Waverazor, the utterly, wonderfully mad wave-slicing synthesizer people too often overlook, just got a massive update with a bunch of new features. (Ring Delay!) It’s free for new users, or there’s an intro deal if you’re intrigued. Mac, Windows, and Linux.
If aliens arrived, clearly we would not try to greet them with an ARP 2500. That was a 1977 way to do things. (Also, jeez, don’t try to talk to aliens in 12-TET!)
No, I’d be very tempted to whip out the MOK Waverazor instead. It’s a wave-slicing oscillator instrument – don’t call it “wavetable,” or you’re missing part of the point. (Some of you may also remember its Eurorack version. That’s gone now – maybe the Eurorack crowd didn’t really get it – but the software lives on.) And now it has more waveforms, more modulation possibilities, and some powerful under-the-hood enhancements in version 2.8. I’ll just quote here, because if I get too carried away, I’m cutting into my time to play around with this:
- 31 new waveforms including Trieven, Hard Rok, Shark Tooth, and Trapezoid.
- New sound bank by sound designer and YouTube synth whiz Alex Reid with 69 new patches great for today’s music producer.
- New “Deep Space” sound bank by Mark Hoffmann and Rob Rampley with 26 unique and super trippy patches.
- More patches in the M. Hoffmann bank.
- “Ring Delay” a pitch-shifting delay.
- Harmonic Tuning Mode for using the LFO as an audio modulator.
- New Patch categories for Ambient, Glitch, Space and Concréte.
- Shape Mod modulation for Wave Segments.
- Improved ARC modulation.
- And a bunch of other bits and bobs!
I love it. I love that the contextual editor (below) gives me a headache looking at it. I love that the main view screen (above and top) looks like it’s from a 1983 Atari arcade cabinet. Let the normies use Vital and Serum to make some pop hits or whatever. Terrify your friends by slicing waveforms into something that clears the room. Go.
Or, sorry, sorry, back to the marketing speak that it’s “great for today’s music producer,” but… you really also want to use this to run with scissors and take off your seatbelt, and do dangerous, life-shortening things with waveforms, too, right?
Reckless wave slicing.
They’ve done a video; I’ve got a commission to clear this week but then I’ll get into some waverazoring. And this makes it sound like you’re going to clear some magnificent space quest on the PS1 (so moving a bit further into the future from aforementioned Atari):
Alex Reid (who did some of the presets) also did a review of 2.7 with some terrific sound examples that show off just how great the synth sounds – glitchy, metallic, “welcome to the Dark Side”. I endorse Alex’s sounds, wholeheartedly:
And of course Richard Devine Has Been Here (TM), but – that shouldn’t stop you from joining in the fun, too! (Hi Richard!)
The plugin is available through Tracktion’s website, with the 50% offer (and a 30-day unlimited free trial, too, if you want to give it a test drive):