Polarity | Tension is a dual-layered instrument built on contrast. It is designed to create immersive sound worlds from raw, physical sound. Entirely crafted from custom recordings of industrial equipment, extended string techniques, and abstract vocal lines, Polarity | Tension offers a palette that feels intentional, unstable, and alive, full of detail.
DEVELOPED BY K/V
Soniccouture worked in collaboration with K/V’s creative audio team (Ramon Kerstens and Richard Veenstra) to create Polarity | Tension.
The sound design of Polarity | Tension reflects K/V’s diverse background in music, sound art, and game audio. With years of experience working with Native Instruments, Arturia, Steinberg, Orchestral Tools, and more, K/V views sound design as a musical and expressive process rooted in imperfection and detail.
POLARITY | SOUND DESIGN TUTORIAL
James introduces the basics of granular synthesis and shows you how to create a preset in Polarity | Tension.
POLARITY TOOL
MACRO PANEL
Polarity’s main page features four powerful macro controls that shape and distort the sound for unpredictable results. Custom samples can be dragged and dropped onto two areas of the waveform.
“Polarity | Tension is not designed to please everyone…
It is designed for composers and
sound designers who are fascinated by abstraction, dissonance, and the unresolved.”
K/V
GRAIN CHARACTER SPACE MOVEMENT
Each Polarity | Tension preset can be tweaked in completely different sonic directions, creating complex interactions between textures.
Four macro controls – Grain, Character, Movement, and Space – provide direct and expressive control over the instrument’s sound. They are preset in the NKS for each snapshot, but can also be reassigned to control any parameter the user chooses.
This is not just a set of presets, but rather a set of soundscapes.
