Laszlo Dobrovolszki has released MNTRP, available for $6.99.
Most synthesizer apps ask you to tweak filters or scroll through preset banks. MNTRP—a drone instrument by developer Laszlo Dobrovolszki—asks you to embark on a mission. Its sound engine is mapped to a figure-8 flight path tracing a spacecraft’s journey from Earth to the Moon and back, making sound design an exercise in spatial navigation.
Where your ship stands on its path is the sound you hear. As you pilot the craft, MNTRP continuously morphs through five distinct synthesis stages rather than switching patches:
- Liftoff: Low-end sub-bass rumbles and mechanical launch vibrations.
- Interstellar (Outbound & Return): Airy, spacious drift and ambient resonance.
- Around the Moon: Dark, haunting textures and bowed strings.
- Reentry: Intense, searing distortion modeling the thermal burn of coming home.
You can drag the ship manually, scrub the mission slider, or set an automatic flight timer between 10 and 300 seconds to let the drone evolve on autopilot.
To shape your tone, MNTRP features five macro knobs modeled as core vessel systems that keep their roles across all stages:
- ENGINES: Sub-bass, engine hum, and structural rumble.
- HULL: The ship’s main pitched instrument voice.
- LSS (Life Support): Atmospheric noise and ambient air.
- NAV: Rhythmic events and navigation markers.
- COMMS: Radio artifacts, static, and telemetry noise.
A secondary TUNE panel offers 12 fine-tuning knobs, including Cutoff, Drive, Attack, Release, and Space.
Tapping POV drops you directly into a low-res pixel art cockpit. Using your device’s gyroscope, you can physically tilt your screen to look around the Milky Way, track dynamic lighting, or align Earth’s shadow to trigger a lunar eclipse.
For music production, MNTRP operates standalone with MIDI support or as an AUv3 Instrument and Effect in DAWs like AUM, Logic Pro, and GarageBand. As an effect, you can route external audio through the engines—using vocal tracks or soft synths to excite the Moon’s bowed strings or fuel the reentry burn.
Features include:
- Journey-Based Synthesis: Drone synthesizer mapped across a continuous Earth-to-Moon figure-8 flight path.
- Seamless Stage Morphing: Smoothly transitions between 5 distinct sonic stages (Liftoff, Interstellar, Around the Moon, Interstellar, and Reentry).
- Automated & Manual Flight: Pilot manually via touch or set automatic flight loops lasting between 10 to 300 seconds per lap.
- Five System Mixers: Dedicated macro knobs for ENGINES, HULL, LSS (Life Support), NAV, and COMMS.
- TUNE Sound Shaping: 12 precision parameters including Filter Cutoff, Resonance, Drive, Tilt, Tone, Sub, Attack, Release, Glide, Rate, Depth, and Space.
- Trips Knob Automation: Set position-locked automation points by holding knobs for 2 seconds to create evolving parameter glides across the flight path. Save and name custom Trips.
- Interactive POV Cockpit Mode: Gyroscope-enabled 3D pixel-art view with parallax stars, real-time lighting, Earthrise, and eclipse mechanics.
- Key Latching: Built-in HOLD function for hands-free drone performances.
- AUv3 Instrument & Effect Support: Runs seamlessly inside iOS hosts like AUM, Logic Pro, and GarageBand, allowing external audio processing through the synth engines.
- MIDI & State Saving: Full MIDI support in standalone mode and total state recall in host DAWs.
For more information on MNTRP, click here:
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