> Step by step

A tour of quite possibly the best synth app… and it’s free.

1 There’s no doubting that Audiokit Synth One represents a hell of a lot of synth for your money, especially as that money is zero. It would be a great paid-for synth but the developers are insisting this is a synth for everyone so download it now and we’ll give you a tour.

2 For the top half of the screen for the next few grabs, we’re keeping the Main synth screen with oscillators and filters shown from left to right. For the bottom half we’ve selected the sequencer which can be up to 16 steps, each step highlighted if on and here the faders adjust the pitch of each one.

3 Again, the top half of the screen has the Main synth with oscillators and filters. At the bottom this time, we’ve now selected the two Filter and Amp Envelope screens which have draggable envelopes and dials under each for more fine adjustments to each.

4 Now for the bottom half we’ve selected the Tuning screen which allows you to select from a vast number of tunings from three different banks – we’ve never seen so many – and all of which can be selected if you have a sequence cycling so you can hear the effect of each. A great way of learning…

5 Now the bottom half is made up of the Effects and LFO section. The two LFOs can be both (or individually) easily assigned to up to 12 parameters including FM Mod, File Env, Cutoff Freq and effects. It’s very easy to use. Likewise, effects on the right are just as easy to control and can be dialled in over four sections.

6 Finally you get two X-Y pads which can be used to perform by changing four parameters on the fly using your fingers. You can hold the cursor in a certain position using the Snap button and there are also fancy space graphics that seem to tie in with the tempo. Very nice.