Buzz Zone Manual

Buzz Zone is an easy to use polyphonic synthesiser plugin with sophisticated wavetable and sample engines and a bank of flexible multi-segment envelopes to shape the sound in any direction you desire. Perfect for huge pads and soaring leads

The synth has two engines that can be layered together for a range of complex sounds and textures. The 'Synth' engine is a great sounding wavetable oscillator with a unison function for buzzy, harmonically rich timbres, hence the name! The 'Sample' engine mixes in additional textures or attack samples over the sound.

Buzz Zone has 6 sequencers, built for messing around with phrases, riffs, and ideas before locking things down: grab a few bars on a controller and drop them into a slot, scrub the playhead to audition the result before committing it, or trigger and transpose sequences live from a keyboard or pad controller.

Contents

Version 3 Update

Version 3 is a major free update headlined by six new sequencers with a piano-roll editor, and the Utility Strip, a workspace for building your own MIDI and modulation setups from a huge library of triggers and panels. It also brings a more flexible modulation engine, unison chords and tuning systems, a second bank of envelopes with new editing modes, a new set of reverbs and effects, Snapshots that store and morph between complete variations of a sound, and a new high-contrast look. Existing presets and projects load and sound the same as in Version 2 unless you use the new features.

New in Version 3

  • Six new sequencers, each with its own piano-roll MIDI editor and per-note expression editing
  • The Utility Strip, a modular workspace for building your own MIDI setups, arpeggiators, note repeaters, chord generators, LFOs, CC mappers, snapshot switchers, sequencer launchers and lots more, from a large factory library of Triggers and Panels
  • New oscillator modulation modes with 16 modulation types (FM, AM, hard sync, eight phase distortion modes, and others)
  • New Envelope Banks A & B with crossfade
  • New envelope editing modes — Smart, Lines and Steps, grid snapping and lasso selection, a right-click editing menu and per-envelope presets
  • New effects added with a total of 25 reverbs and effects
  • Snapshots, storing complete variations of a sound (parameters, envelope shapes and sequencer loop regions), with smooth morphing between them and up to 64 slots per preset
  • New Mirror Modes, repeats the keyboard into stacked note ranges for doubling and power-chord duties
  • New Pitchbend Modes for per-voice and per-note bends
  • Unison Chords, spreading the six unison voices into a chord, with harmonic tuning
  • Global Tuning, a library of tuning systems including historical temperaments, just intonation and world tunings
  • New high-contrast GUI
  • General GUI improvements and bug fixes

Tooltips Help System

Every control in Buzz Zone has a tooltip explaining what it does. With tooltips enabled, hovering the mouse over any control shows a small pop-up describing it. Turn tooltips on with 'Show Tooltips' in the Settings menu (the icon with three vertical lines at the top right of the GUI).

Controls

Hold Shift while dragging a knob for fine adjustment. Knobs with a larger range of values (like Pitch and Ratio) can be snapped to whole numbers by holding Control while dragging.

Double-click (or double-tap on iOS) a knob's label or the area just below it to type in an exact value.

Some knobs have a small triangle to their right that opens a menu for that function, the Filter Resonance knob, for example, has a menu to choose the filter type. Tip: to jump to the next item without opening the menu, right-click (or Control-click) the triangle, or Shift-click it for the previous item.

Synth Engine

The Synth engine is based on two sophisticated wavetable oscillators (main oscillator and harmony oscillator) that can be combined or modulated, with a selectable pitch interval between them. They are then passed into a versatile filter section with 16 different filter modes. There is also a 3rd oscillator: the modulation oscillator, which is used to modulate (rapidly change pitch, volume or phase) the other two oscillators using a variety of modulation modes. Each of the Synth engine's six main knobs can be controlled by its own envelope, selected with the triangle buttons above each control.

