It takes a while to learn how to really program specific synths, especially as you need get a very deep understanding of the synthesis model. The classical synth model of a generator, filters, envelopes and so on could be grasped, but when you get into the world of additive synthesis, FM, and more esoteric models, it takes a lot of brain power, and especially time, to learn how to program such systems.

Enter the morphing interfaces. The basic idea is that you map four specific parameters to four sections, and move around in this x/y space, and this way — from existing parameters — you could generate brand new sounds. Zebra 2 has this model.

Tonight I also tried out the morphing system in Native Instrument’s FM8, it’s even more wild, you have four different patches, and you could take parts from each one and morph a new sound with a certain spread of parameters you could define. It’s hard to describe it without doing it yourself, but you could really quickly get very interesting FM-based sounds this way.

These morphing interfaces are also good not just for studio use, also for live situations, with a controller you could really create brand new sounds on the spot while playing live.