GRENOBLE, FRANCE: XILS-lab is proud to launch MemoryTone — making one of the most ambitious analogue architectures of the early Eighties fit for modern music production with 16-voice polyphony and up to 18 oscillators sounding in unison, ultimately taking it above and beyond its impressive three-oscillators-per-voice hardware origins with advanced arpeggiation, expanded modulation, integrated effects, and MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) support, allowing all manner of contemporary sound design capabilities to shine through this, the latest entry in the software synthesizer specialist’s lengthening lineup recreating some of the most revered electronic instruments of all time (including last year’s well-received The Eighty, effectively acting as a ‘virtual Vangelis’ soundalike homage to an iconic Seventies-vintage synth classic that the Academy Award-winning Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music made into his signature sound) — as of September 10…
Names need not necessarily be revealed for those in the know to recognize that MemoryTone takes its virtual design cues from what ended up being the last electronic instrument — a six-voice polyphonic analogue affair featuring three oscillators per voice, no less — to be manufactured by a well-known American synthesizer company (between 1982 and 1985) before it filed for bankruptcy in 1987. Needless to say, MemoryTone captures not only the extraordinary architecture of the original instrument, but also the subtle interaction between the oscillators, voices, levels, and 24dB/octave self-oscillating ladder filter that contributed to its unmistakable character.
To truly understand the character of the instrument in question, the musical journey has to begin before the VOLTAGE CONTROLLED FILTER, with no less than 18 OSCILLATORS interacting across 16 independent voices! Virtually speaking, those three OSCILLATORS per voice create an extraordinary harmonic foundation, but recreating the architecture was only the beginning. During development of MemoryTone, XILS-lab studied how those oscillators behaved both individually and together, how small variations accumulated between voices, and how level changes affected the signal before it reached the filter. It is fair to say that the MIXER itself is part of that behavior — push its levels and the signal starts to saturate, changing not only its volume but also its harmonic character. Clearly, the same attention to detail was also applied to analogue variation; rather than exaggerating instability for effect, MemoryTone preserves the restrained movement that gives individual voices life while allowing the instrument itself to remain playable, precise, and, most importantly, musical. As a result, MemoryTone is not simply a recreation of what its inspirational analogue ‘ancestor’ was designed to do, but rather an exploration of how it actually behaved and why musicians responded to it in the first place.
Some serious musicians made the Memorymoog — to finally name the iconic instrument inspiring XILS-lab to make MemoryTone — their own, including Geoff Downs (Asia), Jon Lord (Deep Purple), and Jan Hammer (Mahavishnu Orchestra); the latter effectively showcased its capabilities on his memorable music scores to the Eighties-dominating American crime drama series Miami Vice — to which he credited executive producer Michael Mann with allowing him great creative freedom — while also programming some of its original factory presets. Put it this way: with MemoryTone, those sounds that were originally created to reveal what that extraordinary architecture could do are available again — from huge brass, strings, and basses to evolving pads, and metallic textures, together with more contemporary electronic sounds, MemoryTone creatively combines the character of an iconic analogue design with the flexibility expected from a modern software synthesizer from XILS-lab. It is ready for sounds that were never heard in 1982. After all, the Memorymoog might have been built in another era, but MemoryTone is not confined to it.
Indeed, to get a flavour for MemoryTone’s flexible features, it is worth breaking them down into more digestible areas, as follows: synthesis — three oscillators per voice with freely-combinable pulse, sawtooth, and triangle waveforms, variable pulse width, oscillator hard sync (2 TO 1), independent oscillator 2 and 3 detuning, oscillator 3 LOW frequency mode, NOISE generator, MIXER with LEVEL-dependent drive and saturation, 24dB/octave self-oscillating ladder filter with KEYBOARD FOLLOW, dual ADSR (ATTACK, DECAY, SUSTAIN, RELEASE) envelope generators with advanced contour behaviour, meticulously modelled analogue DRIFT and VCE (voice-to-voice) DETUNE variations, mono, polyphonic and circular polyphonic (POLY cir) PLAYING MODE, UNISON, and mono and polyphonic GLIDE; modulation and expression — LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) with 0.1-10 Hz RATE, triangle, saw up, saw down, square, and sample & hold, multiple oscillator (01 FM and 02 FM), pulse width (PW1 and PW2), and FILTER destinations, polyphonic voice modulation, OSC 3 as modulation source, FILTER CONTOUR MODULATION, six freely-assignable MODULATION SLOTS, VELOCITY AMT (amount), aftertouch, expression, and MPE support, MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) learn, and advanced arpeggiator and programmable sequencer; effects — EQ, three-band resonator (RESO), CHORUS, DELAY, PHASER, and REVERB with flexible routing.
Reality dictates, then, that by making MemoryTone what it is, XILS-lab succeeded in finding out what it was that made the Memorymoog magic. MemoryTone is, indeed, fit for modern music production. PRESET management makes those distinctive sounds — originals from pioneering synthesizer figures like Wendy Carlos, Herbert Deutsch, and Jan Hammer himself readily recreated alongside contemporarily created tones — easily accessible to all as they can quickly be filtered and combined by BANK, TYPE, AUTHOR, FEELING, STYLE, and PROJECT. Punching above and beyond its diminutive download size, MemoryTone really represents so much more than taking a nostalgic musical trip back to 1982.
MemoryTone is available to purchase as an iLok-protected virtual instrument plug-in (including computer-based authorisation), priced at a time-limited introductory promo price of only €79.00 EUR — rising thereafter to its regular price of €199.00 EUR — directly from XILS-lab here: https://www.xils-lab.com/store/memorytone/
MemoryTone is downloadable in 64-bit AAX (native)-, AU-, VST2.4-, and VST3-compatible formats for macOS (10.13+) and 64-bit AAX (native)-, VST2.4-, and VST3-compatible formats for Windows (7/8/10/11) from here: https://www.xils-lab.com/store/resources/#memorytone
A time-limited full version of MemoryTone can be requested for pre-purchase evaluation purposes here: https://www.xils-lab.com/store/memorytone/#xils-download-id-3
About XILS-lab (www.xils-lab.com)
Since releasing XILS 3 as its inaugural software synthesizer in 2009, XILS-lab has continuously strived to create innovative, inspiring instruments and production tools for every musician. Indeed, it develops software synthesizers and effects from its base in the picturesque city of Grenoble in the French Alps to this day with the singular aim of offering quality products that ignite inspiration. It is inspired itself by its unique natural surroundings, infusing life and vibrancy into its algorithms, contributing to the exceptional sound of its instruments. In order to produce top-tier software, it collaborates with the world’s most qualified professionals — including, of course, musicians and sound designers — collectively known as the so-called ‘XILS-lab Expertise Network’, allowing the company to concentrate on its core mission of developing new products.
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