Module Overview
Soba has 44 modules in six categories. Each category has its own header color, so you can tell what a module is for at a glance across a crowded patch. The categories match the right-click menu and the quick-add palette, and the modules are listed here in the order the menu shows them.
The ID is the name a patch file uses to refer to the module.
Categories
Source
Blue header. Modules that start a sound or a note: the oscillator, the noise source, the drum voice, the resonator, the sampler, the chopper and the cloud, the audio input, and the modules that turn your playing into pitch and gate signals.
| Module | ID | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Oscillator | osc.sine | Band-limited VCO with a tune section, hard sync, through-zero FM, a sub-oscillator and unison |
| Noise | source.noise | White, pink and brown noise, and a smooth random voltage |
| Drum | source.drum | An analog-style drum voice: kick, snare, tom, clap, hats, cymbal, rim, cowbell or shaker, with accent and choke |
| Resonator | source.resonator | A physical model: a plucked string, or a struck bell, bar, glass or block of wood, played by a gate or by any sound |
| Sampler | source.sampler | Plays a WAV, MP3, FLAC or Ogg file: one-shots from a gate, an instrument across the keyboard, or its slices by note |
| Chopper | source.chopper | Plays a sliced break in time with the Clock, at any tempo, rearranged step by step |
| Cloud | source.cloud | Granular: clouds of small grains from a file or live audio, with Freeze, and a cloud per voice of a chord |
| Audio Input | source.audio_input | A microphone, guitar or line input, with an envelope follower and a gate |
| Note In | input.poly_midi | Play notes from the computer keyboard, its piano or a MIDI controller: one voice, or up to eight for chords |
Filter
Teal header. Modules that shape a sound's tone by removing or emphasizing frequencies. Both can be bypassed.
| Module | ID | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| SVF Filter | filter.svf | 12 dB/octave multimode filter with lowpass, highpass, bandpass and notch outputs |
| Ladder Filter | filter.ladder | Moog-style 24 dB/octave lowpass, saturating and oversampled |
Modulation
Orange header. Sources of movement: control signals that change other modules' parameters over time.
| Module | ID | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| ADSR Envelope | mod.adsr | Attack, decay, sustain and release, with exact stage times, curve shaping, velocity and CV on every stage |
| LFO | mod.lfo | Low-frequency oscillator for cyclic modulation, free or locked to the beat |
| Slope | mod.slope | Rises and falls at set rates: slew and glide, a trigger envelope, or a cycling LFO with skew |
Effect
Cyan header. Processors for finished sound. Every effect can be bypassed.
| Module | ID | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Stereo Delay | fx.delay | Echoes with feedback filtering, ping-pong, tempo sync and tape mode |
| Reverb | fx.reverb | Stereo feedback-delay-network reverb with a modulated tail |
| 3-Band EQ | fx.eq | Low shelf, parametric mid and high shelf |
| Distortion | fx.distortion | Oversampled soft clip, hard clip, wavefolder, tube and bit crush |
| Chorus | fx.chorus | Stereo chorus and flanger |
| Tape | fx.tape | A tape machine for a bus: wow, flutter, saturation, age and hiss |
| Slicer | fx.slicer | Chops a held sound into a rhythm in time with the Clock: sixteen steps, a step filter and ping-pong |
| Compressor | fx.compressor | Dynamics compressor with sidechain and a gain-reduction output |
| Vocoder | fx.vocoder | Puts a voice's spectrum on a synth: 8 to 24 bands, formant shift, sibilance and unvoiced noise, Freeze and carrier Flatten |
Utility
Gray header. The plumbing of a patch: levels, timing, sequencing, looping, and tools for seeing what a signal is doing.
| Module | ID | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Clock | util.clock | Steady gate pulses at a tempo; sets the patch tempo, and can follow MIDI clock |
| VCA | util.vca | Voltage-controlled amplifier: sets a signal's level from a CV |
| Attenuverter | util.attenuverter | Scale, invert and offset a control signal |
| Mix | util.mix | Add up to four signals, audio or CV, into one mono sum |
| Mixer | util.mixer | Four-channel stereo console with pan, width, sends, mute and solo |
| Sample & Hold | util.sample_hold | Capture a signal's value on each trigger and hold it |
| Quantizer | util.quantizer | Snap a pitch to the nearest note of a scale |
| Clock Divider | util.divider | Fire once every so many clocks, and hold a gate open for a phrase |
| Logic | util.logic | Combine gates with AND, OR, XOR and NOT, and turn a control voltage into a gate |
| Looper | util.looper | Record, overdub and undo live layers, like a looper pedal, in time with the Clock |
| Oscilloscope | util.oscilloscope | Draw up to two signals as waveforms |
| Dancer | util.dancer | A stick figure who dances to the patch, on the beat and as hard as the music is loud |
| Step Sequencer | seq.step | 16 steps of pitch, gate and velocity, in four chained patterns |
| Chord Sequencer | seq.chord | 16 chords, each a root, a type and a slash bass, voice-led and played on polyphonic cables, in four patterns played in a chain |
| Trigger Sequencer | seq.trigger | Eight lanes of drum hits in four chained patterns, with accents, probability and ratchets |
| Arranger | seq.arranger | A song's timeline: named sections of bars, moving eight lanes of automation by jumps, ramps and hits |
| Scenes | util.scenes | Keeps the knobs as scenes A to H, and glides every knob between two of them with one Morph knob |
| MIDI Monitor | util.midi_monitor | Show incoming MIDI messages |
Output
Purple header. Where the patch leaves Soba: for your speakers, for other instruments, or for Seoul's visuals.
