...That are used by more than just 1 synth*
I.e. Tone2's impulse response-based synthesis method, which is only used by RayBlaster afaik (although I do really like it)
This is to avoid naming every little synth type that companies market as "their own method", which is a lot, and some claims are more valid than others.
I think phase distortion is the most obscure one I know, and I really like it. If there's any other methods that are obscure yet beloved by some, that are used in a few synths, I'd love to try them out.

 

Majkin Chimera uses noise and resonant filters to create sound.. I have always liked this free instrument.

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/chimera_by_majkin

 

This is just a substractive synthesis tho.

On topic, Tone2's harmonic content morphing is used in two synths, so does that count?

 

Nuklear by Hamburg Audio uses Pulsar Synthesis. I tried it out, but it sounded thin, and the UI was too tiny.

Nuklear by hamburg-audio - Synth Plugin VST VST3 Audio Unit (kvraudio.com)

 

Image Line Harmor
AAS Chromaphone
Giorgio Sancristoforo Substantia
Madrona Labs Kaivo
Rhizomatic Plasmonic
Eventide/Newfangled Generate
NUSofting Modelonia
Reason Resonans
Logic Pro X Sculpture

 

Hartmann Neuron/Neuron VS
In 2000, Axel Hartmann and Stephan Bernsee, set out to designing a novel synthesizer based on artificial neural networks used for sound synthesis, the <NEURON> synthesizer.
http://www.neuronsynth.com/html/Home.html
https://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/neuron.php

 

Last edited: Nov 20, 2022

1.) Tone2 - Gladiator VSTi = Harmonic-Content-Morphing™ (HCM)
2.) Xenobioz - Dulcet VSTi = Physical modeling synth + Body resonator with many different modes.
https://plugins4free.com/plugin/1434/
3.) Plugin Boutique - VirtualCZ VSTi = Emulation CasioCZ - Phase Distortion
4.) reFX - quadraSID VSTi = SID Chip-Model selector per chip 6581 / 8580, Galway-noise" channel
5.) AlgoMusic - CZynthia VSTi = Phase Distortion Synthesizer (No longer Available) Get it here:
https://audiosex.pro/threads/algomu...nebula-m51-galaxy-czynthia.59236/#post-598003
6.) NUSofting - Noisetar VSTi = Noise Generator
https://plugins4free.com/plugin/2570/

 

Last edited: Nov 20, 2022

Westcoast synthesis is so underlooked imo
Newfangled Audio Generate, Arturia Easel... just a handful of plugins

 

Eplex7 - DSP Particle Collider SX7 VSTi = Hybrid experimental fx synthesizer
https://eplex7.com/particle-collider-sx7-hybrid-experimental-synthesizer-vsti/

Zone.sk - Asper VSTi (Free) = Experimental synth plugin.
This experimental synth combines wavetable/subtractive synthesis with phase distortion and physical modeling. www.kvraudio.com/product/asper-by-zone-sk

Robert Todd - Radio Active VSTi (old 32 Bit) = This synthesizer primarily for creating radio style frequency cycling noise and `glitchscapes`. https://plugins4free.com/plugin/769/

Alter/Ego VSTi (Free) = Real-time singing synthesizer www.plogue.com/products/alter-ego.html

Devine Machine - Krishna Synth VSTi = Krishna is based on a new kind of oscillator - a "Frame Oscillator".
FKFX - KrishnaSynth Legacy 1.7.0 FREE VST / VST3 - WIN & OSX Installers (Free Download) 416 MB https://audiosex.pro/threads/best-free-software-for-making-music.14835/page-77

Krakli - ADK (Spectral Additive Synth) VSTi (32 Bit) Free
Comes with an additive oscillator which has each partial being modulated by one of four ADSR envelopes or LFOs
https://plugins4free.com/plugin/2941/

Xen-Arts - XenFont 2 VSTi (Free) = A microtonal SF2 / subtractive synth + microtuning and xenharmonics
- 148 MTS Microtunings. and 81 Partials TXT Files for Audio-Rate Oscillator Modulation.
https://freevstplugins.net/xen-arts-xenfont2/

H.G.Fortune VSTi (Now Free) Wave-Transition https://hgfortune.neocities.org/?/synths

H.G.Fortune - STS-17 VSTi (32 Bit / Free) Wave-Transition method for absolute unique soundscapes and textures.
https://plugins4free.com/plugin/2445/

 

Last edited: Nov 20, 2022

Is frame oscillator same as wave scanner?

 

How do you use it without the NUKE controller?

 

Hello @Legotron, i also had to look it up first, I don't know it off the top of my head.

Frame Analysis Technology

The soul of Krishna Synth lies in its Frame Analysis Technology (or F.A.T.), with which a sample or sound may be converted to a series of many individual 'Frames'. Said Frames are then stored as Krishna Movie Files, which can be played back using Oscillator 1 - the so-called Frame Oscillator. A modulation source can be applied to the playback to 'animate' the proceedings. This is not unlike granular resynthesis or even PPG-styled wavetable scanning, but on a deeper level.
Source: www.musicradar.com/reviews/tech/devine-machine-krishna-synth-23034

Wave scanning

A method of synthesis, related to granular synthesis. Wave scanning involves stringing together single cycle samples of different waveforms, read from a wavetable, to form a complex composite output. Varying the number and order of the scanned waves can produce sounds that change timbres dramatically as the output continues to sound. The waves used most be carefully pre-analyzed to ensure that they all begin and end on zero crossing points and will not produce clicks or pops when concatenated with other waveforms.

