VISCO 2.0 adds Spectral Synthesizer Features
Tutorial | Jul 10, 2025
Forever 89 has released VISCO 2.0, a drum sampler and synthesizer that allows users to morph between different sounds and easily play them in key without needing to set a root note. The update introduces new tonal features, enabling users to turn samples into playable synth patches, create pads, and experiment with harmonics and modulation for unique sonic results. The upgrade is free for existing owners and brings enhanced flexibility and creativity, making it even more useful for sound design and music production.
You can watch the Video on Youtube
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- get VISCO and visit Forever89
- the VISCO 1.0 review
Short Overview #
I just checked out VISCO 2.0, which now turns this drum sampler into a full-fledged synthesizer with some really creative sound-morphing features. The update makes it easy to drag in any sample, blend it with another, and instantly play it on your keyboard without worrying about tuning. I particularly enjoy the transformation tools and being able to create unique pads or drones from random sounds, all while keeping things simple and efficient. If you already own VISCO, the update is free, so it’s definitely worth trying out all the new possibilities.
- Forever 89 released VISCO 2.0, a unique drum sampler and synthesizer.
- Morphing feature allows blending between two different samples, useful for creative sound design.
- Visual interface (the "blob") enables intuitive, hands-on sound transformation in real time.
- You can mix low-quality and high-quality samples to create new, unique sounds.
- The sampler auto-detects root key, eliminating the need for manual tuning.
- Version 2.0 adds a tonal mode, turning VISCO into a playable synthesizer with key tracking and polyphony.
- Users can load tonal presets or sample their own sounds for creating pads and drones.
- Slot-based design allows easy comparison and morphing of different samples.
- The software uses density and contrast controls for harmonic shaping.
- Integrated features include a sequencer, modulation matrix, effects, and sound source oscillators (sine, saw, square).
- Works well for pads, drones, and experimental sound design, especially combined with modulators from other DAWs like Bitwig.
- Update is free for existing users; new price is $99.
- Overall, the update brings more versatility, especially for keyboard and pad sound creation.
Introduction to VISCO 2.0 #
Yesterday Forever 89 released VISCO 2.0, and since I made a video about VISCO almost a year ago, I wanted to give an update. VISCO is a unique drum sampler, mainly because of its visual interface. In the middle, there’s a graphical “blob” that lets you tweak and morph your sounds creatively. With this tool, you can blend one sample into another, which is especially useful for improving drum samples or for sound design experimentation.
Drum Morphing with Samples #
A common way I use VISCO is to blend an inferior snare sample with a higher quality one. For example, I can select an old, not-so-great snare and layer it with a nicer one from a different source. The morphing feature lets you interpolate between the two, landing on a hybrid snare that sits somewhere between the original and the better sample. This is especially useful if you're trying to match a new snare synth to the vibe of a classic drum loop.
Evolution into a Synthesizer #
A major enhancement in version 2.0 is the tonal feature, which essentially turns VISCO into a synthesizer. You can now use your own samples as oscillator sources, drag them into slots, and play them melodically from a MIDI keyboard. The tonal engine seems to work by analyzing the harmonic content of a sample, automatically pitching it correctly without any manual root note assignment. This makes it a great tool for pads, ambient sounds, or creative sample-based instruments.
Working with Random Samples and Pad Creation #
One of my favorite tricks is to use random Triton keyboard presets as source material. I play a note, record the audio as a sample, and drop it into VISCO for instant re-pitching and playback. This is especially quick for creating pad sounds; once the sample is in, I can stretch it, tweak parameters, and instantly have playable, harmonically-correct pads.
Understanding the Harmonic Engine #
Although I’m unsure exactly how the internal pitch and harmonics detection works, I suspect that VISCO splits the sample into spectral bins or partials. When adjusting the density parameter, it likely changes how many harmonic overtones are used to reconstruct the sound. This provides a way to control the timbral complexity of the output, which is crucial for blending textures and creating movement in pad sounds.
Morphing and Polyphony #
With two different samples loaded into slots, I can morph between them using the visual “blob” controller. The morphing here is spectral and static, meaning it doesn’t change in real-time as audio moves; rather, it creates a hybrid between two analyzed states. Increasing polyphony lets me play chords and more complex harmonic material. Enhancing this with onboard modulation and effects like reverb, the plugin quickly becomes a versatile pad or drone synthesizer.
Modulation and FX Workflow #
Although VISCO provides built-in modulation options like LFOs and noise sources, I typically route everything to Bitwig’s own modulators because I am more familiar with their workflow. This combination allows for animated crossfades, evolving timbres, and sound design flexibility.
Unique Features and Usability #
VISCO 2.0 remains extremely easy to use, especially since you don’t need to find and set root notes for your samples manually. Whatever you drag in is automatically pitch-aligned, ready to play. Additional features like key tracking, the S (sustain) function, and time scaling further assist in creating dynamic, musical results.
