A friend just forwarded me this YouTube demonstration of what looks to be an incredible new app from the developers of animoog; a polyphonic replica of the Moog Model 15 the classic 1970’s era analog Moog modular synthesizer designed for touring which has recently been put back into limited production for the not so modest sounding sum of $10,000.
While their animoog app was a fun introduction to analog synthesis the Model 15 synthesizer lovingly reproduces the actual instrument with every module, knob, and patch cable.
The app makes significant use of Apple’s Metal framework to render the user interface on the GPU freeing CPU for simulating analog audio. Apparently the developers are investigating using metal to accelerate the audio signal processing too.
Digitally simulating analog synthesis isn’t easy (naive digital implementations alias maddeningly and fail to produce the exquisite swept frequencies of the analog synthesizer). The developers mention use of over sampling which might get them part of the way there. I would love to learn more!
In the mean time enjoy these Moog synth tracks, and for a simple introduction to Virtual Analog Synthesis checkout Phil Burk‘s article Bandlimited wavetable synthesis in Audio Anecdotes Volume 2. For references to the current literature see Jussi Pekonen‘s Brief History of Virtual Analog Synthesis.
