Dust £80

With a dazzling approach to granular sound manipulation, Dust opens up unusual pathways to weird and wonderful textures

PC MAC

With every new plugin purchase, there’s usually that gnawing feeling that the abilities you’re paying for could also be achieved with something else from your arsenal, particularly those under-used tools we’ve all got stuffing up our hard drives. So when something comes along that clearly provides something genuinely fresh, and with an interface like no other, we’re extra contented that our money has been well spent. Just so with Dust, the first VST/AAX and AU granular synthesis plugin from the Montrealbased SoundMorph. The company have previous for industry standard sound design tools and libraries, including the expansive Sinematic series and the mind-bending TimeFlux. They have also loaned their expertise to HBO television series and AAA video games such as the Mass Effect franchise.

Ashes to ashes

Dust is built around an absorbing – and seemingly living – UI. Real-time particle simulation is the order of the day here, with each particle generating audio from a specified, granulating sound source. All of these can be seen pulsing out around the (suitably spacey) visualisation in the middle of the interface. The motion of these particles is manipulable by affecting the Flow Field (depicted by small, white dots). It’s best to think of it like a body of water, with adjustments increasing or reducing the level of current propelling each particle. The possible sonic scope here is fairly vast, with sound being spawned by the plugin’s own library of samples, triggered by MIDI or Sequencer, or – if used as an insert effect – via your track’s audio.