From the creator of Strokes, Stacks is a unique morphing 4-voice ripple polysynth combined with a granular 4-track looper. But that description doesn’t really do it justice: digital modeling and grunge combine to make a wild instrument that behaves like an experimental studio.
I have been working with a test version of Stacks in its desktop version. Once you get into it, it oozes personality. I’ll be honest; I never fully immersed myself in the Strokes. And this is not an issue you want to use without the manual. But that doesn’t mean it’s difficult to use – the workflow is fast and efficient once you get the hang of the UI elements, and it quickly becomes second nature. (You might have to look at the UI a bit, but luckily the window is resizable.)
I almost hesitate to reproduce the specs, because I think this is more than the sum of its parts. Let me try to sum it up first: imagine a really rough digital synth with some squished wavetables, plus FM (with multiple modes, including non-linear), plus nicely designed low-pass gates, and then additional filters – dual pass/low pass, variable bandpass width, and 6x bandpass filterbank. And you have a bit of crunching (sample rate and bitrate reduction) for extra edge, plus extra saturation. That’s more than enough filtering and waveable goodness to create a variety of melodic and percussive sounds.
Here’s a quick video of me jamming with that sound engine to give you a taste:
Now, that alone is already creating a useful sound design palette; it’s very similar to what I tend to patch together when I have access to a modular. (I can’t wait to combine this with V4-CO / GLITHc for added mayhem.) But it wouldn’t be a Cong Burn fusion without a few extra layers. So you get a very nice algorithmic/convolution reverb with multiple routing modes and spring reverb, stereo/ping-pong delays and frequency shifters.
And then comes the stacking part: you can build complex polyrhythmic sequences of chords with beats – in a way that of course requires you to watch the video tutorial. You can capture samples (stored permanently on your hard drive), then slice and dice them. And you have the ability to modulate anything with anything else – there are two step sequences, six chaos generators / LFOs (with different modes like “flutter” and “ripple”), parameter locks for phase and an envelope for decaying attack, all freely assignable. Simply click the modulation button above the modulation source and then drag the parameter range. This gives you the kind of debugging flexibility you would have with a modular software paradigm, but in a massive fashion. It’s really addictive, and with the unique sequences and LFOs, you can quickly build interesting patterns.
Combine that with recorders, and you can constantly capture loops and bounce ideas off. You can drag these into your host too – so it’s a perfect combination with Ableton Live, as you can keep capturing loops to use later. At the same time, it’s compelling enough that you can just use it as a synthesizer and ignore the loops if you want.
Here are some gameplay moments with that layering ability:
Either way, it’s a great way to create sounds and ideas quickly. Cong Burn has found an ingenious solution to the problem plaguing computer manufacturing. We have these great synths that we love to edit endlessly, but we can get lost in them and miss the great moments. Stacks is an environment that turns all that change into song material. And it does all these dynamic changes, so even without recording and looping, the synth engine in Stacks should never get stuck in a mess.
There are also some nice tuning capabilities, though I’d like to see full Scala support and polyphonic bending.
You can run MIDI into Stacks — I even tried modulation from the host, although you don’t need much more. But it’s also a MIDI source. There really isn’t any workflow Stacks can’t adapt to.
If I had any complaints, I really wish the UI was easier to see. The interface could also really use some interactive documentation or a more thorough manual. But I hope that won’t put you off, as I think you’ll find a lot to love about Stacks right away – and after watching the intro video, I found it easy to experiment with. The two confusing interface elements become clear once explained.
Watch the full video to find out what it’s all about – and how you can make whole songs this way. (That means the iOS and desktop versions work well in concert, too — and of course, you can work entirely on an iPad with the mobile version if you prefer.)
Desktop available now for an introductory price of £35 (Windows, macOS, VST3 + AU); iOS AUv3 and standalone coming soon for £19.99.
Check:
https://www.congburn.co.uk/stacks
Looking forward to this. The videos may not make it clear, but I absolutely have several songs growing out of this.