Substantia is a physical modelling system boasting hundreds of models
Create otherworldly sounds and use the built-in euclidean sequencer to instantly play patterns.
Giorgio Sancristoforo is offering you the keys to the Substantia Physical Modelling Laboratory for 15€. The software uses modal synthesis, a form of physical modelling, to generate intriguing, resonant sounds and sports a euclidean sequencer and recorder to produce patterns and sequences. Modal synthesis has gained some popularity in recent years, particularly in the modular world.
Substantia features a considerable amount of models and materials, totalling 391 resonant models; a number which is suspected to grow with future updates. The resonant models are created by combining the 17 different models and 23 materials, which range from aluminium to nickel, glass, marble, sapphire and more. Substantia offers polyphony over eight voices, and uses 100 resonant band-pass filters, giving you a whopping total of 800 filters for precise sound shaping.
Once you’ve dialled in a sound, you can excite the resonators with contact microphones, with the option to use two to create a wider stereo field. You can also use samples, or white noise and “experience a new exciting way to make digital sounds with human gestures”, the brand details.
Substantia is available for Mac only at this time, and does not function as a plug-in within a DAW. Instead, the standalone software can be controlled via your keyboard and performed with the built-in sequencing features.
Giorgio Sancristoforo says “Substantia is a powerful tool to create new hyper-real sounds, from amazing bongos to luxurious glassy and metallic textures. A must-have for experimental musicians, lovers of new frontiers of sound”.
Find out more at giorgiosancristoforo.net
For more music tech news click here.