Oscillator Modes and Chordal Options #
The update includes various oscillator algorithms for partial reconstruction, possibly working like a vocoder. Users can select the type of overtones (saw, square, or more unconventional structures like Fibonacci series and chord intervals) to completely transform the harmonic structure of their resynthesized samples. This is particularly useful for generating synthetic pads and drones.
Pricing and Value #
VISCO 2.0 is a free update for current users. For newcomers, the price is around 99 dollars. Considering the features and flexibility, I find this a great value, especially if you are interested in sound transformation and creative sampling.
Final Thoughts and Future Content #
Overall, the 2.0 update adds significant usability and creative potential, especially for those wanting to blend sampling with real-time synthesis. The tool is now more versatile for pad creation, morphing, and harmonic manipulation. I look forward to covering more Bitwig content soon, including potential updates and new plugin releases. If you have thoughts on the new VISCO features, let me know in the comments. More videos are on the way.
Full Video Transcription #
This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by Whisper, so it might not be perfect. If you find any mistakes, please let me know.
You can also click on the timestamps to jump to the right part of the video, which should be helpful.
Click to expand Transcription
[00:00:00] Hey folks, welcome back, so Forever 89 just released VISCO 2.0 yesterday and I made a video
[00:00:08] about VISCO almost a year ago.
[00:00:10] It's some kind of drum sampler with a twist because we have in the middle here some kind
[00:00:14] of visual blob that you can use to tweak and twist and turn the sound to your liking.
[00:00:21] And what I do sometimes with a sampler here, I just use a sound for instance here the snare
[00:00:28] and I just take my shitty snare and put in a very nice snare from maybe a sample pack
[00:00:34] or whatever and then you can morph between the two sounds.
[00:00:38] So let's say we have this sound here or maybe I take here one of my snares, it's a pretty
[00:00:45] old, pretty old samples here, maybe something like this right and you put it in here and
[00:00:54] then you can play it on the keyboard, maybe something like this and then you put another
[00:01:05] snare here on the right side, that's a huge snare, by the way you can also select just
[00:01:13] some presets from here if you want to, so maybe let's use something like this and then you
[00:01:20] can morph between the two.
[00:01:25] And sometimes you can just settle with something in between, so you have a shitty snare and
[00:01:29] you have a good snare and then you settle with something in between or you maybe have
[00:01:33] some kind of classic drum loop with the snare in there and you want to synthesize a new
[00:01:37] snare to it but you want to have it in the same kind of sound, right?
[00:01:43] You want to get close to the sound of the original classic snare and you can use this
[00:01:49] sometimes here to make this happen, so that's how I use the sampler sometimes, I didn't
[00:01:55] use actually all the features here, I just used the transformation features of this one.
[00:02:01] There's also a sequencer in here of course, modulation matrix and mix output here with
[00:02:07] some FX, but now in 2.0 they actually added here some kind of tonal thing which turns
[00:02:15] this into a synthesizer and you can then use here these slots and you say slot 1, turn
[00:02:21] this into a synthesizer, right?
[00:02:23] And then you can play it on the keyboard.
[00:02:29] This makes no sense because it's a drum sample here, so we need to create some sound or maybe
[00:02:34] select something from here.
[00:02:37] I think you can also select something here from the tonal presets if you want to, but
[00:02:42] I don't want to do that.
[00:02:43] I want to sample my own shit.
[00:02:45] So I'm using here my preset Triton keyboards preset which gives you basically a random
[00:02:53] Triton keyboard preset every time you press a key.
[00:03:04] Sometimes I use this for creating pad sounds because I just need something with overtones
[00:03:09] and I put it into a granular sampler and get nice pads out of it.
[00:03:14] It's exactly what I want to do in this case here also, so I'm using here the rolling sampler.
[00:03:19] I just play one key, let's say this one.
[00:03:25] And what I like here with the VISCO is that you actually don't need to figure out the
[00:03:31] root key.
[00:03:33] It's always in the right key for some reason.
[00:03:36] You just drag some random sample in there and you can play it on the keyboard.
[00:03:41] It's always the right note.
[00:03:43] Alright, I need to switch this.
[00:03:50] I have actually no idea how this works internally.
[00:03:53] Maybe they split this up into different sine bins.
[00:03:57] I have no idea.
[00:03:58] I guess here when you turn up the density here, this one, actually what it does is probably
[00:04:08] it reduces or increases the sine partials that are used to replay the sound, I guess.
[00:04:18] So now we have the sound here in slot one, but we can also put something in slot two.
[00:04:23] Also maybe use here a different sound, or maybe play a different key, or something like
[00:04:35] this.
[00:04:38] Very basic.
[00:04:39] Put this in there, maybe like this, so we can play it.
[00:04:50] Now we can morph between sound one and sound two, so it's a spectral kind of static morph.
