Review: RayBlaster Virtual Synth from Tone2 – by Gabriel Lamorie

If any of you SonicScoopers have played with a synthesizer before (odds are yes, yes you have) then the words “Subtractive Synthesis” should ring a bell or two. This popular form of synthesis is one employed by a majority of synthesizers on the market today from the hardware to the digital realm.

With that said, how familiar are the words “Impulse Modeling Synthesis?” Probably not very familiar at all! That’s because it is a one-of-a-kind form of synthesis that only RayBlaster from Tone2 is capable of.

Tone2’s Rayblaster sounds different…because it IS different.

Synthetic Impulses

So, here for review is the RayBlaster from Tone2. This recently introduced synth brings a completely new method of synthesis to the table that Tone2 called “Impulse Modeling Synthesis” (IMS). Unlike subtractive synthesis in which a simple waveform is filtered to create a sound, IMS uses short bursts of energy that combine to form complex and detailed waveforms that result in a more defined sound – no mud to wade through here! Not only that, but this new method also allows for some very different sonic characteristics that only RayBlaster can produce.

As with all virtual instruments that may seem gargantuan at first glance, I find that it is easiest to understand these monsters by breaking down their different sections and begin understanding how each section affects what we are hearing. The RayBlaster happens to have seven sections and if you have experience with any synth before, you’ll find that these sections are all too familiar. Let’s dive in, shall we?

Oscillator Display
Don’t let the oscillator section fool you – although it may look like two simple waveform displays, there are a ton of customizable options at our disposal. First of all, the RayBlaster is rife with drop-down menus, so almost anywhere that you see a spelled out word like “Harmonic 22,” chances are users can select that word to reveal a drop-down menu with other available options.

Depending on your experience with synths, you may or may not know that the waveform you choose at the very beginning of the sound creation chain is what you will ultimately manipulate to achieve your end sound. Most synths usually come equipped with under ten simple waveforms to get cracking at, but RayBlaster changes the rules here a bit. Each oscillator display gives the user access to two sets of dozens of waveforms to begin tearing apart.

Users can also load in any of their own waveforms from their internal drive including samples and loops (a feature also found in the Patch Manager section).

Oscillator Controls
The Oscillator Controls for each waveform display are located in the upper-middle area of the RayBlaster – to the right of the Oscillator Section. This section is where most of my mod matrix mapping went to, due to the fact that it lends surprising variation to the overall sound of your patch. The control that I found to be most entertaining is the “Formant” control. It’s hard to say exactly how it effects your sound because odds are, it will always yield something different.

Patch manager
An immediate look at the patch manager section shows two easy-to-read categories. The top includes the current patch that is running while the bottom is the name of the current bank that is selected.

Browsing the huge amount of presets in RayBlaster is very easy and doesn’t get complex as far as categories, subcategories and tags go. The great thing about the browser function is that it is very straightforward. Users can still create personal banks to save presets under it, and while they can save and load very specific settings of this massive synth through the patch manager, they don’t have to dive in.

Browsing the patches right off the bat is how we get a feel for what a synth is capable of, so it’s great that Tone2 made it so easy for us. Loading personal audio loops and sound clips can also be done in this section.

LFO, Envelope and Arp/Gate/FX/ModMatrix
The LFO and Envelope sections sections function just like any other synth you may have messed with so I won’t get into too much detail with them.

The Arp, on the other hand, is a very customizable arpeggiator with tons of features, including the ability to import previously saved arp patterns from disk that users saved for later inspiration – a feature I think we all love.

The Gate feature in this section can be mapped to virtually anything that the mod matrix allows. This feature can create some very cool effects when linked to “Volume” or “Formant.” Add one of the thirteen built-in effects and you’ll have a unique sound that no one has heard before.

Main Section
As far as the title of ‘Main Section’ goes, there really isn’t much to this part that users haven’t seen before. The minimal section influences your overall sound with a few useful tools like volume, amp envelope, drive, glide, pan, and unison spread. Probably one of the last steps users will actually use.

Hear some of what makes RayBlaster distinctive (audio demo produced by Tone2):

In Use

The first thing I noticed while scrolling through the patches is that a lot of really clean traditional sounds can be achieved by this synth as well. It is very easy to tell when you have come across a “Rayblaster-only” patch. Some unmistakable qualities include: dripping, shimmering, grinding, winding, spiraling and some that I have trouble describing. Give these sounds a listen!

Another quality I noticed is that once you have all of your groundwork set in the oscillator section, the rest of the sound sculpting is basically done like a traditional synth. Implement an LFO, envelope and a filter or two and you’re good to go.

Conclusion

The sounds users can achieve with the RayBlaster by Tone2 is practically limitless. I like that Tone2 has included a few traditional sounds just so users can see how to go about creating them for production on music, but RayBlaster is also something sound designers will find very interesting too.

For everything that the Rayblaster offers as a new form of synthesis and compared to similar synths out there, the RayBlaster is something everyone in music and sound design should invest in. The price coupled with the amount of synthesis that can be achieved is an awesome value.

The RayBlaster is available now for Mac and PC at $199 MSRP and also has an available expansion pack now called Futuron Expansion for $59 MSRP. The Futuron Expansion includes 160 new presets, 50 new impulse responses, 30 new loops and samples for resynthesis and three additional skins for the RayBlaster interface.

— Gabriel Lamorie

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