Most synth plugins start with a waveform and shape it. Imaginando's new COLAPSO starts with a chemical element. The Braga, Portugal company released it Wednesday, and the idea is as strange as it sounds: pick one of 22 elements, and the light that atom gives off becomes the sound you play.
How a synth plays the periodic table
When an excited atom settles down, an electron drops to a lower energy level and gives off light at very specific wavelengths. Each element has its own set of lines, like a fingerprint. Imaginando took those lines from laboratory measurements, cross-checked them against the NIST Atomic Spectra Database, and moved them down into the range of human hearing. A line's wavelength sets the pitch of a partial, its brightness sets the volume, and its measured lifetime sets how long it rings.
The practical result is a bank of 22 timbres with a built-in logic. Elements that sit in the same column of the periodic table sound related, and a Mix control morphs from one element to another while the note you hold stays put.
The Observation control
The headline control is called Observation, and it plays on the uncertainty principle: a sound can be precise in time or precise in pitch, but not both. Turn it one way and you get a broadband click. Turn it the other way and you get a pure, steady tone. Everything in between is a strange middle ground where the note smears and sharpens as you move. There is also a help mode that explains each control in plain language, so you do not need any physics to get started.
Because every partial fades at its own rate, as it does in a real atom, the tone keeps shifting while you hold a key. Strong lines tend to die first, and long-lived ones ring on. Temperature, Field and Absorption controls then heat the spectrum, split it, and flip it into noise.
What is under the hood
- Three oscillators per voice, each with up to 16 partials
- Up to eight voices in Poly, Mono or Unison modes
- Nine filter circuits, four LFOs, and four envelopes you draw yourself
- Built-in effects and more than 200 factory presets
- VST, VST3 and AU plugin formats, plus a standalone app
- macOS 13 or later (native on Apple Silicon) and Windows 10 or later
Price and the free demo
COLAPSO is €69 until November 1, down from the regular €89. It is also part of Imaginando's Synth Bundle with DRC and FRMS for €189, and you can rent it to own. Verified students and teachers get 50 percent off through Imaginando's education program. The COLAPSO page has the demo, which has no time limit and every parameter unlocked. Until you license it, a short noise burst plays every 60 seconds and saving is turned off, which is enough to make some sounds and decide.
It is a good week to be a sound designer. If you are still building a setup, our best synthesizers for beginners is a solid place to start, and our recent looks at Cherry Audio's Pentaphonic and the UDO DMNO ON show how many different directions synths are heading right now. For gear that goes with all of it, see our gifts for music producers.
COLAPSO at Imaginando · Imaginando on YouTube · Launch announcement
