Syntona - for Music Performance and Composition

What is Syntona?

Syntona is a graphical editor you can use to build and play patches using KSyn unit generators. Syntona patches that contain only KSyn modules can be exported as Kotlin or Java source code.

Run Syntona

Look in the Help menu in the app for examples and tutorials.

Note that this is a Beta release. If you find a problem, please let us know ASAP on Discourse.

Web App available online HERE.

The web version will always be the latest. If you need to, you can run the previous version.

Download Executable from HERE.

Join the Syntona discussion on Discourse

Features

• Free for personal use.
• Simple flowgraph interface.
• Jacks have names so you can understand patches more easily.
• Modular synthesizer provided by KSyn.
• Polyphonic instrument design.
• MIDI input and output.
• Timeline module for multi-track recording.
• Support for algorithmic composition.
• Advanced synthesis techniques including:
  • Chebyshev waveshaping
  • Granular synthesis and effects
  • Tunable Karplus-Strong string model

Open Source

The source code is available on GitHub HERE.

Syntona is free for creative use under the AGPL-3.0 license.

The web application may not be copied to another website.

History of Syntona

Syntona is the result of a long evolution:

• 1992 - Wire in HMSL, presented at ICMC.
• 1997 - Wire written in Java using JSyn. Used at 3DO to design DSP algorithms for a video game console.
• 2000's - Wire repurposed for musical performance and sound design.
• 2013-2025 - Syntona written in Java, new architecture
• 2026 - Syntona rewritten in Kotlin using KSyn so it runs on the web.

Old Versions

The older Java based versions of Syntona dating back to 2013 can be found in the archive.