Fathom Mono Modular Synthesizer

Seaweed Audio has announced the release of Fathom Mono, the freeware monophonic version of the Fathom Pro ($35) modular wavetable synthesizer in VST plugin format for Windows-based digital audio workstations.

Fathom Mono is identical to the full Fathom Pro version feature-wise, except for its limited polyphony and the lack of ability to save edited waveforms. Everything else, entire synthesis engine included, is exactly the same as in the full product.

At its core, Fathom is a fully modular virtual synthesizer which allows the user to connect any two components together. The patching possibilities are only limited by the synth’s twenty available signal flow slots and, of course, the processing power of your computer. To help with monitoring the performance while creating a patch, Fathom shows a real-time CPU load readout in the upper-right corner of the GUI. The components are shown in a large panel in the middle of the interface with a handy real-time waveform display in the background. The patching of virtual cables is quite elegant, with a simple drag and drop workflow which doesn’t result in confusion and unnecessary clutter. The visual representation of the signal flow is also pulled off quite well, with easily identifiable modules and connections.

A modular synth ain’t no fun if you don’t have any interesting components to patch together, though. Thankfully, there’s tons of cool stuff to play around with in Fathom, from its five powerful oscillators to 30 different filter models, unlimited modulation sources, and custom waveform import (in WAV format). The oscillator types on offer are alias-free analog and additive, impulse and frequency pulse oscillators, and most importantly, the wavetable and wave draw oscillators which open almost limitless sound design possibilities. The filters are no less impressive, covering a range of common variants, along with the Butterworth filter and various analog-modeled filter types.

https://www.fathomsynth.com/#fathom