USER GUIDE Three software instruments

Voltage Synths
first note through final recall

Thank you for choosing Voltage Synths. Pick an instrument and make it yours.

Substance supplies the direct mono voice. MADRE-8 turns that foundation polyphonic. Octet takes a different route through oscillator movement and filtering.

For Voltage Synths 0.1.6 and Substance 1.1.5 on macOS, in Audio Unit / CLAP / VST3.

Play in minutesStart with the essentials PDF · this pageDownload the guide
Substance instrument panel
Substance Mono bass and lead
MADRE-8 instrument panel
MADRE-8 Polyphonic foundation
Octet instrument panel
Octet Eight-voice specialist
01

From an empty track to a playable patch

Quick start

01

Install the instruments.

Sign in to your bitsnacks account, open Bitsnacks Vending Machine and start the free 14-day Voltage Synths trial or install your existing access. Restart your host after installation.

02

Load a voice directly.

Create a stereo instrument track and select Substance, MADRE-8 or Octet in your host. Send MIDI to the track and enable monitoring. The MODEL label identifies the instrument you loaded.

03

Pick a factory sound.

Use the arrows beside the preset name. The bank follows the selected instrument, so every starting point loads the correct complete control set.

04

Play the role.

Use Substance for mono bass or lead. Reach for MADRE-8 when a direct polyphonic sound is needed. Choose Octet for animated filter and oscillator movement.

05

Shape the large decisions.

Set oscillator balance before the filter. Adjust the envelopes for articulation, then add modulation or voice movement.

06

Save with the project.

The host stores the selected instrument and the full parameter state. Give the track a name that includes the instrument and musical role.

02

Separate instruments in your host

Choose the right voice

MONO

Substance

Substance concentrates on one note at a time. Its oscillators and ladder filter cover weighty bass, short plucks and expressive leads.

Bass · sequences · plucks · leads
POLY FOUNDATION

MADRE-8

Choose the ladder-based polyphonic voice for warm pads, broad chords and a direct oscillator-to-filter path. Unison turns the voice pool toward one note.

Chords · pads · unison lines
POLY SPECIALIST

Octet

Choose Octet when oscillator interaction or the continuous filter-mode sweep should lead the sound. It is especially useful for vocal movement and hollow colour.

Moving pads · sync tones · filter sweeps

A fixed instrument name

In each directly loaded instrument, MODEL is a label. Open another instrument from the host when a track needs a different voice.

Existing Voltage Synths rack sessions

The combined Voltage Synths plug-in remains available for saved projects. In that rack, clicking MODEL cycles through the instruments and changes the panel. Keep the rack instance in an existing session to retain its sound and automation.

03

The monophonic foundation

Substance

Substance panel with oscillators, mixer, ladder filter, envelopes and performance controls
The same sound and controls are granted through Voltage Drums and Voltage Synths.

Build the voice in four moves

  1. Choose a waveform for both oscillators. Set their octave and tuning.
  2. Blend Oscillator 1 and 2 with the sub and noise sources.
  3. Choose the filter mode and slope. Set Cutoff, Resonance and then the envelope or accent amount.
  4. Finish the amplifier envelope. Add modulation response and glide.
OSCILLATORS

Movement starts before the filter.

Detune the oscillators gently for weight. Use sync or cross-modulation when the harmonic motion should be obvious.

FILTER

Drive changes the input.

Balance the mixer first, then use Drive and Resonance. Choose a low-pass or band-pass response, or move to high-pass. Each mode offers two slopes.

PERFORMANCE

Mono playing has memory.

Glide and legato shape note changes. Velocity and aftertouch turn the same patch into a different performance.

04

The direct voice becomes polyphonic

MADRE-8

MADRE-8 panel with voice controls, two oscillators, mixer, ladder filter, modulation and arpeggiator
Eight voices extend the Substance approach into chords and pads.

Start with the voice pool

  • Poly allocates separate notes for chords.
  • Mono keeps one note active at a time.
  • Legato changes pitch between overlapping notes and keeps the whole articulation running.
  • Unison gathers the available voices onto one note.
  • Detune separates pitch. Drift supplies movement, while Spread places the voices across the stereo field.

Shape the foundation

Each oscillator offers triangle and saw shapes, plus square. Tune their octave and fine relationship, then set pulse width or stronger cross-modulation only where the sound needs extra movement. The mixer adds sub and noise before the ladder filter.

Animate the result

Two LFOs can run freely or follow host tempo. Route modulation to cutoff or pulse width. Amplitude and pitch are available too. Velocity and aftertouch add playing response while preserving the patch.

05

Eight complete specialist voices

Octet

Octet panel with modulation, two oscillators, mixer, state-variable filter, two envelopes and output
Octet is the specialist branch of the Voltage Synths family.

Build around interaction

  1. Tune the two oscillators and choose their waveforms.
  2. Use pulse width or Oscillator 2 Sync to create motion before the filter.
  3. Blend both oscillators with noise in the mixer.
  4. Set Cutoff and Resonance, then choose the filter response.
  5. Shape filter movement with Envelope 1 and amplitude with Envelope 2.
FILTER MODE

Travel or select.

The main mode control travels continuously from low-pass through notch, then reaches high-pass. Band-pass has its own selection.

MODULATION

Periodic or unpredictable.

Set LFO rate and waveform for repeatable movement. Sample-and-hold or modulation noise creates stepped variation.

VOICE CHARACTER

Stable differences return.

Vintage adds repeatable voice variation. Voice Pan and the output controls decide how the eight voices occupy the stereo field.

06

Factory sounds · MIDI · the host

Presets and performance

InstrumentFactory soundsUseful first choices
Substance10Burgs · Goanna · Drive-Thru
MADRE-88Amber Poly · Copper Fanfare · Slow Current
Octet10Hearth Brass · Night Choir · Glass Current

Factory navigation

  • The left and right preset arrows wrap through the current instrument’s bank.
  • A factory sound loads a complete state for that instrument.
  • An asterisk after the name means a control no longer matches the shown factory sound.
  • Where Init appears, it returns the selected instrument to its initial state.

MIDI performance

  • Note velocity reaches the performance response set by the patch.
  • Channel pressure supplies aftertouch where the instrument exposes it.
  • The pitch wheel is accepted as MIDI performance input.
  • MADRE-8’s synced LFOs and arpeggiator follow host tempo.
07

Projects and practical recovery

Bring the sound back

Project state

The host stores the loaded instrument and its sound. A combined Voltage Synths rack also keeps the selected MODEL and the stored controls for its other instruments.

Automation

Automate musical controls through the host. Keep stepped switches on clear boundaries and audition large filter or level moves in context.

No sound

Confirm that the track is an instrument track with stereo output, monitoring is active and MIDI reaches the selected instance. Try a factory sound before tracing a custom patch.

An installation opens silent

Read any licence notice, then open Bitsnacks Vending Machine to check the trial and installation for this device. Choose Repair if offered, restart the host, then reopen the project.

Still stuck?

Send the host name and version, plug-in format, operating system, loaded instrument and the shortest steps that reproduce the problem. For a sound question, include the MIDI part and factory sound you started from.

Voltage Synths supportOpen the support form