Preview Playable in your browser now. The plugin for macOS comes with its first release.
Wavelength Retro
Game console sound chips and 80s synths in one instrument: the NES, Game Boy, C64 and Genesis as the hardware played them, and the same sounds polished for a modern track with one knob.
76 presets, 295 parameters, every one automatable.
This is the real plugin, running in your browser.
The same C++ engine and the same editor as the plugin, compiled to WebAssembly. Pick a preset in the top bar, press Play loop to hear it over a pattern made for its category, and turn Era to take it from the hardware to modern. Your computer keyboard plays notes (A to ' from C3, Z and X for the octave), a MIDI keyboard works in Chrome, Edge and Firefox, and Download preset saves the sound for the plugin.
Sound starts with your first click or key press. It's made for a laptop or desktop; on a phone the editor is tiny.
The chips, then and now.
The chips as they sounded
The NES pulse, triangle and noise, the Game Boy's pulse and wave channel, the C64 SID's waves and combined waves, and the AY's square and buzzer. Each plays through its chip's own pitch steps, volume steps and output filters.
Era: from 1985 to now
One knob takes a sound from the hardware to a polished modern version: exact pitch, smooth volume, then doubling, width, a sub, space, glue and air. It's level-matched, so the sweep doesn't jump in loudness.
4-operator FM
The Genesis chip's eight algorithms with operator feedback, the AdLib's waves and an envelope per operator: slap basses, electric pianos, bells and brass.
80s synth filters
A ladder, a Juno-style low-pass, an SEM-style state-variable (low, band, high-pass and notch), MS-20-style low and high-pass, the SID's filter and a Vowel filter.
A tracker inside
Pitch, shape and level steps at a frame rate or a tempo division make one-key chord arps, chip drums and the coin sound. The chip arp moves one note through the chord without restarting it.
Effects of the era
Lo-fi bits and sample rate, tape wow and hiss, gated reverb, a Juno-style chorus and a string machine's ensemble, with distortion, phaser, delay, a hall, EQ, pump and a limiter.
76 presets, from 8-bit to synthwave.
Lead 16
- NES Square Lead
- NES Thin Lead
- NES Echo Lead
- GB Pulse Lead
- GB Wave Lead
- C64 Hubbard Lead
- C64 Sync Lead
- C64 Combo Lead
- AY Square Lead
- Genesis Lead
- AdLib Lead
- Mini Lead
- Sync Lead
- MS Screamer
- Neon Pulse Lead
- Outrun Lead
Bass 12
- NES Triangle Bass
- NES Pulse Bass
- GB Wave Bass
- C64 Filter Bass
- AY Buzz Bass
- Genesis Slap Bass
- DX Lately Bass
- Juno Bass
- Mini Bass
- Night Drive Bass
- Darksynth Bass
- Neon Chip Bass
Pad 12
- Juno Strings
- Juno Pad
- Jupiter Pad
- OB Pad
- Solina Strings
- CS Vangelis Pad
- C64 Sweep Pad
- DX Glass Pad
- Cassette Choir
- Bit Pad
- Sunset Pad
- Vapor Pad
Keys 5
- DX Tine EP
- DX Bells
- AdLib Organ
- GB Pocket Piano
- Vapor EP
Brass 5
- OB Jump Brass
- Jupiter Brass
- CS Blade Brass
- Genesis Brass
- Stadium Brass
Pluck 5
- NES Pluck
- C64 Pluck
- Juno Pluck
- FM Kalimba
- Neon Pluck
Arp 6
- NES Chord Arp
- C64 Arp
- GB Arp
- AY Chord Arp
- Midnight Arp
- Neon Arp
Drums 9
- NES Kick
- NES Snare
- NES Hat
- C64 Snare
- Analog Kick
- Simmons Tom
- Gated Snare
- Analog Clap
- 808 Cowbell
FX 6
- NES Coin
- NES Jump
- NES Power Up
- Arcade Laser
- NES Explosion
- Neon Riser