Skip to content
Rift Studio
Back to docs
Documentation

Instruments Reference

Detailed specifications for all 8 built-in instruments: synths, drum machine, sampler, and slicer.

Wavetable Synth

The flagship polyphonic synthesizer.

  • 16-voice polyphony — with voice stealing
  • 2 oscillators — with wavetable selection and 8 waveforms: Sine, Triangle, Saw, Square, Pulse25, SuperSaw, Organ, Vocal
  • Sub oscillator — tuned 1 octave below oscillator 1
  • White noise generator — with level control
  • Resonant multi-mode filter — : Low-pass, High-pass, Band-pass, Notch (state-variable)
  • Filter ADSR envelope — with cutoff modulation and key tracking
  • Amplitude ADSR envelope —
  • 2 LFOs — with 5 shapes: Sine, Triangle, Saw, Square, Random
  • Unison mode — : 1–8 voices with detune and stereo spread

Analog Synth

Subtractive analog-style synthesizer with deep modulation.

  • 16-voice polyphony —
  • 3 oscillators — with 7 shapes: Saw, Square, Triangle, Sine, Noise, SuperSaw, Pulse
  • Hard sync — (oscillator 2 synced to oscillator 1)
  • Ring modulation — (oscillator 1 × oscillator 2)
  • FM synthesis — between oscillators
  • Pulse width modulation — with LFO target
  • Dual multi-mode filters — (serial or parallel): LP12, LP24, HP12, HP24, BP12, BP24, Notch, Comb — each with independent ADSR
  • 3 ADSR envelopes — (amplitude, filter 1, filter 2)
  • 3 LFOs — with tempo sync and key retrigger — targets: pitch, filter cutoff, amplitude, pan, PWM
  • Voice modes — : Polyphonic, Mono, Legato, Unison
  • Portamento/glide — with constant time or rate
  • Analog drift simulation — for pitch and filter instability

FM Synthesizer

Yamaha DX7-style frequency modulation synthesis.

  • 16-voice polyphony —
  • 6 operators — with 32 algorithm selections
  • 8 waveforms per operator — : Sine, Triangle, Saw, Square, Pulse, Noise, FM Feedback, Custom
  • Per-operator controls — : frequency ratio, fine detune, ADSR envelope, feedback amount, output level, velocity sensitivity
  • Pitch envelope — and **master SVF filter** with ADSR
  • Unison — : 1–4 voices

Granular Synth

Grain-based synthesis for textures, pads, and sound design.

  • 8-voice polyphony — with up to **2048 total simultaneous grains** across all voices
  • Grain-based playback from loaded samples (up to 60 seconds at 44.1 kHz)
  • Grain parameters — : size (5–500 ms), density (1–100 grains/sec), position, scatter
  • Pitch randomness — per grain
  • 4 window shapes — : Hann, Gaussian, Triangle, Trapezoid
  • Freeze mode — grains repeat from a fixed position
  • Reverse mode — grains play backwards
  • Per-voice ADSR envelope

Drum Machine

Sample-based drum instrument for the step sequencer.

  • 16 pads — mapped from MIDI C1 (note 36)
  • Per-pad controls — : volume, pan, pitch (−24 to +24 semitones), attack, decay, cutoff, resonance
  • Choke groups — (0–4): triggering one pad silences others in the same group
  • Output buses — (0–4) per pad for separate processing
  • Per-pad color coding, mute, and solo
  • Lock-free sample loading for glitch-free playback

Physical Model Synth

Physical modeling for acoustic instrument simulation.

  • 16-voice polyphony — with voice stealing (lowest energy)
  • 5 model types — : Plucked (Karplus-Strong), Bowed (waveguide), Blown (pipe), Struck (mallet), Percussion
  • 5 exciter types — : Impulse, Noise, Burst, Bow, Breath
  • Allpass fractional delay — for precise tuning
  • Body resonance — via dual formant filters
  • Sympathetic resonance — and inharmonicity parameters
  • Pickup position, damping, and brightness controls

Sample Slicer

Transient-aware sample slicing for beat chopping.

  • 16-voice polyphony — with up to **128 slices**
  • Automatic transient detection — for slice points
  • Manual slice add/remove at arbitrary positions
  • Grid slicing — for even subdivisions
  • Per-slice controls — : volume, pan, pitch, reverse, loop
  • 4 play modes — : OneShot, Loop, PingPong, Gate
  • MIDI-mapped from C1 (note 36) — each note triggers a slice
  • Export individual slices to files

Advanced Sampler

Multi-zone sample playback engine.

  • 32-voice polyphony — with voice stealing (oldest note)
  • 128 zones — with note and velocity range mapping
  • Loop modes — : Off, Forward, PingPong, Reverse
  • 4 filter types — : LowPass, HighPass, BandPass, Notch with resonance
  • Per-zone controls — : volume, pan, pitch offset, fine tune
  • Round-robin group — support for variation
  • Key tracking — for pitch following
The Advanced Sampler engine is fully implemented but is not yet listed in the Instrument Browser UI. It can be instantiated via the scripting API.

Want to follow the Windows beta as it gets closer?