==========
Charlatan³
==========

Virtual Analog Synthesizer Plugin

(c) 2012-2025 Dominique Wurtz

Charlatan is a FREEWARE virtual analog (VA) synthesizer plugin with focus on sound quality and easy usability. It comes with a flexible, yet not overwhelming feature set which encourages artists to start tweaking instead of just relying on presets. Inspite of it's simplicity, Charlatan's architecture is flexible enough to create both classic sounds and rather experimental noises. While making no compromise about sound quality, the sound engine has been highly optimized for efficient CPU usage making Charlatan well suited as a "bread and butter" synth even in projects with a large number of plugin instances.


Feature summary
===============

* Two dual oscillators per voice with custom drawable waveforms, cross-modulation (Phase Mod, linear Frequency Mod, Ring Mod) and hard sync
* Two multi-mode filters per voice with 9 filter types each and flexible routing
* Oscillator unison with up to 7 unison voices per synth voice
* Four modulation generators with user-definable shape where each can operate either as LFO or envelope generator
* Four Modulation transformers (XFORM) allow reshaping any control signal through a user-defined mapping
* Arbitrary routing of modulation signals via Drag'n'Drop
* High-quality master FX section
* Very low CPU and RAM usage
* Optional internal 2x oversampling
* Preset browser
* FREEWARE

Version History
===============

3.3.2 (2025-11-17)

* Added "Constant" modulation source
* Persist MSEG/XForm editor grid settings
* Support mouse wheel adjustment in Osc harmonics editor
* Support zoom via mouse wheel in MSEG editor
* BUGFIX: Silence Delay/Reverb FX left-over signal after re-enabling
* Minor improvements and fixes

3.3.1 (2025-08-20)

* Support mouse wheel adjustment for all parameters
* BUGFIX: Reduce drift of per-voice LFOs
* Minor UI improvements and fixes
* Linux: Installer will now assist with compatibility adjustments for host applications running in a Flatpak sandbox

3.3.0 (2025-05-18)

* Support sine-shaped segments in Osc waveform editor
* Reworked UI skin
* Delay FX: add dual modes
* Added optional sustain stage to MSEG
* Added Velocity Off mod source (Release Velocity)
* Made XLFO polyphonic
* Chorus: Revised 4-voice mode with Triangle LFO. Should in general sound lusher with less flanging and periodic beating
* Added 5 Osc waveform presets
* Linux: fix compatibility with glibc 2.41 (disable executable stack)
* Minor optimizations and fixes

3.2.0 (2024-08-06)

* Allow copying/swapping Osc waveforms via Drag'n'Drop (see quickguide.txt)
* Allow setting Ratio of Osc A to 0.000, turning it into a wave shaper (see quickguide.txt)
* Add scroll bars to preset browser
* Support Home/End key navigation in preset browser
* Ignore Master Tune if Note Lock is enabled
* Improve Osc wavetable interpolation at very low frequencies
* BUGFIX: Rare crash when switching between presets

3.1.2 (2024-04-10) (Linux only)
* BUGFIX: Mouse and keyboard interaction broken under XFCE and possibly some othe Linux DEs

3.1.1 (2024-04-07)
* Support polyphonic glide
* BUGFIX: Cannot create breakpoint via double-click in Osc waveform editor (regression from 3.1.0)
* BUGFIX: Crash in Osc waveform editor (regression from 3.1.0)

3.1.0 (2024-04-01)
* New Phaser FX modes (8-pole, Allpass)
* New area selection in MSEG editor (Shift-Click-Drag) allows to edit as well as delete (via Delete/Backspace key) multiple breakpoints together
* Add polarity switch for MSEG
* Allow to switch presets via arrow keys in browser
* Minor UI tweaks
* BUGFIX: Regression from 3.0.1 where voices could continue processing while silent

3.0.1 (2024-03-17)
* BUGFIX: Envelopes not retriggered in Poly mode if no mod target assigned
* Added two more presets "Vox Humana" and "Kick Pure"

3.0 final (2024-03-15)
* Double the modulation processing rate (allows faster attack and smoother audio rate modulation)
* Support adjustment of modulation depth via mouse wheel
* Visualize filter balance modulation range
* Replace "D" switch (Direct out) in Osc panel with "Route to Filter" switch
* UI polishing
* Added a few more factory presets
* VST3: support Sustain pedal
* VST3: handle MIDI All Notes Off message
* BUGFIX: Crash when attempting to add a 5th modulation to a parameter
* BUGFIX: Sustain pedal handling in Legato voice mode
* BUGFIX: Drawing errors in Osc harmonics editor
* BUGFIX: Reverb FX sound broken when modulating time out of range

3.0 Beta 3 (2023-11-02)
* Show more digits in Mod Rate tooltip
* Support mouse wheel input in Osc phase control
* Improve readability of Osc phase value display
* Windows: Fix mouse wheel input. Note: currently only supported in numeric and stepped controls
* BUGFIX: VST3 compatibility issues

3.0 Beta 2 (2023-10-31)
* BUGFIX: freeze / crash when adjusting parameters in UI in some hosts
* BUGFIX: Reverb FX sound broken (or even plugin crashing) after long session
* Windows: ask for confirmation before overwriting preset
* Linux: fix POSIX compatibility in install.sh

3.0 Beta 1 (2023-10-20)
* First public beta release

Known Issues/Limitations
========================

* Tooltips not shown in Renoise on Windows
* The list of modulation destinations when clicking on a source is limited to four entries (only in the UI)

System requirements
===================

* Operating System: Windows 10 or later, Ubuntu Linux 22.04 x86_64 or compatible distribution
* A CLAP or VST3 compatible host application
* An Intel x86_64 compatible CPU with support for SSE4.2 extensions

Installation
============

Windows VST3:
Copy .vst3 files into your system's VSTPlugins folder (usually C:\Program Files\Common\VST3).

Windows CLAP:
Copy .clap files into your system's CLAP plugin folder (usually C:\Program Files\Common\CLAP).

On Windows, you need to manually copy the factory presets from the ZIP archive to the preset folder (%APPDATA%\charlatan\presets).

Linux:
Run ./install.sh in a terminal and follow instructions.

Legal Disclaimer
================

Microsoft(R), Windows(R), and Windows VistaTM are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. 
VST(R) is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, registered in Europe and other countries.
Ubuntu is a trademark of Canonical Ltd.
Other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners

License
=======

See license.txt

For licensing information of used open-source software, see opensource.txt
