NAMM 2024: Baby Audio is grasping the nettle that is physical modelling and using it to create a new synth plugin known as Atoms
Set to be released in 7 February, but previewed to Sonic State at the NAMM Show, this is said to have a complex underlying model that, in order to keep things simple for users, is distilled into six parameters and an internal automation system for adding motion. That might not sound like much, but Baby Audio thinks that, once you get your head around what these six controls are doing, there’s lots of sound design potential here.
Each control adjusts a different type of behaviour within the model, and you can see how your tweaks are affecting the sound with a central visualiser. Atoms is said to offer a unique take on physical modelling, with an internal network made up of interconnected masses and springs.
This is ‘excited’ by a virtual bow that causes the model to vibrate and produce sound. You can dictate the way that the bow ‘plays’ the model using the Force control.
Handily, there’s also MPE support, which should provide you with some intriguing creative options if you have a compatible controller.
That’s about all we know for now - we should be able to confirm how much Atoms costs when it’s released via the Baby Audio website next week.
