Nakama is the latest work by Giorgio Sancristoforo. The Italian artist and developer is a bit of a mad scientist who keeps releasing unusual music software. Nakama is not a plug-in, but a standalone application that lets you get creative. It is a cross between a (tape) delay, a looper and a virtual effects machine that works from stereo to surround. Available for a small fee, this new sound playground is definitely worth a closer look.
Giorgio Sancristoforo combines delay, looper and effects in his latest software
It’s funny that no one ever says Gleetchlab, because that’s actually the name of Giorgio Sancristoforo’s ‘software company’. But the developer’s name is simply better known than his company.
Nakama is the name of the Italian multi-talent’s latest ‘invention’, and of course it is all very unusual:
Nakama combines eight tape delay/loopers and four granular processors in a standalone software that works in stereo and surround (up to eight channels). You can work with four layers simultaneously, feeding them with sounds from a microphone, your guitar, the modular rack or any other instrument of your choice – or you can load audio files.
How Nakama Blends Tape Delay, Looper, and Surround Sound in One Tool
A single Layer can play for up to an hour, and all Layers don’t have to be in sync. In Nakama, you can change the sound character and quality with various effects. So you can play the individual tracks in high quality, but also transform them as you like. A wide range of options are available: Tape saturation, noise, wow & flutter, sticky shed syndrome (sound like a sticky or porous tape), spectral gating, data corruption or filters are all part of the repertoire.
Giorgio Sancristoforo says that with these effects, after a certain number of repetitions, Nakama increasingly transforms the sound into a formless, bubbling ‘something’. Synthesiser or guitar sounds become living ambient soundscapes that are constantly changing.
From Stereo to Surround: Nakama Lets You Sculpt Sounds Across Channels
And, as mentioned above, surround plays a significant role in Nakama. The software supports two, four or eight channels and gives you control over them with a few clicks. Twelve sources can also be positioned around you or moved in orbits.
Nakama records the results directly into the software, so there is no need for a DAW. If you wish, the application can also create multi-channel audio files directly. To integrate your DAW, you need to use tools like Blackhole or Loopback again. The cool thing is that all parameters can be assigned to controllers via MIDI. This makes the software a really nice performance tool.
Specifications and pricing
Nakama runs on macOS (11.0 or later with silicon support; Intel Macs are supported from 10.15). As usual, the Windows version will follow a little later. 4 GB RAM is the minimum requirement, 8 GB RAM is recommended by the developer.
The software costs €19.50. More information and a free demo can be found on Giorgio Sancristoforo’s website.
Learn more about Nakama and Giorgio Sancristoforo
