FRMS

What it does

A hybrid synth with four layers, each one either a granular engine reading a sample or an oscillator doing subtractive, additive and FM synthesis. The granular side sets offset, size, density, detune and amp spread, with grains looping, ping ponging or playing once through. Every layer carries an LFO matrix, modifiers, an arpeggiator, delay and reverb. Samples can be imported or recorded in, within a size limit of two megabytes per file.

In the demo

Jade solos one layer at a time to show the grain dots crossing a waveform, then brings all four in so the layers stack. She assigns LFOs from the matrix to size and density, loads a pack sample and one of her own, plays factory presets and three of the newer sound packs, and finishes by dropping favourited patches into a GarageBand project she is working on.

Worth knowing

Sound packs are separate in-app purchases, several with their own entries here. A dedicated demo from December 2020 covers the same four layer engine. Patches lean dark and cinematic and are built rather than picked, so anyone after quick conventional instrument sounds will be working for them.