Baby Audio was founded by Caspar Bock in 2019 and in the relatively short time they’ve existed, BA have released more than 10 plugins covering great new takes on existing plugin effects as well as a few instruments so far. One of these instruments is Atoms, a soft synth based around the physical modeling of a so-called mass spring network, meaning we’re in for a sound design journey void of synth oscillators as such.
Instead BA want us to think of a bow (the cello kind, not the weapon), and the way it grinds across this mass network of strings… err springs. It all sounds really complicated, but actually the interface and workflow, even if slightly alien, ends up resembling the adjustments of parameters in any other major synth. Knobs available, will twist! You modulate, filter, drive and reverberate. The big difference, however, is the generation of the source sounds and the depths they plunge from and to.
The variety of sounds that can be generated by Atoms is pretty vast, even though the instrument certainly has a particular “sound” to it. The init patch with everything turned to zero is rather simple, sounding like some sort of half muted nylon string of a sort. But immediately after you start adjusting each parameter, Atoms comes to life and is no longer innocent in your posession.
Modulations én masse
On a horizontal row below each main parameter are the traditional controls covering attack, release, movement (speed of the bow), modulation and vibrato, which all more or less react as per their usual description. The six adjustable parameter knobs placed around the circle of atoms, however, are the main stand out controls of Atoms. They all have a hidden sub menu called ‘motion’, where you can choose from a range of motion behaviors which react to the range you set with the placement of two white dots encircling each knob. The LFO on each can be set to hold, retrigger and free, it can be synced or not to the host tempo, and the direction can be reversed as well. The combinations are virtually infinite.
Parameter knobs
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- Chaos: Detunes and introduces movement and unpredictability to your sound.
- Order: Controls the damping of the springs.
- Force: This is the “bow” of the instrument. Imagine grinding harder into the springs, adding more knushh.
- Overtones: Determines where the virtual bow is placed on the mass-spring network. Turn it up to add brighter, more piercing tones.
- Drive: Pretty standard, adds harmonic distortion to the sound, giving it extra warmth and saturation.
- Filter: A low-pass filter with resonance that allows you to shape the overall tone. Use it for smooth sweeps or to emphasize certain frequencies.
Modulation of each knob can be set to off, sine, saw, drift and MPE. And let me tell you, just like it was the case with Tomofon, Atoms really becomes something extra lively if you have an MPE controller. I’ve had a lot of fun with my dual Roli Seaboard M setup, since Atoms fully utilizes the per key parameter control available here. And even though the seaboard is a keyboard, doing some live roleplaying as an intergalactic flute player, a simian bass player or futuristic percussionist is a lot of fun with all the per key expression at your disposal. Just remember to activate MPE mode both in the plugin and on the title bar of the actual module (in Ableton, anyway). But even if you just pencil automate some or all of its parameters, the results coming out of Atoms will be something you’ll have a hard time creating anywhere else.
As we’ve become accustomed to with many newer plugins, Baby Audio’s other plugins included, there’s an option of hitting the parameter randomizer button in the upper left corner, and even lock single parameters from being randomized. Click the button next to it to make slighter variations and save any great new patches that come out of it to the user bank. This, together with the numerous onboard patches, makes auditioning sounds to work on a breeze.
If you’re really not the type of person with time enough on your hands for making your own presets, or if the 250 presets that come with Atoms aren’t enough, Baby Audio have a webshop with expansion packs that might have something of what you’re looking for,
Do I really need another soft synth?
Maybe the real question to ask should be “but can it do anything my other synths can’t?”. Yes it can. The start presets are pretty good and inspiring, the naming of them even seem logical, considering the premise. But once you start tweaking, you’ll quickly enter uncharted territories, and this is where the fun really is. And if you really can’t get anywhere, or if you’re working on a particular theme or feel, BA have a range of sound packs available for Atoms in their store by now.
The visual feedback in the middle orb is not my favorite part of the interface, but I get why it’s there; The visual representation of what is going on. But to me it’s enough to see the modulation going on at the knobs level, and I feel maybe the interface could get a compact mode option at some point, omitting the orb. But then of course you’ll have no cool atoms flying around…
I do find Atoms useful for some types of ethereal or dank melodic material, but where it really shines, at least for my use, is for short sequences, breaks and single fx hits. I find a great way to stock up an arsenal of fx is to print directly to audio on a resample track as I browse, tweak and play.
There are also a range of pad like synth sounds that heavily rely on the onboard reverb. But if you turn it down to zero, you’ll notice it actually still sounds like strings being worked. And speaking of reverb, the built in fx is OK, but you’ll likely have to reach to other plugins to add exactly the kind of reverberation you need. It’s very good, don’t get me wrong. But it’s also very telltale “the one that came with the plugin”. Something like Baby Audio’s own Spaced Out is a really good upgrade to add reverb with much more control, as well as delay in a single plugin that works very well. And it has a randomizer too. So very win for sound design brainstorming.
Ghosts’n’goblins
Atoms is far from the most straightforward synth I’ve played, it’s not exactly the most predictable either. It’s not even the first physical modelling synth I own – I have stuff from Applied Acoustics and Roli that share the same vision of molding something real from a physical perspective, and do that in a very believable manner. But I’ve created darker and more twisted stabs and sweeps with Atoms in a few breaths than with any of the aforementioned, even trying for longer at times. And this is mainly due to Atoms maybe not being that realistic after all. At least not 1:1 with our world physics. But that’s not the point. Atoms is a volatile box of wonders ruling its own physical domain. You can really go alien and outer space with it, where Roli and AAS rather earn their glory in real world sounds and timbres.
So back to the question “can it do anything that my other synths can’t?”. It sure can – and most of the time it solely will. But you’ll have to feed it yourself, to see what comes out with, be it with halo or horns…
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Next up I’ll tell you what I think of the BA-1 synth from Baby Audio. I can’t wait for their third instrument, something tells me they’re already working on it.
