GHOST (new FM synthesizer)
GHOST is a new FM synthesizer by Exacoustics, still in beta there is no current set release date.
I’ve had the pleasure to beta test ghost for a few months now, it has been evolving and changing since I first tried it
and I’ve got to say, it’s looking pretty damn cool so far. Keep in mind GHOST is still being worked on and developed, so anything in this review is subject to change.
As well, I’ll likely keep criticisms to a minimum and most requests will be sent in to the beta.
What makes GHOST interesting?
GHOST is somewhat of a hybrid between FM8 and serum, you have the classic fm matrix, but also the addition of wavetables, per osc filter/ distortion, and other osc effects.
GHOST supports user wavetables, the same .wav format available in most synths that allow import, meaning you can use it as a 6 osc wavetable synth if you want.
Each osc can work as an operator or carrier, and also has the ability to do fm feedback.
per osc you get unison, osc warps, a filter, and a distortion.
OSC WARPS: Below the oscillator display are the phase and spectral warps, what’s really interesting here is that the phase warps can be stacked.
While you can only see one control at a time, the 4 parameters (bend +-, asym +-, sync, & window) can all be adjusted to different values simultaneously.
The same can not be said about the spectral warps (hp,lp, shift, stretch), which are fairly simple, and mostly a way to sonically shift your waveform
Shift and stretch are interesting as they spectrally move waveform harmonics.
FILTER: having a filter per oscillator is really quite incredible, it means you can play with various tonal areas and layer things up into a more complex arrangement.
There’s lots of cool filter shapes to explore here as well, you get the classic HP, LP, and BP filters, a notch, an arrangement of phaser shapes, a really cool all pass, and a few combs as well
filters can be keytracked, and even audio rate modulated via the LFOs.
DISTORTION: The filter and distortion order can be swapped if you want pre or post distortion. GHOST offers 11 distortion shapes:
Soft Clip, Hard Clip, Arctangent, Hard Skew, Spaghetti, Hour Glass, Exponent, Linear Fold, Sine Fold 1/2, and Bitcrush.
These distortions add a wide range of shaping per oscillator, making this a great bass machine
*it’s worth mentioning as well, that all of the osc fx are pre fm, meaning any filter resonance or distortion shaping will be included in the FM signal path.
EFFECTS: GHOST has a pretty cool fx section, similar to serum/ vital’s layout, except you can stack a total of 6 of each effect, meaning you can layer EQs filters, distortions basically to your hearts content. All of the distortion modes and filter modes are available here, and the EQ has a total of 4 bands, all able to be modulated.
MODULATION: Modulation is done via drag and drop, and seems to cap off at 64 total destination. you get 6 total envelopes and LFOs, but in their current state, things are pretty simple in terms of modulation. The LFOs can also be key tracked into the audio range, which is a pleasant addition as well
I’m curious to see where GHOST is headed and what will be added by release and after release.
I’ll be sure to keep things updated as they develop.
Be sure to check out my live stream exploring some of the various features within GHOST.