In PATCH & TWEAK, we present an updated system to describe patches by use of symbols and colored connections. We've made the symbols free of...

We've created a free online editor to sketch out your modular synth patches using the system presented in the book. Currently, it is in beta...

It’s easy to set the pitch of the sound you are creating with a synthesizer, as well as how loud it is. These...

“Oscillators” – the most common audio source in a modular synth – usually have several different “waveform” outputs, each with a different sound. In this...

Some sounds we use in synthesis don’t have a distinct pitch. These are useful for creating natural sounds like wind and surf, breath...

“Filters” are one of the audio modifier tools in a modular synthesizer that helps shape the tone of a sound. There are several...

Filter modules shape the sound going through them by removing or reducing the strength of some the “harmonic” components in the original sound....

When someone mentions “feedback”, you might imagine the squeal of placing a microphone too close to a speaker. However, adding small amounts of...

An alternate approach for changing the character of a sound is to change the shape of its underlying waveform. This can range from...

Most notes and other sound events start from silence, get louder until they reach a maximum volume, and then “decay” back into silence....

It’s fun to twist the knobs on the front panel of a synthesizer back and forth to directly change its sound. However, sometimes...

Just like “noise” provides an unpitched alternative sound source compared to a normal oscillator, a “random source” provides an unpredictable “modulation” source to...