Instruments
Included instruments
SynthLab comes with 57 instruments in 13 categories. Every one is a patch of SynthLab's own modules, with no recordings: open one and see exactly how it is made, then change it.
In the app, the instrument picker shows the same categories, with a search box and ▶ to hear each one before you choose. You find it under + Track → Instrument track… and ⋯ → Change instrument… in Studio, under Examples → Instruments (which opens an instrument in the playground), and as Sounds on a phone. Instruments you save yourself appear there too, under This project and Saved. Open ↗ below opens an instrument in the playground.
Synth 5
Classic synthesizer voices: oscillators through a filter and an amplifier, with envelopes.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Analog poly | The classic: a sawtooth through a resonant low-pass filter, with two envelopes and a touch of reverb. | Open ↗ |
| Pluck | Short, bright and chorused: for stabs and arpeggios. | Open ↗ |
| Chip lead | A narrow pulse with vibrato, crushed to 6 bits. | Open ↗ |
| Reed lead | A reedy square-wave lead with vibrato and a long tape echo. | Open ↗ |
| Supersaw lead | Seven detuned saws and a sub, wide and bright, with echoes: a trance lead. | Open ↗ |
Bass 6
Low lines, from a clean sine sub to squelchy acid, detuned Reese, a rhythmic wobble and a plucked upright.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Deep bass | Saw plus a square an octave down, through a 24 dB filter with a snappy envelope. | Open ↗ |
| Sub bass | A clean sine sub with a hint of second harmonic. | Open ↗ |
| Acid line | A squelchy resonant saw with glide and drive. | Open ↗ |
| Reese bass | Detuned saws, slowly moving filter and grit: drum and bass weight. | Open ↗ |
| Wobble bass | A filter that opens and shuts eight times a bar, in time, with drive. | Open ↗ |
| Upright bass | A round, plucked acoustic-style bass. | Open ↗ |
Keys 4
Played keyboards: electric piano, soft keys, a funky clavinet and a harpsichord.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| FM electric piano | Frequency modulation, as in the classic digital electric pianos, with tremolo and chorus. | Open ↗ |
| Shimmer keys | Soft triangle keys into a shimmer reverb. | Open ↗ |
| Funk clav | A snappy, thin pulse with a quick filter: for funky chords. | Open ↗ |
| Harpsichord | A bright plucked keyboard with no sustain. | Open ↗ |
Pads 7
Slow, wide chords that swell in and ring on: hold them.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Galaxy pad | Seven detuned saws per note, a slowly breathing filter and a shimmer reverb whose tail keeps rising. | Open ↗ |
| Vowel choir | A synthesised "ah" vowel, looped in a sampler, with chorus and reverb. | Open ↗ |
| Warm analog pad | Detuned saws and a square an octave down, with a filter that opens slowly as you hold the chord. | Open ↗ |
| Glass pad | FM: the brightness blooms in over two seconds, into chorus and a shimmer reverb. | Open ↗ |
| Sweep pad | A resonant filter sweeps up through five detuned saws on every chord, with a phaser. | Open ↗ |
| Breathing pad | Soft triangles with a breath of filtered noise, panning slowly in a long reverb. | Open ↗ |
| Deep space pad | Low, hollow and dark, with a grain cloud an octave up and a very long reverb. | Open ↗ |
Strings & plucks 5
Bowed and plucked strings: a string machine, a section, a solo cello, pizzicato and harp.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Solar strings | A 1970s string machine: detuned saws, a phaser and a chorus. | Open ↗ |
| String ensemble | A lush section: five detuned saws per note, slow bows, vibrato, chorus and hall. | Open ↗ |
| Solo cello | A single bowed voice that slides between notes, with vibrato and a warm body. | Open ↗ |
| Pizzicato | Plucked strings (a synthesised plucked string, Karplus–Strong), short and dark. | Open ↗ |
| Harp | Long, bright plucked strings with chorus and reverb: play arpeggios. | Open ↗ |
Winds & reeds 4
