus some sounds for Chromaphone:
AAS’ stuff is on sale now direct and via Plugin Boutique:
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Applied Acoustic Systems @ Plugin Boutique