SYNTH WEEK 2024: u-he is an award-winning plugin developer that has been designing synths and effects since 2001. "Our plug-ins are not only fun to use, but they have more than enough depth to satisfy the most discerning musicians, composers and producers."
Founded in 2001 by industrial designer and synthesiser aficionado Urs Heckmann as a one-man operation, the Berlin-based audio software company u-he has since evolved into a tightly knit team of employees, active associates and 3rd-party contractors, and with ambitious plans.
Known initially for Zebra2, and later for the popular virtual analogue synth Diva, u-he has released several other highly-acclaimed products over the years, and regularly contributes freeware plugins to popular music technology magazines. u-he products are always praised for their audio quality and ease of use.
More recently, u-he's developers have been exploring new technologies for vastly improved analogue synthesis and delay emulation (Repro and Colour Copy), for the smoothest possible wavetable interpolation (Hive 2), and for new physical modelling approaches to effect design (Twangström, below).
Spring 2024 marked the release of Zebralette 3 Beta, a free synthesizer with an innovative, spline-based waveform editing method destined to flow into the next generation of u-he synthesizers.
It is a lesser-known fact that u-he has also been developing Eurorack hardware, notably CVilization & Wiretap. More modules are in the pipeline, and it appears the u-he crew can barely keep up with the ever-expanding line of prototypes.
Hive 2: The sound designer's dream
u-he is not only renowned for the quality of their plug-ins, but also for the effort they put into designing presets. Here is a selection of videos demonstrating why Hive 2 is such a sound-designer’s dream. These soundsets make extensive use of Hive’s expressive features, including the X/Y pads, shape sequencer and extensive modulation options.
The Hive 2.1 update adds a couple of experimental filter types which are ideal for creating metallic and otherworldly spectra. The 2.1 features make Hive suitable for a vast range of use cases from classical virtual analogue to hybrid & wavetable synthesis, from almost acoustic-sounding percussion instruments to chaotic and ever-evolving soundscapes.
Keep up to date with the amazing u-he journey at u-he.com.
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