JonET releases MonkSynth (beta), a FREE Delay-Lama-inspired vocal synth plugin

Developer JonET has released the beta version of MonkSynth, a free Delay-Lama-inspired vocal synth for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

AudioNerdz released the original Delay Lama back in 2002, and now, over two decades later, your favourite chanting monk is back.

MonkSynth is a free mono vocal synth, inspired by the original Delay Lama plugin.

The plugin is currently in v0.2.0-beta.2, and is available in AU and VST3 formats for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

If you missed Delay Lama the first time around, here’s a little bit of context.

Delay Lama is the brainchild of three men: Aram Verwoest, Steven Kruyswijk, and Daan Hermans.

Collectively, these former students of the Utrecht School of the Arts became AudioNerdz.

AudioNerdz created Delay Lama as part of a college project, aiming to make something different, useful, and fun.

At its core, it’s a simple formant synth recreating the peaks our voices create when we make a vowel to produce a vocal-like sound. The synth featured an X/Y pad for pitch and vowel control, which, by most accounts, was a little janky, but that probably added to its charm.

Considering that Delay Lama was never to be taken too seriously, it has gained legitimate cult-classic status in the freeware world.

This reputation developed over time because the synth’s quirky nature led it to feature in many best/worst synth VST lists/videos. Some people instantly loved it, and some thought it was so bad, it was good; it was kind of win-win.

Formant synthesis is a love it or hate it thing for some people, at the best of times, but when you throw in the sound and image of a chanting monk, it’s certainly something different.

Delay Lama had found its niche; it made its way onto fairly successful records, and even those who didn’t seriously rate it kind of adored it anyway.

We should note that a fourth person, Frank Post, was drafted in to create the Monk animation, which is perhaps the most iconic element of Delay Lama.

Additionally, if you’re into formant synths with a singing GUI, check out Klevgränd’s Santa Jussi from 2019.

Anyway, that’s the short history of Delay Lama, and if you tried the original or just watched the YouTube videos, you can recreate that magic with MonkSynth.

MonkSynth builds on the foundation of the original, and here are the main features:

As you’ll read on the MonkSynth GitHub page, it comes without a built-in skin, and on the first launch, you’ll be asked to import the classic skin or add a custom skin.

I’m having some trouble with the classic skin because I can’t get the AudioNerdz site to function properly. My antivirus doesn’t like it at all, but even when I bypass it, I keep getting error codes at various stages, and I never manage to complete the process.

I can see some people are managing to use MonkSynth with the classic skin, so I’m not sure what the issue is with the AudioNerdz website, but with any luck, you won’t experience it.

It would be great to hear from anyone who used the original in the comments; how is MonkSynth similar/different/better?