Sorgiva Synth

Open-source WebAudio synthesizer for sound design, experimentation and learning.

Sorgiva Synth runs directly in a desktop browser and is designed to be lightweight, inspectable and musically useful. It combines a clear subtractive-synthesis workflow with controlled digital features such as modulation routing, preset morphing, randomization, MIDI Learn, a step sequencer and an arpeggiator.

Current status: v0.26.7r2 — Public Alpha Readiness & Regression Baseline
This is a pre-public-alpha build intended for controlled testing. Project files, formats and behavior may still change.

Why Sorgiva Synth

Sorgiva Synth is built for people who want to go beyond scrolling through presets and understand how a sound is made. It is intended for learners, curious musicians, experimental sound designers and experienced users who want an open browser-based instrument that can be studied, modified and forked.

The project aims to remain:

• musically credible rather than feature-driven;
• accessible on ordinary computers;
• transparent and learnable;
• safe in gain and robust against stuck notes;
• open to careful, reviewable contributions.

Sorgiva Synth is not a DAW, sampler or replacement for a full multitrack production environment.

Current feature set

• Three oscillators plus five noise colors
• Sine, triangle, square, pulse, sawtooth and reverse-saw waveforms
• PWM, FM Light, Ring Mod and Osc Sync
• Unison/Detune with up to 12 layers
• Three LFOs and an eight-slot Mod Matrix
• HPF, BPF, Notch and VCF filtering
• Filter ADSR and Amp ADSR
• Filter Drive, advanced resonator/formant/comb modes and five-band EQ
• Drive, Chorus/Ensemble/Phaser/Flanger, Delay and Reverb families
• Dynamics Safety, limiter behavior, Gain Guard and Panic/All Notes Off
• Step Sequencer with 3–32 steps, odd lengths, ties, accents and per-step chords
• Arpeggiator with multiple directions, 1–4 octaves, gate, swing and latch
• 135 rebuilt factory presets
• User Preset Bank, JSON import/export and browser-local storage
• A/B Compare, Sound Randomizer and Preset Morph
• WebMIDI input, MIDI Learn and MIDI Clock
• 229 MIDI Learn targets in the current baseline
• Virtual keyboard, computer-keyboard input, oscilloscope and spectrum display

Quick start

Option A — Download the complete bundle

Download the current full archive:

Sorgiva_Synth_v0_26_7r2_public_alpha_readiness_regression_baseline_docs_index_corrected_FULL.zip

Extract the archive completely. Do not run index.html from inside the compressed ZIP.

Option B — Use the source snapshot in this repository

Open the current release directory:

Sorgiva_Synth_v0_26_7r2_public_alpha_readiness_regression_baseline_RELEASE/

Then open its index.html.

First sound

1. Lower your monitoring volume.
2. Open index.html in a modern desktop browser.
3. Press Sblocca Audio / Unlock Audio.
4. Play the virtual keyboard at the bottom of the interface.
5. Load Default Init or a factory preset from Preset & Patch.

No traditional installation or build step is required for normal use.

Recommended localhost launch

Opening the app directly with file:/// is sufficient for basic WebAudio use. For WebMIDI, use localhost or HTTPS.

From the current release directory:

python3 -m http.server 8000

On Windows, this may instead be:

py -m http.server 8000

Then open:

http://localhost:8000/

Stop the server with Ctrl+C.

Browser and platform status

Platform	Current status
Chrome, Edge and Chromium desktop	Recommended; current WebAudio and MIDI baseline
Firefox desktop	WebAudio may work, but WebMIDI is outside the validated baseline
Safari desktop	Not yet part of the validated public-alpha matrix
Mobile and tablet browsers	Outside the current desktop/core mainline

A real MIDI-controller test completed on 9 July 2026 confirmed Note On/Off, velocity, Mod Wheel and responsive input without perceived lag on the tested setup. This does not guarantee identical behavior on every controller, browser or operating system.

What needs testing

Public-alpha feedback is especially useful for:

• audio unlock and basic note handling;
• clicks, pops, stuck notes and release behavior;
• factory-preset balance and usefulness;
• CPU behavior with high Unison, long releases, chords and heavy effects;
• import/export and browser-local storage;
• Step Sequencer and Arpeggiator behavior;
• MIDI devices, pedals, expressive controls and MIDI Learn;
• different browsers, operating systems and audio interfaces;
• accessibility, focus order and interface clarity.

Please use the structured issue templates instead of opening an unstructured report.

Before reporting a bug

1. Confirm that you are testing the latest repository version.
2. Reload the page and press Unlock Audio again.
3. Load Default Init to rule out an extreme patch.
4. Press Panic / All Notes Off.
5. Reproduce the issue with the smallest possible sequence of actions.
6. Record the browser version, operating system and launch method.
7. For MIDI reports, include the controller model and connection type.
8. Do not publish private information or undisclosed security details.

