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Darklands faceplate in Studies
Free in Studies

Darklands

Dystopian Soundscape Synthesizer

Part of Studies

One of the ten free devices in Studies. Download Studies and it works right away, no account needed.

Free in Studies

Or own the plugin

Price: $20

The original plugin with its own interface, as a one-time purchase.

 See the standalone interface

Description

Futuristic soundscapes, tension-building washes and dissonant, bowed atmospheres: Darklands is a hybrid synth for tonal sound design and texture. It's part FM synthesizer and part ambience processor, and it can make anything from chromatic percussion to intense atonal synth-scapes.

Two FM operators and a square-wave sub go through a filter that swells in time with your track, then into a pair of delay and reverb spaces, one for each side of the stereo field. Unlike a conventional FM synth, the second operator's carrier ratio moves continuously, so you get odd overtones and FM artifacts between the usual ratios.

Darklands in the Handbook

Signal path

Play it from a MIDI track. The operators and the sub go through the swell filter and DARKNESS, then the envelope and the two PLANET spaces.

  1. FM operators

    FM
    Sets the modulator frequency ratio for both operators, from 1 to 2. Values in between give inharmonic, metallic overtones.
    SHAPE
    Picks the waveform for both operators: sine, square, saw or white noise. It applies to the next notes you play.
    INDEX
    Sets the modulation index of the first operator, in whole steps from 1 to 20. Higher settings sound brighter and harsher.
    OFFSET
    Sets the modulation index of the second operator. RAND picks a new random index on every note, or you can choose a fixed value from 1 to 6. It applies to the next notes you play.
    ORBIT
    Sets the carrier ratio of the second operator. It moves continuously, for detuned overtones and FM artifacts.

  2. Sub

    SUB
    Sets the level of the square-wave sub oscillator.
    SUB OCT
    Puts the sub one octave (−1 OCT) or two octaves (−2 OCT) below the note.

  3. Swell filter

    SWELL
    Sets how fast a low-pass filter pulses, in time with your host tempo: off, then quarter, half and whole beats, up to 15 cycles per beat. Low settings give rhythmic pulses; high settings sound like AM.

  4. Darkness

    DARKNESS
    Sets the cutoff of a second, 4-pole low-pass filter. Low settings are dark and muffled; turning it up opens the sound.

  5. Envelope

    ONSET
    Sets the attack, from 1 ms to 4 seconds.
    TRAIL
    Sets the release, from 50 ms to 3 seconds.

  6. Planets

    PLANET 1
    A space control for the left channel. It sets the delay feedback and the size and tone of the room.
    PLANET 2
    The same control for the right channel. Set the two apart for a wide, shifting stereo image.

  7. Master

    OUTPUT
    Sets the output level, from silent up to double. Noon is unity.

Try thisSWELL follows the host tempo, so start the transport or set a tempo before you dial it in.

Demo
This video shows the standalone plugin.
Good to know

In Studies

Darklands is in Studies Instruments, under Synthesizer. Load it on a MIDI track.

Standalone

The standalone plugin, shown further down the page, picks its waveform with the FM control. In Studies the waveform has its own SHAPE knob.

Bundle

The standalone plugin is also part of the Ambient Suite.

Formats
Studies: Audio Units, VST2 and VST3 on Mac, VST3 on Windows · Apple silicon native
Systems
Current macOS and Windows 10/11 x64
Darklands | Dystopian Soundscape Synthesizer

Standalone version

The original plugin with its own interface, as a one-time purchase.

AU · VST2 · VST3 · macOS · Windows