Kia releases free Kia instrument (VST & AU)

[Larry Shelby]

Think this was already posted a while back...but reminder

Kia, the car company, has released Kia instrument, a free synthesizer plugin (VST2, VST3, AU & Standalone) developed by AudioFB to create Kia's signature sound.

Here's what they say:

Kia instrument is scientifically designed to inspire you. It uses the sounds of movement from nature to help put the listener into a creative state of flow.

The science behind the Kia instrument
The sounds of movement in nature produce what's known as pink noise. This increases the alpha waves in the brain, inducing the flow state of consciousness, the state in which the brain is at its most creative. These natural sounds were recorded all over the world and used to develop a one-of-a-kind instrument. To induce the flow state further, every composition should be arranged following these 4 neuroscientific parameters:

BPM: 120BPM is the tempo in which synchronization of the heartbeat elicits the positive, calm focus we need to unlock flow. Increasing the song's speed helps increase this state of focus.

Harmonic Progressions: Harmonic variations are better remembered by the listener and activate certain areas of the brain.

Melodic Intervals: Having melodic intervals creates a sense of movement, establishes a sense of anticipation, and is associated with pleasurable longing, which is often central to inspiration.

Texture: The texture of the composition, created by layering pink noise captured from the sounds of movement in nature.

Features:

Nature Samples: Recorded all around the world, the sounds of movement found in nature at your fingertips. Simply select one of the 8 filters sounds to get started:

Thunder / Amazon - Brazil.

Geiser / Haukadalur - Iceland.

Forest / Amazon - Brazil.

Forest Birds / Amazon - Brazil.

Wind / Sahara Desert - Moroco.

Water / Cheonggyecheon Stream - South Korea.

Beach / Highland - Scotland.

Forest Night / Halong Bay - Vietnam.

Mixer: Shape your sound and add individual flair to your track using the Mixer section. The Kia instrument offers 4 different mixing dials that give you precise control over the volume of each channel. When the dial is set all the way to the left it means there's no sound being applied to the music, when it's set to maximum, we hear the chosen filter at its loudest.

Sampler: Adjusts the volume of the sampler chosen from section 1.

VCO: Sets the volume of the key notes played via the instrument's keyboard.

Noise: Modifies the volume of the nature samples by following the rhythm of the key notes.

Reverb: Adds an echo effect to the sound you are producing.

Filter: Effects are a great way to add texture to your track and they are also great for smoothing out your transitions. This 7-channel section offers a multitude of functions and makes it easy for you to refine your songs. Here, you can adjust the sounds, filter their frequencies, or add resonance with a simple gesture. Just push any button and turn it as fast or as slow as you want to build tension. You can even modify the time of attack, sustain, decay and release of your chosen filter.

ADSR: Spice up your creative process by manipulating the time of each note being played to your liking. ADSR is the Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release of a sound. Together, they make up the ADSR envelope, which determines how a sound unfolds over time.

Attack: When you first press a key, the Attack refers to the time it takes for your sound to go from silent to the loudest level.

Decay: The Decay time controls how long it takes for your sound to go from the initial peak of your attack to the sustain level.

Sustain: This refers to the level during the main sequence of your sound. It's the level that your sound maintains when you hold a note.

Release: This function controls how long it takes your sound to return to silence after the key is released. A longer release time means a longer fade out.

VCO: Fine-tune the pitch and mould the sound of the whole instrument by rotating the VCO dial from left to right, with 1 being the standard.

Waveforms: There are 4 different classic synthesizer waveforms that you can choose from: Triangle, Square, Saw and Sine. Navigate through each one of them by gradually turning the dial to 7 o'clock, 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock and 5 o'clock.

Output: Set the final tone of your track using the 'Output' section. Ranging from low to high, making it brighter or darker, "Tone" will adjust the tone of the whole system and the "Output" dial will control the overall volume.

Keyboard: The Kia instrument features a touchpad keyboard so you can play as you go. You can create endless patterns, save your loops, play them back immediately and modulate the sounds with the dials. The key buttons light up when played, which offers a quick visual orientation.

Price: Free at kia.com

https://worldwide.kia.com/int/sounds-in-nature/our-instrument

[Monomox]

Kia? Pfff! I wanted a Bentley synth!

 

[user 905133]

First Impressions:

• I like that it has both an Options button and a Settings button clearly visible.
• Its tough to get used to playing its one-note-at-a-time mode.
• The way the octaves on the display jump around when lower and high notes are played is "unique."
• The UI is a bit "minimalistic."
• Some of the exposed parameters work (tested a few in Voltage Modular, both the dll and the vst3).
• Works on my PC at the smallest sample buffer size.