Beat Mode review of Applied Acoustics Tassman 2.1

Tassman 2.1 gets a 7 out of 10 Beat Mode rating.

Tassman 2.1 is a modular software synthesizer based on Physical modeling and works as both a standalone program and a VST/Dxi instrument. Physical Modeling is a uniquely powerful synthesis technique, which uses the laws of physics to reproduce the behavior of an object.

The first thing we noticed about Tassman 2.1 after installing and opening it as a stand alone synthesizer, is it's warm, bright and impressive sound quality. A spin through the provided program banks and presets shows the versatility and pristine sound quality that Tassman consistently delivers. The sound is nothing short of stunning! And there are a variety of banks with numerous presets to show off the diverse sound capabilities that Tassman has to offer.

In standalone mode Tassman Player can be played and programmed as any other software synthesizer. Tassman Builder allows you to create your instruments or modify existing ones. Tassman is extremely powerful when combined with a host sequencer programs such as Cubase, Logic, Sonar, Fruity Loops or Orion, which allows full automation as a VST or Dxi instrument (depending upon the host program's capabilities).

Tassman is a deep complex program, yet out of the box it provides a wealth of premade instruments and tons of superb sounding patches. More instruments are consistently made available via the Applied Acoustics web site

Tassman Player

Tassman is made up of 2 separate programs - "Tassman Player" and "Tassman Builder". The builder allows for the customization and creation of unique instruments with a plethora of provided modules. The library of modules contains all of the building blocks found in traditional analog synthesizers including VCOs, filters, envelopes, and effects, as well as the acoustic models of strings, mallets, drum membranes, and more.

Tassman Builder

While savvy enough for a rocket scientist (or mad midi professor), Tassman Builder is also friendly enough for the casual programmer (tinkerer) interested in tweaking and modifying programs to taste. If you can imagine it, then you can likely build it in Tassman.

We had an opportunity to test Tassman 2.1 as a VST Instrument in host programs Cubase VST 5.1, Orion Pro 2.750 which worked flawlessly. Tassman worked fine as a DXi in Fruity Loops. While we loved the sound quality and wide range of instruments, we found it a bit difficult to understand in some respects. For example we found it difficult to get presets with step sequencers and such to sync up with Cubase's tempo. We'd like it if Tassman would automatically sync to the tempo and activate it's step sequencers when Cubase starts up, such as Reaktor does. Maybe we just missed something. Don't get me wrong, the step sequencers and wave player type instruments sound fantastic and are fun to play with, but how to use them in Cubase? We'll dig into the manual and see if we can find a solution to that and update when we have the info.

All in all we found Tassman to be a great addition to our arsenal of sound sources. It has a very warm clean sound. Particularly impressive with percussive, string and plucked type instruments such as Xylophone, Kalimbas and Vibraphones etc. Tassman also has some fat monophonic sounds to die for.

Tassman 2.1 has come in handy in our composing efforts and performed admirably on our Windows 98 SE P4 1.7 Ghz PC. We suspect it may be a bit sluggish on a slow processor or older PC, but if you do have the muscle we suggest you consider adding Tassman to your toolbox. You can always test drive the demo to see if your PC has the horsepower.

If you are an adventurer and open to exploring the Tassman Builder and creating new instruments, we say definitely get Tassman. It'll keep you inside for weeks!

Tassman 2.1 gets a 7 out of 10 Beat Mode rating.

Check out a cool Tassman Builder Tutorial: "Tassman Basics 101"

Download the free demo, check out a QuickTime movie showing
Tassman's features at the Tassman Product Page at the Applied Acoustics web site