Get with the programmers
As we’re giving away SynthMaster Player this issue, we put KV331’s CTO Bulent Biyikoglu in the chair
How did you get into music software development?
BB “I’ve always been interested in music and computers. I remember writing a simple program when I was young to turn the Commodore 64’s built-in keyboard into a monophonic synth! When I was studying electrical engineering, I concentrated on learning digital signal processing and C++ programming. My graduation project was a realtime effects processor software called EffectsMaster, which played a vital role in my career: once I released it as shareware on the internet in 1997, I received a job offer from PG Music and moved to the other side of the world. Then, in 1998 I received another offer from Digidesign and moved to Palo Alto, CA. That was a hell of an experience for me working in the team that built Pro Tools!”
How did KV331 Audio start?
BB “Most startups begin in a garage, but mine started in a bedroom when I was looking after my older son (Yunus) in 2004. That was when I unofficially started KV331 Audio. It took me around three years to release the first version of SynthMaster though, since I was working at an IT company during the day and working for SynthMaster at nights and weekends. Then in 2009, I released the second version, but the real success came after releasing version 2.5 at the end of 2011. That was when everyone started taking SynthMaster seriously. I’m also very grateful to Computer
Music magazine for their 10/10 review in their January 2012 issue. After that review the business really picked up, and I was able to quit my day job and start KV331 Audio officially in Bilkent University’s technology park, Cyberpark, in Ankara, Turkey!”
You owe us a beer then. OK, actually this issue’s free SynthMaster Player will do! So what do you think makes KV331 Audio’s outlook different from that of other plugin developers?
BB “Our philosophy is making affordable software products that work on multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android will follow next!). That’s why we spent a lot of time on mobile development (at the expense of making some of our desktop users unhappy). While developing SynthMaster One, we also gave a lot of importance to making the user interface/ user experience simpler and more intuitive. With those lessons learnt, I hope SynthMaster 3 will be a hell of a crossplatform software instrument that packs many features and content in at an affordable price.”
Tell us about your current lineup and how they’ll change how we make music?
BB “We’ve got SynthMaster and SynthMaster One plugins and SynthMaster Player and One apps (both AUv3 synths on iOS). Since mobile music making is on the rise, we’ve been emphasising how our products are cross-platform. We added features like cloud synchronisation where a SynthMaster One user can simply design a preset on the go with their iPhone and then transfer that sound to their desktop PC/Mac. We also have a cloud-based public user library where SynthMaster One users are sharing their preset designs with other users. By the way, all of these features are coming to SynthMaster in our next update!”
What are your top five plugins made by other people and why?
BB “1. u-He Diva: This is one of the best synths that properly models famous analogue synths. Urs and his team are really good at what they do!”
“2. u-He Repro5: Another great analogue emulation by Urs and his team.”
“3. Spectrasonics Omnisphere: Being a ‘power synth’ Omnisphere combines many different synthesis methods and comes with thousands of sampled sound sources right out of the box.”
“4. NI Kontakt: This simply gives sound designers the foundation to build their own virtual instruments.”
“5. Celemony Melodyne: Separating a polyphonic signal into its elements and being able to edit them separately? That’s voodoo for me.”
What woud you like to see developed in terms of software technoloy?
BB “I’d like to see more application of artificial intelligence in analysis/resynthesis of sounds. ”
What advice have you got for anyone wanting to get into music software dev?
BB “If you have a passion for something, follow that. Be patient and don’t give up. That will eventually bring you success. It took me six years to be my own boss, and I had many obstacles along the way. But I never gave up, and I am grateful I didn’t.”
“I had an IT job during the day and worked on SynthMaster at nights”