iceGear released Mochizuki this month, a four-oscillator multi-engine synthesizer for iOS and macOS running standalone or as an AUv3 plugin, native on Apple Silicon. The architectural detail that distinguishes it: the four oscillators are genuinely independent voices, not four stacked layers of a single engine — and each one can independently select from three distinct oscillator engines.
Watch: iceGear Mochizuki AUv3 Synth — Initial Review (YouTube)
Three engines, four independent slots
Each of Mochizuki’s four oscillators can be set to virtual analog with AM (classic saw, pulse, triangle, and sine waveforms with sync, waveshaping, and amplitude modulation), two-operator FM (carrier plus modulator, each with a wide waveform selection and feedback control), or a resonator engine capable of physical-modeling timbres. Because the choice is per-oscillator rather than global, a single patch can genuinely combine an analog saw, an FM bell, and a plucked physical-modeling resonance as three independent voices interacting inside one sound — which is a different proposition than a synth that picks one synthesis paradigm and offers a secondary layer for color.
The modulation section is deeper than the price suggests
Two multimode filters (low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, and notch variants) each carry a built-in overdrive and a dedicated AD envelope. Beyond the main amp ADSR, there are four modulation envelopes with a double-attack stage (AADSR) and curve control, plus four tempo-syncable multi-waveform LFOs. That’s a modulation matrix with enough routing depth to do genuinely evolving sound design rather than static patches — the kind of architecture usually found in desktop plugins several times the price.
Pricing and platform
Mochizuki is a free download with the full version-1 feature set unlockable for €22, and a free seven-day trial available before committing. Running natively on iPad, iPhone, and Apple Silicon Macs as both a standalone app and an AUv3 plugin means the same license covers mobile sketching and desktop production — a distribution model that’s become standard for iOS-first developers like iceGear, and one that continues to make the iPad a surprisingly serious sound-design platform rather than a scratchpad.