Press kit
Everything below may be quoted, cropped, screenshotted and republished freely. For interviews, review keys, exclusive patches or anything else: hrvst@soundsofibiza.co.uk — replies are fast, it's one person.
The one-liner
Resonode is a free, node-based modular synthesizer for macOS, Windows and Linux — a hardware-style rack on a freeform canvas where any output can patch into any input — released the way great software used to travel: pass it around freely, and if it earns a place in your workflow, register it once for $39.
Fact sheet
| Product | Resonode — node-based modular synthesizer (standalone app + AU/VST3 plugin instrument) |
|---|---|
| Version | v1.0 beta, July 2026 |
| Platforms | macOS 10.13+ (Intel) / 11+ (Apple Silicon, universal binary), Windows 10/11 x64, Linux (AppImage) |
| Plugin formats | Audio Unit (macOS) and VST3 (macOS/Windows), in the same free download — the full canvas runs inside the plugin window; state saves with the DAW project; the AU passes auval |
| Price | Free to download and use, in full. $39 one-time registration (launch price, ends at v1.1). No subscription, no Pro tier. |
| Licence | Shareware — redistribution of the unregistered app is explicitly encouraged |
| Modules | 99, across Sources, Drums, Filter & Amp, Modulation, Sequencer, Utility, Effects and I/O |
| Signal model | No separate CV cable type — control is audio-rate signal; pitch CV in octaves (1V/oct style); cables sum like stacked patch cables |
| Notable features | Runs standalone or inside any AU/VST3 host, with DAW transport sync and MIDI in both directions (MIDI Out modules can sequence other plugins and hardware); Performance View (full-window stage mode with big knobs for every mapped parameter); patch sharing as plain text (copy a whole patch to the clipboard, paste it in a forum post); live cable probes (hover a cable to see its value and waveform); Trig Seq with per-step probability, ratchets and polymeter; Scene A/B knob morphing; 24-bit WAV recording and faster-than-realtime offline export; Sampler and Granular; MIDI Learn on every knob; MIDI clock in/out plus a MIDI Out module for driving hardware synths from CV; autosave and crash recovery; reusable "Devices"; themes modelled on the TR-808, TR-909, TB-303, Minimoog, Prophet-5 and MS-20, plus four accessibility presets |
| Engine | JUCE 8, C++17; light on CPU |
| Developer | Jay Hill, independent developer; produces electronic dance music as HRVST. Published by Slabbed Out Digital LLC (Texas, US) |
| Links | resonode.io · download · register |
Story hooks
A full-featured instrument released as honest-to-goodness shareware — free, complete, and explicitly licensed to be copied to friends — in the subscription era. The nag screen is the monetisation strategy, and it's written to charm.
Themes modelled on the TR-808, TB-303 and MS-20 meet a distribution model from the Winamp era. A synth that looks like 1983 and distributes like 1994 isn't nostalgia — it's a worldview.
No separate CV type: any output drives any input, so a kick drum can clock a sample-and-hold and an oscillator can FM another. Friendlier than VCV Rack — every module describes itself in plain language before you add it — and more open-ended than any fixed-architecture free synth.
One person built 99 modules, the engine, the UI and the business model: the producer known as HRVST, whose presets and sample packs an audience already uses, now shipping the instrument to play them through.
Most modular tools in a DAW are either hosted islands or thin remote controls. Resonode's AU/VST3 opens the complete instrument — canvas, patch browser, Performance View — in the plugin window, and a patch file moves freely between the app and a DAW session.
A whole patch — modules, knobs, cables, sequences — copies to the clipboard as a compact text blob and pastes back on any machine. Patch trading in forum threads and Discord chats, no upload service involved: the sharing model applied to the music itself.
Boilerplate
Resonode is a node-based modular synthesizer for macOS, Windows and Linux by Slabbed Out Digital LLC, the company of Texas-based independent developer Jay Hill, who produces electronic dance music as HRVST. It ships 99 modules — oscillators, drum voices, filters, sequencers, effects and utilities — on a freeform patching canvas governed by one rule: control is just signal, so any output can drive any input. It is deliberately approachable — every module is compact and describes itself in plain language — while its workflows run deep in both directions: generative sequencing (Turing, Euclid, Bernoulli, per-step probability) and sample-based production (Sampler, Granular, Looper). It runs standalone or as an AU/VST3 plugin instrument inside any major DAW; patches can be performed live in a dedicated Performance View and shared as plain text. Resonode is distributed as shareware: the complete application is free to download, use and share, and a one-time $39 registration personalises it to its owner. It is available at resonode.io.
Assets
Full-resolution app screenshots, free to publish:
Generative patch · Add menu · Drum patch
Shots in the classic-gear themes or a 60-second demo video: email hrvst@soundsofibiza.co.uk and they're yours within the day.
