THE TIN BOX

Advanced performance instrument · VST3 / AU

FieldSynth

FieldSynth is a generative performance instrument for VST3/AU hosts, coming very soon to iOS. A field of generated moving particles and a cursor drive the engine — glide your cursor through it, hold a point, or let it wander on its own, and that motion becomes evolving melodic and rhythmic phrases in real time. Play it as a self-contained synth, or let it drive other instruments in your DAW over MIDI.

Three voices. One field.

2-3 interweaving and complementary voices shift tempo individually based on weighted tempo probabilities, so the rhythm is never one static pulse — it's layered and constantly evolving.

Particles drifting through the field and two independent Cursor A/B voices sound together, backed by a deep factory library of nearly 830 factory voices for a fast starting point on any voice slot. Key, scale, note range, filters, FX, and timing are all live-tweakable mid-performance, and a four-LFO modulation matrix lets the field continuously reshape its own sound.

Play it as a plucked string surface, an arpeggiator, a quantized rhythmic grid, a slow ambient texture, or a MIDI sketchpad that composes for whatever synth you point it at.

Engine & Sound

Built on JUCE for the plugin shell and Elementary Audio for the real-time synthesis engine — every voice can run FM or subtractive.

FM Synthesis

A carrier and modulator per voice — harmonicity sets their frequency ratio, mod index sets FM depth, and its own envelope shapes the modulator over time, from clean bells to harsh, glassy tones.

Subtractive Synthesis

Classic waveforms — sine, triangle, sawtooth, square — through a filter with cutoff and resonance, for warmer, more analog textures.

Particle & Cursor A/B

Particles carry one voice, and the cursor carries two independent slots (A/B) that can layer together or swap on triggers, LFO cycles, or chance.

~830 Factory Voices

A deep, tagged voice library to start from instead of a blank patch — browse by category and audition instantly before committing a voice to particles or cursor.

Deterministic Mode

Flip one switch and the same cursor move always produces the same note output — no dropped notes, no timing/velocity humanize, weighted grids lock to whatever division is active. Built for repeatable takes and A/B patch comparison.

Timing & Rhythm

Tempo & Cursor Sync

Lock note timing to the host tempo, to your own cursor movement, or to keyboard/MIDI input — each with its own quantize grid, independently.

Weighted Grids

Don't pick one division — mix several (1/8, 1/16, a dotted or triplet feel) with relative weights, and the grid resamples between them as you play instead of holding one fixed subdivision.

Scale-Aware Everything

Every mode, key, and custom note sequence maps directly onto field position — pitch is where you are, not a fixed piano-roll grid.

Arp Behaviors

Random-walk, locked-random, up/down, and thumb patterns drive how particles resolve into note order — closer to a living arpeggiator than a fixed step sequencer.

Modulation

Four-LFO Matrix

Route any of four LFOs (rate or grid-synced) to nearly any parameter — filter, pan, pitch, FX sends — so the field's own sound keeps evolving without you touching a knob.

X/Y Axis Mods

Map screen position itself to sound — cursor X and Y each independently driving filter, detune, velocity, brightness, and a dozen other targets.

Proximity Mods

Distance between the cursor and particles becomes its own modulation source — sound that tightens or opens up as particles cluster near or drift away from you.

Generation Mods

Shape how new particles are born — launch motion, spawn stagger, direction spread, octave bias — for control over the field's own visual and rhythmic character.

MIDI & Integration

MIDI Out

Mute FieldSynth's own audio and route particle/cursor notes out to other tracks, hardware, or a second instrument entirely — a live MIDI sketchpad, not just a synth.

Host Automation

Every musical parameter is exposed to your DAW's automation lanes — record a performance's evolving state, not just its audio.

Session Recall

Full patch state saves and restores with your DAW project — reopen a session days later and the field picks up exactly where you left it.

VST3 & AU

Native macOS and Windows builds, tested in Ableton, Logic, and Reaper — one instrument, not a browser wrapper.

See it in motion

A short look at the field itself — cursor movement becoming a live performance.

Coming Soon

FieldSynth for iOS

The same instrument, native on iPhone and iPad — runs as an AUv3 inside AUM, Cubasis, GarageBand, and other hosts, or as its own standalone app. Currently in beta; the App Store release is next.

Available Now

Get FieldSynth

A one-time purchase, no subscription — $29 for native VST3/AU/Standalone builds on macOS and Windows. Works in any VST3 host, includes the full manual.