Context
Most software synths assume a desktop, a license, and a manual. C-QNC is a bet that a capable instrument can live at a URL — open a tab, make a beat, share a link. It began as a side project to learn the Web Audio API properly and became a real instrument.
The hard part of a synth isn't the sound engine. It's the interface — dozens of interacting parameters per voice, all needing to be tweakable in the moment without burying the musician in menus.
Approach
I built it as a single dark surface where everything that matters is one move away. Three tracks — an acid lead, a sub bass, a 909-style kick — each with its own waveform, ADSR, arpeggiator, and a row of macro sends. A shared rack handles distortion, delay, and reverb with character modes instead of endless knobs.
Color does the wayfinding. Each track owns a hue that carries through its sequencer lane and its LFO, so a glance tells you what you're editing. The five-LFO modulation matrix lives in its own view, keeping the main surface calm.
Outcome
C-QNC runs in any modern browser at ninety BPM out of the box, with swing, per-track modulation, and master effects — no install, no account. It's the side project that taught me the most: that a serious creative tool can be weightless to reach.