As previously announced, Audiomodern has just released the layered sample player Soundbox. It’s a sample player with four separate sample engines that can be layered or split around the keyboard to create complex and evolving sounds.
Soundbox is a free platform that can play any Soundbox Instrument without requiring a purchase. While all core playback functions are fully unlocked, the Sample & Mapping editor (which allows importing custom sounds) becomes available after purchasing any Soundbox Instrument. The platform’s open architecture allows third-party developers to create and distribute their own Soundbox instruments without any costs or limitations, potentially creating a diverse ecosystem of sound content.
Engine Features
Layer Controls
Diving into the Soundbox engine – You select and add a sound to each layer from a dropdown menu, and then each layer has its own set of editing, effect, and modulation tools. There is a vector and master channel to mix and macro the 4 layers together.
Each layer has the basic volume and pan controls. You can solo and link each layer to control the volume and pan of each together if you need. From here, there’s an effects page, where you can add up to 4 effects from a selection of 12 (usual suspects – reverb, delay, eq, comp, distortion, lofi, etc.).
Modulation Options
From here there are different modulation and controller assignments: 4 LFOs, Mod wheel, aftertouch, and slide (MPE control) that can be assigned to much of the interface, with a simple right-click over the parameter you want modulated, and select the modulation/control source from the dropdown menu.
Arpeggiator
There’s also an arpeggiator for each layer. When you turn the arpeggiator on for that layer, you have a choice of 6 different types, including random and chord. You can keep it fairly simple or go deeper and turn on a sequencer for more granular control over each step. In this sequence, there are tracks for volume, octave, pan, step length, and ratchet per step. You can randomize each of these tracks for super quick arpeggiation inspiration! You can then save that particular sequence of arpeggiation that you create as a preset and apply it to other layers. Being able to change the step length of each arpeggio gives loads of polyrhythmic and euclidean potential to the sounds you have in each layer.
Vector Control
Of particular interest is the next tab along in the GUI – the vector control. This is a macro control of the mix levels of each layer. It’s an XY window, with each layer represented in each corner of the window. You can mouse the target in the space between each layer, thus morphing the levels of each layer. You can also set up a continuous motion with different shapes of movement (circular motion, random movement etc.) where you can control the speed of the motion and the amplitude, or depth of the modulation.
From there, the last tab available to you is the master control, which gives you four more effects slots to use from the same choice of 12 effect types.
Sample Editor
There is a fairly basic editor for the samples that you can open up by clicking the spanner icon on each layer. Here you can drag and drop samples onto the represented keyboard and create multi-layer sample instruments quickly. The recent 1.0.4 update has significantly improved stability and addressed previous issues with the sample editor. There are also options to control the attack/release envelopes of the sample itself, loop the sample, select sample start etc.
The Soundpacks
Audiomodern offers soundpacks that you can easily import into the Soundbox engine, including three commercial packs (intro price €29 – reg. price €39) featuring futuristic keys, spacey pads and vocal melodies. Here’s one of them:
The company has also just released Mechania, a free instrument pack that showcases the platform’s capabilities. While current presets are predominantly single-layered, Audiomodern has announced plans for larger, more complex packs that will better showcase the platform’s layering capabilities.
The sounds vary from one-shot to gently evolving pads and textures. Some of the one-shot sounds were spectacular – prepared piano smashes and deep impact sounds that were surprising and definitely drew me in. The sound quality of the packs is excellent with loads of variation. Creating layers is quite straightforward thanks to a random button for each layer that loads up sound sources that Audiomodern has tagged to work well together stylistically.
I really like the fact that you are able to share any packs that you create with other users, with a quick export pack function. This will hopefully help build a good community of sound designers around this platform and provide a wealth of great-sounding presets for everyone.
Conclusion – Strong Potential For Growth (and it’s coming to iOS!)
Soundbox shows strong potential as a powerful and quick layering platform for creating great textural movement with sounds. The sound quality of the presets in the available packs is excellent, and the seemingly empty genres in the preset filter are actually placeholder categories for future releases and user-created content, as users can categorize their own sounds using these tags.
With ongoing engine improvements and new features planned, along with the promise of more sophisticated layered content from both Audiomodern and third-party developers, Soundbox shows strong potential for growth as a versatile sampling platform. The upcoming iPadOS version will make it the only sampler capable of running the same instruments (both from Audiomodern and third-party developers) on both desktop and iPad, with full MPE and multi-touch compatibility.
Soundbox is available as a free download, with additional soundpacks available for purchase. The platform’s open approach to third-party development and cross-platform compatibility positions it as a promising new player in the sampling landscape.
