LOOM II Review
Loom II is an odd, but at times interesting additive synthesizer. Additive synthesis is one of my favorite methods, and an unfortunately rare form of synthesis to come across, so nearly any option that does something unique is interesting to me. If you’re like me, you’re probably picking this one up for around 10-20 bucks on sale, and for that price, if you want something new an interesting, it is worth it. But don’t get your hopes up, in total, it’s not the best sounding synth out there. Loom’s strength is removing you from your preconceived notions of synthesis, and forcing you to work in a new way. its module based additive synthesis engine can be tedious and overwhelming, but once you learn a few module combinations, there’s a fair bit of fun to be had. Patience and exploration are key with Loom, sometimes an interesting sound requires a specific combination of modules that each individually don’t do much interesting, but added together form unique tone and motion.
The edit page is where you’ll spend the bulk of your time in this synth, selecting different modules that interact with the spectrum in various ways. For those not familiar with additive synthesis, this technique works by stacking an array of sine waves (partials) and instead of processing audio with effects, each module adjust the phase, frequency, or volume of each partial to mimic the effect. This results in an incredibly clean, but often sterile sound, but lets you do some interesting stuff otherwise not possible. Before we get into some of the things that makes Loom II interesting, I’d like to mention the Morph page, in the future I’d like to add more info about this page, but settings from this page have caused Loom to crash on me multiple times, so at this point I avoid it, otherwise Loom has been incredibly stable, so use this page with caution, your luck may differ. I hope to cover more info for this page in the future as the couple times i did use it, it really seemed to take Loom to the next level, but until then I will leave this disclaimer here.
BASIC Modules: Your basic modules are sort of like your wave shapes, with no modules loaded, Loom will just play all harmonics at equal volume, so technically these are also filters, but we should treat them as wave shapes. Odd/even is your saw/square, sync emulates hard sync and as well most of the others are self explanatory. One of my favorites in this section is “discrete” which has various seeds of partials to choose from for all sorts of atonal structures, you’ll want to follow this module with odd/even or a filter to give it a more balanced/ less piercing tone.
FILTER Modules: Again, unlike traditional filters, there’s no audio running through DSP yet, these filters work by reducing the volume of partials to mimic filter behavior. You have all your classic filter types, LPF, HPF, BPF, but there’s also some interesting options in here. The moving filter is almost like a phaser, but instead of even spacing between notches, the spacing spreads as harmonics increase creating a particularly unusual motion. Decay makes higher partials decay faster than lower partials, creating a natural sound of acoustic dampening.
EFFECT Modules: The effects modules warp and move partials in some interesting ways. Modulator rotates through partials, smoothly bringing their amplitudes up and down in an interesting pattern that adds a mesmerizing motion to your sound. Detuned emulates unison, and has a few different styles to choose from. Blur seems to add some noise modulation to the partials for a fuzzy sort of sound.
RHYTHM and TIME Modules: there’s only 2 modules in each of these categories, and in my mind they fit into could fit into effects modules as well. Phrase sequences between individual partials, usually the lowest few, and lets you select various patterns, it’s sort of like a weird arpeggiator. Random drops is probably the most fun module, randomly playing different partials to create a sort of rainy quality, definitely worth playing with this mode. Tail adds a sort of simulated reverb to the partials, and can really do some interesting things after more rhythmic partial manipulation.
OTHER Modules: There’s a few utility modules for adding specific harmonics, enhancing ranges, clipping and more. You’ll also find a “wave” module, that allows you to import user audio for processing, though I’ve yet to get anything particularly useful from this. Though I’ve barely touched it either.
There’s a few controls just to the left on the module section, for adding a bit of noise and motion or sub harmonics, but it’s worth touching on the spectral distortion. “Distortion” probably isn’t the best term here, as this control adjust how all of the partials are tuned. With a depth of zero, all partials are tuned to the harmonic series. Adjusting the depth tunes all partials based on one of the 18 algorithms. These can Wildly alter the sound of Loom and create alien and otherworldly spectrums.
Normally I’d cover modulation and effects in their own sections, but I’ll say right now, there’s not much exciting in those departments, it’s nice that they are there for a finishing touch.
Loom isn’t one of those synths I’d suggest everyone go out and buy, but if you want something unique that puts you in a new creative mindset and forces you to approach sound design from a different angle, it can be a really fun one. If you can find it on sale, the random drops algorithm might be worth it alone. I like to Use Loom for thin or cold pads, anything where I want to focus on a digital glassy sound. I’ve made quite a few pads with Loom II, and every time I open it up I seem to find something interesting to explore.
If you plan on purchasing Loom II from Plugin Boutique, please consider supporting me by using my affiliate links
LOOM II: https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1-Instruments/4-Synth/3854-Loom-II?a_aid=61c378ab215d5
and if you already own Loom II or just want more presets, consider picking up my pack of 40 Pads for Loom “FUMES”: https://databroth.gumroad.com/l/FUMES