The RipplerX synth, in its various stages, began life as a research project studying physically modeled drums.
The first iteration used the open-source Sai’ke Partials as a reference and developed into a synth heavily inspired by AAS Chromaphone and Ableton’s Collision.
RipplerX is built with JUCE and is available in AU, VST3, and LV2 formats for macOS, Windows, and Linux (CLAP format planned when there is official JUCE support).
macOS builds are untested and unsigned; fixes for reported issues may be slow.
If you’re familiar with AAS Chromaphone 3, you’ll see that the RipplerX interface is very similar.
RipplerX offers dual resonators in nine acoustic resonator models: String, Beam, Squared, Membrane, Drumhead, Plate, Marimba, Open Tube, and Close Tube.
You can pair the Resonators in serial or parallel and shape the timbre of each resonator with Material, Tone, and Inharmocity controls.
One of the most interesting elements of RipplerX is the Mallet module. The Mallet module simulates the impact of a mallet striking an object.
You can adjust the force of the effect using the Mix knob. The Stiffness knob adjusts the stiffness/firmness of the mallet material.
RipplerX also features a Noise module, ADSR envelope, and some preset patches.
Just as RipplerX used Partials as a reference, RipplerX can provide a source of reference and entry point for researchers and developers looking into physical modeling.
The preset patches demonstrate the percussive and metallic nature of the synth; the combination of percussive and melodic elements is ideal for subtle or ambiguous lines.
Patches like the Harp and Marimba are more obviously melodic and sound lovely.
It’s a good time to check out RipplerX via GitHub and share helpful feedback with the developer.
If you need more synth freebies, we’ve had several already this month, including Klevgrand’s SyndtSphere v2, Morphoice Unstable (early beta), and Basshead Mini by Angelicvibes.
February 2025 has been good for freebies in general so far, and if you haven’t picked up Universal Audio’s 1176 Classic FET Compressor plugin for free yet, grab it now (the offer ends on February 28, 2025).
Download: RipplerX (FREE)
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