The Isle I-1 provides a number of tuning algorithms out-of-the-box, which may be used as-is with little or no configuration, or serve as the basis of a completely customized tuning.  In addition to generating a frequency table, they also define note names and named intervals, which may be used in defining frequencies for Oscillators or […]

SYSTEM-LEVEL AND PER-CHANNEL TUNING The default tuning and configuration for a new Patch Bank is 12-Tone Equal Temperament, with A4 set to 440 Hz, at note number 69.  If you are not interested in any other tuning, you can leave this set as-is and never worry about tuning again :).  The Isle I-1 includes over […]

Huge, huge HUGE set of updates to the Isle I-1 Synth!  I’m tremendously excited about what I’ve added, so many cool things and a few which I’ve not seen a whole lot of other synths even begin to do: The update is available now, right here, at https://islesynths.io/downloads!

SYSTEM-LEVEL PARAMETERS AND OBJECTS At the bottom of the main window, you’ll see system-wide parameters which affect the entire operation of the Isle I-1.  All system-level objects and parameters, including the entire MIDI configuration and tuning system selection, are saved as part of the Patch Bank file – you can have totally different system setups […]

KEYBOARD SPLITS In a given setting, you may want to remap the keys of your keyboard, and divide the keymap such that different ranges of keys play sounds from different patches.  The Isle I-1 allows this, and takes the idea a couple of steps further, via a special kind of patch called a Keyboard Split.  […]

EFFECTS The Isle I-1 ships with a large collection of onboard effects, and that collection is constantly growing.  Effects can be wired into a sound in several places.  In each spot, effects can execute in series or in parallel, or both.  Many effects can operate on multiple channels of input, and with a huge and […]

ENVELOPES, FREQUENCY RAMPS, AND VALUE RAMPS Envelopes, Frequency Ramps, and Value Ramps are the mechanism for precisely varying a value over the duration of a sound.  As a developer, it bugs me to have 3 different names for the same underlying object, which they are, under the hood.  The names, however, reflect the specific cases […]

ADDING MODULATION TO AN OSCILLATOR One of the most important goals in the design of the Isle I-1 is to allow total freedom in designing modulation algortihms.  Rather than stick you with a hard-coded set of algorithms with a fixed number of operators, you can build absolutely any algorithm you can dream up, with the […]

THE PATCH The Patch is the basic template for producing a timbre, regardless of frequency/pitch.  A new Patch Bank comes with a single Patch, with a single Oscillator set to generate a sine wave.  You’ll probably want something more interesting than that — this chapter describes how to add additional Oscillators, add Modulators, and change […]

HELLO Hello, and Welcome to the User Guide for the Isle I-1 software synthesizer.  We at Isle Synths would like to thank you for your interest, time, and of course, hard-earned money, and believe your investment of such will be paid back several times over, in the form of your New Favorite Go-To Synth.  You’re […]