Caelum Audio releases SUBscrption, a freeware synthesizer plugin that’s equally a joke and a serious virtual instrument.
Who doesn’t love a free synth?
Caelum Audio has debuted SUBscription, a free synthesizer released on International Joke Day. Despite the jokey imagery on the main interface, it is quite an interesting instrument to use as well.
At the heart of the interface is a very bold ATM console. This actually serves as the oscillator of the instrument. You can input text and get some fairly interesting results in return. The rest of the signal flow is fairly typical of a subtractive synth.
You’ll find a 12dB low pass filter, which can get squelchy when the resonance is cranked. The filter section also has options for drive and dirt, so you can certainly dig in and make some meaty basses.
There are a pair of LFOs and a pair of ADSRs, which are freely routed to any control you see on the interface. It gets a handy modulation dial next to the control, like a more refined Massive from Native Instruments.
Unison is also available, which works well to fatten up the sound. I would have loved to see the inclusion of a flanger or chorus for some extra washiness, but the unison does quite well with a little modulation on the detune.
SUBscription excels at bass sounds, handling a surprisingly wide palette of patches that will rumble your studio monitor setup. You’ll be able to coax gritty leads, bizarre basses, and other mayhem quite easily out of it.
The UI’s imagery is Caelum Audio poking fun against the often divisive subscription services. While it may serve as a release meant to coincide with International Joke Day, it is an incredibly fun little mono synth to use.
You might want to pair things up with a delay and some modulation if you opt for leads. For bass sounds, you’ve got all you could really need present directly in the interface. Both the drive and dirt controls sound great, which shouldn’t come as a surprise for those familiar with Caelum Tape.
SUBscription is available for Windows, Mac, and iOS devices. Supported plugin formats are VST3, AU, AAX, and AUv3. It is a universal app, so both Silicon and Intel users can take full advantage of this freebie.
Download: SUBscription (100% off until July 21st)
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Last Updated on July 3, 2023 by Tomislav Zlatic.