The 6 'Main' knobs of the Synth engine are:

  • Pitch: Adjusts the pitch of the Synth engine
  • Unison: Sets the amount of unison effect. The unison effect blends together an additional six detuned copies of the wavetable oscillator to create a thick, chorus effect. Use the lower 'Detune' knob to set the amount of detuning
  • Position: Sets the current wavetable playback position
  • Oscillator Modulation Depth: Sets the depth of modulation applied to the main and harmony oscillators by the special modulation oscillator. The type of modulation and the frequency ratio of the modulation oscillator are set using the knob and menu below this one (see the Modulation Modes section below)
  • Filter: Sets the cutoff frequency of the synth engine's filter
  • Level: Sets the level of the Synth engine

Each 'Main' knob has a tweak knob below it. The 6 'Tweak' knobs of the Synth engine are:

  • Harmony Level (sine wave icon, below Pitch): Sets the level of the harmony oscillator. Click on the small triangle to the right of the knob to select the Harmony Oscillator Mode
  • Unison Detune (double arrow icon, below Unison): Detunes the voices of the unison effect. If the Harmony Oscillator Mode is set to 'Unison' then this control also detunes the pitch of the harmony oscillator for extra thickness!
  • Harmony Position Offset (waveform icon, below Position): Offsets the wavetable playback position of the harmony oscillator. Note: this control will have no affect if the 'Harmony' knob is set to zero
  • Oscillator Modulation Ratio (note icon, below Oscillator Modulation Depth): Sets the frequency ratio between the modulation oscillator and the main oscillator, at a ratio of 1.0 they run at the same pitch, at 2.0 the modulator runs an octave above, and so on. The type of modulation is selected from the small triangle to the right of this knob (see Modulation Modes below)
  • Resonance (graph icon, below Filter): Controls the resonance of the filter (in some filter modes this control may have an alternative function, see descriptions of the filter modes below)
  • FM Feedback (exclamation mark icon, below Level): Controls the amount of internal FM 'feedback'

Harmony Oscillator Modes

There are 13 harmony oscillator modes, selected with the small triangle just to the right of the Harmony Level knob. The first six simply set the interval between the main oscillator and the harmony oscillator. In 'Fixed' and 'FM' modes the harmony oscillator's pitch is disconnected from the pitch knob and the envelope, so you can use them to set the interval between the two oscillators continuously. In 'AM', 'Ring Modulation' and 'Filter FM' modes it's the main oscillator's pitch that's disconnected, and the pitch knob and envelope control only the harmony oscillator.

The modes are:

  • Fifth: The harmony oscillator is pitched an octave and a 5th above the main oscillator, the effect is quite subtle as the pitch of the harmony oscillator is closely related to the natural harmonics present in the main oscillator
  • Third: The harmony oscillator is pitched an octave and a major 3rd above the main oscillator
  • Minor: The harmony oscillator is pitched an octave and a minor 3rd above the main oscillator
  • Octave: The harmony oscillator is pitched an octave above the main oscillator
  • Unison: The harmony oscillator is at the same pitch as the main oscillator, the 'Detune' knob subtly detunes both oscillators from each other for a rich chorus effect
  • Below: The harmony oscillator is pitched an octave below the main oscillator
  • Fixed: In 'Fixed' mode the pitch of the harmony oscillator is disconnected from the pitch knob and the envelope, so you can use the pitch knob and the envelope to set the interval between the two oscillators continuously
  • FM: In 'FM' mode the main oscillator is 'FMed' by the secondary 'Harmony' oscillator (FMed means the phase of the main oscillator is modulated, in the same way that classic 80s FM synths like the Yamaha DX7 do). Turning the Harmony knob to the right increases the amount of FMing and also blends in some of the signal from the harmony oscillator
  • AM: In 'AM' mode the main oscillator is modulated using Amplitude Modulation by the harmony oscillator (Amplitude Modulation means using the signal from one oscillator to control the volume of another). Turning the harmony knob to the right blends in some of the signal from the harmony oscillator
  • Ring Modulation: In 'Ring Modulation' mode the main oscillator is modulated by multiplying its output by the output of the sub oscillator (rather than the harmony oscillator that is used in AM mode, see Sub mode below for a description of the sub oscillator), resulting in harsh, dissonant overtones being added to the signal. Turning the harmony knob to the right blends in some of the signal from the harmony oscillator
  • Filter FM: In Filter FM mode the output of the harmony oscillator modulates the cutoff frequency of the filter, the harmony knob controls the depth of the modulation. In this mode if you turn up the 'Stereo Width' knob it mixes in the harmony oscillator and pans it to the right channel, with 'Stereo Width' at zero the harmony oscillator is muted and you only hear the main oscillator. The synth engine's 'Pitch' knob and envelope only affect the harmony oscillator, not the main oscillator (unlike the 'FM' and 'Fixed' harmony modes where the 'Pitch' knob and envelope only affect the main oscillator)
  • Sub: In 'Sub' mode the harmony oscillator uses a special sine-wave based sub oscillator rather than a wavetable, useful for beefing up the sound by reinforcing the fundamental frequency. The shape of the sub oscillator can be modified using the 'Offset' control, and its sound can also be modified with the 'FM' and 'Feedback' controls, with the amount also set by the 'Offset' knob. In the 'Sub' modes you can think of the 'Offset' knob as a kind of 'colour control', producing a clean sine wave at zero and more colour and modulation as you turn it up. Note the output of the sub oscillator can be routed through the plugin in different ways depending on the setting of the Sub Routing submenu, see below
  • Low Sub: Low Sub mode is the same as Sub mode except the sub oscillator is an octave lower

