Sumu

Sumu breaks completely new ground in software synthesis, combining additive resynthesis with FM and vector field spatialization. Its collection of ten modules, designed around a unique multi-channel patcher, offer musical possibilities not found in any other instrument.

Download the plugin

When you first install the plugin, it will run in demo mode. This means that a gentle reminder sound plays every minute or so, and saving patches is disabled. When you register the plugin, these restrictions are removed.

To update your plugin, just download and run the latest installer above. The latest version will always be right here and updating won't affect your registration.

Buy a license: $179.00 $129.00

For a limited time, full licenses of Sumu are available at the introductory price of $129.00. The licenses do not expire, and apply to both the current Early Access release and forthcoming 1.0 versions. When a feature-complete 1.0 release is available, we will begin charging the full price of $179.00. For more details on Early Access, see below.

The purchase price includes a license for both Mac OS and Windows.

Your purchase will create a license key that you can get from the "My licenses" page after logging in. To register your plugin, just copy the key and then click in the plugin’s registration area.

About the sound

In Sumu, sampled sounds are represented as collections of up to 64 bandwidth-enhanced partials, each with a frequency, volume, and noisiness that can change over time. This representation of sound makes all kinds of creative changes possible, from natural-sounding time stretching to exotic timbral manipulations. Using the central multi-channel patcher, each partial in a sound can be manipulated independently in a way that feels more like playing than programming. Pick a few harmonics and frequency-modulate them? No problem. Delay each partial according to its frequency? Sure.

Sumu enables precise and careful changes in space and time, or wild chaotic ones. Take a sample, choose a few partials, and place them somewhere else in the sound field. Or explode everything and stir it into a whirlwind of doppler shifted chorus as each partial zooms around on its own path.

And then a stream comes burbling through, and as we listen, the individual droplets are gradually nudged into line to make a quantized rhythm. The pulses module in Sumu is a rich modulator for resynthesis, or a source of complex sounds all on its own. It offers smooth transitions between rhythm and noise, organic and synthetic.

As a balance to all of this very modern digital manipulation, there’s an analog-modeled filter based on the classic four-pole Moog ladder design. It can self-oscillate for big vintage sounds, or just round off those prickly edges.

Looks good, too

While the patcher keeps things simple on the surface, each patch cord has 64 independent channels in it. That’s a lot of data. So Sumu has different ways to visualize that data, including the space module, which presents a 3d view of each partial’s location, and a 64-channel scope with bar graph and horizontal wave modes.

There’s no visual fluff here: everything has a purpose. True, some of the modules have a lot of blinking lights and are fun to look at. But that’s a result of them being the best real-time visualizations of the sound data we could think of. For example, the space module shows you where each partial of each voice is positioned, 60 times a second (your DAW and computer permitting). What you see is what you hear.

Have a listen

Read the friendly manual

Sumu’s manual has all the thoughtful instruction, misty Cascadian vibes, and technical details you’ll need. Click to download: SumuManual.pdf

System requirements

Mac versions of Sumu require OS X 10.14 (Mojave) or higher. Sumu runs natively on both Intel-compatible and Apple Silicon processors.

Windows versions require Windows 10 or higher. (Older Windows versions are likely to work, if your computer is burly, but are not officially supported.)

If you have any concerns about compatibility, please try the demo.

Early Access: details

Purchasing the Early Access version gets you the software right away, and gives you a perpetual license for the 1.0 version and any future 1.x versions. We have been beta testing Sumu for over four months, and are happy to say it’s a stable piece of software. There are still a few more features planned for the 1.0 release, but we don’t want that to stand in the way of getting it to you now. The discount is our way of saying thanks for your support. Just like our other instruments, you can try the demo before purchasing. So we think it’s a win-win.

The manual is a full draft version already. There are over 100 factory sounds that we’ve been playing with and refining for months. Additional features coming for the 1.0 release will include:

• sound library: many more partials files and patches
• input: MPE, alternate tunings, unison mode
• ui: popup menus for pulse shapes and other small item pickers
• dials: numerical entry, more LFOs, MIDI learn
• partials: tilt and blend controls

Vutu

A free companion app, Vutu, lets you make Sumu partials files out of your own sounds. Setting up the analysis parameters involves some creative choices and Vutu gives you access to all the controls needed. It’s available now for both Mac and Windows:

More info

For info on fulfillment, licensing, transfers, and returns, please visit our policies page.