gander

Gander is a multichannel polyphonic synthesizer with multiple synthesis types, midi functionality, and built-in audio effects.

Interface

Gander allows for multiple simultaneous channels (up to 16), each editable in their own column. By default, it will show you 4 channels, but if you go to the settings, you can change this, which will persist between sessions. 

Notes can be sent to the interface using the built-in piano at the bottom of the screen, or you can send MIDI from external software or devices. If for some reason a note is 'stuck', you can always hit 'flush', which will release any currently playing notes on all channels.

The keyboard at the bottom of the screen can be clicked, touched, or played using the computer keyboard. Click the keyboard icon to enable the key bindings. It uses the middle row (starting with A = C) for natural notes and the row above (W = C#) for accidentals. You can change the octave of the keyboard using (q) to go up an octave, or (z) to go down. The channel is displayed on the right hand side, with a - and + button to change which channel the note is being sent to.

Each channel can have it's own effects chain, at the very bottom of the channel display. Effects can be reordered in the signal chain using the arrows to the left.

Gander also has a preset system for each individual channel. These can be named and saved between sessions. Presets contain channel data including the synth type, options, filter settings, and effects.

MIDI

Gander can be controlled by external MIDI. Each channel corresponds with it's MIDI channel.

To use WebMIDI you will likely want to be on Chrome, and you will need to have some sort of virtual MIDI loopback. On Windows check out Tobias Erichsen's loopMIDI On MacOS you can use the built in IAC bus, which has to be enabled in Audio MIDI Setup. Check out this article if you have issues.

Audio Output

If you want to get sound out of Gander, into a DAW or another piece of software, I'd recommend using virtual loopback software, like Blackhole for MacOS or VB-Cables for Windows.

About

This tool was made by Austin Slominski (@aceslowman) in 2026. Let me know if you have any issues or suggestions! Gander will continue to evolve and I am hoping to update it regularly with fixes, features, and will continue to integrate the tool into a larger ecosystem of audiovisual tools I am building.

Also, I would love to hear what you make or chat about your experience with this tool!

This project doesn't use AI in any way.

Bugs

If you come across any bugs, please let me know by creating a thread on the itch.io community page.