A downloadable synth for Windows, macOS, and Linux

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8-bit Analog

RP-8 is a synthesizer and groovebox inspired by Propellerhead Software's classic soft synth, ReBirth RB-338. It has everything you need to make entire tracks: two paraphonic synthesizers, a drum machine, a pile of effects to process your sound, and an integrated song mode sequencer to pull everything together. The audio is lo-fi, 8 bits at 5.5kHz, giving the output a distinctively crunchy sound.

If you're nostalgic for the early era of soft synths, a fan of minimalist computing, an acid squelch connoisseur, or just someone who likes to discover new sounds: I made RP-8 for you.

NOTE: RP-8 requires a mouse and will not work well (or possibly at all) on handheld devices. You can try the first beta version on your handheld instead - it's missing many features, but allows for d-pad navigation and using the two buttons to manipulate controls.

Features

  • Two 2-voice paraphonic synths with squelchy lowpass filters
  • A 6-track drum machine with two sound modes per track
  • Tons of effects:  delay, compressor, assignable filter, and 3 overdrive units
  • Online manual with tutorial plus integrated hotkey reference and tooltips
  • Save your songs and export to .WAV
  • The best sound you can get in 8-bit 5512.5 Hz mono

Known Issues

  • Occasional sound dropouts on M1 and M2 Macs, especially when running in the background. This appears to be a PICO-8 issue.
  • Rarely, when re-enabling sequencing on a synth, a slide may not trigger correctly or a non-slide note may be played as a slide.
StatusReleased
CategoryTool
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(3 total ratings)
Authorluchak
Made withPICO-8
Tagsacid, Audio, Music, Music Production, PICO-8, synth
Average sessionAbout a half-hour
LanguagesEnglish
InputsMouse
LinksUser Guide, Twitter, Lexaloffle BBS, Discord, Mastodon

Download

Download NowName your own price

Click download now to get access to the following files:

RP-8 (Windows) 1 MB
Version 1.1.2
RP-8 (MacOS) 3 MB
Version 1.1.2
RP-8 (Linux x64) 779 kB
Version 1.1.2
RP-8 (Linux arm64/Raspberry Pi) 2 MB
Version 1.1.2
RP-8 (PICO-8 cart) 33 kB
Version 1.1.2
User Guide 713 kB
Version 1.1.1
Demo Song File 41 kB

Development log

Comments

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(+1)

So good.  Amazing work.

(+1)

This is super cool!! Very impressive.

I wonder if it would be possible to sync to midi somehow >_> would be great use of a raspberry pi in a dawless setup!

Interesting! Pico-8 will talk to the RPi GPIO pins so something might be possible there ... I'm kinda short on tokens but something basic may not be too hard to write if I can get a Pi set up appropriately for testing.

This is really nice!  Two requests - the capability to turn the lo-fi on/off and the capability to have this pop up as a regular-sized app window (I'm on a Mac and don't want this to be full-screen to start).  It is really nice to hear the Rebirth sound again!  If not able to turn off the lo-fi effect, maybe could we have it at 12-bit, 22050 for a more 'cassette' sound?

(1 edit) (+2)

I wish I could make it less lo-fi! Unfortunately that’s a PICO-8 limitation. But I might work on a higher fidelity successor for a different platform in the future - no promises though. :)


I’ll see about turning off the full screen start!

Understood!  It's a great little app :)