Fractal Bits

What it does

A drum and noise synth that generates its sounds from fractal algorithms rather than samples. Twelve sounds sit on screen as a grid of colored squares, and each patch is addressed by a hex code you type in or scroll through at random, a pool the developer’s description puts at over four billion. A column on the right adds volume, transpose, pan, reverb, overdrive and lo-fi. It runs standalone or as an AUv3, takes touch, MIDI or a computer keyboard, and records to a bank for WAV export.

In the demo

Jade plays it from an Apple Magic Keyboard, one sound per letter, showing that the keyboard reaches well past the twelve squares on screen. She locks sounds she wants to keep while randomizing the rest, exports a recording to AudioShare, then runs two instances driven by separate Wave Collider instances for a long noise improvisation.

Worth knowing

Sounds are found by randomizing rather than designed, so there is no oscillator panel behind a patch. Anyone wanting an editable kit will find this closer to a noise box.