Sonicware’s latest groove box specialises in granular synthesis. Greg Scarth finds out why this might be the best instrument yet from this young Japanese brand.
Sonicware’s Liven Texture Lab is the fifth release in the brand’s Liven groove box series, following on from impressive lo-fi, FM, wavetable and 8-bit releases. The focus this time is on granular synthesis, but the basic formula is similar to the previous models, pairing a digital sound engine with a 128-step sequencer and a basic reverb effect. Sonicware’s previous Liven models have all expressed their own distinct characters, so we have high expectations for the Texture Lab.
To quickly recap the Liven formula, the Texture Lab is a compact, self-contained device which can run on six AA batteries for fully portable creativity. Physically, the Livens are a bit plasticky but solidly built, with a good feel to the buttons and rotary knobs. All controls and connections are on the top panel, with MIDI in and out over 5-pin DIN, analogue sync plus a built-in speaker for basic monitoring. The simple push-button keyboard along the bottom of the unit is effective enough for playing and programming patterns, while the power of the synth engine is hinted at by the graphics and secondary functions listed under many knobs and buttons.
It’s worth quickly recapping how granular synthesis works since it’s the defining feature of the Texture Lab. It’s more commonly found in software these days, but here as in various VSTs, granular synthesis is based on samples of audio, from which ‘grains’ are then played back, essentially looped into synth voices. It’s a fully digital process in the Liven, with a digital filter after the granular engine to help shape the tone. In the case of the Texture Lab, samples can be up to six seconds in length, with grains anywhere between two milliseconds and one second. The Texture Lab is a four-voice polyphonic instrument, with up to 16 grains per voice and up to 32 samples in memory.
Fans of granular synthesis love it for its unique ability to create new timbres from existing sounds, often with quite unexpected results. The use of the word texture in the Texture Lab’s name is quite appropriate, because granular synthesis has a singular way of creating soundscapes unlike anything else. Starting with the onboard presets and factory samples, it’s a nice experimental process to adjust the key parameters – grain size, position (i.e. start point in the sample) and length, timing, density and diffusion. You soon discover that one sample can yield dozens, if not hundreds, of interesting synth sounds and textures. Loading your own sounds into the Texture Lab is where things start to get much more personal and much more interesting. You can record directly into the Liven, or transfer WAV files by converting them to MIDI using Sonicware’s free web app. Custom sounds allow you to tailor your source material to the kind of end result you’re aiming for, although there’s still a large degree of experimentation involved.
The sequencing aspect of the Texture Lab is familiar from other Liven models, but works well with the granular synth engine. The per-step automation using parameter locks is particularly effective here, allowing you to create a huge range of diverse tones from a single sample. The nature of granular synthesis means that small changes to certain parameters – most notably position – can create completely different sounds from one step to the next. It’s particularly effective for techy subgenres like neurofunk and glitch, where it’s helpful to be able to mutate and evolve sounds with ease. What’s unique to the Texture Lab is its ability to work as a real-time effect as well as a more considered sound-sculpting device. By processing an incoming signal in real time, you can create wonderful soundscapes which sound unlike anything else. This aspect of the Texture Lab in particular would lend itself very well to live performance as well as studio work.
Sonicware are a relatively young company, and their product range outside of the Liven series remains quite small at this point. That said, the Liven series itself is shaping up to offer a consistently high-quality, interesting range of instruments, drawing comparisons to other groovebox series like the Korg Volcas. At £276, the Texture Lab compares favourably to alternatives such as Roland’s Boutique instruments, but its granular approach puts it into quite different territory to the virtual analogue approach favoured by most Boutique models. The only obvious rival is 1010Music’s Nanobox Lemondrop, which goes about things very differently but is still worth a look at £388. If you’re looking for something a bit cheaper, you can do pseudo-granular things with a Korg Volca Sample 2, but it’s a long way off being as effective as the Texture Lab. Once again, Sonicware have a hit on their hands. We’re excited to see what comes next in the excellent Liven series.
Greg Scarth
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