In a rather unusual collaboration, car maker KIA teamed up with Arthur Joly, a Brazilian synth designer, to release move.ment. According to KIA, this free software synthesizer was inspired by the pink noise that is produced by the sounds of movement in nature.

Some examples of pink noise in nature include steady rain, wind, and rustling leaves, all of which can sound "flat" or "even" to the human ear. Most people will be familiar with white noise, but pink noise is a bit deeper, which makes it sound like it has a bass rumble in comparison.

In their statement, KIA mentions that pink noise increases the alpha waves in the brain, which induces the flow state of consciousness in which the brain is at its most creative. To create move.ment, they recorded the natural sounds of pink noise all over the world. These include the sound of thunder, a geyser, forest, forest birds, wind, water, and night. The free software synthesizer features sample-based natural sounds, a VCO with four classic waveforms, dual ADSR envelopes, and output tone control.

Move.ment can be used by first selecting one of the eight nature samples and then shaping the sound utilizing the Mixer section. It has four mixing dials for precise control over the volume of each channel. The 7-channel effects section can then add some texture to the track or smooth out transitions. The move.ment instrument also features a touchpad keyboard to create your own patterns, and quick visual orientation is easy thanks to the keys lighting up when played.

To download your free copy of move.ment head on over to the official website, where you can also find more information about this instrument (https://worldwide.kia.com/int/sounds-in-nature/our-instrument). It is available for both Windows and Mac OSX. For the story behind the instrument, watch the video embedded below.