Benoit Serrano Updates Free Orpheus String Machine VST Plugin

Benoit Serrano has released Orpheus 2, an updated version of the excellent Orpheus freeware string machine VSTi plugin for 32-bit Windows based digital audio workstations.

The new version of the plugin brings a myriad of improvements and brand new features such as improved polyphony (now 128 voices polyphonic), unison mode, oscillator drift and a 6-slot modulation matrix. It builds on the already excellent concept of the original Orpheus instrument, resulting in a very nice sounding and unusually flexible virtual string machine.

See also: Best FREE String Machine VST/AU Plugins!

The user interface is now split into six tabs, providing direct access to the plugin’s ensembles, resonators and formant filter controls, as well as the FX section, modulation matrix, and playback settings. Perhaps the coolest feature of Orpheus 2 (when compared to the old version) is the addition of the modulation matrix, which is something that we very rarely (if ever) see in virtual string machine instruments. Although string machines were originally meant to be predominantly simple electronic instruments, it never hurts to expand the possibilities a bit. The plugin’s modulation matrix can be used to assign one of the four available LFOs, a randomizer or external MIDI parameter (aftertouch, modulation wheel, breath controller, pedal or velocity) as the modulation source for each of the two ensembles’ pitch and/or color, as well as the plugin’s presence parameter. I also liked the implementation of the formant filter, which broadens the plugin’s sonic pallette quite significantly.

Orpheus 2 is offered for direct free download from the developer’s website. There’s no need to sign up for a user account or mailing list. In case you liked Orpheus 2, you should also check out Benoit Serrano’s excellent Anubis 2 virtual synthesizer which ranked at #13 in our top list of freeware plugins from 2015.

Download

Orpheus 2 is available for free download via Benoit Serrano’s website (2.8 MB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit VSTi plugin format for Windows, made with SynthEdit).