Thephonoloop Outlines costs $144 or €120 and is available from thephonoloop.com.
I have always felt my productions lacked a specific quality. Sometimes the bass lacked weight, other times the highs were dull. I recently discovered that what was missing from my own sound was a deer call. Thephonoloop Outlines made me realise this.
This instrument is designed for sketching musical ideas quickly. It combines two granular engines with a large sample collection and four XY pads for direct modulation.
Despite the name, you are not restricted to a simple preset structure. Each preset can be opened and explored using a modular workflow to sculpt sounds with precision.
A simpler approach to granular synthesis
Simplifying granular synthesis is always welcome. Complex panning in three dimensions, splitting samples into tiny grains, and wild pitch shifting do not always result in a good sound.
With Outlines, I rarely hit a dead end. The tool runs on two independent layers, each with its own granular engine. It channels these elements into playing modes suited for leads, pads, and drones, as well as spatial panning.
Sub-operating modes such as Echoed, Chasing, or Flowing allow you to switch quickly between different kinds of motion. A 16-step polyphonic sequencer handles production needs for flux and flow without requiring deep audio programming.
The colour coding takes time to register, owing to the minimalist interface and low-contrast pastel aesthetic. Once you understand it, re-routing controls is not difficult.
Outlines fits naturally into cinematic music and sound design. I see no reason to pigeon-hole the plugin, as I can imagine applying that film magic to ambient and experimental music production. It makes granular synthesis accessible. Instead of getting lost in microscopic grains, the plugin offers a safe harbour for anyone exploring a new sound.
A large collection of sonic material
What is a granular engine without something to granulate?
The library covers extensive ground with over 2500 samples. Beautifully captured classical instruments are supported by synthesizers and filled out with nature and noise recordings. These range from deer calls to vinyl, coffee machines, styrofoam, church bells, and a specific set entitled Piano Abuse.
Guitar, violin, percussion, and piano form the core palette. The recordings capture more than just playable notes. One favourite preset, Inside Piano, lets you hear piano strings being struck or percussive tapping on the frame. Add orbital panning and you have a recipe for an anxiety-inducing psycho-thriller.
Layered together, these elements occupy an uncanny space in the imagination. Sonic oddities like air, creaks, scrapes, taps, foley, and room noise are threaded through many presets. They sit close to the surface and give a bespoke feel to the library. Tape loops and analogue processing provide a sonic glue across the catalogue.
Many sounds were captured at 192 kHz. This preserves audio fidelity when pitch shifting, which is necessary for granular processing. I never noticed glitches when processing sounds, even when using the XY pad and modulating sounds in real-time.
Expression is central to the design
The four XY pads on the frontend make the focus on expression clear. The selection of sculpting features really lifts the instrument.
Unusually, the expression settings available to tweak vary depending on the presets. You cannot change what is assigned to each axis individually; you must choose from suggested pairings. This might disappoint hardcore instrument builders, but I do not want my time consumed by routing when searching for a sound.
My starting point is often the two XY pads for noise and effects. Here, you can bend the speed of rhythmic samples and get strange effects from pitch shifting. Under the surface, each pad can be reassigned samples and effects. The tool simplifies things by listing useful combinations of parameters like Volume and Pitch, or Time and Feedback.
A standout feature is the Shifter group, which uses convolution processing to produce a weird and wonderful overlay of texture. Three main types are available: Shifter, Blur, and Marbles.
I found more expressive tools baked into the instrument, including one named Sprinkle. This control sets the time for a regular grain to become a sprinkle. As the name suggests, this sounds like a tiny fragment of the sound briefly popping into the mix. You can further finesse these sprinkles with their own volume, effects, and distortion settings.
Worth keeping
Stepping back, I am seriously impressed with what Thephonoloop has built. For people needing high-quality sounds quickly, this is a genuine resource that shortcuts the sound design process.
The outlines provided are easy to run away with. You get just enough control to steer things in an interesting direction.
The modular design means you can peel back elements of a preset and probe settings without the sound collapsing. I rarely spend time flipping between presets, as one preset alone keeps me fascinated and enthusiastic about manning the controls.
Before you know it, you have departed the preset and begun building something unique.
Key features
- 2,509 sample library including instruments, synthesizers, field recordings, and foley
- 438 thoroughly crafted presets for Native Instruments Kontakt Player
- 2 independent layers, each running a separate granular engine
- 4 XY pads for filtering, effects, noise and modulation
- 4 sample slots with the ability to load user files
- A range of different operating modes including singular, duets, sculpt, lengths and orbits
- Two polyphonic 16-step sequencers, used for both traditional sequencing and modulation
- Effects include flanger, tape emulation, reverb, delay and more
- XY pads come with a range of modulation options for quick sound design and ideation
- The Shifter granular engine comes with a number of custom effects presets
