Get with the programmers
Wave Alchemy started out as superior samplists but now make some of the best plugins in the business. Dan Byers is your alchemist…
How did you get into music software? DB “I’ve always been obsessed with music, but after travelling to Ibiza and experiencing house music in some of the best clubs, I started to DJ, then obsessing over the sounds and invested in a studio. There were just a couple of companies making samples. I felt I could do better, so I started doing my own – that’s how Wave Alchemy was born!”
How did you become successful? DB “Our goal has always been to empower producers with creative tools and the best sounds. When we started (in 2006) we were samples only. We built a loyal following and wanted to find a way of delivering our high-quality content in a more streamlined, creative and artistic way, which led to us to building our own software instruments. These were an immediate success, and we are proud to have received multiple awards. We strive to keep on improving and creating new tools to make production easier and more enjoyable.”
What makes your software standout?
DB “Everyone here is making music – production, mixing or film scores – alongside developing software. We always pay close attention to the creative flow and want you stay in the creative zone and keep you inspired. We always ask, ‘what could exist to help make this better?’ so ensure our tools and samples are a step above anything else. We love instruments that inspire you, so aim for that with our instruments.”
Tell us about them…
DB “Triaz. Our most recent and our finest! We spent thousands of hours on a library of over 10,000 drums sounds for any genre, plus an intuitive engine and creative sequencer to create modern beats, lightning-fast. BassSynth. A go-to for creating unique sounds, with everything from deep analogue and modular, to live brass ensembles and electric basses, all blended to create monstrous sounds. We use it all the time! Revolution. Deep sampling to recreate the subtleties of analogue drum machines. We sampled every control with multiple variations so it never sounds the same; the history of all drum machines on our laptops, and we love that!”
“I started to DJ and then obsessing over the sounds I was playing”
What plugins do you like other than yours?
DB “IK Modo Bass. Like adding a live bassist. u-He Diva. Like having a dream analogue synth. WaveTracing SP-950. Love how this recreates the character of vintage samplers. Fabfilter Pro-Q3. How modern it behaves while sounding amazing. Valhalla Delay. Simple and sounds great!”
What would you like to see developed in plugin technology? DB “More tools to highlight the fun of sampling! It can be so rewarding as a sound design element, but it would be great if more of the tedious aspects of sampling could be solved to help support its creative uses.”
What have you got planned for the future?
DB “We just released Triaz, which we are extremely proud of and believe it to be the best sounding drum machine. We’d like to expand it with new sounds and presets. We’re working on an exciting follow up to Revolution, as well as a new synth, and porting our products as native plugins instead of using a third-party player so will hopefully have something soon.” wavealchemy.co.uk