Cherry Audio has added another software emulation of a vintage synth to its rapidly expanding stable of virtual instruments.
After previously taking on Korg's ultra-rare semi-modular PS-3300 synth and KR-55C drum machine, the company has turned to the Korg Trident for inspiration, an '80s instrument that's a hybrid of synthesizer and string machine.
The Trident took its name from its three sonic layers, which bring together an eight-voice polyphonic analogue synth, string section and brass section together in a single instrument, timbres that could be layered or split across its 61-note keyboard.
Cherry Audio describes the Trident as an "eight-voice, 16-VCO, 16-memory-slot beast that was equal parts orchestra-in-a-box, multi-timbral wall of sound, and Swiss army synth rolled into one."
While Trident never quite carved out the same reputation as some of Korg's more enduringly popular instruments, the synth made its way on to more records than you might expect, popping up on memorable cuts from Yes and Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark, along with Parisian synth-pop act Phoenix's 2009 hit 1901.
Released in 1981, Trident was followed up in 1982 by Trident Mk II; Cherry Audio is continuing the instrument's legacy four decades later with a new plugin emulation titled Trident Mk III.
Meticulously recreating each of Trident's three sound engines, Cherry Audio has expanded the polyphony to 16 voices per section while bringing some modern enhancements you'd expect from a soft synth, including velocity sensitivity, MIDI mapping capabilities and both channel and polyphonic aftertouch.
Trident Mk III's synth section is fully polyphonic with two oscillators and a filter per-voice, while the brass section and string sections retain the paraphonic structure of the original Trident, their multiple oscillators running through a single shared filter and envelope stage to produce a cohesive, ensemble-like character.
The plugin's three timbres can be mixed, transposed and panned in the Master section and split or layered across the keyboard in the Motion panel, which also features a 32-step polyphonic sequencer and dual multimode arpeggiators.
Trident Mk III also boasts a comprehensive selection of effects that go well beyond the original's flanger, ensemble and vibrato: offering 17 effects across four customizable chains, Trident Mk III features a compressor, ring modulator, 7-band EQ alongside multiple delays and reverbs.
Priced at $69, Cherry Audio's Trident Mk III is available now for macOS and Windows in VST/VST3/AU/AAX formats. A free 30-day trial is available.
