Curves & Membranes - Software Bézier Monosynth w. Orbital Modulators & Membrane Filter

video uploads by Unusable Engineering

Note this is the first post to feature Unusable Engineering. You'll find additional plugins by them below.

Playlist:

1. Curves & Membranes - Software Bézier Monosynth w. Orbital Modulators & Membrane Filter - Walk Through
2. Curves & Membranes - Sound Demo and Patch Ideas - No Talking
3. Curves & Membranes | Synthesizer Patch Creation & Sound Design Walkthrough
4. Curves & Membranes v1.1.0 | New Features and Sound Examples
5. Curves & Membranes Filter Walkthrough | Understanding the Membranes
6. Unusable Engineering Jam | Curves & Membranes in a Different Context
7. Unusable Engineering Update | Curves & Membranes Features and Grain Discharge
8. Unusable Engineering Breakfast Jam | Curves & Membranes + Full Bundle

"Curves & Membranes is a focused mono synth built around a shapeable Bézier oscillator, two visual modulation systems, and a membrane-based filter. In this full walkthrough I go through the core ideas behind the instrument, how the oscillator works, how the preset morphing and orbital modulators create movement, and how the membrane filter shapes the sound.

The goal with Curves & Membranes was not to make a do-everything synth, but to build something more specific: a synth where sound, shape, and motion are tightly connected, and where the structure stays easy to understand while still allowing a lot of character and timbral movement.


More info: https://www.unusable.net/"

And a playlist of addtional plug-ins by Unusable Engineering:



Playlist:

1. Synaptic Resonance | Neural Vocoder Walkthrough

Synaptic Resonance is a neural vocoder-style effect where incoming audio, or an optional sidechain, excites a two-dimensional neural simulation. That simulation is then read back somewhere else and used to animate a bank of forty steep resonant band-pass filters.

In this walkthrough I go through the basic idea behind the plugin, show how the Stim Plane and Read Plane shape the behavior, and explain how the neural controls affect the way the model reacts, spreads, remembers, recovers, and settles.

The core idea is fairly simple: the input excites the model, and the output is affected by reading the model. That is what gives the plugin its character. It can behave like a vocoder, a resonant filter instrument, or something more unstable and alive depending on how it is set up.

2. Synaptic Resonance | No-Talking Sound Demo & Patch Notes

This one moves through a range of different source sounds and patch ideas, including both standard use where the same signal excites and is filtered by the plugin, and sidechain setups for more vocoder-style behavior. The idea is to show some of the more unusual features in a more practical way, through sound and patch examples rather than spoken explanation.

3. Grain Discharge | Cavitation-Driven Granular Effect Walkthrough

Grain Discharge is a granular effect where incoming audio excites a cavitation simulation, and that simulation drives the grain behavior.

In this walkthrough I go through the main ideas behind the plugin, explain how the controls shape the response, and show how it moves between more reactive rhythmic sprays, fuller grain clouds, and smeared, more atmospheric textures.

A big part of the idea is that Grain Discharge is input-reactive without feeling rigid. The source still matters, but the simulation does not respond in exactly the same micro-pattern every pass, so you get recurring character without exact repetition. That controlled unpredictability is a big part of what gives it a musical feel.

The video also covers how controls like Input Gain, Mix, Speed, Burst, Density, Friction, Size, Fade In, Linger, Pitch, Detune, Modulation, and Tone affect the sound, and how the visual system reflects what the engine is doing in real time.

4. Grain Discharge | Practical Sound Examples - No Talking

This video focuses less on a control-by-control walkthrough and more on how the plugin behaves on different inputs, including electronic and acoustic, hardware and software sources. Some examples push it into a more obvious, in-your-face granular texture, while others keep it softer, more blended, and more textural.

The idea is to show a broader side of the plugin: not just what it is, but how it can sit differently depending on source material, settings, and context.

5. Spectral Pressure Chamber - Thermodynamic Simulation Multiband Dynamics Plugin - Walk Through

Spectral Pressure Chamber is a dynamics plugin built around a thermodynamic simulation rather than a conventional compressor model. Instead of reacting through a standard envelope, it treats incoming audio as energy moving through a system of three chambers on a membrane, which leads to a very different kind of dynamics behavior.

In this video I go through the core idea behind the plugin and show how the different controls shape the response, from more compression-like behavior to added saturation, transient emphasis, presence, and more unusual spectral movement. The chambers can be adjusted for leakage, size, initial pressure, pressure sensitivity, and entropy, while the incoming energy bands and output shifts can be tuned across the frequency spectrum.

Because there are a lot of interacting controls, the plugin also includes randomization with slew, making it easy to explore a wide range of behaviors or slowly move between states over time.

I tend to like it most on basslines, beats, and other rhythmic material where it can add punch, aggression, and character without collapsing into a more generic dynamics sound.

6. Entropy Encoder - Psychoacoustic Codec Emulation Plugin - Walk Through

Entropy Encoder is a realtime effect inspired by the artifacts of low-bitrate MP3 compression. Rather than doing literal encoding, it estimates different compression-like artifacts in realtime and lets you shape them directly.

In this video I go through the main idea behind the plugin and show how it can be used to add aliasing, breakup, smearing, sparkle, and shifting digital textures to a sound. It is not just a simple bitrate effect. The controls are more detailed and meant for exploring the smaller, stranger parts of bad digital compression that can actually be musically useful.

