Richard Gillespie has released VA-1, available for $24.99.
VA-1 is a focused virtual-analog synthesizer for musicians, producers, and sound designers. One app, one purchase – runs natively on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Inspired by the workflow of classic hardware synths, VA-1 puts playing and sound-shaping on one panel so you can tweak in real time, with the full effects rack one tap away. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads, no account required. Buy once, own it:
- Across 7 categories:
- 100 Bass (sub, pluck bass, reese, acid, deep house. dub)
- 100 Pads (ambient, evolving, strings, soft, shimmer)
- 80 Leads (solo, saw, square, dual-osc, cutting vintage)
- 60 Keys (EP, organ, synth-piano, bell, hybrid
- 60 Plucks (staccato, FM, acoustic-hvbrid)
- 50 Arps (rhythmic, gated, sequenced)
- 50 FX (hits, risers, drops, textures, transitions).
Each preset is tagged by category and sub-category and searchable by name or description.
Sound engine
- 8-voice polyphony
- Two oscillators plus sub
- Multi-mode filter with resonance
- Dedicated amp and filter envelopes with ADSR
- Dual LFOs
- On-board effects chain: chorus, phaser, delay reverb
Sequencer
Record a sequence live, loop it while you tweak patches, change length on the fly, or switch to KEY mode to transpose the pattern from the keyboard.
MIDI & Performance
- Full external MIDI support on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
- On-screen keyboard external controller lights up as you play an external controller
- The visible octave auto-follows notes outside the current range
- Standard MIDI CCs mapped out of the box (mod filter cutoff filter resonance
wheel, master volume ADSR). macOS adds MIDI Learn – right-click any knob to find a hardware CC. Bindings persist across launches - Mac keyboard plays the synth too (QWERTY-as-piano for quick sketching)
System
- Background audio keeps playing when you switch apps – jam along with your favorite media player
- Save your own presets to your device
VA-1 is a universal purchase. Buy once on any platform and it installs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac at no extra cost. Requires iOS 17 / iPadOS 17 / macOS 14 or later.
For more information on VA-1, click here:
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