Buzz Zone

What it does

A polyphonic wavetable synth with a second sample layer underneath it. Pitch, unison, wavetable position, filter, FM and level each get their own drawable envelope, and each can be looped, sped up, flipped, reversed or copied to another section. Under each sits a modifier: harmony intervals, detune, subs, wave folders, comb filters, a crusher, a frequency shifter, ring modulation. Reverb, chorus, phaser, flanger, delay and stereo width sit on the output, with over 400 presets.

In the demo

Jade builds from the init patch so each control is heard alone, then loops envelopes at rates from crawling to very fast. She runs the filter and harmony modifiers on a cello wavetable, brings in the sample layer, maps knobs with MIDI learn, and plays through the pad, bass and loop banks.

Worth knowing

Imported samples cap at ten seconds. The Mac and Windows version is sold from ToyBox Audio’s own site, so it is a separate purchase from the iPad app. Her December 2024 update show covers the rebuilt interface, tighter filter models, envelope presets and MIDI program change selecting presets.