RAW

Many electronic dance music genres are driven by dissonance and by more aggressive drums and melodies. An easy example would be dubstep, but the most prominent instances are probably found in what is collectively known as “the harder styles”: hardstyle, hardcore, hard techno, and many extreme subgenres such as rawstyle, uptempo hardcore, terrorcore, frenchcore, or crossbreed.

If you’re interested in creating any of the aforementioned styles, then adding distortion is a must, and RAW is a soft synth that can help you do just that.

RAW was developed by Rob Papen from ideas which he discussed with Dutch producers DJ Promo and DJ Free-K. The former is a legend of the Dutch hardcore scene and is also known for his signature harsh style. Thus you can be sure that RAW can create some powerful distorted sounds; in case you’re not used to this kind of music, make sure you turn your headphones or speakers a bit down before you first use the synth.

What’s great about RAW is that, even though it is used to make some very unusual sounds (that would probably take you a long time to make with the standard DAW tools and plugins), it has a surprisingly intuitive interface. At its core are two oscillators that come with many parameters and X/Y fields for more advanced modulation. Other modules include a filter, an amp, a three-band EQ, a waveshaper, and a distortion unit.

Although the musical purpose is made clear by the very name of the synth, RAW is surprisingly versatile. Advanced users will surely enjoy tools such as the arpeggiator/sequencer, the waveform drawing tool, or the modulation matrix. And even though this is a synth that’s supposed to help you make aggressive edgy music, you’ll find that some of its presets are surprisingly melodic and soothing.

There’s little doubt that RAW is a very capable plugin. As a tester, I’m impressed by its versatility and ease-of-use, and a fan of the harder styles, I can’t recommend it enough.