ADDAC System Dives into the Sea with New Swell Physics Eurorack Module

Forget deep space: Swell Physics takes your sonic journeys into the ocean and beyond, with an impressive set of parameters and controls

Lisbon, Portugal, January 18, 2024 - ADDAC System announces its latest innovation in Eurorack modular synthesis: the Swell Physics ADDAC508. Swell Physics follows the highly regarded ADDAC503 Marble Physics, and features a new simulation of a physical system - to start, imagine you are in a small area in the middle of the ocean.

In this imagined area, we place four equally spaced buoys - anchored to the bottom in such a system that we can control the spacing between the buoys. Now imagine that we can control the elements and agitate the waters at will, which in turn will make the buoys move up and down as the water surface moves. Finally, imagine the buoys would wirelessly transmit their absolute height directly to your module outputs - where they would be mapped to a voltage signal!

ADDAC System leverages Gerstner Waves for its Swell Physics module, which lends an impressive degree of sonic movement. ADDAC System Founder and CEO Andre Gonçalves explains: "We use a Gerstner Wave as the motor behind the two dimensional wave generation," he says. "In fluid dynamics a Gerstner Wave is described as 'a progressive wave of permanent form on the surface of an incompressible fluid of infinite depth'.

Gerstner waves are often used in computer graphics to simulate any type of water surface. For instance, if you’ve seen any animation film or computer game with water surfaces in it most probably it features a Gerstner wave generating it."

Swell Physics features an array of controls to facilitate this fluidity of sonic movement:

[SWELL Size] controls the virtual height of the ocean swell, or more precisely the maximum amplitude between the highest crest and the lowest trough.
[AGITATION] is a peculiar macro that controls wind and secondary swells that create more complex interference waves.
[SPREAD] sets the distance between buoys, smaller spreads make the outputs more related or closer to each other while bigger spreads will make the outputs more unrelated.
[SIMULATION SPEED] controls how fast the simulation is calculated just like a frequency control on an LFO.
[OFFSET] and [OUTPUT GAIN] allow to set all 4 CV outputs to any voltage range between ±5V or 0 to +10V. There’s only one CV input for these 2 functions the [CV IN] switch allows to route the input to a preferred one.
[BIPOLAR / POSITIVE] switch sets all outputs voltage range to either ±5V or 0 to +10V
[A / B MODE] Sets the operation mode:
- A: Scrolling Mode
- B: Evolving Mode

Swell Physics also features an array of I/O, including four CV outputs, as well as a fully featured metering system that display the bipolar state of each output, as well as two gate LEDs.

ADDAC508 Swell Physics is available now, and priced at €320. For more information, please visit the ADDAC website at www.addacsystem.com, or see the attached user guide.

About ADDAC System
ADDAC develops advanced instruments for sonic expression. The company started back in 2009 with an ambition to explore the potential crossover between analog synthesizers and computers. Because its first creations sparked a lot of attention, ADDAC decided to work hard and put them in customers' hands. Today our product line is focused on a new breed of hybrid synths, that make use of the best of both the digital and analog worlds. We've grown to be able to reach thousands of enthusiastic clients, friends and collaborators. Always looking into conceptualizing and developing the most exquisite instruments, we hope you're able to join and share this passion with us.

Our solutions can be found in many personal studio throughout the world, owned by musicians in several planes of stardom. We especially appreciate seeing them being used in a very wide range of musical genres.