Anima Synthesizer

What it does

A physical modelling synth. A breath or strike excites a modal resonator of 24 coupled resonances per voice, bent toward wood, glass, metal, string or bell by rigidity, harmonics, density and bloom controls, then rings into a room that morphs from delay to reverb. MPE maps pressure to breath, with a ribbon keyboard for microtonal play, 55 factory presets and up to 64 voices.

In the demo

Jade starts from the init patch in AUM and works down each section so every control is heard alone, with the inertia and bloom parameters getting the most attention. She then runs the factory presets and shows the ribbon with slide routing sending MPE slide to inertia.

Worth knowing

The ribbon has snap and octave shift but no scale selector, which Jade points out twice. This is for mallet, bell and organic textures; anyone after saw leads and basses will want a subtractive synth instead.