Astralis FX is based on the Effects of the the Astralis Range of Synthesizers and offers a world of possibilities of Sound Transformation, ranging from Lush Pads to Industrial Destruction. The FX in Astralis Synths play a large part in shaping their sound, the idea with FX is that the same can be applied to any Live sound source sent through the plugin such as drumloops or Guitars etc.. It also includes a Modulation Sequencer and Programmable Gapper for creating Tempo Based Rhythm effects. It can be used as an insert or Send and the Effects can be used in 127 different possible Routings.

This small update fixes an issue where the Recorder could cause an Access Violation error in some Hosts after it is removed from the project.

download latest version from here

• Record to WAV added - Wavs will be recorded to a folder called Synth Recordings located in your HGSounds folder (chosen when installing the samples)
• Choice of 16/24/32/32bit float bit depths.
• Open Samples Folder Button
• Open Last Recorded Sample in System WAV player.
• WAVS are auto-named by Synth Name, and then System Timestamp.
• Fixed a bug where Pitch Bend setting would not update on already playing notes.
• Fixed a bug where Microtuner Patch and Info would not load correctly in some situations.
• Enabled an ON/OFF for the polyphony control as this replaces the note stealing rules.
• Polyphony Mode automatically disabled in Mono Mode for the above reason.
• Fixed a small bug where occasionally an incorrect Bank was displayed.
• Samples in different folders can now have the same name and should be located correctly when patches are recalled.
• Added a disable WAV Display Button to Info Section, as one user experienced crashes related to this module.
• Other Minor Fixes.

HGS WAV Recorder is a simple plugin that performs a single role, recording the incoming signal directly to a WAV. It can be used either in an Insert or as a Send Effect. The Sound output can either be direct through, Muted or the Recorded Signal to ensure maximum flexibility. It is a useful plugin for recording spontaneous improvisations, or providing realtime record functionality in Hosts which do not support this directly.

I'm pleased to announce that the official HGS forum is now hosted on KVR:

Visit Forum

SoundScaper is a VST Effect Plugin for Windows capabable of Reverb, Echo and Comb effects. It was designed primarily as way of creating atmospheric landscapes in the tradition of the HGSounds ethos. It has almost infinite feedback time for many modes, and so is capable of producing rich and complex drones when used with a continuous sound source. It can also be used as a traditional reverb or echo suitable for any application.

Here are the changes:

• Many Visual Improvements
• Envelopes updated with zoom functionality, plus a menu (accessed by clicking at the top of the envelope) which gives access to all Envelope features.
• The Clipper has now been replaced by a Compressor with Threshold and Ratio control
• Patch changes should now work as expected in Sonar when Orgone is closed
• Limiter Added - Orgone output is now limited to prevent clipping in hosts applications
• Various minor bug fixes

Download the latest version from your files page.

The download pages have now also been improved and grouped by product, which will be less confusing when owning multiple products.

I'm pleased to announce a special version of Orgone Released on the August edition of Computer Music Magazine. This version is based on 50 samples and has more Features than Orgone Lite, for more information see the Computer Music Website.

This is the free version of Astralis Orgone which is Orgone with a reduced feature set. See the main orgone page for full Orgone info. It is free and fully functional and a feature packed synth in its own right. It is limited to a single synth as opposed to the 2 in Orgone and is locked to use a set of 25 samples. It includes 128 presets and the diversity of sound created from those 25 samples, demonstrates the power of the Astralis System.

The synth is free to use but donations are always appreciated and help me buy time to build/improve more instruments.

Here is a list of the main features:

Astralis Orgone is a Dual Sample based Synthesizer which will run in PC VST Hosts. It is the next generation of the Astralis Range and is highly optimized with great improvements in CPU use and especially load times. 8 months of programming has gone into making these improvements and added many new features and GUI enhancements. It is a rounded synth capable of sounds ranging from Trance Style Rhythms to Hard Leads and excels at Pads, Atmospheres and FX. Great care has been taken into developing a logical layout and many useful control features such as double click resets and CTRL fine control adjustments. Orgone can be purchased individually or as part of the Astralis Pack which  entitles the owner to both current and future Astralis instruments/effects with no extra cost.