| Module | ID | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Audio Output | output.audio | Stereo master output with volume, DC blocking and a peak limiter |
| Link Out | output.link | Send eight CV lanes, four gates and the Clock to the Seoul visualizer, to play its pictures from the patch |
| MIDI Out | output.midi | Play hardware and other apps: gates and pitch as notes (poly cables as chords), four CCs, and the Clock as MIDI clock |
Header colors describe what a module is. The colors of its jacks and cables describe the signals it handles, which is a separate palette: see Signal Types.
Polyphonic modules
The Oscillator, Noise, Drum, Resonator, both filters, the ADSR Envelope, Slope, the VCA, the Attenuverter, Mix, Sample & Hold and the Quantizer run one voice per channel when a polyphonic cable reaches them. Everything else treats a polyphonic cable as one signal. Note In and the Chord Sequencer are where polyphonic cables start. See Polyphony.
Common signal chains
The classic subtractive voice: an oscillator, a filter to shape its tone, and a VCA opened by an envelope.
[Note In Pitch] ──> [Oscillator V/Oct]
[Oscillator Out] ──> [SVF Filter In]
[SVF Filter LowPass] ──> [VCA In]
[VCA Out] ──> [Audio Output Mono]
[Note In Gate] ──> [ADSR Gate]
[ADSR Out] ──> [VCA CV]
Add space with effects after the VCA, so they process the shaped note:
[VCA Out] ──> [Stereo Delay In L]
[Stereo Delay Out L / R] ──> [Reverb In L / R]
[Reverb Out L / R] ──> [Audio Output Left / Right]
Drive a voice from a sequence instead of a keyboard:
[Clock Gate] ──> [Step Sequencer Clock]
[Step Sequencer Pitch] ──> [Oscillator V/Oct]
[Step Sequencer Gate] ──> [ADSR Gate]
Choosing a module
| To… | Reach for |
|---|---|
| Make a tone | Oscillator |
| Make drums, wind or breath | Noise through a filter and an envelope |
| Play a microphone or guitar through the patch | Audio Input |
| Let a live sound or drum loop move or trigger the patch | Audio Input's Follow and Gate |
| Play notes | Note In, from the computer keys or MIDI, one voice or chords |
| Slide from note to note | Glide on Note In; a Slope on any pitch, a sequencer's included |
| Darken or brighten a sound | SVF Filter or Ladder Filter |
| Give each note a shape in time | ADSR Envelope into a VCA |
| Play a whole envelope from a short trigger | Slope |
| Smooth a stepped or jumpy signal | Slope |
| Add slow, repeating movement | LFO, or a cycling Slope for a swell that drops away |
| Tame or flip a modulation signal | Attenuverter |
| Play a pattern | Clock into the Step Sequencer |
| Play a drum break in time, at any tempo, and rearrange it | Clock into the Chopper |
| Stretch a moment of sound into a texture, or a voice into a choir | The Cloud, with a Chord Sequencer's Pitch for chords |
| Pluck a string, strike a bell, or make a drum ring a chord | The Resonator, a Drum into its In and a Chord Sequencer's Pitch on its V/Oct |
| Program a drum kit, with fills | Clock into the Trigger Sequencer, a lane for each Drum |
| Turn a verse into a breakdown with one knob | A Scenes module with a scene of each, its Morph on a slow LFO or an Arranger lane |
| Arrange a whole song: parts that enter, fade and leave | Clock into the Arranger, a lane on each Mixer Level |
| Make random changes | Noise into Sample & Hold for steps, or its Random output for glides |
| Keep random notes in key | Quantizer |
| Combine signals | Mix |
| Place sounds left and right | Mixer |
| Add space and depth | Stereo Delay, Reverb, Chorus |
| Turn a pad or a drone into a rhythm | Slicer |
| Add grit or warmth | Distortion, Tape |
| Make a synth talk or sing | Vocoder, with a voice from a Sampler or Audio Input |
| Balance tone and dynamics | 3-Band EQ, Compressor |
| See a signal | Oscilloscope, MIDI Monitor |
| Watch the music dance | Dancer |
| Hear the result | Audio Output |
| Play visuals from the patch | Link Out, with Seoul |
| Play a hardware synth or a DAW, or lead its tempo | MIDI Out |