For normal usage help, see SUPPORT.md.
For vulnerabilities, follow SECURITY.md and do not open a public issue.

Repository map

The current repository is a first public snapshot and keeps the application in a versioned release directory.

Path	Purpose
Sorgiva_Synth_..._RELEASE/	Current runnable source snapshot
Sorgiva_Synth_..._FULL.zip	Complete downloadable bundle with technical history
Sorgiva_Synth_Master_Editoriale_Manuale_Utente_v2_1.pdf	Italian user manual
README.md	Public project overview
CONTRIBUTING.md	Contribution workflow and QA rules
SECURITY.md	Private vulnerability-reporting policy
.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/	Structured tester and contributor reports
.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md	Pull-request quality checklist

Documentation

• Italian user manual — PDF
• Current release README
• Known limits
• Public roadmap
• Current QA report
• Regression-test notes

The manual is currently Italian-first. Public English documentation will be expanded progressively.

Running the smoke tests

From the current release directory:

python3 tests/smoke_static.py

This checks JavaScript syntax, JSON validity, referenced assets, duplicate HTML IDs, factory-preset consistency, MIDI Learn targets and other static invariants.

Optional Chromium browser test:

pip install playwright
python3 tests/smoke_browser.py

These tests do not replace human listening, CPU benchmarking or real-controller testing.

Support Sorgiva Synth

Sorgiva Synth is free and open source. Voluntary contributions help sustain its development in the broadest practical sense: coding and maintenance, research, testing on real browsers and MIDI hardware, documentation, accessibility, project equipment, infrastructure, distribution, communication and the other costs required to keep the instrument alive, independent and publicly available.

A portion of the available resources will also be dedicated to Synth Sospeso, an initiative inspired by the Italian tradition of the caffè sospeso. Although Sorgiva Synth itself is free, some people may still be unable to play it because they lack a basic MIDI controller, an accessible input method, adapters, cables, essential audio equipment or the shipping needed to receive those items. Synth Sospeso is intended to remove these specific practical barriers for users, students, small educational settings or musicians with limited means.

Support Sorgiva Synth through PayPal →

Donors who particularly wish to support the initiative may write SYNTH SOSPESO in the PayPal note. No fixed percentage is promised at this stage, but Synth Sospeso is an explicit part of the funding purpose and its allocations and expenses will be reported separately.

Every expense paid wholly or partly with contributed funds will be recorded and publicly reported, distinguishing broad project-development costs from Synth Sospeso costs, while protecting the personal information of donors and recipients.

Read FUNDING.md for the complete policy and FUNDING_TRANSPARENCY.md for the public reporting format. A contribution does not purchase a licence, product, service, priority support, roadmap control or automatic eligibility for Synth Sospeso assistance.

Contribution principles

Contributions are welcome when they improve stability, musical usefulness, clarity, accessibility or documentation.

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening a pull request. In particular:

• keep changes small and reviewable;
• do not perform broad blind refactors;
• do not alter audio behavior during documentation-only work;
• preserve legacy SynthX import compatibility where required;
• do not reintroduce the retired 290-preset library;
• document all audio, preset, storage and compatibility effects;
• test by ear when the sound engine or presets are involved.

All participation is governed by CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.

Project naming and legacy compatibility

The public project name is Sorgiva Synth.

The historical name SynthX Rebuild may still appear in legacy fields, import formats, storage fallbacks, changelog entries and compatibility aliases. These references must not be replaced blindly.

Forks may use the GPL-licensed code, but must not present modified builds as official Sorgiva Synth releases. See TRADEMARK_NOTICE.md.

Licensing

• Program code and bundled factory-preset data: GNU GPL-3.0-only
• Project documentation: CC BY-SA 4.0, unless a document states otherwise
• Official project name, release line and branding: see TRADEMARK_NOTICE.md

See LICENSE, DOCUMENTATION_LICENSE.md and NOTICE.md.

Contacts and community

For direct contact, informal discussion and community updates:

• Project maintainer on Telegram: @Criptoalt25
• Sorgiva Synth Telegram group: Join the community

The Telegram group is open to users, musicians, sound designers, testers, developers and anyone interested in following or contributing to the project.

You are welcome to:

• share impressions and musical results;
• discuss sound design and possible uses of Sorgiva Synth;
• suggest improvements;
• report initial observations;
• ask for general help;
• meet other users and alpha testers.

For reproducible bugs, compatibility reports and feature proposals, please use the structured GitHub Issue templates so that the information remains public, searchable and useful to the project.

Security vulnerabilities or sensitive technical information must not be posted in the Telegram group or in public GitHub Issues. Please follow the private procedure described in SECURITY.md.

Maintainer

Sorgiva Synth is created and maintained by Giuseppe Tararà (@cripto84).

The project is developed as an open, lightweight and educational instrument: a place where sound can be played, examined, understood and rebuilt.