The Sub Routing submenu (at the bottom of the Harmony Oscillator Mode menu) sets how the special Sub Oscillator (used by the Sub or Low Sub modes only) is routed in the plugin, either directly to the outputs, through the filter section, through the phase distortion section, or through both sections.

Unison Chords

The small triangle to the right of the Unison Detune knob has a menu to select a chord mode to use for the unison effect. The chord mode spreads out the pitches of the 6 unison voices to form a chord. When Harmonic Tuning is enabled (located at the bottom of the Unison Chord menu) the notes in the chord land at perfect intervals lining up with the sound's harmonics and thus helping them to blend together. The Destination submenu sets which oscillator the chord is applied to

Modulation Modes

The Synth engine's modulation oscillator can modulate the main and harmony oscillators in 16 different ways, selected with the small triangle to the right of the Ratio knob. The upper Modulation knob sets the depth of the current mode, and the lower Ratio knob sets the frequency ratio between the modulation and main oscillators.

Tip: in the phase distortion modes (everything except FM and AM) the Ratio knob does double duty, it sets the frequency of the modulation oscillator but also blends in a little FM on top of the phase distortion, so a single knob sweeps from subtle warping to richer, more harmonically complex sounds.

The 16 available modes are:

  • FM: Classic frequency modulation. The modulator changes the phase of the main oscillator, producing the harmonically rich, bell-like and metallic tones associated with FM synthesisers like the Yamaha DX7
  • AM: Amplitude modulation. The modulator changes the level of the main oscillator, producing sum and difference sidebands above and below the original pitch, at low ratios this sounds like tremolo, at higher ratios it adds harsh metallic harmonics
  • Bend+: A phase distortion mode that warps the waveform's phase upwards, brightening its harmonic content asymmetrically
  • Bend-: The mirror of Bend+, the phase is warped downwards
  • Asymm: Asymmetric phase distortion, similar in character to the classic Casio CZ-series sound. Creates a bright, slightly nasal tone
  • Sync: Hard sync, the main oscillator is forcibly reset every cycle of the modulation oscillator, producing the cutting, formant-shifting timbre familiar from analogue synth leads
  • Formant: A formant-shifting variant of phase distortion that emphasises a particular harmonic for a vocal-like or resonant character
  • Fold: Wavefolding, the peaks of the waveform are folded back on themselves, adding upper harmonics with a smooth, organic quality
  • Map: Routes the oscillator's output through a non-linear shaping function for more exotic harmonic transformations
  • Fractal: Recursive phase modulation that produces dense, evolving harmonic textures with a self-similar character
  • Harmonic: Adds related harmonics to the main oscillator, thickening and brightening the sound while keeping it tonally clean
  • Crush: A digital sample-rate and bit-depth reduction-style modulation, producing gritty, aliased character
  • Noise: Replaces the modulator with a noise source for a rougher, noisier modulation
  • Jitter: Randomly jitters the phase of the main oscillator, useful for subtle imperfection or stronger distortion textures
  • Chorus: A chorus-style modulation that adds movement
  • Unison Mod: Modulates each of the 6 unison voices separately using 6 different phases of the modulation oscillator, good for thick and dissonant super-saw sounds

The Destination submenu at the bottom of the Modulation Mode menu selects which oscillator the modulation is applied to (all oscillators, main oscillator, harmony oscillator or just the individual unison oscillators).

