MONAKAI DEVICE STUDIO
Every interactive device from the Sound School lessons, together in one place. Power on, experiment, and compare.
How to use this studio
Each device below is a self-contained playground. They share the same audio engine, so you can power on one synth, switch to an effects rack, and hear the results without leaving the page. Use headphones and keep your system volume moderate.
Tone Generator & Graphic EQ
Everything you hear is made of frequencies. Understanding where sounds live on the frequency spectrum is what turns random knob-twisting into intentional mixing.
Human hearing generally spans from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz (20 kHz). As we age, the top end shrinks, but the fundamentals of mixing stay the same.
Sub bass sits below 60 Hz — that is the trunk-rattling “BOOM.” We do not hear much below 20 Hz, but a good subwoofer lets you feel it. Earthquakes rumble around 5–10 Hz, and those low sub frequencies are why movie theaters give you that sense of impending doom.
Male voices usually fall between about 85 Hz and 180 Hz. Female voices typically sit from 165 Hz up to around 1,050 Hz. So if you want to bring a female vocal down in a mix, you know to focus your EQ roughly in that 165 Hz – 1.05 kHz window.
Vocal ranges: Bass ~60–250 Hz, Baritone ~110–245 Hz, Tenor ~130–440 Hz, Alto ~175–700 Hz, Soprano ~260–1,100 Hz. These ranges overlap, but they give you a starting point.
Bright, annoying sounds often live between 2 kHz and 5 kHz. If something hurts your ears, start high and sweep down until you find the problem, then cut a little.
“The better you understand frequency, the easier it is to apply EQ with intent and get the results you are going for.” — Monakai
Frequency Guidelines
Low / Sub — Below 60 Hz: rumble, sub-bass, kick thump.
Low-Mids — 60–250 Hz: warmth, body, bass guitar, male vocal fundamentals.
Mids — 250 Hz – 2 kHz: presence, vocal body, snare, guitars.
High-Mids — 2 kHz – 5 kHz: clarity, intelligibility, “brightness,” potential harshness.
Highs / Air — 5 kHz – 20 kHz: sparkle, cymbals, breath, detail.
Mixing & Mastering Frequency Tips
The annoying range usually falls between 2 kHz and 5 kHz. When you are mixing or mastering a track, you can usually cut or substantially lower the extremely high frequencies above 10 kHz — and definitely anything above 15 kHz. By lowering unnecessary or unwanted frequencies, you leave more room to boost the perceived volume of the track, focusing on the frequencies you actually want to be heard.
The same goes for sub frequencies. As beginners, we all make the mistake of cranking up the low end to make a track boom. But in doing so, we often turn up unheard low frequencies that cause the track to peak and distort the output — making the overall track sound less loud and doing the exact opposite of what we were trying to achieve. Try it for yourself on your next project.
“Remembering these tips and guidelines will take your mix to the next level instantly.” — Monakai
The tone generator feeds the graphic EQ. The visualizer shows what is happening across the frequency spectrum in real time. Boost a band to push that frequency range; cut to reduce it.
ADSR Envelope
An envelope shapes how a sound evolves over time. Every synth, sampler, and effect uses one. Grab the controls below, press a key, and listen to how Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release sculpt the sound.
Click keys or use computer keys A S D F G H J K L ; ' (C4 to B4).
What each knob does
Attack — how quickly the sound rises from silence to full level. Turn it up for swells and pads; keep it short for drums and plucks.
Decay — how quickly the sound falls from its peak to the sustain level. Short decay sounds like a percussion hit; longer decay feels more like a bowed string.
Sustain — the level the sound holds while you hold a key. Set it low for stabs, high for organs and pads.
Release — how long the sound lingers after you let go. Long release creates smooth tails and reverb-like decays; short release chops the sound off instantly.
Waveform
The waveform is the raw shape of the sound wave. It determines the harmonic content and brightness before the envelope even starts. Sine is pure and smooth; triangle is soft but brighter; square is hollow and buzzy; sawtooth is bright and aggressive.
Space & Movement Effects
Both reverb and echo add space, but they do it differently. Reverb is thousands of tiny reflections blending into a smooth tail. Echo (delay) is a clear, repeating copy of the sound. Use them together to build depth and rhythm.
Reverb vs Echo
Reverb puts the sound in a room. It adds a dense, continuous wash that makes sources feel close or far, small or huge. Use it to glue elements together or push sounds back in the mix.
Echo repeats the sound verbatim. Each repeat is a distinct copy, creating rhythm and space. Short delays thicken a sound; long delays become a rhythmic part.
Together, reverb gives the "room" and echo gives the "bounce." Try a short echo with a long reverb — the repeats get swallowed into the tail, creating a haunting, evolving texture.
Sample-Rate Explorer
Select a sample rate and watch how many dots are used to trace the wave. More dots = higher resolution. Toggle "Show Reconstructed Wave" to see the staircase the DAC would rebuild.
What happens when you slow it down?
When a digital clip is slowed down, the time between each sample becomes longer. At 44.1 kHz those gaps grow quickly, so the DAC has to guess across big stretches and the result can sound choppy or metallic. At 192 kHz the same stretch leaves four times as many sample points, so the wave stays smooth much longer. That is why higher sample rates are preferred for sound design, time-stretching, and heavy processing.
FX Rack
Effects can be wired in series (one after another) or parallel (split into separate branches and mixed back together). Toggle routing, bypass individual effects, and hear how the signal flow changes.
Signal Lab
Adjust input and output gain around a simulated compressor/EQ. Watch the meters and listen for clipping.
Distort Lab
Drive a saw wave through different distortion types. Notice how harmonics change the tone.
Gain vs Volume
Adjust the Gain knob (input level) and the Volume fader (output level). Notice how gain drives the simulated compressor while volume only changes loudness.
Moog Lab
Below is a working Moog-style synthesizer. The knobs mirror the sections you just read. Flip the schematic switches to reroute the LFO and see the active signal path glow.
Oscillators
Filter
Envelope
LFO & Glide
Master
Click keys or use keyboard row A–K to play. Sharps are W, E, T, Y, U.
Interactive Signal Schematic
Flip the switches to reroute modulation. Active routes glow. The colored lines match the key below.