Bored of the same old analogue emulations? Try these 5 innovative synth plugins daring to do things differently

When surveying today's synthesis landscape, to say that we’re spoiled for choice would be a serious understatement.

On the hardware front it's like the 1970s all over again, with historic names such as Moog, Sequential and Oberheim back in action, completely new creations from the likes of Arturia and Dreadbox, many homages to (not to mention copies of) classic instruments of the past, and a resurgence of interest in modular systems.

With none of the physical and financial constraints of hardware - and all the benefits of modern CPU power - there's an even greater diversity when it comes to software synths. Models of classic instruments abound, but there are also many entirely original synths, a good number of which boast capabilities that would have made Don Buchla throw down his soldering iron in despair.

The thing is, despite this vast range of choice, there’s a common thread running through practically all of these instruments, hardware or software. With only a few exceptions, the vast majority essentially follow a subtractive synthesis model, and so present a fundamentally similar set of features and controls. Even those synths that eschew conventional oscillators in favour of some alternative tone generation method are, more often than not, subtractive in every other respect.

This is all well and good – it works! – but do you ever feel it can all get a bit... well... samey? Do you ever wish you could break away from the technical dryness of oscillators and filter types, and approach sound design in a more intuitive, abstract and novel way? Music is all about creative expression, after all, so surely there are ways to conceptualise and craft sounds without worrying about frequencies and cutoffs and cross-modulations and all the rest of it? Indeed there are!

The unconstrained freedom enjoyed by software synth designers means that, every now and then, a new instrument will pop up that flies in the face of convention. Do such instruments open up new and exciting avenues of inspiration and creativity, or are they just distracting gimmicks? To find out, we set aside our Falcons, Pigments and piles of Minimoog emulations, and sought out five instruments that approach synthesis in their own thrillingly singular fashion.

1. Madrona Labs Sumu

Additive synthesis, the conceptual opposite of subtractive synthesis, is theoretically capable of producing acoustic instrument emulations that are indistinguishable from the real thing - and indeed, any other sound you can imagine.

It works on the basis that all sounds consist of layers of sine waves (also known as partials) that combine to create shifting tones and timbres as their relative volume changes over time. The fly in additive's ointment is that a stack of partials (and associated envelopes) large enough to fulfil the theoretical potential is too unwieldy to program and manage, hence its rarity.

The related technique of resynthesis aims to tame these cumbersome complexities by analysing a source sound and creating from it a template or map of sorts that can be used to govern the partials generated by an additive synth engine. But resynthesis never really caught on, either, because in the hardware age, its technical requirements made it very expensive at a time when the cost of samplers - which can easily deliver such realism - was tumbling.

Sumu, then, is built around an additive engine capable of generating 64 partials per voice, and comes with a companion app, Vutu, that analyses audio to create resynthesis data for loading into the plugin. The synth is modular too, so its different stages can be patched in any way you like. These interconnections carry each partial as a discrete signal, allowing the modules to do their work on a per-partial basis.

Thoughtful interface design and visualisation makes all of this workable. You do not, for instance, have to configure 64 individual envelopes. Rather, Sumu twists a regular ADSR graph into three dimensions, with the Z dimension representing each individual partial. Scaling controls shape the base ADSR values across this Z dimension.

Sumu's modular patching system unlocks a wide vista of sonic possibilities, making it as good at creating deep, solid, percussive bass sounds as it is light, tinkling, evolving pads. The inclusion of Vutu gives Sumu sampler-like capabilities too, allowing patches to be built from audio recordings and snippets. The synth's processing stages are very different to the subtractive architecture of a regular sampler, though, so the creative possibilities are very different too.

There's a distinctly digital flavour to the sound produced by Sumu, but this is richer and smoother than the characteristic coldness of an FM synth, or indeed of other modern additive implementations.

