The art
of sound design
AstroLab comes fully loaded with a wealth of curated presets, expertly crafted for your enjoyment and inspiration.
We reached out to trailblazing sound designers, producers, and musicians to push AstroLab to its limits. To dive deep into its synthesis engines and produce sounds unlike any other performance keyboard before it.
Read about our sound designers’ personal experiences with AstroLab: what inspired them, their approach, and what they wanted to achieve with each patch.
HP LP Pad, FM E Piano & Ymo Bass
Katsunori Ujiie
The ‘HP LP Pad’ presents rich tonal changes. ‘FM E Piano’ features a typical FM electric piano with dynamic modulation on top and ‘Ymo Bass’ is a thick synth bass put through a unique filter effect and dynamic pitch changes.
Katsunori Ujiie - on AstroLab
The AstroLab was produced as a hardware synthesizer with all the features of Analog Lab. So it is built up with vintage synths and keyboards that faithfully reproduce the real thing with unbeatable precision, and can be layered and split. The huge number of sophisticated presets will support your music immediately.
The direction I tried to take in producing sound design was to be versatile enough to be utilized in any situation, but still have a quality that is representative of the instrument. So you will find a sound that you have heard somewhere before. I can confidently recommend my presets as sounds that will fit your music.
LA Studio Pop
Jerry Kovarsky
A variation of the classic eighties LA sound, ‘LA Studio Pop’ presents a brighter and more 80s-sounding electric piano. Showcasing some key modulations with Chorus and keyboard voicing.
Jerry Kovarsky - on AstroLab
I have never sat before an instrument, nor played one that has such a comprehensive palette of classic synths and keyboards inside. It's like touching and getting to play the history of synths from my lifetime! The accuracy of the sound emulations and the playability of each keyboard inside is simply wonderful.
I first tried to make some sounds that I felt were definitive representations of these classic keyboards based on my taste. Then I went through the most important artists and recordings that used the instruments and emulated those classic sounds. Finally, I explored creative ideas for shaping those instruments into tones and timbres that they never could make before.
Whistling Juno
Athan Billias
'Whistling Juno’ harnesses the iconic warmth and analog charm of the Juno-6 synthesizer to deliver a distinctive whistle-like tone with some subtle LFO added. Perfect for creating airy leads or adding ethereal background elements.
Athan Billias - on AstroLab
The seamless integration between the computer and a hardware synth has been a dream for many years. The Astrolab is truly the best of both worlds. The other thing I was impressed with was the connectivity (USB and Wireless hosting, Bluetooth Audio streaming) , Finally the design and UI are simple and elegant.
My favorite thing in sound design is to create a totally new sound which has never existed before, but still reacts like a real instrument in its playability and response to dynamics. I also really like creating moving stereo fields with panning and delays.
3AM Rain
Lily Jordy
I never get tired of ‘3AM Rain’, it's a very simple and poetic Multi preset. As soon as you hear the rain sounds on top of the Rhodes, time stops and allows you to be swept away by your imagination.
Lily Jordy - on AstroLab
AstroLab is the most versatile stage keyboard I've ever seen. I am very fond of it now after having worked on this project since 2021, and I know the 1300+ presets in the Factory bank like the back of my hand. The sleek interface and Macro knobs are what I enjoy the most when performing on AstroLab. But in terms of music-making, the Multis are my favorite feature: I absolutely love inventing hybrid sounds!
The goal was to only include sounds that are adapted for stage keyboard playing, so maximum playability and accessibility. We wanted a large palette of sounds that can be easily understood and fit into many different genre contexts. We spent so much time fine-tuning the controls and effects as well.
Jineace
'Jineace' is a Multi preset, playing 2 synthesizers simultaneously: a Mini Moog that plays an arpeggio and a Matrix-12 that plays a pad - providing a more pronounced atmosphere. Being able to combine two legendary synthesizers in one is such a treat, and achievable with AstroLab.
Simon Gallifet - on AstroLab
AstroLab is truly the electronic music producer's swiss army knife in the studio. The Factory bank reflects 50 years of sound synthesis history. It includes the biggest classics of vintage synthesizers, as well as modern synthesizers such as Pigments. The wide range and user friendly macros are highly adapted to beginners in music production, while the more advanced users can go even further with the manipulation of a large diversity of settings.
I have two different approaches in sound design: The first one is reproducing existing track presets, so that I'm never short of ideas. The other approach I have is building a preset using a specific feature to explore the synth's specificities and bring out its sonic uniqueness. This type of preset also appeals to users wishing to learn by deconstructing the sound - with an understanding of all its subtleties.