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Vasily Makarov Intros PolyGAS Free Granular Synthesizer VST Plugin

By 17 Comments3 Mins Read
Vasily Makarov Intros PolyGAS Free Granular Synthesizer VST Plugin

Vasily Makarov has announced the release of PolyGAS, a freeware granular synthesizer in 32-bit and 64-bit VST plugin format for Windows-based digital audio workstations.

Our frequent readers are probably familiar with Vasily Makarov’s previous work which includes the Marazmator virtual synthesizer and the Brandulator arpeggiator, both of which are completely free to download and use. After all, Brandulator was featured as one of the top-ranked effects in our list of the best free VST plugins of 2016. With these two excellent releases in mind, we’d be quite excited to test any other VST plugin from Vasily, let alone a freeware granular synthesizer!

See also: Kontakt Hub Releases Free Granular Engine For NI Kontakt

And PolyGAS (Polyphonic Granular Advanced Synthesizer) is exactly that, a polyphonic granular synthesizer for Windows with an advanced feature set that is hard to come by elsewhere in the freeware world. This 32-note polyphonic synthesizer loads external WAV/AIFF files and passes them through its granular synthesis engine with 18 envelopes, 11 filter types, 11 distortion types, built-in reverb and delay effects, microtuning, and parameter randomization. The 40-point envelopes can modulate a variety of parameters, including filter cutoff and resonance, oscillator tuning, amplitude, etc. The plugin also comes with a standalone bank editor for storing and organizing presets.

All of this looks amazing on paper, especially for a freeware plugin, but I wasn’t able to test PolyGAS thoroughly before publishing this article because the current version (v2.0) crashes MuLab. I tested it briefly in Studio One, though, and it worked fine. Several users on KVR have reported compatibility issues and a potentially harmful uninstallation process which deletes the entire VST plugin folder (if the PolyGAS DLL file is located in it). Thankfully, the developer has since released a new version of the plugin, fixing the performance issues in certain digital audio workstations and providing a manual installer package to prevent any uninstaller problems. Hopefully, another version of PolyGAS will be released soon, fixing the compatibility issue in MuLab.

PolyGAS 2.2 Update

PolyGAS was updated to v2.2, fixing the compatibility issues with several digital audio workstations, including MuLab. Here are some of the most important changes in the latest version of PolyGAS:

  • Crashes on plugin load in MuLab and REAPER have been eliminated.
  • Fixed the freeze issue when certain control parameters were set to zero.
  • Fixed inaccuracies when exporting presets.
  • Fixed the errors in editing and generation of envelopes.
  • Fixed the setup dialog issues in multi-monitor setups.

For the complete changelog, check out the product page linked below.

Download

PolyGAS is available for free download via Stone Voices (15.5 MB download size, RAR archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST plugin format for Windows).

Tomislav is a music producer and sound designer from Belgrade, Serbia. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief at Bedroom Producers Blog.

17 Comments

  1. bug

     on

    Hi, my experience – I have tested it in Ableton. It sounds good, however when you change any parameter in VST, you have to click again somewhere else on screen to hear it. Second thing is when you record MIDI – the sound is distorted and panned to the left which is definitely not good:) Someone else has similar issues or is it just my Ableton? Thanks bug

    Reply

  2. Michael

     on

    Very nice for a freebie. The sound reminds me of some of the more “FMish” sounding patches on Synth1, but with more depth and a distinctly digital flavour – and cleaner than many of the free sample-based synths out there. The included presets would do well in anything with an industrial theme or ambiance, and I could see this potentially doing quite well in soundtrack work.

    I tested briefly in Bitwig 1.3 x64 and the only issues I had were the with the Time Left and Time Right pots on the Delay: the first few turns produced some crackling that sounded a bit like, well, actual dirty pots, and then disappeared. But those aren’t parameters I would typically modulate so its not too much of an issue for me.

    All in all, definitely worth the download.

    Reply

  3. U-o

     on

    Perfect plugin, I like it a lot, but have the same bad feeling like BUG (clicking on screen to hear it is annoying). In FL Studio latest version have no problem with distorted or panned sound.

    Reply

    • WSK

       on

      I seem to have this problem a lot in FL Studio with several VST’s. Having to click away from the VST in order to hear the VST. Any idea what’s causing this?

      Reply

  7. Vasily Makarov

     on

    Today I tried to clarify for what reason of MuLab falls when loading a plug-in. I launched PolyGAS in a debuger and I found the very strange thing – when falling MuLab of any line of a code of a plug-in it was not executed, MuLab falls to entry point in the principal function of a plug-in. I will try to address in support of MuLab as in this case it is the only option of a solution. Screenshort here -> http://stone-voices.ru/img/polygas_mulab_bug.jpg

    Reply

  8. Tom J

     on

    This plugin doesn’t work with Reason 9.5.1 on Windows 64 bit… There is no sound, the vst’s volume bars don’t trigger.

    Reply

  10. one33

     on

    Used it in ableton worked fine mostly. Can make some really nice and unique sounds by loadin in random wavs . Unfortunately have at least one project that wont reload after using this.

    Reply

  13. Atme

     on

    Wonderful sounding granular softsynth! It will give Your samples new lives! Add a reverb or an echo and You will have a nice starting point for a great track. <3

    Reply
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