Before you begin
- Player can recall built-in synth presets. Pro is required to edit the sound controls and save your own synth presets.
- Choose a synthesizer instrument before opening its editor.
Open the synth editor
- The check marks the selected sample source.
Select a Synth instrument in the picker. Double-tap its Synthesizer card in FX or use its instrument action in Attributes to reach the editor. A regular piano channel does not become a synthesizer just because you open FX.
Phone has a page rail: Osc, Play, Filter, ADSR, LFO and Mod. Select one to see that part of the instrument.
Osc: choose the source
- The check marks the selected sample source.
In the Synthesizer editor, tap Osc in the left page rail.
The source is a sampled instrument, not a set of freely drawn oscillator waveforms. The phone shows source cards in the Osc grid; use its category filters if helpful.
Choose a ready, plan-compatible source and wait for loading. Changing the source can change level and tone even when the other parameters stay the same.
- Browse the source cards on Osc and filter by category if needed.
- Choose a source and return to the synth editor.
- Play a short chord, then rebalance the channel if necessary.
Play: performance behavior
- Choose Poly, Mono or Legato for note overlap.
In the Synthesizer editor, tap Play in the left page rail.
Voice mode changes how notes overlap; mono behavior is useful for leads. Glide smooths the pitch transition between notes. Unison thickens the instrument but increases processing and can change the balance.
- Voice mode
- Chooses the supported mono/poly performance behavior.
- Octave
- Shifts the synth register in twelve-semitone steps.
- Glide
- Sets pitch transition time; begin low and test with single-note playing.
- Pitch Bend Up / Down
- Independent bend ranges, in semitones.
- Unison
- Adds/adjusts the supported stacked-voice behavior. Compare CPU and output level after enabling.
Filter: brightness and emphasis
- Drag the graph point to shape cutoff and resonance.
- Choose the filter slope here.
In the Synthesizer editor, tap Filter in the left page rail.
Lower Cutoff darkens the sample; increasing Resonance emphasizes the cutoff region. Make small changes at a moderate output level. The filter envelope amount determines how the envelope moves cutoff rather than changing note volume.
- Cutoff / Slope
- Sets filter frequency and steepness.
- Resonance
- Emphasizes frequencies around cutoff.
- Env Amt
- Positive or negative envelope movement of cutoff.
- Key Track
- Changes cutoff according to played pitch.
- Volume
- Sets the synth’s output level.
ADSR: amplitude and filter envelopes
- Use Envelope enabled to turn shaping on or off.
- Set Release to control the fade after a note ends.
In the Synthesizer editor, tap ADSR in the left page rail.
Choose the amplitude or filter envelope before editing. Amplitude changes loudness over a note; the filter envelope moves the cutoff according to Env Amt. Enabling an envelope makes its settings active. Velocity controls how strongly note velocity affects the selected behavior.
- Enable the amplitude envelope and try a slower Attack for a pad.
- Use a sustained chord to judge Sustain, then release it to judge Release.
- Switch to the filter envelope and use a nonzero Env Amt to hear the cutoff movement.
- Attack
- Time to rise after a note begins.
- Decay
- Time to fall toward the sustained level.
- Sustain
- Level held while the note is held; this is a level, not a time.
- Release
- Time after note release; long values can overlap successive chords.
- Velocity
- Changes response to incoming note strength.
LFO: repeating movement
- The LFO is bypassed; enable it before expecting modulation.
In the Synthesizer editor, tap LFO in the left page rail.
Choose a mode and Shape, then set Rate. Delay postpones the start of movement and Depth scales its strength. Start with only one target active so the effect is easy to hear.
- Enable the LFO and choose a smooth shape.
- Set a moderate Rate and low Pitch amount for gentle vibrato.
- Return Pitch to zero before testing Filter, Amp or Pan.
- Mode / Shape / Rate
- Enables and defines the repeating modulation waveform and speed.
- Delay / Depth
- Sets modulation onset and overall strength.
- Pitch
- Modulates tuning in cents for vibrato.
- Filter
- Moves cutoff up/down.
- Amp / Pan
- Modulates volume or stereo position.
Mod: expressive control
- The check marks Cutoff as a CC1 destination; its sliders set the range.
In the Synthesizer editor, tap Mod in the left page rail.
Mod maps CC1 to continuous tone/level parameters. Enable a destination and choose the intended range, then move a real modulation wheel to test. ADSR, Glide, voice mode, octave, Unison and LFO mode remain independent of this mapping.
Stage includes general mod-wheel and quick-control mapping. Editing the full synth controls and saving the resulting user synth preset requires Pro. Ignoring the Mod Wheel in channel Attributes stops that channel from responding.
Preserve a synth sound
- Enter a name for this synthesizer preset.
- Tap Save to keep this synthesizer preset.
Use the synth preset menu to recall a factory sound on Player or above. On Pro, save your edited synth preset with a descriptive name. Save the full rig preset separately to retain channel routing, levels, states and surrounding FX.
Expected result
What you should have now
You can describe each synth section, make a controlled tone change, and save it with the appropriate plan.
Common problems
- No Synthesizer editor appears
- Choose an actual synth instrument rather than a regular sampled piano.
- LFO is inaudible
- Check its mode, Depth, Delay and target amounts.
- Mod does nothing
- Check CC1 arriving in MIDI capture, the mapped range and Ignore Mod Wheel.