Learn modular synthesis
9 guides, from your first oscillator to generative patches. Each one explains why things work, then hands you patches to try in the synth as you read.
- 00
Start here: build your first synth
Five minutes, step by step, in the synth itself: add modules, patch cables, turn knobs, unplug and reroute. Every guide after this assumes you can.
- 01
Oscillators: where every sound starts
Why a sound has a pitch, why a saw is brighter than a sine, and why two detuned oscillators sound so big.
- 02
Envelopes & VCAs: how notes start and stop
An oscillator never stops. Here’s how a gate, an envelope and a VCA turn a drone into notes, plucks and swells.
- 03
Filters: carving the sound
Start bright and take away. Cutoff, resonance, and why one envelope on a filter makes a synth sound like a synth.
- 04
Modulation: making sounds move
LFOs, CV and the idea that any output can turn any knob — plus playing the synth with your hands, a pad or a phone.
- 05
Rhythm: clocks, gates & sequencers
How a modular keeps time: clocks, sequencers, drum grids, Euclidean patterns and polyrhythms from one pulse.
- 06
FM & distortion: changing the timbre
Add harmonics instead of removing them: audio-rate FM, ring mod, wavefolding, bitcrushing and glitches.
- 07
Melody & chance: chords, arps and generative patches
Chords from one key, polyphony, and patches that write their own music with randomness, chaos and physics.
- 08
Sampling & live sound
Play recordings, chop drum breaks, loop yourself, spray grains, and let a microphone drive the synth.
- 09
Effects & mixing: space, width and punch
Delay, reverb and modulation effects, stereo and sidechain, compression — and recording what you make.
Every lesson is a working patch with notes on the rack. Open one and the synth starts right there; press a key or click to hear it.