Just tap or click a note on the virtual keyboard below to begin playing. For a more responsive experience, hit a key using your computer keyboard.
Because this widget is a classic subtractive synthesizer, that means it let you shape sound from the ground up. At your fingertips are two oscillators, an amplitude envelope, a resonant filter, an LFO and a delay effect. The interface has been designed to be easy to use so there’s no need for a manual to make music.
How to Use the Virtual Synthesizer
The virtual keyboard spans two octaves (C3, C5). By default it’s set up for polyphonic playing, meaning that you can press down more than one key simultaneously to play chords. If you prefer to type, then the white notes spans from C3, C4 and are mapped to the letters A through K. The black notes (flats/sharps) is above that with W, E, T, Y & U. With this configuration you’re able to easily play chords as well as melodies without having to stretch your fingers too far from the middle of your keyboard. On a mobile device, simply touch the screen to produce a continuous run along the keys by sliding your finger.
The row of presets on the panel are at the top. They include presets like Pluck, Warm Pad, Lead, Fat Bass, and Init. Clicking each one load a complete set of parameters for that preset. This provides a starting point for a certain sound. Then, you can tailor the patch by tweaking any of the single controls to your taste. It is a great place to learn what each parameter do in the sound.
Oscillators Here we have Oscillator 1 and Oscillator 2 that you can select from a choice of four different waveforms (sine, triangle, square, and sawtooth). There is also a semitone slider and a fine tuning slider so you can control the pitch relationship between these oscillators. Then there’s the mix slider that adds the amount of Oscillator 2 to your signal. This enables you to generate everything from clean, pure tones through to thick, detuned sounds.
The filter shapes the character of the sound. Using the cutoff slider sweeps between bright and open to dark and muffled. Turning up resonance emphasizes the cutoff frequency and can produce that classic squelchy sound. The envelope to filter slider set the amount the filter opens on key strike. This is vital for creating smooth, evolving pads or percussive pluck sounds.
Below that is the ADSR envelope. This sets the way the note’s volume responds to your playing. Attack sets how quick it starts. Decay sets how slow it fades away. Sustain sets how long it stays alive after being played. Finally, Release sets how quickly it stops completely. For example, if you want a swell pad then set a high sustain value with a long attack. If you prefer something more like a drum hit, keep the attack very fast. Keep the sustain low and the decay short.
The LFO (low-frequency oscillator) brings life into the synth adding modulation to either the filter or the pitch. You can control this via depth and rate to produce anything from gentle wobbling vibrato through to full-on wah-wah action.
This gives depth and space to your sound on the right-hand side. This feature has a mix control, a feedback control, and a time control. You can set these to achieve an ambient echo or something more rhythmic that repeats over and over again.
The playback mode section include options for switching between Mono and Poly modes. If you are using this for bass lines or leads, then Mono mode is ideal. It guarantees that each note played will be only one note. With glide enabled it will smoothly slide between pitches instead of instantly changing. Another option would of to hold a chord and then enable the arpeggiator that will automatically sequence out the notes of the chosen chord for you. You can choose up, down, or up-down patterns and also set the rate to match your tempo. It’s a great way to come up with some quick ideas.
The acid demo line button plays a pre-defined bassline using your current patch. It’s a great way to hear how your tweaks change a musical phrase in context.
Lastly, turn up/down the master volume slider for overall output level. The fullscreen button maximizes the synthesizer taking over your entire screen (great for maximizing onscreen space). And if you ever forget what each control does or where they’re mapped to the keyboard, the help panel is right there to remind you.
Begin with one of the presets loaded and hold down a chord as you tweak the cutoff. Immediately, you’ll notice the effect of the filter sweep. Next, experiment with tweaking the envelope to modify the attack and release time. Play around with other waveforms and apply some LFO modulations until you stumble upon something that moves you.
Don’t worry about it, there’s no wrong way to play with this thing… explore all its corners! When you’re ready, your virtual synth awaits.