Audulus logo

welcome to audulus

Audulus is a modular synthesizer visual programming environment built for iPad and Mac.

With Audulus, you can build synthesizers from first principles, design new sounds, or process audio with real-time, low-latency processing suitable for live performance.

iPad overview
Mac overview

Engineering
W. Taylor Holliday
Bas Alphenaar
Mike Lee

Design
W. Taylor Holliday
Hannes Pasqualini / Papernoise

Patch Design
Hannes Pasqualini / Papernoise
Mark Boyd
Jody Golick

Documentation
Mark Boyd


help & support

To get help understanding Audulus or building something, go to the Audulus Discord or the Audulus Forum.

For support-related requests, send us an email.

support at audulus dot com


iPad overview

1. patch browser

patch browser where you create, store, organize, and load Audulus patches.

The iPad patch browser

new patch browser create a new patch or load an example patch.

A blank canvas UI

2. canvas user interface

canvas the blank, black area of an Audulus window where you create patches.

A blank canvas UI

menu bar displays the name of the patch and holds function buttons.

The menu bar, located at the top of the window

patch browser exits to the patch browser

Button to exit to the patch browser that looks like four squares stacked in a square

undo steps backwards through history of the patch.

The undo button, a curved arrow pointing to the left

redo steps forwards through history of the patch.

The redo button, a curved arrow pointing to the right

snap to grid reveals the coordinate grid and makes nodes and modules snap to it.

A hash tag symbol that toggles snap to grid on and off

edit module mode allows you to move UI elements around a module node.

A lock icon button that toggles edit module mode

timing mode shows the percentage of total CPU time each node or module of a patch is using.

A clock icon button that toggles timing mode

more options displays the more options window.

Three stacked icons of horizontal sliders representing options

inspector opens the inspector panel.

The inspector button, located in the upper right of the window

node browser the panel from which you can drag and drop nodes onto the canvas.

The node browser, located in the bottom right of the window

cpu meter tracks the current percentage of your CPU that Audulus is using.

The CPU meter, located in the bottom left of the window

inspector panel context-dependent information and attributes of nodes, modules, and the patch. Also includes options for MIDI Assign and Performance Mode which locks zoom level and permits multitouch.

The inspector panel appears on the right side of the window

elided options when working in windowed mode and the window is too small to display all of the menu items, the elided options button appears in the top right of the window and allows you to access the remaining menu items.

The close module browser button, located on top right of the menu bar


3. module browser user interface

module browser screen from which you can add modules and submodules from either the default library or your own user library.

The module browser appears over the canvas

default library tab displays the default module library.

The default library tab, located on the left of the menu bar

user library tab displays the user module library.

The user library tab, located on the left of the menu bar

search bar allows you to search for modules by name.

The search bar, located in the center of the menu bar

tag menu allows you to filter modules by tags.

The tag menu, located on the right side of the menu bar


4. more options window

more options window holds several preferences, help info, and patch description and tags.

The more options window

Node Labels turns node and module labels on or off.

A toggle switch for node labels

Inspector Position changes where the inspector panel appears: on the right or on top of the screen.

Toggle button that displays inspector on right or top

Background Audio when turned on, Audulus will keep running even when in the background.

Toggle switch for background audio

MIDI Output Device select which connected MIDI output device to use.

Toggle button that displays inspector on right or top

Target Frame Rate select between a target frame rate of 30, 60, or 120Hz. Faster frame rates look smoother but use more power. Target frame rate means if you have a very CPU-intensive patch, the refresh rate may slow below the target to prioritize audio playback. You must close and reopen the patch for changes to take effect.

Three option toggle to set the target frame rate to 30, 60, or 120Hz

Forum a link to the Audulus forum that opens up in an external browser.

Button with a speech bubble icon with the word Forum

Documentation a link to the Audulus documentation that opens up in an external browser.

Button with a text-on-paper icon with the word Documentation

Patch Description a field where you can enter a text description of your patch.

An empty text box with Patch Description written above

Patch Tags a field where you can enter a tags for your patch.

An empty text box with Patch Tags written above


Mac overview

1. canvas user interface

canvas the blank, black area of an Audulus window where you create patches.

A blank canvas UI

menu bar displays the name of the patch and holds function buttons

The menu bar, located at the top of the window

patch name the name of your patch

The patch name, located in the upper left of the window

midi assign mode used to pair knob, slider, and trigger nodes with external MIDI devices.

MIDI assign mode button, located in the upper right of the window

edit module mode allows you to move UI elements around a module node.

Edit module mode button, located in the upper right of the window

timing mode shows the percentage of total CPU time each node or module of a patch is using.

Timing mode button, located in the upper right of the window

mute starts and stops patch processing.

Mute button, located in the upper right of the window

add module opens the module browser.

The add module button, located in the upper right of the window

inspector opens the inspector panel.

The inspector button, located in the upper right of the window

node browser the panel from which you can drag and drop nodes onto the canvas.

The node browser, located in the bottom right of the window

right click node browser right click opens an alternate version of the node browser

The inspector panel appears on the right side of the window

cpu meter tracks the current percentage of your CPU that Audulus is using.

The CPU meter, located in the bottom left of the window

inspector panel context-dependent information and attributes of nodes, modules, and the patch.

The inspector panel appears on the right side of the window

elided options when working in windowed mode and the window is too small to display all of the menu items, the elided options button appears in the top right of the window and allows you to access the remaining menu items.

The close module browser button, located on top right of the menu bar


2. module browser user interface

module browser screen from which you can add modules and submodules from either the default library or your own user library.

The module browser appears over the canvas

default library tab displays the default module library.

The default library tab, located in the center of the menu bar

user library tab displays the user module library.

The user library tab, located in the center of the menu bar

search bar allows you to search for modules by name.

The search bar, located in the center of the menu bar

tag menu allows you to filter modules by tags.

The tag menu, located on the right side of the menu bar

close module browser closes the module browser.

The close module browser button, located on top right of the menu bar


3. menu options and preferences

This section describes the Mac system menu bar for Audulus. Only Audulus-specific menu options are mentioned.

Audulus 4
- About Audulus 4 credits and current version of the application.
- Open Modules Folder opens the folder where you can place modules that will appear in your user library.
- Preferences... opens the Preferences window.

File
- Revert To > useful function to return your patch to a previous state.

Edit
- Add Module ⌘ ⏎ opens the module browser.
- Group ⌘ G groups selected nodes into a module.
- Send to Back ^ ⌥ ⌘ ▾ when nodes are stacked on one another, this will send the top node behind all the others.
- Snap to Grid ⌘ ' reveals the coordinate grid and makes nodes and modules snap to it.
- Edit Modules ⌘ E toggles edit module mode.

View
- Exit Module ⌘ ⎋ exits the current module node.
- Zoom to Fit ⌘ F frames the screen with everything on the canvas.
- Actual Size ⌘ 0 resets zoom level.
- Zoom In ⌘ + zooms in by increments.
- Zoom Out ⌘ - zooms out by increments.
- Show Inspector ⌘ ; toggles inspector panel.

Help
- Search search through the documentation.
- Audulus Documentation opens documentation in a web browser.
- Audulus Forum opens the Audulus forum in a web browser.

Preferences Window
- MIDI Output Device select which connected MIDI output device to use.
- Audio Device select which input/output audio device to use.
- Audio Buffer Size select the buffer sample size - lower buffer size will feel more responsive but use more CPU time, and higher buffer will feel less responsive but take less CPU time.