Breath and reeds: flute, pan flute, clarinet and accordion. Filtered noise gives the flutes their breath.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Flute | A pure tone with breath, a soft attack and vibrato. | Open ↗ |
| Pan flute | Breathy and hollow, with echoes in a big space. | Open ↗ |
| Clarinet | A woody square-wave reed (odd harmonics only) with a little breath. | Open ↗ |
| Accordion | Two slightly detuned reeds per note, with tremolo. | Open ↗ |
FM 9
Frequency modulation: one oscillator bends another’s pitch, for bells, mallets, brass and woody basses.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Glass bells | Two-operator FM bells with an inharmonic ratio, ping-pong delay and shimmer. | Open ↗ |
| FM bass | A punchy, woody digital bass: the modulator snaps shut after each attack. | Open ↗ |
| FM brass | Classic digital brass: the tone brightens with the attack, with vibrato and chorus. | Open ↗ |
| Tubular bells | Inharmonic FM chimes with a long ring. | Open ↗ |
| Marimba | A short wooden mallet tone (modulator four times the pitch). | Open ↗ |
| Vibraphone | Soft metal bars with the classic motor tremolo. | Open ↗ |
| Kalimba | A thumb piano: a quick metallic tick and a round, ringing tone, with echoes. | Open ↗ |
| Music box | Tiny, bright and high, as from a wind-up box. | Open ↗ |
| Steel drum | A ringing steel-pan tone with a little echo. | Open ↗ |
Space 3
Arpeggios, sequences and leads for space music.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Space arpeggio | Hold a chord: an arpeggiator plays it up and down over two octaves into a dotted-eighth ping-pong delay. | Open ↗ |
| Cosmic lead | A gliding, singing unison lead with vibrato and a wobbly tape echo. | Open ↗ |
| Running sequence | Plays by itself: a sixteenth-note sequence through a sweeping resonant filter, flanger and echo. | Open ↗ |
French house 4
Filtered disco and robot funk: a talk box, a disco bass, an organ and a riff.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Talk box lead | A robotic singing lead: a buzzy tone through three vowel filters that open with every note, with glide and vibrato. | Open ↗ |
| Disco bass | A funky, punchy bass with a snappy filter: play octave jumps. | Open ↗ |
| House organ | Square and saw stabs through a phaser and chorus, for filtered chord loops. | Open ↗ |
| Robot riff | A gritty, distorted saw for riffs that repeat. | Open ↗ |
Cinematic 2
Film-score electronics: a pulsing ostinato and huge synth brass.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Grid ostinato | A tight, pulsing bass that locks to sixteenth notes, pumping with the beat: the engine of electronic film scores. | Open ↗ |
| Synth brass | Huge detuned saws whose filter swells open with every chord; low notes make deep, menacing hits. | Open ↗ |
Soundscape 1
Sounds that drift and evolve by themselves.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Played drone | A drone that swells in on each note and fades very slowly, with drifting filter and a long reverb. | Open ↗ |
Drums 5
Drum kits on the General MIDI drum notes: kick C2, snare D2, clap D♯2, closed hat F♯2, open hat A♯2, tom A2.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Drum kit | Kick (C2), snare (D2), clap (D♯2), closed hat (F♯2), open hat (A♯2) and tom (A2), the General MIDI drum notes, through a bus compressor. | Open ↗ |
| Boom kit | A long, booming kick and crisp metallic hats. | Open ↗ |
| Dusty kit | Soft drums, bit-reduced and darkened. | Open ↗ |
| Chip kit | Noise drums from an 8-bit console, crushed. | Open ↗ |
| Electro kit | A punchy drum machine: a clicky kick, bright snare and metallic hats. | Open ↗ |
Percussion 2
Hand drums and orchestral percussion, each drum named on the pads and in the step grid.
| Instrument | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Hand percussion | Bongos (C4, C♯4), congas (D4 slap, D♯4 open, E4 low), shaker (A♯4), tambourine (F♯3), claves (D♯5) and cowbell (G♯3), on the General MIDI notes. | Open ↗ |
| Taiko and timpani | Big drums for film music: taiko (C2), rim (C♯2), four toms, timpani (B2) and a cymbal (C♯3), in a large room. | Open ↗ |