Because there are a lot of interacting parameters, randomization is a big part of the workflow. The randomization can be triggered manually or synced to host clock so the artifacts keep changing over time, and the bitrate simulation itself can be locked if you want movement without too much change in the overall distortion character.

I usually find it more useful earlier in an effect chain than at the very end, where those artifacts can then be pushed further by filters, modulation, and other processors.

7. Tension Reactor - Physical Modeled and Circuit Modeled Spring Reverb Plugin - Walk Through

Tension Reactor is a spring reverb plugin built around physical modeling of a three-spring tank combined with circuit modeling of a distinctive 1970s driver and recovery stage.

In this video I go through the basic idea behind the plugin and show how the controls shape the sound, from tighter and clearer spring behavior to denser, blurrier, and more diffuse textures. The goal was to keep the feel of a focused spring reverb, while adding a few extra controls that make sense in software.

Two of the key controls are Decay and Dispersion. Decay changes how long the spring model rings out, while Dispersion controls how closely the springs move together.

The rest of the controls are more familiar: Tone for brightness, Drive for how hard the springs and circuit are hit, and Dry/Wet for balance.

8. Ensemble Diffuser - Circuit Modeled Dual Modulation (ensemble&phaser) Effect Plugin - Walk Through

Ensemble Diffuser is a modulation plugin that combines a three-voice ensemble chorus/vibrato with an eight-stage phaser, based on two 1970s hardware effects that I use a lot in the studio.

In this video I go through the basic idea behind the plugin and show how the ensemble and phaser can be used on their own or together, either in series or in parallel. The goal was not just to recreate two classic effects, but to make them easy to use in a modern workflow while keeping the character and movement that make those older circuits interesting.

The ensemble is great for adding width, depth, and motion, while the phaser adds a second layer of movement that can stay rich without getting too messy. Each section also has its own randomize function for quickly exploring new settings.

9. Harmonic Dissector - Circuit Modeled Dual Resonant Multi-mode Filter Plugin - Walk Through

Harmonic Dissector is a dual multi-mode filter plugin based on one of the more unusual modular filter designs from the early 1970s. It combines two characterful filter sections with shared modulation, drive, panning, and sidechain control, and is designed as much for color and movement as for filtering.

In this video I go through the main controls and show how the two filters interact, how the shared LFO modulation works, and how the vactrol-style behavior changes the response. The plugin can be used for sweeping filter motion, but it is often more interesting as a character processor for adding overdrive, width, and animated tone shaping.

The internal modulation can run as sine, triangle, or sample-and-hold random, with optional host sync, and the two filters move in opposite directions for a built-in sense of interaction. There is also sidechain modulation of filter frequency, which keeps the vactrol-like behavior as part of the sound.

10. Frequency Guillotine - 16 band Software Filterbank with wild randomization options - Walk Through

Frequency Guillotine is a 16-band filter bank plugin built around steep band-pass filters, per-band boost and panning, feedback, input drive, and output control.

In this video I go through the idea behind the plugin and show how it can be used to add resonant body, soft-clipped overdrive, stereo width, and evolving filter movement to different kinds of material.

The main concept is deliberately focused. Rather than trying to cover every filter task, Frequency Guillotine concentrates on the parts of a filter bank that I find most useful: shaping tone, spreading sound in stereo, and creating movement across the bands.

Because it is built in software, it also adds functions that would be much less practical in hardware, especially full randomization and slew. With 16 filter bands and 16 pan controls, randomization makes it easy to explore new states quickly, and slew lets the whole bank morph gradually over time. The random movement can also sync to host clock for more rhythmic behavior.

The plugin can also be used as a vocoder through the sidechain input, not so much for clean robot vocals as for injecting rhythm and motion into sustained sounds.

11. Cavitation Fractures - Fluid Dynamics based distortion and FSU effect - Walk Through

Cavitation Fractures is a distortion plugin driven by fluid-motion-inspired behavior and simulation. It is built for unstable, fractured, noisy textures rather than polished or conventional saturation.

In this video I go through what the plugin does and show how the different controls affect the behavior, from brighter and more broken textures to rougher, more frequency-following and transient-driven sounds. It tends to work best on material with some movement or attack, where the effect can react and become more alive.

This is a very niche plugin, and intentionally so. Most of what it does is too strange to be broadly useful, but at lower mix levels or inside a larger effect chain it can add a lot of dirt, motion, and character to otherwise clean sounds.

12. Unusable Engineering Jam | Experimental Digital Synth and FX Suite

This jam is built almost entirely with the Unusable Engineering plugin suite.

All sound sources come from the unique Curves & Membranes mono synthesizer, used here for the bass drum, snare / hit, hi-hat, bass drone, and lead, then shaped into different roles with the rest of the Unusable Engineering effects.

Bass drum: Spectral Pressure Chamber adds dynamic punch
Snare / hit: Cavitation Fractures adds distortion and granular noise
Hi-hat: Harmonic Dissector adds audio-rate FM-style band-pass movement in the high frequencies
Drum bus: Entropy Encoder adds codec-style decay with synced randomization
Lead: a simple Curves & Membranes patch with slow waveform motion and a touch of vibrato
Bass drone: a more advanced clock-synced Curves & Membranes patch, processed with Frequency Guillotine for synced randomization across all bands before going into a standard hall reverb

So while this is built from a single synth at the source, the full Unusable Engineering chain is doing a lot of the final shaping, movement, and character.