[00:05:02] I know there are some VST, some audio effects that you can use to morph between different
[00:05:08] sounds live.
[00:05:11] I think Synaptic has something called morph two or something.
[00:05:16] It works probably in the same way.
[00:05:19] But this one here is offline.
[00:05:21] It doesn't use that much resources, and you can play it like a new sound here with a synthesizer.
[00:05:35] So now we can start and change the sound here with the blob in the middle, something like
[00:05:47] this.
[00:05:48] It's interesting here, there's this S thing on the right side, so we can change here the
[00:05:55] key tracking to 100% and the sustain position.
[00:05:58] So this S here is basically where it stops when you hold the key on the keyboard.
[00:06:05] And then you can change it while you're holding it, but only in one direction for some reason.
[00:06:15] So if you go back, it doesn't work.
[00:06:19] It's only going in one direction for some reason.
[00:06:22] But with this you can create nice kind of long pads or drones or whatever.
[00:06:32] So we also use it on the right side polyphony, so we pull this up so we can now play multiple
[00:06:37] keys at the same time.
[00:06:53] And maybe we change this here a bit.
[00:07:14] This is really nice to create some pad sounds here, so I need a reverb of course.
[00:07:21] Let's see here, maybe increase the time scale here.
[00:07:46] You can also change the time scale only for this slot here.
[00:07:56] This is basically the global transformation.
[00:08:14] So there is some kind of modulation in here that you can use, LFOs.
[00:08:18] And I think you can also use here a noise, pink noise, brown noise and so on.
[00:08:24] So there are some options there, but I never actually use this.
[00:08:27] I always prefer the Bitwig modulators for this.
[00:08:31] I can just dial it in because I know the modulators, how they work and what they can do and so
[00:08:37] on.
[00:08:39] So I'm using here, what's this, track 1 transform, modulators to slowly go from one sound to
[00:08:50] the other, maybe a bit slower.
[00:08:59] You can also change the density, let's go down and then just duplicate this, and change
[00:09:10] the density.
[00:09:11] Nice.
[00:09:12] You can also change the contrast, which removes some harmonics or adds.
[00:09:21] Yeah, let's duplicate this.
[00:09:37] So for me, this is just a free update.
[00:09:57] Of course I have this here for almost a year and I use it often on for certain things like
[00:10:03] I said for morphing between different sounds, sometimes creating new sounds.
[00:10:08] But this is actually nice to have here to create also some pad sounds from random samples.
[00:10:16] And it's also very easy to use because you don't need to define the root key.
[00:10:21] You just drag in whatever you find on your hard drive and it's always in the right key.
[00:10:25] And you do something like this here where you morph between different sounds and you
[00:10:29] have something new.
[00:10:30] So it's actually no brainer for me because it doesn't cost any money.
[00:10:37] That's on the website here.
[00:10:38] I put the link in the description below, but I'm sure a lot of people actually bought
[00:10:42] this a year ago.
[00:10:44] So maybe just re-download and give it a try.
[00:10:52] I think this was some of my criticism in the first video I saw.
[00:10:59] I said, this could be actually interesting to have so you can play it on the keyboard.
[00:11:06] So you have key tracking and so I probably wasn't the only one with this idea.
[00:11:17] So there's also some kind of oscillator so you can tell the application what it uses
[00:11:26] to play back these partials.
[00:11:29] I guess each partial then is a saw or a square or maybe this works like a vocoder in the
[00:11:36] background.
[00:11:37] So you define the overtones.
[00:11:40] As we say, this is a saw right in the background and then it uses all the overtones to play
[00:11:46] back actually the sample.
[00:11:47] I have no idea.
[00:11:49] There's also here something like Fibonacci and Seventh Minor Chord.
[00:11:59] Oh nice, actually much better for pad sounds for drones.
[00:12:09] Let's switch to Major Chord.
[00:12:15] Yeah, this is really nice.
[00:12:20] So that's the update for VISCO.
[00:12:23] It's completely free if you already own it.
[00:12:25] If you don't own it, I think it costs, what was the price, 99 bucks, so yeah it's not
[00:12:36] super expensive.
[00:12:39] I think that's it for this video.
[00:12:40] Just want to show you this because it came out yesterday.
[00:12:44] I do more Bitwig videos in the coming days or coming weeks.
[00:12:50] I hope we also get an announcement for Bitwig 6 soonish.
[00:12:55] I don't know when, but it has to be I don't know in the next month.
[00:13:01] I have no idea.
[00:13:05] So yeah, so more Bitwig videos are coming.
[00:13:08] There are also some new plug-ins coming out in next days, next weeks and I probably also
[00:13:15] try to cover them.
[00:13:17] That's it for this video.
[00:13:18] Please leave a like, leave a subscription, leave me a comment what you think about the
[00:13:21] new update and I'll see you in the next video, bye.
[00:13:25] Bye.
[00:13:32] Bye.
[00:13:35] you