KVR Audio

morphex · Post by **morphex** » Wed May 06, 2026 1:09 am

Unusable Engineering at www.unusable.net has released an absolutely fascinating monosynth called Curves & Membranes. I really like the expressive nature of this synth. To me, the fluid motion from the bezier curves, gives it a slightly organic vibe that sounds really nice.

I normally like using fairly complex synths, but there's also something to be said for one that's more focused and immediate. And that's where C & M really shines. There's obviously a lot happening under the hood. So I appreciate the developer keeping the synth focused, and in the sweet spot. It allows my creativity to flow smoothly, and without having to navigate sub-menu after sub-menu.

The UI is easy for me to understand, so programming feels much more intentional and natural. Much respect to the developer on their site and new line of plugins. I especially like their overall design philosophy, and you can tell that the user experience is an important factor in their designs. "No subscriptions. Fair prices. AU/VST3 macOS."

Unfortunately, their software is Mac-only for the time being. I'm sure they'll get plenty of requests for other platforms, because they have some slick effects too. Curves & Membranes is 59 euros, or available in one of their bundles. Here's a video demo without any narration:

simmo75 · Post by **simmo75** » Wed May 06, 2026 2:03 am

Unusable Engineering… Lets hope it’s usable…

noahrbc · Post by **noahrbc** » Wed May 06, 2026 5:39 am

Looks awesome, about to give it a go

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Wed May 06, 2026 5:48 am

No demo? Did you see that the bundles only cost a little more than the synth by itself?

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Wed May 06, 2026 11:59 am

Btw, contacted the developer and there should be a Windows version following later but no ETA as of yet.

Download SOphist · Post by **Download SOphist** » Wed May 06, 2026 1:04 pm

Uncle E wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 5:48 am No demo? Did you see that the bundles only cost a little more than the synth by itself?

The effects seem pretty neat, but yeah, no demo is a strange move these days (IMHO) - would love to try these out

unusable · Post by **unusable** » Thu May 07, 2026 11:36 am

Hi Guys.

First of all, thanks for the nice words!

I am a one-man operation, I started doing it full-time about a month ago after quite a long time developing things for my own pleasure - and for my own preferences. The whole business is built on doing it the way I want stuff to be. For instance, instead of demo-versions and the small, but real business complexity it brings, I opted for keeping the prices at a fair level and a full 30-day refund policy.

I also don't have extensive copy-protection. No iLok. And no calling home.

As mentioned, the plugins are mac only at the moment, mainly as I had no PC to compile and test on. (I have bought a couple of machines for that purpose now).

If you have any questions, don't hold back!

All the Best,
Rasmus

Andreya_Autumn · Post by **Andreya_Autumn** » Thu May 07, 2026 5:48 pm

Sounds really good! I was gonna ask about MTS-ESP support but I see you already got there.

Very nice.

unusable · Post by **unusable** » Thu May 07, 2026 6:28 pm

Andreya_Autumn wrote: Thu May 07, 2026 5:48 pm Sounds really good! I was gonna ask about MTS-ESP support but I see you already got there. Very nice.

Thanks a lot. Regarding MTS-ESP, it was requested a few days ago from a nice gentleman and it was fairly straight forward to implement without adding any distractions to the interface. (I like that kind of feature requests.)

All the Best,
Rasmus

core · Post by **core** » Thu May 07, 2026 6:30 pm

Looking forward to giving it a go where the Windows version is ready

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Thu May 07, 2026 7:13 pm

unusable wrote: Thu May 07, 2026 11:36 am I am a one-man operation, I started doing it full-time about a month ago after quite a long time developing things for my own pleasure - and for my own preferences. The whole business is built on doing it the way I want stuff to be. For instance, instead of demo-versions and the small, but real business complexity it brings, I opted for keeping the prices at a fair level and a full 30-day refund policy.

Completely fair and obviously your choice. Personally, I'm not willing to buy without a demo, despite how good some of the sounds are in the video.

unusable · Post by **unusable** » Fri May 08, 2026 9:29 am

Uncle E: I fully respect your opinion.

A video on the new features added yesterday and a bit more of sound examples.

unusable · Post by **unusable** » Mon May 11, 2026 3:57 pm

I made a walk-through of the membrane filter today, as I got the request from a user. I tried mainly to highlight the weirder part of it:

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Mon May 11, 2026 4:30 pm

Is the sound at 5:24 a preset? That’s a great sound.

unusable · Post by **unusable** » Mon May 11, 2026 5:21 pm

Uncle E wrote: Mon May 11, 2026 4:30 pm Is the sound at 5:24 a preset? That’s a great sound.

Thanks!

I am not even sure I saved it.

It is like 30 seconds to recreate it for me. The init is a sinewave in each slot and that sound is using 3 preset slots stepped by keyboard - with small variations on a sine. The main thing was the membranes in the filter, so that is where the interesting part happens.

Curves & Membranes - A Slick Monosynth for Mac