Krakli Plugins Roland inspired SK7 polyphonic synthesizer is yours for free
Ian Webster of Krakli has already brought us many classic synthesizer emulations including a Wasp, Casio CZ and the awesome CS-80 homage called Arminator from the development environment of SynthEdit. He shows no sign of stopping and his latest release is the SK7 that bears a striking resemblance to the Roland SH7 synthesizer.
Krakli SK7
This is the beta version from a couple of weeks ago:
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He’s not into lengthy test periods. Via the Krakli Facebook group you can join in the beta testing and after a week or two it’s ready to go. And just like all his other plug-ins it’s completely free, although donations are always welcome via the web page.
The layout follows the SH7 which is a little bit unusual. The first oscillator has a bit of a twist. Oscillators 1 and 2 have the usual elements of waveforms, octave select, pulse width modulation and LFO inputs. But then oscillator 1 is split into a separate organ inspired section that has 5 drawbar sliders to introduce octaves. Bringing those octaves in has the effect of massively thickening the sound until it threatens to become enormous. Tied to the oscillators you’ll also find FM, Sync and detuning. They all route to the Mixer section where you can add Noise and a Ring Modulator.
The Roland Autobend is implemented which is worth exploring. It’s a lot like Portamento but rather than gliding between two notes the note always bends up or down by a set amount every time you play. This is most noticeable when you repeatedly play the same note.
Two syncable LFOs reside on the left while you get two envelopes, one for the filter and one for the amp over on the right. The main low pass filter has three types and can be modulated by both envelopes, both LFOs and FM from either oscillator. There’s also a separate high-pass filter.
Ian has added an effects section consisting of a very welcome “Fazer” and reverb along with some drive on the output.
I’ve not played with an SH7 before and so initially I found it very organ-like with that split first oscillator. But once you start tweaking you’ll find that it’s capable of all sorts of tones and synthiness. You also have 12 voices of polyphony to play and a bunch of community-sourced presets to entertain you.
To get your hands on the SK7 you should really join the Krakli Facebook group but if you don’t tell anyone then you can also download it directly from this link. But join the group anyway!
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One response to “Krakli Plugins Roland inspired SK7 polyphonic synthesizer is yours for free”
this synth is not made well. I strongly going back to square 1. Some of the preset seem nice but everything is panned to the left channel & the main volume acts as a pan but only if you raise the vol. Some osc are staticy sounding. Nice GUI tho.