Hollow Sun Music Laboratory Machines
Further growing his Kontakt Library and sublime front ends, Hollow Sun’s Steve Howell has launched a new range of Kontakt based instruments entitled “Music Laboratory Machines“. It launches with two instruments called Oscillosine and Organa, the former being based on material supplied by Rod Mitchell, aka Atomic Shadow.
Hollow Sun’s ‘Music Laboratory Machines’ series brings a range of unique sound generating equipment, discrete Kontakt 4 ‘modules’ that evoke the sounds of a past future, sounds of mystery created in dark and musty laboratories by eccentric boffins in an exciting era of technological optimism, when primitive electronics were thrilling, new and indistinguishable from wizardy and music made with electricity was at the forefront of new musical thinking.
Each of the Music Laboratory Machines serve a single purpose with a particular function in mind yet are flexible and versatile with unique user interfaces that encourage experimentation, exploration and serendipity to discover the unexpected and expect the unpredictable.
The Music Laboratory Machines series is not just another sample library but a collection of individual, living and breathing self-contained sound synthesis instruments in their own right, re-creating in Kontakt 4 the kind of equipment that the pioneers of early electronic music had at their disposal and some they might have dreamed of.
In isolation, each machine can produce a wide range of timbres; collectively, the diversity increases and you can build a semi modular sonic laboratory for audio experimentation as instruments are released and your creative needs demand.
Welcome to the sounds of a past future
Almost as though it was found in the back of a damp garage after decades of neglect, Hollow Sun has created Oscillosine. Reminiscent of an oddball inventor’s strange homebrew creation, Oscillosine is designed to conjour the sights, sounds and smells of a 1940s experimenter’s laboratory… glowing valves, otherworldly audio and maybe a hint of pipe tobacco.
Oscillosine
The samples for Oscillosine are taken from a vintage tube Hewlett Packard sine wave test oscillator estimated to date back to the 50s or 60s, maybe earlier.
Oscillosine uses Kontakt’s advanced modular synthesis facilities to create a compact sonic laboratory machine capable of producing authentic sci-fi and vintage electronica blips and bleeps and klings and klangs and drones and squeals as well as smooth pads, solid sub-basses, mellow leadlines, etc., suitable for more modern musical genres.
The user interface is modelled on an old Tektronics oscilloscope and might look a bit inscrutable and arcane at first but is actually quite simple. On the other hand, its rather non-standard layout encourages experimentation and serendipity to create sounds that are maybe unimaginable. It’s certainly great fun to play with.
It features a valve driven sine wave oscillator offering a few variations which are shown on the CRT and can be modulated by a multi-wave LFO providing simultaneous sine, ramp, random and a variable width rectangle or pulse waveforms and all the waveforms can be mixed to create a wide range of control waveshapes that can be applied to pitch and/or amplitude. For example….
With careful settings, it’s possible to create pseudo-arpeggios and sequences but otherwise, it’s possible to create sounds that could have come from a VCS3 or Buchla or from the soundtrack of the 50’s movie, ‘Forbidden Planet’ … warm, organic and temperental and unpredictable sounds.
There are also ring mod and FM functions to create discordant sounds which can be modulated and mangled by the multi-wave LFO and so on. The possibilities are almost endless.
But if you’re bit timid or unsure, don’t worry – there’s a drop-down to select from a wide variety of preset sounds to get you started. You can also save your own ‘User’ presets for the drop down.
Furthermore, the EFFECTS page gives access to 3-band EQ, a chorus unit, phase shifter, rotary cabinet and echo unit to transform the sounds further. These feed into a convolving reverb unit which, amongst many others, offers vintage spring reverb impulses for a truly authentic retro sound.
The more voices (or notes) the thing tries to play, the circuitry seems to strain slightly and the valves glow brighter which is visible through the front panel aperture.
Oscillosine offers serious abstract synthesis for the adventurous to bring something different to your productions whilst also providing more conventional sounds for more mainstream work.
For safety reasons, be sure to wear a white lab coat when operating Oscillosine.
The samples for Organa are taken from a very early Hohner ‘Organa 30’ from the 50s or early 60s belonging to Hollow Sun Deutsche freund, Matthias Shuster.
Little is known about this other than it was an electric reed organ with a fan that blew air through reeds that were opened and closed with the keys. In many ways, it’s an electric harmonium where a motor rather than manually pumped pedals pushes the air around.
Organa
It has a distinctive sound which is harmonically rich and somewhat ‘wheezy’. It certainly has ‘character’. It is only capable of a few basic tones but Hollow Sun’s ‘Organa’ takes this a stage further by making them available simultaneously and mixable using drawbars which allows very big sounds to be created. The phase innacuracies of the layers add to the overall richness of the sound when the various ‘ranks’ are combined.
However, while the motor noise is considered by some to be a major irritation, it is a significant component of the sound so there is a control which allows you to mix some fan noise in with the signal.
All this combined with the ‘Tone’ control, envelope, FX and convolved reverb allows you to create a far wider range of quirky, organic tones than the original was capable of and whilst it’s no Hammond and it won’t do synth basses and string pads, Organa can bring something unique to the mix.
Apart from their impressive sonic abilities, the other REALLY impressive thing is the price! $8 for Oscillosine and $4 for Organa. You’d be stupid NOT to buy them really!!
And here’s a demo for you to salivate over….
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