How can you patch Kitchen Sink and Pigeon Plink in VCV Rack for evolving FM sounds, feedback loops, ratio modulation and generative sequences?

Kitchen Sink and Pigeon Plink are especially interesting when you stop treating frequency modulation as a… read more

How does Pigeon Plink's continuous carrier-to-modulator ratio control work, and how can it be used for experimental FM synthesis in VCV Rack?

Pigeon Plink is an FM-oriented oscillator for VCV Rack based on Kitchen Sink. The two modules share much of the same general approach to… read more

What does the Kitchen Sink oscillator in VCV Rack do, and how can you combine linear FM, through-zero FM, exponential FM, feedback and wave folding?

An oscillator is often presented as a relatively simple sound source: choose a waveform… read more

What is the difference between linear FM, through-zero FM and exponential FM, and how do they affect the sound spectrum of a synthesizer?

Frequency modulation is one of the most versatile ways to create complex sounds… read more

How can you patch the Voltage Modular Zeroscillator for basic FM, through-zero effects, morphing and complex two-oscillator sounds?

The Voltage Modular Zeroscillator is an excellent playground for experimenting with frequency… read more

How does the Voltage Modular Zeroscillator work, and how can you use its linear FM, through-zero FM, exponential FM and wave-morphing functions?

The Zeroscillator is an unusually versatile oscillator for exploring frequency… read more

What is a musical cadence, and how do tonic, subdominant and dominant chords create a sense of harmonic movement?

A chord progression gives music a sense of direction. Some progressions feel as though they are moving away from a point… read more

What are relative major and minor keys, and how can you use their shared notes to create chord progressions?

Major and minor keys are often associated with different musical characters, but a major key and its relative minor share… read more

What are chord inversions, and how can changing the lowest note of a chord create smoother progressions?

A chord is not defined only by the notes it contains. The order and octave in which those notes are played… read more

How do you build major and minor chords from three notes, and what is the difference between them?

Chords are one of the most useful tools for turning individual notes into harmony. They can give a melody a sense of stability,… read more