Syntorial is an educational platform that teaches aspiring synthesists to design patches from the ground up: its interactive, gamified training course is built to help learners understand how concepts such as waveforms, filters, envelopes and LFOs work by ear, developing an intuitive and hands-on understanding of sound design.
Originally designed as a companion to Syntorial, the Primer soft synth is now being given away as a free synth plugin by Audible Genius, the company behind the platform. A basic subtractive synth with a clear and easy-to-use interface, Primer is intended to help synthesists learn the fundamentals without getting bogged down in advanced concepts or distracting additional features.
Primer has all the features you'd expect from a simple subtractive synth: its two main oscillators and a sub-oscillator are equipped with saw, pulse, triangle and sine waveforms and capable of FM, oscillator sync and ring modulation. A resonant multimode filter is joined by a trio of envelopes for the filter, amp and assignable modulation, plus a single LFO that can be routed to seven of Primer's key parameters.
There's also three voice modes, adjustable portamento and a unison mode with controls for voice count, detune and spread. Five effects (reverb, delay, chorus, phaser and distortion) can be used to spice up Primer's sounds, and the synth has a handy visualizer onboard to show you what the envelope, filter and LFO is doing in real time. Primer comes with 400 factory presets, too.
Nothing out of the ordinary, then, but that's exactly the point: Primer strips things back to just the bare essentials that you'll find on almost any conventional subtractive synth, framing these in an easily understandable layout for musicians that are new to synthesis and sound design.
If you're using Syntorial, this means you can take what you've learn there and apply it directly in your DAW. If you're not, Primer would still be an excellent synth to learn with through your own experimentation. And if you're already experienced with sound design, Audible Genius suggests that Primer could be a fast and distraction-free tool for sketching basic patches.
Compatible with macOS and Windows, Primer is available in VST/AU formats. It's also available as a standalone iPad app and AUv3 plugin.
Find out more and download Primer on Audible Genius' website.
