Complex Physics in a Simple Package
Physical modeling simulates the behavior of real life instruments. But Atoms takes you beyond what’s possible in the natural world. Its features are deep enough to explore the outer bounds of sound design, yet so simple that you can easily mangle, shape and create.
Atoms is powered by a simulation of interconnected masses and springs with tweakable properties and dimensions. The model is triggered by a virtual bowing action that excites the system and makes it vibrate to generate sound.
A Living Organism
Nothing in the natural world is ever truly static. Physical modeling mimics this by generating sounds with the same organic fluctuations as acoustic instruments.
Atoms takes it even further. Its six main parameters can be automated with a selection of powerful motion options to add extra life. This lets you create soundscapes that are constantly shifting and re-generating, like a natural organism.
If you’re used to working with sample libraries, Atoms will bring a new level of otherworldly realism into your tracks.
Program New Patches with a Click
Atoms comes equipped with a powerful randomization engine. It’s a musically calibrated algorithm that selectively adjusts each parameter based on its relationship to the others, giving you usable patches with every roll of the dice.
You can narrow the algorithm further by limiting the random ranges for any knob or locking parameters from changing.
Finally, the Recycle button is a second randomizer that will create new patches similar to the current patch. Once you have a sound you like, click recycle to explore related options.
Physically Modelled Effects
The bottom panel gives you a range of creative effects to further sculpt your sound. You can also choose between four sonic profiles, each offering a different structure of the mass-spring network simulation.
With the exception of Space (reverb), all effects in the bottom panel are created inside the physical model itself. This gives you a range of unique modulation effects that are an inherent part of the physical model and sound more natural than any separate FX chain ever would.
It’s alive…
At its heart, Atoms is like a bowed string instrument created in a science lab, living and breathing with a mind of its own. It's capable of everything from sci-fi ambience to naturalistic string sounds. Since Atoms is based on a virtual acoustic structure, you can think of it like an evolution of a traditional musical instrument.
The Science Behind Atoms
Atoms is a collaboration between Baby Audio and Silvin Willemsen, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
Silvin holds a PhD in Real-Time Simulation of Musical Instruments from Aalborg University and has authored and co-authored 25 academic papers on the subject of physical modeling. Watch the video for a deep dive on Atoms.
- Plugin formats: VST, VST3, AU, AAX (64-bit).
- Platforms supported: Mac OS 10.11 and up (including Native Apple Silicon M1/M2 Compatibility). PC Windows 10 and newer.
- DAWs supported: All major DAWs, including Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Cubase, Studio One, Bitwig, Reaper, Reason etc.
Features
- Chaos
- Order
- Force
- Overtones
- Drive
- Resonant Low-Pass Filter
- Musical Automation
- Visualizer
- Root & Profile
- Attack & Release
- Movement, Modulation & Vibrato
- Reverb
- 250+ High Quality Presets
- Further Settings
