Softube Mutable Instruments Rings Module for Modular Virtual Synthesizer (Download)

Available for download, Softube's Mutable Instruments Rings is a software synthesizer designed for the company's Modular platform. The synth, emulating a Mutable Instruments product, attempts to recreate the effect of exciting a physical object with some sort of energy input. A string being bowed, a guitar being plucked, a resonant soundboard being slapped—Rings attempts to put these kinds of effects in a digital bottle.

The synth provides three resonator models. The modal resonator model is fashioned on the sound of plates, pipes, strings, and membranes. The sympathetic strings model groups virtual strings together so they can vibrate in sympathy. Then you'll find the inharmonic strings model, a resonator modeled on the Karplus-Strong approach, in which short waveforms are looped through a filtered delay to simulate the timbre of a hammered or plucked string.

Four voices of polyphony are available at one time, giving you the sound of four virtual strings at a time. You can even recreate the sound of strummed chords. Excite these resonators with a built-in noise pulse or an external audio signal—the choice is yours. Indeed, when you dive into what Rings has to offer in the way of synthesis and timbral control, you'll find you can achieve anything from naturalistic to otherworldly.

As this plug-in is part of Softube's Modular platform, it requires a full install of Modular Virtual Synthesizer. Rings is compatible with Mac and Windows operating systems.