Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas Alia Black at a glance:

The Basimilus Iteritas Alia Black from Noise Engineering is a digital drumvoice with roots in the analog world. The sound generation is composed of additive synthesis and FM and is provided in an easy-to-use manner with three synthesis modes: skin, liquid and metal:

• Skin works like an additive synthesizer, simulating simple membrane drum sounds. The vibrations of the drum sounds do not interact with each other.
• Liquid is similar to the first synthesis form Skin, but the generated sounds have a much more present and hard attack, as well as a Pitch envelope.
• Metal, on the other hand, is a type of FM synthesizer that produces wacky metallic-atonal sounds. These are particularly well suited for cymbals and hihats.

The synthesis makes use of six oscillatorswith waveform morphing, a noise generator and a wavefolder of the hardest gear. For modulation of the internal VCA, but also other parameters, a very crisp attack/decay envelope is integrated. The frequency range is switchable in three sections which allows a more specific adjustment of the sounds. Create substance-shaking kicks, snares, HiHats and unique drum hits in just a few steps, which will meet open ears especially in the industrial, Berghain techno and EDM genres. "BIA" is so flexible that it also does a great job with basslines and lead sounds. With this module and a sampler alone, you can assemble drum kits and even complete Loops and enjoy an arsenal of exceedingly assertive Drum sounds.

Exchangeable firmware

Alia is an oscillator platform that allows software interchangeability similar to Versio and Legio. Via the Noise Engineering homepage one gets access to the Alia page where one can find alternative firmwares for free.