Subtractive synthesis curriculum.

Five outcome tracks · 17 lessons · 15 concepts

PatchPond teaches subtractive synthesis by doing. Every lesson ends with a sound you'd keep — a clean sub, a snappy pluck, a wide pad, a singing lead, a moving arp. Knobs are explained by ear, over a looping musical bed in a fixed key, not by manual. Play straight through to learn the whole subtractive chain in order; jump to whichever track has the sound you want first.

Outcome tracks

Concept glossary

Every lesson points at one or more atomic concepts — oscillator waveforms, envelopes, the filter, modulation, effects. The glossary defines each concept once and links to the lessons that introduce or reuse it. Useful as a reference when a knob isn't behaving the way you expect.

Open the concept glossary — 15 concepts →

Oscillator waveforms

The waveform is the source of the sound — before any envelope, filter, or effect. Sine, triangle, saw, square, pulse, and noise each have a distinct harmonic content and a different role inside a patch. Catalog with the characteristics of each.

Open the waveform catalog — 6 shapes →