Can this synth be programmed with current tools?

Audio Plugins
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//I am not sure if this is possible to program as of today, 11th of May of 2026. I don’t know any theory to discern if this is possible or not.

The synth has no filters (BP, HP, LP), FX (chorus, flanger, vibrato, reverb, compression, delay, arpeggiation, pitch modulation, glissando or slides, etc.), LFOs, FM capabilities, resynthesis, audio file samples, etc. It can store harmonic editor data for 88 keys (A0 to C8). The harmonic editor contains parameters for toggle, amplitudes, phase, frequency, ADSR, and L/R panning of each harmonic. Each harmonic is it’s own SINE wave oscillator. The synth should be capable of MIDI polyphony but the voice count does not need to exceed 32. This synth is not an attempt to imitate any other instrument or hardware. Ideally, it is usable as a VST/AU/AAX in the DAW of choice.

For any MIDI key between and including A0 and C8, the number of harmonics available = 20000 divided by the fundamental. For all of the A’s between A0 and C8:
A0 = 727 available sine wave oscillators
A1 = 363
A2 = 181
A3 = 90
A4 = 45
A5 = 22
A6 = 11
A7 = 5
C8 = 4 available sine wave oscillators

The UI is entirely 2D, features a basic font, has no animations and is minimal color. Most parameters are a basic slider where the slider is a line and the sliding mechanism is a dot.

All parameters, including toggle, amplitude, frequency, phase, ADSR, and pan have their own tab. Each tab will have its own context menu.

The toggle tab only includes toggle buttons for oscillators. The amplitude tab has all the sliders that represent the amplitude of each sine wave oscillator. The frequency tab contains the frequency sliders of each sine wave oscillator, and so on. ADSR is it’s own tab as well, but has 4 tabs within it to represent A as its own set of sliders, D as its own set, and so on. It is similar in concept to the additive harmonic editor of Alchemy by Camel Audio.

Within each tab, one can impose some math function over the sliders which will cause the sliders to stick to the function, which is how fast changes can be made rather than manually sliding one slider at a time. In each tab, one can either type a function or use the presets that make the sliders follow a specific function.

There is a small virtual visual piano keyboard at the bottom of the main plugin window. it extends across the entire bottom of the window. Each key on this virtual keyboard corresponds to one MIDI key. If NO MIDI key is pressed down on this virtual keyboard, the synth is in global mode and makes changes to all the keys. When a specific MIDI key is pressed, the changes are only on that specific MIDI key.

There is a volume slider that affects the global volume of the entire instrument.

Modulation sources include exclusively velocity and key follow. Targets include the global volume slider, and the various tabs as a whole. A0 and C8 are treated as the ends, not MIDI 1 and MIDI 127.

This synth does not support automation messages or MIDI CCs.

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The answer to your question is “yes”
What you’re describing is additive synthesis, and there’s already a number out there (the Synclavier and Fairlight CMI both used these techniques decades ago, albeit slightly limited).
I worked on RAZOR by Native Instruments a while back, and while it isn’t exactly the same as your brief, it covers the major technical concerns (all sound generation and perceived fx produced by manipulating the frequency, phase, and amplitude of sine waves)

1 Like
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Thank you for replying. That is really amazing that you worked with Native Instruments. So a more specific question is can it run as a DAW plugin that won’t overheat a non-high end laptop?

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Can RAZOR run in a DAW on a laptop? Yes. It was released in 2011 and I ran it on a laptop then.

If you’re asking if your proposed synth would run, then the answer is also probably yes. Hard to say with 100% confidence since it doesn’t exist yet

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Thank you again. That makes sense. How did you learn the theory required to have the expertise you do that pertains to development of audio plugins? If you are okay with answering that. I understand if not and appreciate your replies regardless.