An immense undertaking by one of the soundware industry’s newest players, UNDRGND SOUNDS’ Synthology plugs a powerful battery of classic analogue and digital synths directly into Live. Drawing on a roster of iconic hardware instruments – including the Roland Juno-60 and SH-2, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Oberheim SEM and Korg Wavestation – and suitable for all modern genres, this artfully multisampled 8 GB library takes in everything from booming subs and chest-throbbing basses, through evocative drones and lush pads, to funky chord stacks and hard-hitting leads.

Four Selector Racks, 148 presets

Synthology’s 148 emulations are housed in four Selector Racks: Bass, Synth, Chord 1 and Chord 2. Each Selector contains up to 50 sounds of its named type, stepped through using the Synth Selector Macro knob. Every sound is a fully realised Chain in its own right, with an extensive series of effects shaping and polishing the raw samples of the source Simpler into a tailored, mix-ready sound. Bespoke per-preset Macros dive deep, distilling the essential programming elements – filters, LFO modulation, saturation, ambience and so on – into a user-friendly interface that maps automatically to Push for immediate hands-on control. Further processing is on hand in the global Master FX Rack, tweaked directly or via the top-level Macros in each Selector; while velocity, mod wheel and/or aftertouch assignments give every preset an expressive performance angle.

Although the Selector Racks may well be all you ever need, each and every Synthology preset is also included as a self-contained Instrument Rack – ideal when you know what sound you’re after and want to keep your Live project as lean and CPU-light as possible.

Synth heaven

Aimed at producers of house, techno, future beat, trap and electronica of all kinds, Synthology offers unrivalled access to a who’s-who of vintage synthesisers, with all the convenience, flexibility and portability of the Live Rack format. Whether you’re seeking instant preset gratification or a starting point for your own sound design endeavours, its intuitive workflow, inspirational playability and expansive range of tones and timbres – from the bread-and-butter basics to the complex and stylised – make this a truly empowering and universal electronic music toolbox.