ZynAddSubFX
More info
- Creator
- Nasca Octavian Paul
- Released
- 2002
- Type
- Software synthesizer
- License
- GPL
- Website
- zynaddsubfx.sourceforge.io
Open-source software synth with three synthesis engines and a name that is harder to pronounce than it is to program.
Nasca Octavian Paul released ZynAddSubFX in 2002, when Linux had hardly any serious soft synths. The name is an inventory: ADDsynth for additive synthesis, SUBsynth for subtractive synthesis of filtered noise, and PADsynth — the author's own algorithm, which builds entire wavetables from a spectrum with smeared-out harmonics. The result is wide, shimmering pads that would otherwise take a chorus pedal and a lot of patience.
Its popularity made it the default instrument of the Linux audio world. It ships with LMMS, and in 2009 it gained a fork, Yoshimi, focused on stability. Later versions run as LV2 and VST plugins, and the interface has been redone more than once — welcome news to anyone who met the original.