What the Harmonic Synth Is

The whole instrument at a glance

It’s a big synth, so here’s the entire layout in one shot. Don’t try to absorb it all — this is a map you’ll come back to. Each numbered region gets its own chapter.

1. Gin / Tonic — admit and anchor the sub-fundamental layers that Fold creates.
2. Partials Matrix — the source. Drag the dot: up/down sets how many partials are open, left/right is Fold.
3. Scope — see the sound: oscilloscope, FFT, vibrating string, harmony, and a per-partial info readout.
4. Partials Advanced — Re-excite, Converge, Phase, and Clamp: finer shaping of the spectrum.
5. Tuning — Stretch (inharmonicity), Temperament (just ↔ equal), Unison, scale and key.
6. Source 2 — a second layer under the partials: noise, oscillators, or a detuned double of the matrix.
7. Output — Transpose, Width, Drive, Output level, Pan, Velocity.
8. Settings — Detune, Glide, Bend range, Polyphony, Mono, diagnostics.
9. Overtone Scan — a moving spotlight that sweeps across the partials.
10. Filter — Cutoff, Resonance, Track, Key, Pluck.
11. Harmonic Envelope — a second envelope shaping just a chosen group of partials.
12. Harmonic Gate — boosts the partials that match the chord or scale you’re playing.
13. Mod Matrix — route any modulation source to almost any destination.
14. Sculpt — per-partial level bars, Morph between waveshapes, Blend toward resonant noise, Air.
15. Envelope — the main amplitude envelope (ADSR, plus Fade, VCA, and VCF amounts).
16. Modulation — the second LFO and second envelope.
17. Effects — EQ, Delay, Reverb.

(Across the top: the keyboard, and the transport buttons — PANIC to kill stuck notes, RAND to randomize a patch, Paste/Share to load and copy patches as a link.)

How it fits together

The trick to not getting lost is to know the signal flow. Almost everything in this synth acts on the partials, in roughly this order:

• The partials matrix (2) generates the raw spectrum. Gin/Tonic (1), Partials Advanced (4), and Tuning (5) shape what those partials are — how they fold, spread, and tune.
• Sculpt (14) then sets each partial’s level, morphs the stack toward classic waveshapes, and can crossfade the whole thing from pure partials into resonant noise. Source 2 (6) can layer a second sound underneath.
• Three modules shape the partials over time or by harmony: the Overtone Scan (9) sweeps a spotlight across them, the Harmonic Envelope (11) gives a chosen group its own attack and release, and the Harmonic Gate (12) leans on whichever partials match the chord you’re holding.
• The result passes through the Filter (10), gets its volume shaped by the main Envelope (15), and is finished by Output (7) and Effects (17).
• Tying it together, Modulation (16) and the Mod Matrix (13) can drive almost any continuous control — so a patch isn’t static; it moves.

You don’t need all of it to make a sound. The matrix alone will get you a long way. The rest is there for when you want to reach in further.

What to Practice

• Open the synth and play a note. Find the partials matrix (2) and drag the dot around — that’s the source of everything else.
• Tap the scope (3) and switch between its views while you play. Watching the sound is half of learning this instrument.
• Come back to the map above whenever a chapter mentions a module and you’re not sure where it lives.