BLEASS Alpha: one of the best iOS synths makes it to the desktop
5,0 / 5,0 | 
BLEASS Alpha · Source: BLEASS
BLEASS Alpha filters · Source: BLEASS
BLEASS Alpha motion sequencer · Source: BLEASS
BLEASS Alpha presets · Source: BLEASS
The colourful, classic and creative polyphonic synthesizer BLEASS Alpha is a constellation of sound and is now available for macOS and Windows.
BLEASS Alpha
BLEASS Alpha is a popular iOS synth that has a brilliantly engaging interface with dazzling colours and many pages of possibility. It’s a feast for the eyes and sounds pretty good too! Now it’s made it onto the desktop where it could become a real contender as a go-to sound source for your DAW.
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I think the key with Alpha is not that it’s clever or innovative but that it flows and guides you through familiar territory and gives you exactly the sort of results you were hoping for. It starts off with a pair of stereo oscillators and a single mono one that are individually tunable and have variable waveshape. You can cross modulate and reign modulate between them, sync and mix them with noise. Right there on the same page is the amp envelope which is exactly where it should be and is nicely designed to make it easy to use and visually representative of what’s going on. I like this already!
Next page is the Filter Stage with a pair of variable state filters with 4 modes and overdrive. And again there’s the filter envelope right alongside.
BLEASS Alpha filters · Source: BLEASS
Then the modulation page offers up a pair of LFOs and a spare envelope for routing to wherever you like. Following on is a Motion Sequence page that can drive all sorts of interesting rhythms through your patch.
BLEASS Alpha motion sequencer · Source: BLEASS
At the end, there’s a familiar effects page with the usual processors for adding spice and finish to your sound.
Throughout BLEASS Alpha is bright and obvious and easy and you can imagine how touchable it is on the iPad. Well now maybe it can be touchable on a touch-screen laptop – or you can just use your mouse. The use of tabs and pages won’t please everybody because sometimes you just like to see everything on a single page to get an overview of your sound design, but it does give it a focus and space to control things. I really like what they’ve done with the envelopes.
BLEASS Alpha is available now for macOS and Windows for $59 and for a limited time you can get it bundled with a load of extra presets. It’s also still available for iOS for an annoying $14.99.
More information from BLEASS
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