JAS-I Khorlo
Key Features
- Pairs up to eight independently moving impulse rings with up to eight physically modelled strings for rhythmically active resonator patches.
- Uses ring height as a direct tonal gesture, moving the contact sound from bright and thin to dull and rounded.
- Lets each resonator carry its own pitch, pan, decay, and character controls for layered acoustic-like or abstract voices.
- Includes draw-your-own modulation shapers, macros, velocity, mod-wheel, and aftertouch routing across most destinations.
- Combines dual filters with ten reorderable effects, including chorus, compression, delay, phaser, flanger, distortion, reverb, EQ, and limiter.
- Provides a tagged preset browser and a visual 3D instrument view that makes ring-and-string interactions easy to follow.
Description
JAS-I Khorlo is a physical-modeling synth that turns a ring-and-cylinder system into playable plucks, resonances, and evolving polyrhythms. Up to eight moving impulse rings can strike up to eight modeled strings, so a single held note can become a rhythmic pattern, a metallic hit, a bowed-style voice, or an unstable ambient layer.
The appeal is the relationship between motion and tone. Each ring has its own speed and height, while the string side lets you alter pitch, pan, decay, and the resonator's character; changing the contact point shifts the sound from brighter and thinner toward duller and rounder.
That makes Khorlo especially rewarding for patches that feel like small systems in motion instead of fixed oscillator sounds.
Its sound-design layer goes well beyond the resonators, with drawn modulation shapers, performance controls, a routing view, dual filters, and a reorderable effects rack. The result can move from short melodic plucks and basses to sustained pads, strange percussion, and continuously shifting textures without leaving the instrument.
Khorlo is an open beta, so it is best approached as an experimental instrument rather than a fully settled production staple. The developer states that saved work will remain compatible with the next build, while the current beta makes a distinctive cross-platform option for producers who want visible, hands-on physical-modeling synthesis.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Khorlo make sound?
Khorlo places modeled strings around a virtual cylinder and sends moving impulse rings around them. A ring plucks a string when it crosses it, so ring speed, position, and routing all contribute to the resulting rhythm and tone.
Can Khorlo create more than plucked-string sounds?
Yes. The official controls and current beta coverage point to short percussive hits, basses, sustained bowed-style voices, pads, and leads. The ring speeds, resonator controls, filters, effects, and modulation are designed for broad sound design rather than a single acoustic-instrument emulation.
Does the beta require an account or activation?
The download form asks for an email address so the developer can send Khorlo news, but the developer states there is no account, activation, or phone-home requirement for the instrument itself. The product page also says the beta is free and does not expire.
Will patches made in the beta open in later versions?
The beta page says that anything saved with the current build will open in the next one. It also notes that preset names changed for this release but are now locked in, while encouraging bug reports if a session does not restore correctly.
