Synthica
Synthica is a free, educational subtractive synth. The whole idea is visual-first synthesis: every patch is built around oscillators → mixer → filter → amp → output, and the big lab in the middle shows you what is happening at every stage.
2. The signal chain
3. Oscillators & noise
4. Filter & envelope
5. Amp envelope
6. LFO and modulation
7. MIDI performance
8. The Visual Lab
9. Factory presets
10. Five things worth trying
11. Troubleshooting
12. Licence and support
1. Quick start
- Install the plugin. Standalone or VST3.
- Load any factory preset (or use the Init patch).
- Play a chord. Watch the Output view fill in.
- Turn on Hints (top-right) and hover any control to learn what it does.
That is the whole pitch. The plugin is meant to be played with as much as it is meant to be used.
2. The signal chain
Two PolyBLEP oscillators (sine, triangle, saw, square) and a noise source feed into a mixer. The mixer hits a filter (12 or 24 dB low-pass, or 12 dB high-pass), then an amplifier with its own ADSR envelope. An LFO can modulate pitch, filter cutoff, or amplitude.
3. Oscillators & noise
Pick sine, triangle, saw, or square. Each has a clear character. Saw is bright and harmonic-rich, square is hollow and reedy, triangle is soft, sine is the cleanest.
Tunes each oscillator. Detuning OSC 2 by a fifth or octave from OSC 1 gives the classic thick analogue sound.
White noise added into the mixer. Useful for hi-hats, wind, breath, and snare-style sounds.
4. Filter & envelope
The frequency at which the filter starts attenuating. Move it as the sound plays and you have an instant wah.
Adds a peak at the cutoff frequency. Past 80% the filter can self-oscillate. Sweep cutoff with high resonance for a vocal "wow" sound.
How much the filter envelope modulates the cutoff. With high amount and short decay, you get classic plucked basses.
5. Amp envelope
The standard four-stage ADSR:
- Attack — how fast the note fades in.
- Decay — how fast it falls from the peak to the sustain level.
- Sustain — how loud the held note is.
- Release — how long the tail rings after key release.
Slow attack + slow release = pad. Fast attack + short decay = pluck.
6. LFO and modulation
One LFO can be assigned to pitch (vibrato), filter cutoff (auto-wah), or amplitude (tremolo). Sync the rate to host tempo for divisions like 1/8, 1/16, or 1/8T.
7. MIDI performance
Pitch bend, mod wheel, expression and aftertouch all respond. The mod wheel is hard-wired to LFO depth so you can ride vibrato with one hand.
8. The Visual Lab
The big visualisation in the middle has three tabs:
- Build — the exact oscillator + noise blend implied by your current settings.
- Output — live oscilloscope of what is coming out.
- Spectrum — live frequency analyser.
9. Factory presets
The preset browser at the top groups patches by category (Bass, Lead, Pad, Pluck, Keys, FX). Each preset includes a one-line teaching description so you can learn from it.
10. Five things worth trying
- OSC 1 saw + OSC 2 saw detuned by 7 semitones — instant lead.
- Filter cutoff at 200 Hz, resonance at 90%, slow LFO on cutoff — classic acid bass.
- OSC 1 triangle + slow attack + long release on amp — pad.
- Noise only + bandpass filter sweep — sound design wind / breath / hat.
- Square wave + high resonance + mod wheel up — vocal-style sweep.
11. Troubleshooting
The plugin will not load (macOS)
If macOS complains, follow the steps on install-mac. A single Terminal command removes the quarantine flag.
No sound
Check that at least one oscillator level is up, or noise is up. The amp envelope must have some sustain or be hit with a fresh note.
Cutoff sounds dull
Crank Filter ENV AMT and shorten the filter decay. Cutoff alone is just an EQ — the modulation is what makes filters sound alive.
12. Licence and support
Synthica is free. No licence key, no machine activation. Install it and use it forever on every machine you own. Bug, request, or something you made? Mail audio@piruzlabs.com.
Did Synthica help you?
It stays free. But coffee makes the next plugin ship faster.
☕ Buy us a coffee →