Embodme ERAE Sound: The First Synthesizer Designed From the Ground Up for an Expressive Surface

Most MPE plugins are synthesizers that added MPE support after the fact. ERAE Sound from Embodme takes the opposite approach: it's a synthesizer designed specifically around an expressive surface, built in tandem with the ERAE 2 MPE touch controller. The result, unveiled at SynthFest France 2026 and available now at $89 / €79 / £69, is one of the tightest hardware-software pairings in the MPE ecosystem.

That said, ERAE Sound isn't locked to the ERAE 2. It works with any MPE controller — Osmose CE, ROLI Seaboard 2, LinnStrument, Haken Continuum — and as a standalone or plugin (VST3, AU) inside any major DAW.

Synthesis Architecture

At its core, ERAE Sound is an analog-modeled synthesizer with two dual-oscillator engines. Each oscillator supports continuous waveform morphing — rather than switching between waveform types, you glide smoothly between them, a behavior that responds naturally to per-note slide or pressure when routed via MPE.

Other synthesis features include a wavefolder, dual morphing filters, and through-zero FM — a broad palette that covers territory from warm vintage analog textures to aggressive, modern synthesis.

Polyphonic Modulation Without Limits

Where ERAE Sound diverges most sharply from conventional synthesizer design is in its modulation architecture. There are no fixed modulation slots, no matrix with a limited number of rows. You can assign as many ADSRs and LFOs as you want to any parameter.

The LFOs in particular are engineered for MPE contexts: they run in free, tempo-synced, or audio-rate modes, support full waveform morphing, and can be linked in groups — meaning multiple notes can share a synchronized LFO cycle, or each voice can run its own independent rate. For a chord held on an MPE controller where each voice might have different pressure values, this level of per-voice modulation independence creates dramatically more organic results than a standard polyphonic synthesizer.

ERAE-Specific Integration (and What It Means for Other Controllers)

When used with the ERAE 2 controller, ERAE Sound goes further: each of the 84 included presets comes with a dedicated surface layout — a custom ERAE interface including XY pads, faders, and buttons configured specifically for that preset. These layout elements appear dynamically in the plugin interface as you switch presets, and they're all assignable as modulation sources.

For users of other MPE controllers, this layout layer isn't directly accessible, but the underlying MPE routing — pressure, slide, pitch bend per note — maps cleanly to the same modulation destinations. The presets are still designed to respond expressively; they just won't have the custom surface layouts.

Four-Slot FX Chain

ERAE Sound includes a four-slot multi-effects processor covering Distortion, Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Delay, Reverb, Shimmer, Compressor, and parametric EQ. This is a solid effects selection for a synthesizer plugin — the shimmer reverb in particular pairs well with slow, pressure-driven swells on sustained pads.

The Bigger Idea: Designing for Expression First

The most interesting thing about ERAE Sound isn't any single feature — it's the design philosophy. Building presets that "carry a layout" (as Embodme describes it) treats the instrument and the controller as a single system rather than two separate tools that need to be configured to work together. The preset isn't just sound parameters; it's also the physical interface for playing those parameters.

This is the direction that the most thoughtful MPE software is moving: not just adding MPE support, but thinking about expression as a first-class design constraint from the start. Whether you're using the ERAE 2 or a different MPE controller, ERAE Sound reflects that philosophy in how its modulation system, preset library, and synthesis architecture all center the physical gesture as the primary input.