> Step by step

2. Exploring Fathom CM’s presets and interface

1 Click a categorised Program folder on the left, then double-click on a Program in the centre window. Fathom CM loads that Program and automatically flips the central display back to the main Signal Flow view. If you need to resize the GUI to fit your screen, simply drag the bottom-right edge in or out.

2 Trigger Fathom CM with MIDI notes to play the current Program, and use the top menu bar’s left and right arrows to scan through adjacent Programs. As you play a note, you can see the waveform’s frequency content displayed in the main view in real time, with the currently playing note represented by the vertical lines on the display.

3 Load up the Ambient >> Dancing Saws Program and play MIDI. In the main centre panel, you can see the current signal flow, comprising several components: there are two pairs of oscillators, each pair feeding into a dual filter configuration, then into a delay effect, then a reverb effect. Signal flows from left to right.

4 As with any hardware or virtual modular synthesiser, connections are made between modules via cables, which you can see feeding from components’ right outputs into left inputs. To connect or disconnect components, simply drag from one’s edge and patch a virtual cable.

5 Click a component to turn it green and bypass its effect, leaving signal running through it. Click again to turn it red and block the signal from running through it. When you select a component in the central window, its editable parameters populate the bottom pane.

6 Hit the Signal Flow button to show the seven Global control knobs along the bottom, used to set overall Volume, Pitch, Polyphony, Velocity response, Glide and central display settings. Here also lives the global graphic EQ: adjust sliders to customise the frequency of the synth’s output signal.