BlankFor.ms — Tape Synths
Inspiring tape-drenched textures
Inspiring tape-drenched textures
Immerse yourself in the tape-drenched world of artist BlankFor.ms with this vast collection of mind bending, dreamlike sounds and unpredictable, multi-layered textures — dripping with vintage analog warmth and nostalgia. A living, breathing machine of complex sonic metamorphosis that spans multiple genres, the Tape Synths plugin pushes the magic of tape to new limits, harnessing the artist’s enviable gear collection and experimental processing techniques to create kaleidoscopic textures that morph, change and come alive as you play.
The plugin's processed signal allows you to cycle through several layers of tape and granular processing on each sound, featuring over 150 layers of permutations across 28 core presets – while our in-built effects offer even further creative control. From woozy, dusty lo-fi atmospheres to rich, multi-tonal synth textures that haunt and glisten, Tape Synths will transform your soundscapes — whether you’re a pop producer, remixer, beat maker, or composer writing your next indie or game score.
In this page:
- Hard drive delivery available at checkout
- You can buy now and download any time
Spitfire Audio App required
Synths
140 presets
Dedicated plugin
Listen to BlankFor.ms — Tape Synths
Features Heirloom
Trailer music extended
Features Heirloom and Spitfire Chamber Strings
Imagine that dusty unmarked cassette you find in a thrift store… lush tones hidden behind a veil of tape degradation, distortion and magnetic saturation.
Expect the unexpected. Through Tape Synths, Tyler Gilmore, aka BlankFor.ms, showcases his unique creative process and the endless spectrum of sonic possibilities that tape provides — from lo-fi digital grit and playful stabs, plucks and bells through to 80s neon-lit, retro pads, gamer’s nostalgia and woozy, shimmering euphoria. In his own words, "To my ear, tape introduces a deep, organic version of chaos and brings something more tactile, more alive, to every tone...."
Based out of his Brooklyn studio, the artist uses a range of degraded tape machines run through rare and classic pedals, tone-shaping devices, vintage delay chips and unusual gear, from the Walkman, Library of Congress C1 cassette player to a range of Tascams and a Modular system — heavily mangled and processed via tape splicing, pitch-shifting, generative techniques, analog saturation, filtering, distortion, granular synthesis and more.
Designed to encourage sound design, the plugin features 140 presets as a starting point, offering users as many opportunities as possible to make the sounds their own. Whether you’re looking for instantly usable sounds straight out of the box or wanting to spend a few hours getting lost in analog inspiration, Tape Synths will deliver exciting new and unpredictable colours and textures to your sonic palette.
- Presented in Spitfire Audio's award-winning dedicated plugin
- Features classic synth sounds and shapes run through unusual gear, including a Walkman, Library Of Congress C1, Modular System, Tascam 414, Tascam 424, Tascam PortaOne, Marantz PMD and GE Portable with FoldyMakes Mod
- Designed for producers, composers, and beat makers looking for interesting deeply sampled analog tape textures
- The radically transformative processed signal features over 150 layers of tape and granular processing across the 28 main presets
- NKS compatible
- ~10.5GB
Presets
- Pads (10)
- Keys (12)
- Arp (6)
- BlankFor.ms presets (112) - Made by the artist himself, applying bespoke processing techniques to the existing sounds
Controls
- Expression – Adjust the level of the technique
- Dynamics – This slider allows you to move between multiple layers of varying processing including cassettes, tape and granular
- Attack
- Decay
- Release
- Sustain
- Reverb – Select alternative reverb types in the reverb selection box, choosing between a bespoke collection of 7 impulse responses, ranging from short studios and rooms to long, cavernous churches and halls
- Start point - Cut further into the note
I don't know of another software instrument quite like this... once the Spitfire team built out the first draft, we knew we had something incredible.
What's included
Pads (10)
- Aged
- Analog Square Pad
- Broken Sine
- Bucket Brigade
- Rotating
- Magnetic Haze
- Noisy Sine
- FM Motion
- Sine Warble
- Triangle Overtone
Keys (12)
- Analog Saw
- Analog Square Keys
- Degraded Sine
- Circuit Square
- Dark Fifth
- Evolving
- Distorted Squares
- Analog Confusion
- Bounce Tone
- Timbral
- Unsolved
- Woozy Waveforms
Arp (6)
- Coarse Texture
- Broken Octaves
- Expanding Grains
- Amp Glitch
- Reverse Chaos
- Tremolo
Blankfo.rms presets (112)
- 80's 5th Pad
- 90's Keys
- Aconite
- Adventure Pluck
- Analog Grit Lead
- Ancient Broadcast
- As Dialed
- Avatars Dream Pad
- Bells 5th
- Blanket Pad
- Blurred Horizon
- Born of Darkness
- Bouncing Ball
- Bouncing Glows
- Brite Heart
- Broken Rays
- Bubble Pad
- Butterfly Brigade
- Casting Spells
- CelloForms
- Circuit Box
- Circuit Jam
- Cloud Burst
- Console of Sustain
- Cosmic Bubbles
- CRT Life
- Crystals
- Cute Pluck
- Cycle Paths
- Dark Arts
- Dawn Pad
- Daydream Fennel
- Dislocated
- Distorted Bass Pluck
- Dream Squares
- Dusk Saffron
- Dusty Ribbons
- Electric Roads
- Electro Bees Pad
- Empty Pool Pad
- Endless Particulates
- Excavated
- Expanding Cloud Pad
- Faulty Wiring
- Flickering
- Floating Dots
- Fluxroot
- Follow Delay
- Gamers Nostalgia
- Glowing Hemlock
- Good Luck
- Haze Field
- Humming Trail
- Inferno Lotus
- Inner Spark
- Lens Flare
- Long Simple Tape
- Lost in Space
- Lost Timbres
- Magnetic Dreams
- Magnetic Meditation
- Massive Organ
- Mood Organ
- Moonhopping
- Muffled Bell
- Neon Swarms
- Nettles
- Nightshade
- Octopus
- Past Transmission
- Phoss
- Plaything
- Please Rewind
- Pluck Sparkles
- Podostroma
- Pollen
- Polychromatic
- Popcorn
- Quartz
- Rotating Pad
- Running Blades
- Sapphire
- Second Opening Long
- Second Opening Short
- Short and Sweet
- Short Square Keys
- Short Tape Organ
- Sine of Distance
- Sky Shores
- Soft Fifth
- Soft Rewind
- Sombre Asteroid
- Space Overtones Pad
- Space Visitors
- Spirit Flute
- Square Expanded
- Station Play Two
- Stuck in Reverse
- Subtle Interference
- Swimming
- Tape Scream
- Tape Shards
- Tidal Motions
- Timeworn
- Tremolo Journey
- Under Water
- Untrustworthy
- VHS Love
- Violet
- Windroot
- Wires Crossed
- York Swell
FAQs
How do I add this library into Kontakt?
You don’t! Tape Synths is a dedicated, free to use plugin available as VST2, VST3, AAX and AU, so it can be used directly in your favourite DAW.
What software will I need to install?
You will only need the Spitfire Audio App which you can download here.
Read more FAQs for this productTech specs
Mac system requirements
Mac OS X 10.15 to OS 13
Minimum: 2.8GHz i5 minimum (quad-core), 8GB RAM
Recommended: 2.8GHz I7 (six-core), 16GB RAM
Intel and Apple Silicon/ARM are supported
32-bit systems are not supported.
PC system requirements
Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit only
Intel Core i7 6th gen and later or AMD Ryzen 7
32-bit systems are not supported.
File size
10.50 GB download size
10.50 GB disk space required during install