Baby Audio releases Atoms, a new way of thinking about sound design for music & film?

Software

Baby Audio releases Atoms, a new way of thinking about sound design for music & film?

By Connor EdneyFebruary 7, 20246 mins read

Baby Audio is back with Atoms, a software synthesizer that emulates how real instruments works to generate sound… and it sounds awesome.

How many developers often “reinvent the wheel” with soft synths and effects is often talked about. Many synths behave very similarly and we’re seeing an increasing amount of reimagined vintage hardware in the plugin domain.

Well, I think Baby Audio’s new Atoms synthesizer has broken the mould.

Algorithms, bows and a new take on sound generation

Physical modelling isn’t new by any means, but Atoms takes the idea to a whole new level. With natural physics as its inspiration, specifically the interaction between masses and springs, the Atoms soft synth generates dynamic sounds with intricately detailed timbres.

With its underlying algorithm distilled into six intuitive parameters, Atoms offers flexible control over sound generation with the following controls:

Chaos adds randomness to the sound generation
Force determines how the virtual bow interacts with the model
Drive adds saturation and warmth to the sound
Order manipulates harmonics
Overtone adds harmonics
Filter for frequencies sculpting

Baby Audio’s Atoms furthermore boasts an automation system thoughtfully designed to evolve the texture and timbre of sound over time. You can also manipulate the six aforementioned parameters via MPE for per-key automation for further expression.

This synth uses its physical model to generate chorus and vibrato directly within the sound engine rather than relying on traditional FX modules. Just watch the video above and see the level of tonal depth the preset examples have!

Atoms has garnered endorsements from musicians and composers such as Eldad Guetta, Jamie Lidell, and Michel Lindgren Schulz, quickly attracting attention and firmly establishing itself outside of the box.

Finally, the Baby Audio Atoms soft synth offers 250 presets but you’ll also get an expansion pack titled “Radioactive” by Zardonic, Atoms’ darker sonic capabilities.

I’m excited to see where this synth will make the biggest impact. There’s a lot of potential not only for music but also for film sound and compositions. Atoms’ rich tonal capabilities we saw in the video sound cinematic by nature, and I have no doubt it’ll make its way into evocative movie film soundtracks as well as music.