On the downside, with up to eight simultaneous voices each consisting of 64 partials that are, in effect, individually routed and processed, Sumu is exceptionally resource-hungry. Even a powerful machine will struggle to serve up more than a couple of simultaneous instances, so you'll be forever bouncing or freezing your Sumu tracks.

Also, despite clear visualisations, straight-forward controls, and the manual's largely successful efforts to keep things light and approachable, Sumu is inherently complicated, and takes quite some time to get to grips with.

Overall, then, Sumu is a powerful synth with a fulsome sound that delivers an extensive sonic palette that's as distinctive as it is diverse, but if you're looking for an instrument that masks the deeper technicalities of synthesis with a user-friendly interface then Sumu is certainly not for you.

2. MOK Waverazor

The synth engine underlying MOK Waverazor is, perhaps, the most conventional in this roundup: the output of three oscillators (and optional external input) is routed to up to three filters, can be controlled by a wide range of modulators, and can be polished with three effect processors. What makes Waverazor different, and qualifies it for inclusion in this roundup, are its oscillators and user interface.

Conceptually, Waverazor's oscillators are much like any other, producing regular, repeating waveforms to feed to the rest of the synth. However, in Waverazor's case, that waveform can consist of up to 16 segments, each based on any of 162 preset shapes which can be further shaped and distorted via the oscillator's controls. As well as doing a good line in classic synth tones, these oscillators lend the instrument huge potential for creating original and interesting timbres.

Construction of these segmented waveforms is performed in an advanced view where all the synth's other modules and controls are also accessed. The layout of this view is crisp and logical, but with so many modules and options, and few visual cues to help differentiate between them, it is easy to get a bit lost – some module-specific colour-coding and styling would certainly help here!

Conversely, Waverazor's main view is much more approachable and intuitive. Here, Waverazor's plethora of parameters is boiled down into an easy-to-manage collection of nine macro dials, three buttons and two large X/Y pads, each of which can be mapped to up to 16 destination parameters. Additionally, the large central oscilloscope view can also serve as an interactive panel for modifying the oscillator waveform shapes.

Waverazor's voice and character is impressively varied thanks to its clever oscillators and detailed underlying architecture, but it is short a bit of oomph in the lower end of the frequency spectrum and so lacks a certain sonic sumptuousness – nothing that a bit of EQ can't fix, of course.

The synth's generous library of presets can be extensively modified via easy and intuitive controls that are ideal for both sound design and performance, but things become somewhat less intuitive when delving into the advanced view.

3. Native Instruments Reaktor

Native Instruments Reaktor is a deep, complex and powerful environment in which synths, audio processors and other sound-wrangling tools, referred to collectively as "ensembles", can be created and hosted. (Yes, we know the last significant update to Reaktor was released almost a decade ago, and this is primarily a list of shiny, new synths - but we believe Reaktor still holds up today.)

The ability to design custom synths from the ground-up is as unconventional as its possible to get and, for a certain type of nerdy inquisitive mind, can be a hugely satisfying thing to do. Raw synth design isn't everybody's idea of a good time, but this isn't the only reason we've included Reaktor in this roundup – we're also interested in the collection of synth ensembles that it comes with.

There are conventional synths here, such as the basic-yet-satisfying 2-Osc, or the Minimoog-inspired Monark, but many of Reaktor's synths take a more leftfield approach. Some have a familiar appearance but unusual underlying architecture; some are more sonically conventional but feature novel control panels; and some simply defy all explanation (we're looking at you, Gaugear).

If you ever get bored with the bundled synths then hundreds more are available in Native Instruments' Reaktor User Library. Here, alongside some conventional fare, you will find all manner of inventive, experimental and off-the-wall instruments to explore. And, if you are yourself inclined to unleash your inner synth designer, you can upload your own creations to the library so that others can marvel at your genius (or madness!).

