Quick start: your first sound in ~60 seconds

This is the fast tour. In about a minute you will load a sound, play it, shape it with the two controls that matter most, and save it as your own. Depth comes later; right now the goal is one satisfying “aha”.

1. Load a sound (about 10 seconds)

At the top of the window is the preset browser: a name display with a < and > on either side, and a name button between them.

• Click the > arrow a few times to step through the factory bank, or
• Click the name button to open a menu and pick a patch directly.

Try Fat Bass to start; it is a driven, sub-heavy patch that responds obviously to the filter, which makes the next steps easy to hear.

2. Play it (about 5 seconds)

Play a few notes on your MIDI keyboard, or click the on-screen keyboard along the bottom. You should hear the patch immediately. Hold a low note so you have something sustained to shape.

3. Sweep the filter (about 20 seconds)

The filter is the heart of Aconite, and its Cutoff knob is the single most expressive control on the panel.

1. Find the Filter section and its Cutoff knob.
2. While holding a note, drag Cutoff up and down.

You will hear the tone open up and close down. This is the sound doing what Aconite is built to do. Now nudge Resonance up a little and sweep Cutoff again; notice the emphasis that appears right at the cutoff point, the classic “vowel” that resonance adds.

Tip

Every knob in Aconite works the same way. Drag to change it, double-click to reset it to default, and hold Shift (or Cmd) while dragging for fine control. Learn it once, use it everywhere.

4. Give it some motion with an envelope (about 20 seconds)

Right now the filter probably opens the instant you press a key. Let’s make it move on each note using the filter envelope.

1. Find the filter envelope (its Amount control decides how much the envelope pushes the cutoff).
2. Turn the envelope Amount up so the filter opens when you play.
3. Shorten the Decay and pull the Sustain down. Now each note snaps bright, then settles darker, a pluck.

Play a few notes. That percussive “twang” is an envelope shaping the filter over time. It is the same trick behind plucks, basses, and stabs across the whole factory bank.

5. Save it as yours (about 5 seconds)

You have made something. Keep it.

1. Click Save in the preset browser.
2. Give it a name.

It is written as your own user preset, capturing the full state exactly as you left it, including any drawn shapes and your current theme. Load it any time from the browser’s User menu.

Where to go next

• Want to understand why the filter behaves the way it does? Read The Aconite philosophy and, when you’re ready for depth, The two filters.
• Want to make things move on their own? The modulation matrix is where a patch comes alive.
• Want a guided build from scratch? The Tutorials walk through whole patches end to end.