SynthMaker Manual Help Open SynthMaker (opens in a new tab)
Getting started

Play your first sound

Open SynthMaker in your browser and play. No account, nothing to install.

No sound? →

New words

A sound is one instrument, with its own knobs. The library has many to start from.

A knob is a round control on a module's card. Drag it to change the sound.

My sounds is where your changed sounds are kept.

1Open SynthMaker

Go to synthmaker.com/app (opens in a new tab). Acid Starter is ready to play. Your browser plays sound only after your first click or key.

  1. Step 1: Open SynthMaker. The SynthMaker window: the song and the library in the column on the left, the Patch in the middle. (larger)
  2. Step 2: Acid Starter is ready. The sound's name, Acid Starter, above the Patch. (larger)

2Play the keys

Click the keys along the bottom, or use your computer keyboard: A S D F G H J K play the white keys, W E T Y U the black ones. − and + move the keys an octave.

  1. Step 1: Click the keys. A key lit as it’s clicked. (larger)
  2. Step 2: Octave down or up. The − and + buttons, with the range of the keys between them. (larger)
  3. Step 3: No keys? Keyboard. The Keyboard button in the bar above the keys: it shows or hides them. (larger)

3A MIDI keyboard

Plug in a MIDI keyboard and click Use a MIDI keyboard. Your browser may ask first: allow it. It works in Chrome, Edge and Firefox. Safari doesn't support MIDI on the web.

  1. Step 1: Use a MIDI keyboard. The Use a MIDI keyboard button, beside the Keyboard button. (larger)
  2. Step 2: Found. Play!. The status beside it: 1 MIDI input found. Play! (larger)
  3. Step 3: Pick one input. The menu of inputs: All MIDI inputs, or one keyboard by its name. (larger)

4Pick another sound

The library lists every sound. Click one and it plays a short note. Narrow the list with the chips, or switch By kind to By synth.

  1. Step 1: The library. The sound list, Acid Starter highlighted. (larger)
  2. Step 2: Chips narrow it. The chips All, Drums, Bass, Lead, Pad… with Pad pressed. (larger)
  3. Step 3: Click to hear it. Warm Pad highlighted in the list, and its name now above the Patch. (larger)
  4. Step 4: By kind or By synth. The two buttons above the chips, By synth chosen: the synths each sound is built on. (larger)

5Turn a knob, then Undo

Drag a knob up or down. Drag sideways, or hold Alt, for fine control. Double-click it to go back to where it started. Undo takes back each change, one at a time.

  1. Step 1: Find the Filter. Acid Starter's cards on the right: the yellow Filter card. (larger)
  2. Step 2: Turn Cutoff up. The Cutoff knob turned up, its value under it. (larger)
  3. Step 3: Undo Cutoff. The Undo button beside the sound’s name, now reading Undo Cutoff. (larger)
  4. Step 4: Kept in My sounds. My sounds, with your Acid Starter in it. (larger)
Acid Starter's Filter card, its Cutoff, Resonance and Env amount knobs, and a keyboard below.
Play the keys, then turn the Filter's Cutoff. Open the example sound: Acid Starter ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Try it

  1. Open SynthMaker and press A S D F on your computer keyboard: Acid Starter plays.
  2. Drag the Filter's Cutoff all the way down, then slowly up from the bottom: the sound goes dark, then bright.
  3. Click Undo until it says just Undo: Acid Starter sounds as it did at the start.
Open the example sound: Acid Starter ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On the Mac, SynthMaker plays the same way. The computer keys are two rows: Z X C V B N M and Q W E R T Y U I, with the rows above them for the black keys, and ← → change the octave. A MIDI keyboard plays as soon as it's plugged in.

Remember