Madrona Labs Launches Sumu Synthesizer v1.0

Madrona Labs has just released version 1.0 of their groundbreaking software synthesizer called Sumu. It’s an excellent instrument that mixes different types of synthesis in a new way. Sumu starts by taking sampled sounds and breaking them down into small pieces called partials. Each partial’s frequency, volume, and noisiness can change over time. This lets you do all sorts of creative things with the sound, like stretching it out without making it sound weird or changing how it sounds in really cool ways.

The best part is that Sumu has a multi-channel patcher. It’s like a big mixing board where you can manipulate each partial separately. You can do things like take a few partials and make them wobble with frequency modulation or make each partial echo based on how high or low it is. It’s more like playing an instrument than programming a computer.

Sumu also lets you do some wild stuff with space and time. You can take a sample, pick a few partials, and put them somewhere else in the sound field. Or you can make everything explode and swirl around like a crazy whirlwind, each partially zooming around on its path.

There’s also an excellent module called Pulses that can make quantized rhythms from a sound stream. It’s great for creating complex sounds or adding rhythm to the resynthesis. You can smoothly go from rhythms to noise and back again and from organic to synthetic sounds.

And if all that digital stuff gets too much, Sumu has an analog-style filter based on the classic Moog ladder design. It can make the sound big and vintage or smooth out the rough edges.