Reaktor can also operate as a virtual modular environment into which specially designed ensembles, called Reaktor Blocks, can be loaded and patched together in whatever way you like. This is infinitely more immediate and intuitive than creating a synth from scratch, but still allows your sound design imagination to run wild. It's a lot cheaper than putting together a hardware modular system too!

No matter what you load into it, Reaktor delivers a consistently rich and detailed sound and, given its open-ended nature, its sonic palette and potential for unconventionality is limited only by your imagination.

4. Dawesome Myth

There are loads of synths that use sample-based sound generators, and most of these are happy jumping between basic sample triggering and granular playback, but there are none that come at things in quite the same way as Myth.

The synth is based around a pair of "Iris" sound generators, so called because their circular visualisation looks like the iris of an eye. Dragging or loading a sample into an Iris triggers Myth to analyse that sample, decomposing it into component parts (tonal, noise, transient, etc.) that each has its own colour-coding within the Iris's visualisation.

Below each Iris is a set of 14 "Transformers", these being small draggable discs that influence the sound in different ways. Each has a predictable outcome – adding frequency modulation, making the sound more saw-like or more string-like, and so-on. This masks the deeper synthesis complexities that are happening under the bonnet, thereby allowing you to focus purely on the sound.

The Irises can be crossfaded together or, for a more dramatic result, can be switched to ring modulation mode. Their combined signal is then passed to a series of processing stages, each aimed at a particular purpose: additional oscillators, filters and effects.

Each stage can host multiple modules, chosen from a list of appropriate options, which allows Myth to serve up a whole host of different configurations and architectures. All of this is topped-off with a flexible and easy to manage modulation section for bringing life to the Transformers and modules.

This makes for a very versatile synth that is exceptionally easy to work with, and that delivers beautifully clear and full-bodied timbres. Myth's level of abstraction isn't as far-out as that of Synplant, featured below, but it successfully hides the complexities of its synth engine behind an instinctive and easy to master GUI which lacks nothing in its ability to shape and sculpt sounds. It's a true gem of a synth!

5. Sonic Charge Synplant 2

Although built on familiar two-oscillator subtractive synth foundations, Synplant's approach to sound design is both unique and, quite literally, organic.

Sounds start life as a seed and, just like an actual seed, this has a genetic makeup that determines the characteristics of whatever will grow from it. The parameters that define a seed's genetics are familiar enough – waveforms, filters, envelopes, cross-modulation, and so-on – but the magic comes from the unfathomable ways in which these parameters influence and impact on each other when the seed grows.

A sound's seed is shown at the centre of Synplant's main view, and is surrounded by a ring divided into 12 segments. Depending on operating mode, these segments can be triggered by base note (I.E. all A notes, all A# notes, all B notes, etc.), a note range, a velocity range, or can simply be a layer within the final sound.

Dragging in a segment causes leafy branches to grow (or recede) within that segment – the longer and leafier the branch, the more the parameters of the seed's gene will interact and evolve, and so the more complex the sound produced by the segment becomes. It's also possible to grow all segments simultaneously. And, just as in real horticulture, if you create a sound that has characteristics you find particularly pleasing, you can capture its evolved DNA as a new seed and then grow new sounds from it.

Synplant also includes Genopatch. This analyses a given snippet of audio and generates from it a selection of seeds that recreate the sample through subtractive synthesis. You can then select one of these seeds as the basis for a new sound, with each seed having the potential to grow into radically different sounds.

It may seem that Synplant's unique approach to synthesis doesn't exactly lend itself to focussed sound design that seeks to create a specific sound. However, if you embrace the concept and, over a few generations, evolve a sound towards what you originally imagined, it's possible to end up with exactly the sound you were looking for without once thinking about frequencies, filters and all the rest of it. There's also a good chance that the sound you evolve will be more interesting than the one you were aiming for, and may itself inspire new musical ideas.

Synplant is by far the most abstract and original synth in this roundup. It sounds amazing, and its concept turns the studio-bound process of sound design into a highly intuitive, fun and relaxing spot of gardening!