The site has had a major rebuild and has a much better shop backend. Now HGSounds has become a completely download only site, we now longer ship any products. This means you need a broadband connection to purchase most of the products, but means ultimately you get what you pay for as soon as the payment has been processed via paypal (or credit card). All files are in the 'My account' files section permanently after purchase and do not expire should you ever need to re-download them.

Astralis Bion will be released in the next couple of months, and will be along the lines of Astralis A, having 2 Synths/Oscillators. From now on any software updates will be added to your own private 'Files' area, there is also a private forum for each product where other stuff may appear :)

All Sample CDs are now available as instant downloads and once purchased remain in your account files area indefinitely so you can always download them whenever you like. The same also goes for Music releases.

If anyone would like to purchase any of the products via snail mail, send me an email and I'll sort it out.

Astralis CM is a version of Astralis only available on the Computer Music DVD. It is loosely based on Astralis B with the following unique features:

* Quad Oscillator with quad XY controller.
* Quad Oscillator Mod Matrix with dedicated LFO's
* Dual Oscillator
* Extensive Randomization
* Extended Microtonal Support

The current issue includes a 3 page tutorial on using Astralis CM, though the synth will be included on every issue in the 'CM Studio Section'. A second tutorial is also planned early next year.

www.computermusic.co.uk

In the current edition (August 2007), here are a couple of excerpts:

"Astralis includes an excellent combination of effect options, including Drive, Reverb, Delay, Ring Modulation, and Organic (a further delay based effect). For me, however, the highlights are the Arpeggiator, Modulation Sequencer and Envelope Gate Sequencer. Whether you want disco style arpeggios or Trance style rhythmic gated effects, Astralis has plenty of potential...

...The presets do an excellent job of demonstrating what Astralis is capabale of. There is some truly wonderful stuff amongst this lot, from scary sci-fi pads and soundscapes through to trance-friendly, mod sequenced, analogue style beeps. The presets also demonstrate that Astralis can do both subtlety and in your face aggression."

Sound on Sound Astralis Review

Another great review on KVR by user jodejo:

Read Astralis Review on KVR

"Currently Astralis is compose by three synths: Astralis A, B and C (still in beta version at this time). Astralis A and B are waveforms based synths with various possibilities (see main features) concerning effects, modulations options, routing and to handle waveforms. It's simple you can do all you want with waveforms and create your own sound easily (bass, rythmic sounds, pads, athmospheres). All these sounds are moving wich is perfect for soundscapes. Astralis B is the same but with reduced cpu. That's great with Astralis A to produce sounds with more space.

Astralis C is a sample based synth. It's a beta version at this time but works very well and increase greatly the possibilities. To summarize, the Astralis pack is a real quality sound factory : almost all sounds can be created and give a total control on these sounds. And in this point of view it offer me more that I expected."

I'm Pleased to announce that Astralis 1.1 has been favorably reviewed:

Inspira Sons (French)

Inspira Sons (English Translation)

"si vous aimez créer des sonorités d'orientation électro-acoustique expérimentale, c'est le prototype du programme qui vous vaudra des nuits blanches. Et un son s'y transforme vite, après quelques modifications mineures, en une variante fort différente, donc quand vous l'aurez bien en main, votre sonothèque s'accroîtra rapidement."

Tom very kindly translated the conclusion for me:

"Astralis introduces itself as an instrument dedicated to textures creation and other spatial explorations. This allows you to expect the usual bath of flabby reverbs and spongy echoes that this kind of lyricism generally promises. Surprise : such is not the dominant colour. Astralis's deep nature proves to be more muscular than the one of your average "space synth", sometimes with a well-tempered aggressivity, without turning into FSU/destroy mash. Its armada of effects and its many features make it very versatile, but of course, buying it to program standard basses and classical leads will not be the most logical use. On the other hand, if you like to create experimental electro-acoustic oriented sounds, this is the perfect example of a software that will keep you awake at night. And a few minor variations are enough to transform a preset into a very different variant, so once that you will master the software, your patches library is bound to grow quickly."