Soonth Blocks, the FREE modular synth plugin, is back with a redesigned UI. Soonth released Blocks around two years ago, and when we initially covered it, the plugin seemed like a lot of fun.
On a more serious note, it also seemed like a good way for modular newcomers to build some foundations.
I’ll do a quick recap for anyone who missed Blocks the first time around, but you should know it’s not competing with the likes of VCV Rack; it’s far more basic, and that’s the point.
The basic idea is that you start with a grid of empty slots that you fill with Blocks to make a patch/preset.
You can place Blocks wherever you like and even stretch them across multiple slots. There are several Block types: Sources, Modulators, and Effects.
Sources are oscillators, including Sine, Saw, Triangle, and Noise. These Blocks are the starting point that you can then manipulate with Modulators and Effects.
Modulators include LFOs and ADSR Envelopes, and Effects include Reverb, Filter, Delay, and a Mixer.
A dedicated Modulators menu is one of the upgrades in this new version of Blocks. The new menu, which you’ll see down the right-hand side of the interface, makes it easier to see and adjust everything happening.
Along with the Modulator menu, Blocks has introduced tabs and selectable themes to the upgraded UI.
Blocks maintains the same drag-and-drop functionality it always had, but the new changes make things clearer and easier to reach.
Stability was an issue when we first covered Blocks, and it crashed now and then when testing. To be fair, back in 2021, it was in the early beta stage of development, and some issues were to be expected.
I’m not yet sure how much progress has been made in that area since then, but I do know that working on stability is a priority moving forward.
I think the concept of stripping things back to the most basic building blocks is a good idea and usually the best way to learn.
Don’t forget to check out Plugin Boutique’s September Gift.
Blocks is available in 64-bit AU and VST formats for macOS and Windows.
Download: Blocks (FREE)
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10 Comments
Michael
onDon’t know if it’s been covered but Emergence Audio released a free “Infinite Collection” i believe for the free kontakt player. Might be worth looking into
Dirk
onBig but I tested: Cello_Clock of Nuance_Pulses with INIT_Cello Textures_Demo. Strange – interesting!!!!
I love Infinite Steel Tongue_Demo!!
Tomislav Zlatic
onInteresting, thank you! I’ll check it out asap. Are you referring to the free Demo pack?
Dirk
onYes, but I have the full kontakt 7 and when you load the instrumen you can choose snapshots. kontakt 6 is too old
MP
onI love the clean, minimal GUI of this. FYI for those running an older Mac setup: the AU plugin appears to work just fine for me running MacOS 12.6.8 in Logic, but the standalone app requires MacOS 13 or later.
CGrrr
onHigh CPU usage
Blue Harizon
onIt is still in its infancy but it does have potential
Numanoid
onJONO is a free software musical instrument for Win and OSX inspired by modular synthesizers.
It was released as far back as 2012, searched BPB couldn’t find it posted about before, I wonder if it has gone free recently?
Tomislav Zlatic
onThank you, this one’s new to me. I’ll check it out!
Pedro
onDownload for Soonth Blocks does not work ????
Please check it out…
Thanks