Patches

A patch is a graph of nodes and the cables between them. Everything you hear in Route comes out of one.

A patch can be placed inside another patch as a single node, so the same idea covers one oscillator and a whole instrument. A voice or an effects chain collapses to one box with its own inputs and outputs, and the patch around it does not need to know what is inside.

Nesting

Route resolves and flattens the inner patch before it runs. A patch three levels deep costs nothing extra at audio time, because the engine executes one compiled graph either way.