Welcome to One Volt Per Octave

About This Site

This site collects a small set of writing and frameworks about synthesizers, music technology, and creative practice. It grew out of my own experience as a composer and long-time synthesizer enthusiast, and from years of listening to the same questions and debates surface again and again in the community.

Rather than offering buying advice or strong opinions about what tools are “best,” the goal here is simpler: to provide shared language and thinking tools that help people make more intentional, less frustrating choices about the instruments they use and the way they use them.

If you enjoy synthesizers but sometimes find the surrounding discourse confusing, repetitive, or emotionally charged, you may find something here that helps you clarify your own perspective—even if you disagree with parts of it.

Where to Start

• Manifesto for Critical Thinking in Synthesizer Culture (CC0)
  A short statement of values and habits of mind for thoughtful, independent music-making.
• Synthesizers, Engagement, and the Myth of GAS (CC BY 4.0)
  An essay exploring how tools shape creative engagement, and why responsibility and intent matter more than moralized rules about gear.
• Intentional Synth Evaluation Framework (CC BY 4.0)
  A one-page framework for comparing instruments and music technology in terms of function, engagement, and constraint. Available as HTML and PDF.
• AI Synthesizer Analysis Tool @ Perplexity.ai (Experimental)
  A tool designed to use the Synth Evaluation Framework for comparison and analysis of synths in a low-hype/standardized fashion. Give it a try!