Re-amping synthesizers - playing recordings through an amplifier and then re-recording the results - is a powerful technique that can bring an illuminating dimension of organic texture and character to your synth patches.
If you don't believe us, just ask Aphex Twin, who sang the technique's praises in a 2014 interview with Pitchfork: "It's real, it's something in the air," he said. "That's the magical ingredient - when something moves through the air, it's automatically going to sound more interesting [...] It's been in the real world and put back in the computer".
It's this sentiment that serves as the inspiration for British creative sound studio Noon Instruments' latest sample instrument: Vessels. Billed as an "exploration of object resonance and sonic materiality", Vessels is based on an extensive library of samples of both analogue and digital synths that have been re-amped using a variety of creative and unconventional studio techniques: the result is a stunning and diverse library of sounds that spans cosmic pads, soaring arps and distorted textures.
Vessels' presets are categorized into three banks: Divergent, Convergent and Relics, each characterized by a different approach in the studio. The sounds in Divergent lean towards traditional re-amping techniques, having been passed through two 180-watt cabinets and recorded with multiple microphones.
Convergent has a more experimental bent, its discordant recordings run through surface transducers attached to metallic objects, while Relics' samples were run through tape machines and effects pedals to achieve a warm and evocative sound.
The instrument's GUI features four squares representing the four sound layers comprising each of the instruments' 460 presets. These can be blended, soloed or muted, before the mix is shaped via the ADSR envelope, filter and EQ.
Four additional menus reveal a variety of effects that includes multiple types of distortion, compression, delay, reverb and chorus, while two tempo-syncable LFOs can be used to modulate eight of Vessels' key parameters.
Vessels requires Native Instruments' Kontakt or Kontakt Player, versions 7.7.2 or later. The instrument is available now and is priced at £99. Find out more on Noon Instruments' website or check out a sound demo below.
