Cryptoclash vs Pruina

Cryptoclash is a strange generative synthesizer, which translates letters into sound. By typing in a string of up to 20 letters (a-z), you set up the states of the sound engine, which are represented as roaming particles. Every time they collide, things can change! Use the accelerometers to change gravity, and tap on a ball to give it a velocity boost. Each time you choose the source string, you create a new sounding patch. Some sounds are noisier, and others more meditative; keep exploring and you'll hear interesting new tuning systems (such as 26 notes per octave), and different amounts of synthesizer feedback. The central idea behind this work is that of the musical cryptogram, where letters are turned into notes; but the sound engine here avoids such a direct and obvious mapping for a combination of physics engine (thank you Box2D), live coding, sonification, finite state machines, Markov models and feedback FM. Download Cryptoclash if you are open to stranger computer music sounds, and avoid it if you just want diatonic melodies and piano sounds! If you like this, or want a free starting point, you may be interested in the other two in an accessible live coding triology; TOPLAPapp and RISCy, already available on the App Store.

Pruina freezes sound. Tap once and Pruina captures the spectrum of whatever is playing, a chord, a vocal, a whole mix, and holds it as an endless, gently evolving drone that never decays. Then shape it into rising shimmer clouds, breathy air, crystalline bells, or a huge reverberant wash. Under the hood it runs a real spectral analysis of your audio and, the instant you freeze, takes a snapshot and resynthesizes it with slowly drifting phase. Instead of fading away, the sound sustains forever and breathes, like a pad you never have to hold down. THREE MODES, ONE ENGINE Freeze: tap to capture and hold the spectrum indefinitely. Smear: continuously blur the spectrum into a soft, washing texture. Shimmer: pitched, regenerating layers that rise endlessly. SHIMMER THAT RISES Choose an interval (octave, fifth, octave plus fifth, or two octaves) and turn up Regen to feed the shimmer back on itself, building infinite cascading clouds. BUILD CHORDS BY EAR Turn on Layer and every freeze adds to what is already held. Stack captures into evolving chords and pads, live, one tap at a time. SCULPT THE SOUND Blur: smear the spectrum across frequency to morph a pitched freeze into breath and air. Sparkle: gate down to the spectral peaks for glassy, bell-like tones. Warp: stretch the timbre. Motion: slow drift and breathing that keep a frozen pad alive. Tone: low cut, high cut, and tilt. SPACE A lush, modulated reverb (Reverb, Size, Damp) wraps everything in a wide, dimensional tail, from an intimate room to a cathedral that rings for minutes. Stereo Spread and Width open it up. 16 READY-TO-PLAY PRESETS Infinite Cathedral, Rising Aurora, Supermassive, Glass Bells, Crystalline, Frozen Choir, Ghost Vox, Vapor Trails, Nebula, Granular Dust, Shimmer Wash, Dark Matter, Sub Bloom, Slow Tide, Chord Builder, and Default. Browse them with the header arrows, tweak anything, and save your own. PLUGIN AND STANDALONE Full AUv3 audio effect for GarageBand, AUM, Logic, and any AUv3 host, with host presets, parameter automation, and reported latency so your project stays in sync. Runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Standalone mode includes a built-in demo pad, live microphone input, and song import with export of the processed result.