Open the synth

Modules

A module does one thing: make a sound, filter it, move it, keep time… You build an instrument by connecting them with cables. ModularSynth has 38 of them, in five families, with the same colors as in the rack.

Signals

Everything flowing through the cables is a voltage, and any voltage can control any setting. Cables take the color of what they carry:

  • blue: sound;
  • purple: modulation (LFO, envelope);
  • yellow: a trigger (gate, clock);
  • red: note pitch (V/Oct, one volt per octave).

Each module page explains its settings, inputs and outputs, and suggests something to Try. The Try it in the synth button opens the starting patch with the module already in the rack.

Sources

  • VCO : Oscillator: makes the basic sound (sine, triangle, saw, square).
  • Noise : Noise generator: the raw material for drums, breathy sounds and randomness.
  • VCO 2 : Oscillator with hard sync and linear FM for richer tones.
  • Wavetable : Wavetable oscillator: the Position knob glides the sound from one waveform to the next.
  • Sampler : Plays a loaded sound (loop, voice, drum hit) at any pitch, looped or cut into slices.
  • Audio input : Brings a mic, a sound card or a guitar into the rack, ready for filters and effects.

Processing

  • VCF : Filter: cuts the highs (or the lows) to soften or hollow out the sound.
  • VCA : Amplifier: sets the volume of a sound, often driven by an envelope.
  • Mixer : Sums several signals into one, with a level knob for each input.
  • Quant : Snaps a voltage to the nearest note of the chosen scale.
  • Stereo Mix : Mixes four sounds and pans them between left and right, with an effect send.
  • Ladder : 4-pole (24 dB/oct) low-pass filter: steeper than the VCF, with a warm resonance.

Effects

  • Delay : Echo: repeats the sound after an adjustable time; can sync to the clock.
  • Reverb : Reverb: puts the sound in a room or a large hall.
  • Chorus : Thickens the sound by doubling it with slight pitch wobbles.
  • Distortion : Saturates and clips the sound to make it warmer, fatter or harsher.
  • Wavefolder : Folds the wave back on itself to add bright, metallic harmonics.
  • Phaser : Swirling effect: sweeps the sound with phase-shifting filters.
  • Ring Mod : Multiplies two signals for metallic, bell-like and inharmonic sounds.
  • EQ : Three-band equalizer: boosts or cuts the lows, mids and highs.
  • Compressor : Evens out the volume: turns the gain down when the sound goes over a threshold. Sidechain input.

Control

  • MIDI→CV : Turns your notes (keyboard, MIDI) into pitch and gate voltages. Polyphonic.
  • ADSR : Envelope: makes a sound rise then fall on every note (attack, decay, sustain, release).
  • LFO : Slow oscillator: keeps moving a setting (vibrato, tremolo, filter sweeps).
  • Clock : Clock: sends the tempo to the sequencers as steady pulses.
  • Step Seq : 16-step sequencer that loops a melody in time with the clock.
  • Trigger Seq : Drum sequencer: four 16-step tracks (kick, snare…).
  • Note Grid : Piano roll sequencer: draw notes and chords on a grid.
  • S&H : Sample & hold: freezes a voltage and keeps it until the next trigger.
  • Slew : Smooths jumps in voltage: portamento, glides, softened steps.
  • Attenuverter : Scales, inverts or offsets a control voltage (two independent channels).
  • Comparator : Tells whether a signal is above a threshold: outputs a high or low gate.
  • Logic : Combines two gates (AND, OR, XOR…) to build rhythms.
  • Pad XY : XY touch surface: your finger plays a note and controls a second setting live.

Display & output

  • Scope : Oscilloscope in the rack: shows the incoming signal without changing it.
  • Output : Audio output: sends the sound to your speakers. Patch it at the end of the chain.
  • Memo : A scrap of paper taped in the rack to write notes on: settings to remember, ideas, reminders.
  • Spatial : Places a sound in space: direction, height, distance. Rendering is set in the ⚙ settings.