Imaginando – Colapso (Atomic Synth) v1.0.1 for WiN

COLAPSO isn’t a synthesizer you program. It’s a synthesizer you explore. Pick an element, manipulate it, and see what it gives you—sounds that hover between instrument and phenomenon, never quite settling.

COLAPSO is an additive synthesizer whose harmonic content is measured. Select an element, and its emission lines become overtones of the note you play.

COLAPSO is a sonic interpretation of the uncertainty principle. Sound can be precise in time or precise in pitch, but never both—and a single parameter, “Observation,” decides which. Anything you don’t measure, you hear blurrily.

Gabor limit as a regulator

The uncertainty principle states that we cannot know both the position and motion of an electron precisely at the same time. The more accurately we know one, the less we know the other.

Sound works in exactly the same way. To hear a pitch, we need time. If we begin to shorten this time interval, the sound ceases to be continuous and turns into a sequence of instants: it collapses into a pulse. Between these two extremes lies an entire sonic realm, and that’s where COLAPSO resides.

Low frequency generators and envelopes that you draw

There are four LFOs and four envelope generators, each of which represents a shape you draw, not select. Click to add a node, drag it, and bend the line between the two. Then drag the source to any control with a “+” sign next to it.

The Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) can be triggered by sine, triangle, sawtooth, square, or S&H patterns and moves in any direction you choose. Quantise reads it step-by-step like a sequencer, Smooth rounds it out, and it can run freely, sync to tempo, retrigger on every note, or trigger once.

The envelope is built similarly, encompassing attack, decay, sustain, and release stages: transform the attack into a build-up, add a second rise into the decay, and shape the tail. Each stage lasts from 1 ms to 8 seconds, and the speed is scalable as desired.

LFOs, envelopes, and aftertouch work separately for each voice, so the notes of a chord can move in their own direction.

Features that stand out

• Up to 8 voices Polyphony, monophony, and unison, with detune, glissando, and legato.
• 3 oscillators per voice, each with up to 16 overtones. Oscillators
• 22 elements for building each oscillator, and a second element for converting them into oscillators.
• 9 filter chains per voice, from SVF and ladder filters to comb and formant, with drive and key tracking filters.
• 4 envelopes you draw: attack, decay, and release, each from 1ms to 8s long EG 1 on the amp, EG 2 on the filter.
• 4 LFOs you can draw or trigger from a preset, with rates from 0.01 to 40 Hz or tempo-synced, with quantize, fade, one-shot, and key-start modes.
• Insert effects 2 in series, in any order, from 8 types 1 send fed from each oscillator: chorus, phaser, delay, or reverb. Effects
• Glue compressor on the main bus Output
• MIDI learn host sync, MIDI clock, or Ableton Link