01 Software instruments. Circuit by circuit.

The character lives in the circuit.

Voltage Synths starts with the circuit relationships a player can hear. Oscillator interaction sets movement. Filter topology shapes the sweep; envelope timing and drive establish the response. Glide and stable differences between voices complete the instrument.

Instrument roles and circuitsExplore the instruments Measurements with limitsSee the proof First note through recallRead the user guide
  • Original instruments and circuit-based studies
  • Musical behaviour tied to physical relationships
  • Repeatable analogue variation and reliable recall
Instrument panelSubstance
The Substance instrument panel, with oscillators, mixer, transistor ladder filter, envelopes, modulation and performance controls
Substance, where Voltage Synths began. A monophonic bass and lead instrument with two oscillators, a driven mixer, transistor ladder filter and performance controls.

LINE-UP Three instruments

One family. Three distinct voices.

Substance establishes the direct monophonic voice. MADRE-8 expands it into polyphony. Octet opens a different eight-voice architecture.

Instrument panelSubstance
The Substance instrument panel, with oscillators, mixer, transistor ladder filter, envelopes, modulation and performance controls SubstanceMonophonic foundation
Instrument panelMADRE-8
The MADRE-8 instrument panel, with eight-voice controls, two oscillators, mixer, ladder filter, modulation, arpeggiator and effects MADRE-8Polyphonic foundation
Instrument panelOctet
The Octet instrument panel, with modulation, two oscillators, mixer, state-variable filter, two envelopes and output OctetSpecialist eight-voice polysynth

02 The first instrument

Starting with one voice.

The same Substance plug-in is included with Voltage Drums and Voltage Synths. It keeps identical sound and controls, plus the same preset bank.

Two oscillators feed a driven mixer alongside the sub-oscillator and noise source. A pole-mixed 4-pole transistor ladder follows. Its 2 slopes cover low-pass, band-pass and high-pass shapes, while a separate drive path moves between clean weight and dense harmonic colour.

Playability is part of the model. The 8-note held stack restores the previous note legato. Constant-rate glide gives a larger interval more travel time. Ten starting patches cover deep subs and dirty basses; others handle plucks or singing leads.

Open the Substance user guide

DRIVE

The mixer colours the input

A small bias adds even harmonics. The ladder receives them before the output stage adds its own density.

BODY

Resonance keeps the bass

Compensation inside the ladder retains more fundamental at low and middle cutoff positions.

PLAY

Glide measures the interval

Held-note fallback stays legato. Larger jumps take longer. Downward movement is about 20% slower than upward movement.

LISTEN Engine renders

Three instruments. One recorded performance.

Each clip is a fixed-seed engine render from a named factory patch. Listening level is peak-normalized to -3 dBFS. MADRE-8 and Octet receive the same original C - Am - Dm - G - C performance at 96 BPM.

SUBSTANCE · MONOPHONIC

Burgs

Triangle foundation and sub oscillator through an original bassline at 104 BPM.

MADRE-8 · POLYPHONIC

Copper Fanfare

Four-note chords through MADRE-8's direct polyphonic foundation.

OCTET · EIGHT VOICES

Night Choir

The same chords with Octet sustain at 30%, release at 0.40 seconds and a 0.86-second note gate.

Hear all seven listening renders and see the factory banks

03 The line-up

The line-up divides by musical purpose

The foundation series grows one direct voice from mono into polyphony. The specialist series changes the oscillator, filter and modulation relationships at the centre of the instrument.

FOUNDATION SERIES

The direct voice in two forms.

SUBSTANCE

Mono bass and lead

A driven mixer feeds the pole-mixed transistor ladder. Note memory and constant-rate glide shape the performance.

MONOPHONIC FOUNDATION
MADRE-8

Polyphonic expansion

The Substance workflow expands to 8 voices. It covers chords and pads, with unison available when one note needs the full engine.

POLYPHONIC FOUNDATION
SPECIALIST SERIES

Another circuit changes the interaction

OCTET

Oscillator and filter movement

Eight voices built around oscillator interaction, continuous state-variable filtering and repeatable voice character.

SPECIALIST POLYSYNTH
Meet Octet Compare all three instruments

04 Engineering that serves the instrument

The circuit is the specification.

Measurements protect musical relationships. They check bass body under resonance and pitch across sample rates. Separate tests cover voice recall and processing bounds.

CIRCUITS

Filter structure changes the instrument

Substance uses a 4-pole ladder. Octet uses a 2-pole state-variable filter. The panels expose those separate structures.

TIMING

Six sample rates are checked

Oscillator pitch and resistor-capacitor envelope trajectories are measured at each supported rate.

RECALL

The variation returns

Pinned voice differences reproduce from the patch seed.

Measured results with limitsOpen the proof

05 The maker

Musicianship and engineering stay together

One musician and software engineer makes Voltage Synths. Musical role and interface come from the same point of view as the circuit model; the measurements answer to it too.

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06 The instruments

Substance. MADRE-8. Octet.

Voltage Synths is available through Bitsnacks Vending Machine.

Substance · MADRE-8 · OctetExplore the instruments Account and installerGet Voltage Synths