Here’s an example of free music software that doesn’t play it safe.

_02.circles is a Windows software synthesizer that features a user interface inspired by Wassily Kandinsky‘s abstract painting Einige Kreise:

This plugin opens an intuitive access to sound construction, modification, modulation, live performance tweaking, etc. being an interactive painting and thus a form of art by itself.

VST plugins nowadays mostly resemble the look and feel of real instruments so musicians feel comfortable with, but neglecting the power of contemporary user interfaces: mouse, touchpads, multitouch, gestures….

This plugin follows an intuitive approach, e.g. instead of knowing the filter cutoff value has to be modified to “2100 Hz” and the frequency modulation index has to set to “75” the user is encouraged to play with the elements, e.g. make the blue circle a bit smaller and drag the green circle a little so that it becomes more visible, or even try things like “what will it sound like when I modify this red circle”?

Details:

• Operating System: Windows (developed and tested with XP SP2)
• Format: VST Instrument dll file
• Misc: Minimum requirements: SSE capable processor, VST Host compliant to VST 2.3 spec. Tested with Orion Platinum 7.62, Ableton Live 7, Energy XT 2, Tracktion 2, MULAB 2.6, FL Studio 8