The PPG company pioneered wave scanning in commercially produced synths in the mid-1980s. The PPG Wave synths used wave scanning as their primary synthesis method. These came from the factory with suitable pre-analyzed wavetables in ROM. A device called the Waveterm was also available that allowed the user to analyze and load new waveforms into the instrument. After PPG's demise, Waldorf acquired the rights to the technology and produced the similar-in-concept Wave/Microwave series. The one other manufacturer that has attempted wave scanning was Ensoniq, with the late 1990s Fizmo. Source: https://electronicmusic.fandom.com/wiki/Wave_scanning

 

Last edited: Nov 20, 2022

1. Do I need a NUKE controller to use the Plug-In?
   
   
2. No. It will work fine without the NUKE, but you might have a hard time figuring out how to remote control the Scape/Sphere parameters that are controlled by the NUKE sticks. It can be done though, as this YouTube video shows (thanks to Will S for this).
   

 

Hartmann Neuron VS v1.0 VSTi - x86 - Team DYNAMiCS - 18.04.2014

User roku wrote - I quote verbatim:

" ive had this for a couple of years. its great in theory, but its too buggy to be practical. its difficult to use without the hardware controller that was made for it (difficult, not impossible). the main problem with it is that there is a god awful memory leak, every time you change a patch, your ram usage goes up. if i recall correctly, the reason its available for mac (with mem leak fixed i think) and not for win. is that the dev. lost all the coding for the win. version. anyway...it would be cool, but the buggyness far overshadows the sound youll get from it."

 

U-He Triple Cheese, winner of the 2006 KVR Developer Challenge, is a truly unique freeware synthesizer. No traditional oscillators or wavetables, no FM or phase distortion and no analogue modelled filters here. A touch unusual and a little cheesy, Triple Cheese is quite capable of some surprising sounds. Triple Cheese avoids classic synthesis techniques — no subtractive, frequency modulation (FM) or additive synthesis. Rather, it employs various types of comb filter, often in series, to generate and modify sound. Think of the comb filters as very short chromatically tuned delays. Three modules are arranged in series and either generate their own sound, or process the output of the previous module.

Taron Lord Of The Springs uses a weird kind of physically modelling synthesis with 88 active spring systems (4 springs per system, 352 springs total). 88 voices polyphony. 129 optional “Body” springs. Innovative Pitch Bend implementation: only physically held notes bend their pitch. Sustain Pedal holds released notes at last pitch with optional release time. Modulation Wheel acts like bowing the springs.

Full Bucket Music MPS is a 64-voice polyphonic instrument that consists of five individual sound generators coming in the flavors Wood, Glass, Metal, String, and Sine. Their output can be mixed using the X-Y “Ball Pad” control (the Sine generator sits right in the middle of the pad and is not explicitly labeled). Via dragging the ball with the mouse you can continuously change the mix balance between the five generators. The more you deviate from the center, the more harmonics will be created – which harmonics depends on the orientation of the ball.
Besides the Ball Pad control, MPS features five more parameters, which are:
- The Envelope Parameter - This parameters controls the contour of the amplitude and brilliance of the sound. “Soft” stands for smooth attack and decay while “Perc.” leads to more percussive envelopes.
- The Vivid Parameter - This parameter adds modulation (life!) to the sound. Each generator has its own kind of modulation: an Ensemble-like effect for String, Tremolo for Metal, a Phaser for Glass, a combination of filtered Ring modulation plus complex Tremolo for Wood, and a slightly detuned additional octave for Sine.
- The Air Parameter - As the name says it, Air will bring some air to the sound. Technically it is realized by a double stereo Chorus. But please do not think in technical terms – put on your headphones and listen!
- The Release Parameter - Release controls the length of the release time of the sound. Unlike the standard release parameter known from ADSR generators, the release time here cannot be longer than the decay time set via the Envelope parameter. This results in a more natural way of playing percussive sounds with short decay.
- The Volume Parameter - Does exactly what you expect.

All these three awesome synths are free.

But I don't know if these weird synthesis methods are used elsewhere.

 

Last edited: Nov 20, 2022

Yes, the Neuron VS Windows version is buggy as hell and unusable.
There is a free and bug-free Mac 32-bit only version you can download from neuronsynth.com
"The NeuronVS software is based on an early version 2 SDK that was distributed by Steinberg at the time. Unfortunately, many of todays’ host applications are not backwards compatible to this version so they will not see the plug in, or the user interface might come up blank."
http://www.neuronsynth.com/html/FAQ.html

 

The STS-21 Pro Wave-Transition synth is a beast for high quality soundscapes and pads, also here: https://hgfortune.neocities.org/?/synths

 

Last edited: Nov 20, 2022

Metamusic Generative Tools
https://2mgt.st8.ru/

 

Just remembered that I read about this synth just last week or something: https://kodamo.org/mask1.php

Don't know if it would count as obscure since it's literally brand-new, but it's something different than the standard synthesis methods. It sounds like it could be good for some 80's style synth sounds, but it also sounds a bit harsh and aliasy.