Synth Voice

A complete subtractive synth voice in one module: oscillator into a resonant low-pass filter into a VCA, all shaped by a single ADSR envelope. Patch a gate and a pitch and you have an instant playable lead, bass, or pad — no extra envelopes, filters, or amps required.

How it works

The oscillator runs through a state-variable low-pass filter and then a VCA, and one linear ADSR drives both the amplitude and — via E>F — the filter cutoff. So every note can open bright and settle darker as it decays, the classic plucked-and-closing shape, from a single envelope. Pitch tracks 1V/oct from middle C, and the FM input bends frequency at audio rate for clangorous or vocal timbres.

Controls

• Wave — the oscillator shape: sine, saw, square, or triangle. Saw and square are your rich, filter-friendly starting points; sine is pure.
• Atk / Dec / Sus / Rel — the linear ADSR. Attack and decay times, sustain level, and release tail; drag the envelope curve above or the knobs below, they move together.
• Cut — filter cutoff, roughly 20 Hz–20 kHz. The core tone control.
• Res — resonance; push it up for a peak at the cutoff, edging toward self-oscillation.
• E>F — how much the envelope sweeps the cutoff. At zero the filter sits still; raise it for that opening-and-closing motion as each note plays.

Inputs & outputs

• Gate — triggers and holds the envelope; a rising gate starts the attack, dropping it begins the release. Patch a sequencer or clock here.
• V/Oct — 1V/oct pitch, centered on middle C. Patch a sequencer or keyboard CV.
• FM — audio-rate frequency modulation; patch another oscillator for metallic and growling tones, or slow LFO for vibrato.
• Out — the finished voice, ready for the mixer or further effects.

Tips

• Short Atk, snappy Dec, low Sus, and a healthy E>F gives the classic plucky synth-bass blip.
• Crank Res and modulate Cut with the envelope for squelchy, acid-style lines.
• The FM input expects an audio signal; even a touch of it turns the clean waveforms harsh and harmonically dense.