SynthMaker Manual Help Open SynthMaker (opens in a new tab)
Songs

Build a song

A song is up to eight tracks playing together, each its own sound. Start from a ready song, or from one track, and build it up.

New words

A track is one line of the song: a sound and the notes it plays.

Tempo is how fast the song plays, in beats a minute (BPM).

Solo plays only the soloed tracks, to hear them on their own.

1Start a song

Click Songs… and pick one under From SynthMaker: it plays at once. Or click New song: it keeps the track you're editing, alone, to build on.

  1. Step 1: Songs…. The Songs… button in the song panel. (larger)
  2. Step 2: From SynthMaker. The Songs sheet, From SynthMaker, Sunset House at the top. (larger)
  3. Step 3: New song. New song asks first: Start a new song?, with New song with… and Cancel. (larger)

2The tracks

Each row is a track: its name, then the sound it plays. Click a row to edit that track: its sound is the one on the page, and the keys play it. The line by the song's name gives its tempo, key and chords.

  1. Step 1: Sunset House. Seven tracks: Kick, Clap, Hats, Shaker, Bass, Stabs, Strings. (larger)
  2. Step 2: Name and sound. One row: Bass, with its volume slider, M and S. (larger)
  3. Step 3: Click to edit. The Bass row chosen; its sound, Round Saw Bass, above the Patch. (larger)
  4. Step 4: Tempo, key, chords. The line 122 BPM · A minor · Am7 Fmaj7 Dm7 Em7. (larger)

3Add a track

Click Add a track. Pick a sound, and it comes with a first part written for the song's chords. Or pick Empty, under Build your own, for a track that plays nothing until you give it notes. Remove track takes the chosen one away.

  1. Step 1: Add a track. The Add a track button. (larger)
  2. Step 2: Pick a sound. The sheet: Build your own › Empty, then a row of sounds for each kind: here, Lead. (larger)
  3. Step 3: A new track. The new track, Pure Sine, at the bottom, chosen, playing along. (larger)
  4. Step 4: Remove track. The Remove track button under the tracks. (larger)

4Tempo, play and loop

Press ▶ to play the song and ■ to stop. − and + change the tempo a beat a minute at a time. Click the number and use the arrow keys, or Page Up and Page Down for ten at a time. The loop button plays it round and round.

  1. Step 1: Play. The play button, showing ■ while the song plays. (larger)
  2. Step 2: Tempo. − 122 + by the play button. (larger)
  3. Step 3: Faster. + clicked six times: 128. (larger)
  4. Step 4: Loop. The loop button, on. (larger)

5Mute, solo and volume

M mutes a track. S solos it: while any track is soloed, only the soloed tracks play. The slider is the track's volume. Silent tracks are greyed out.

  1. Step 1: Mute. M lit on Hats: the Hats row greyed out. (larger)
  2. Step 2: Solo. S lit on Kick and Bass: the rows between them greyed out. (larger)
  3. Step 3: Volume. A track's slider pulled down. (larger)
Round Saw Bass's Patch, and a keyboard below.
The Bass track's sound. Open Sunset House in SynthMaker to hear it with the other six. Open the example sound: Round Saw Bass ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Try it

  1. Open SynthMaker, click Songs… and pick Sunset House: it plays.
  2. Click S on the Bass: you hear the bass on its own. Click it again.
  3. Click Add a track and pick a Lead sound: a new part joins, in the song's chords.
Open SynthMaker ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On the Mac, the song's tracks are at the top of the sidebar, under Song, each with S to solo and a speaker to mute, and Add a track is under them. Songs to start from lists the ready songs.

Remember