SoundMorph has just launched Modular UI, an exciting collaboration with renowned sound designer and musician Richard Devine. It’s exclusively built on sounds from Devine’s unique collection of modular synths. To find out more about the new library, I decided to talk to SoundMorph’s Jason Cushing:
What’s Modular UI all about? And what’s included?
The idea behind Modular UI was to create a new set of User Interface sounds utilizing modular Euroracks. We were interested in this from a sonic stand point, artistic standpoint, and also financially, since the kind of setup that Richard Devine has is quite time consuming to create and also quite expensive! So we saw a value for customers being able to purchase a library made from this gear.
How did the collaboration with Richard Devine come into place? And for readers who may not be familiar with him, could you give a brief introduction?
Richard has been a great supporter of SoundMorph from the very first day we launched. We were actually big fans of his before that but had never spoken to him, so it was quite cool and exciting to have his support. Richard has been creating music and sound design for quite a long time now. He had a record on the fantastic Warp Records, Schematic, and Detroit Underground. He started out sound designing for companies with Native Instruments when they first started out. Since then he’s done tons and tons of awesome work creating presets and libraries for just about every sound and synth hardware company you can think of! He’s in high demand, so it took awhile to find some time to do this library, but we had been talking with him about the idea for probably 6 months or so.
An interview with Richard Devine on the new SFX library
The library exclusively features sounds from Devine’s Eurorack synths – what’s the story about these synths, and just what are they capable of?
Well, over the last 5 years or so the Eurorack synths have exploded with popularity. I think mostly because they offer endless possibilities for customization and sonic output. It strips away the restraints of software clicking, and allows you to patch and experiment. It becomes quite addictive! They are special in the sense that they are both analog and digital and that they all offer different things that might not be offered in standard software or hardware synths. To me it’s just all about experimenting, which is really a fun part of sound design. I don’t own a modular setup like Richard’s so it was very cool to be able to create a whole library with his Eurorack modulars.
Check out the preview track for Modular UI
How’s this library different from some of the other UI libraries out there?
Well I’d say it’s different in the sense that for one it was created by Richard Devine, who is a super talented and experienced sound designer, and also that it uses equipment that is nearly impossible to build for the average sound designer. There are surely others that own Eurorack equipment, but nothing quite like Richard’s! We also tried to give a slight homage to retro sci-fi while still keeping it modern and fresh, and I think the analog aspect helps a lot with that.
Some of the UI sounds featured in the library
Calculations and Text • Data Crunching • Data Micro Calculations • FM Confirm Tones • FM Hybrid Gestures • FM Solo Bleeps • Hologram Pad • Micro Gestures • Modular random generations • Solo Beeps • Subtle Hi Tech Modular • Text Typing • 5Gb of Modular Source Recordings
What are some of your favorite sounds in the library?
One thing I think is really cool about this library is we asked Richard to give us just tons of source recordings of him just messing around, he really is an incredible fountain of knowledge when it comes to synthesis and manipulating sounds in such a way, so it was pretty cool to have around 5GB of just long source recordings that he included along with the designed sounds. Other than that I think the Calculations/Text, FM gestures, Micro Gestures, and Data Crunching are my favourite designed sounds from the Modular UI library.
Get the full version of Modular UI – with its more than 1000 UI sounds – below:
