Eidolon is a hybrid software synthesizer, built across a ten-week independent learning contract as a cross-platform audio plugin. It folds three synthesis architectures, subtractive, additive, and wavetable, into one instrument, with a built-in effects section and an integration path to a cross-DAW automation engine. This site collects the weekly reports, each documenting one stage of the build, alongside a standing disclosure of the tools used.
The instrument
The work translates hands-on experience with hardware modular systems, Eurorack and the Buchla 200 series, into real-time C++ on the JUCE framework. The signal path runs from the three-mode oscillator section through filters, envelopes, and modulation into an effects chain, and the whole instrument ships in the VST3, AU, and CLAP plugin formats. Each week below builds one layer of that path and reports the milestone that proves it works.
The ten weeks
- Week 1Environment Setup
- Week 2Subtractive Oscillator
- Week 3Additive Oscillator
- Week 4Wavetable Oscillator
- Week 5Modulation and Filter
- Week 6Effects Section
- Week 7Plugin GUI
- Week 8CLAP Study
- Week 9DAW Integration
- Week 10Polish and Acceptance
Tooling
The development tools used in this contract, and the verification discipline under which they are used, are disclosed in the Tooling Disclosure, which applies to the whole project and is linked from every page.