Filter Modes

The Synth engine has 16 filter modes, selected with the small triangle to the right of the filter's Resonance knob:

  • 4 Pole: Basic resonant filter with internal saturation
  • Ladder: 4 Pole ladder filter based on the filter of the Mini-Moog synthesiser
  • OTA: 4 Pole filter based on the Roland Juno 106
  • Sallen Key: A characterful 2-pole filter similar to the filter found in the Korg MS-20
  • State Variable: A clean 2-pole filter with no saturation
  • Acid: Based on the filter from the Roland TB-303
  • Bandpass: Frequencies above and below the filter frequency are filtered
  • Highpass: Frequencies below the filter frequency are filtered
  • Vowel: A filter that simulates vocal vowel sounds, the 'Filter' control sets the vowel
  • Multi Notch: Steep notches are carved out of the frequency response of the sound. The resonance can be 'excited' to simulate a pipe or drum
  • Comb Filter: A very short tuned delay with feedback and damping, used to create a flangey, resonant effect or 'excited' to simulate a plucked or bowed string. In this mode the Resonance control sets the amount of feedback
  • Crusher: Simulates the digital to analog stage of a vintage digital sampler, with lots of jitter and gritty sample rate reduction. In this mode the Filter knob sets the sample-rate and the Resonance knob sets the amount of resonance in the filtering circuit
  • Frequency Shifter: Shifts all the frequencies of the sound up by the same amount resulting in a somewhat dissonant, often bell-like sound. The Filter knob sets the cutoff frequency of the filter circuit, the Resonance knob sets the amount of frequency shifting
  • Ring Modulation: Uses a separate oscillator to modulate the level of the sound, creates harsh, harmonically rich sounds. The Filter knob sets the frequency of the modulation oscillator and the Resonance knob sets the amount of resonance of the filter circuit
  • Wavefolder: An accurate model of the Timbre section of the Buchla synthesiser. The filter shapes the sound by folding the peaks back down adding rich harmonics. The Filter knob sets the cutoff frequency of the low pass filter circuit and the Resonance knob sets amount of wavefolding
  • Chorus: A chorus effect that can be fed back to full resonator territory, goes from subtle widening to wild dissonant clangs! The Resonance control sets the amount of feedback

The Sample engine (see below) has a reduced set of filters plus a special Vocoder mode. Vocoder routes the sample's output into a filter bank connected to the Synth engine, band-pass filters and envelope followers fed by the Sample engine control the filter bank's levels, imprinting the sample's tonal character onto the Synth engine's output. Drag and drop a vocal sample or breakbeat into the Sample engine, play some chords in this mode, and you get the classic 1970s vocoder sound.

When Vocoder mode is enabled the Filter, Drive and Detune knobs change function:

  • Filter = Frequency offset: Offsets the frequencies of the filter bank for formant shifting effects
  • Drive (tweak knob) = Resonance: Sets the amount of resonance of the filter bank's filters
  • Detune (tweak knob) = Spread: Sets how spread out the frequency bands of the filter bank are. At minimum the bands are spread 1 octave apart, at maximum they're spread 1 semitone apart

For a classic vocoder sound, build a thick synth sound with a sawtooth waveform, maybe adding a little noise with the synth engine's FM and Feedback knobs. Load a vocal sample or drum beat into the Sample engine, set the filter mode to Vocoder, and mute the Synth engine so its direct sound isn't heard. Then set the Sample engine's Filter, Drive and Detune knobs all to 50%.

Sample Engine

The Sample engine is a monophonic sample player with stereo detune, its own filter section and FM.

The 3 'Main' knobs of the Sample engine are:

  • Sample Pitch: Adjusts the pitch of the Sample engine
  • Filter: Sets the cutoff frequency of the Sample engine's filter
  • Level: Sets the level of the Sample engine

Each 'Main' knob has a tweak knob below it. The 3 'Tweak' knobs of the Sample engine are:

  • Detune (double arrow icon, below Sample Pitch): Detunes two layered sample voices for a thicker, chorus effect
  • Drive (graph icon, below Filter): Controls the amount of drive
  • FM Depth (below Level): Sets the amount of FM-style modulation (modulated by the output of the Synth engine)

Envelopes

There are 9 multi-segment envelopes, one for each of the plugin's main knobs. Select the current envelope to edit with the triangular buttons above each knob. By default all 9 run at once at the same speed, triggered by incoming notes, and a small white dot moving along the line shows the playback position. The envelope speed is set by the Speed knob.

A 'Loop' button sits at the bottom right corner of the envelope. Enable it and the displayed envelope loops, and a 'Loop Speed' control appears below the button to speed the loop up or down relative to the main Speed knob.

The 3 envelopes for the Sample section have an extra button under the 'Loop Speed' control when looping is enabled, 'Envelope Restarts Sample', which restarts the sample each time the envelope loops back to the start.

The global sync mode for the looping envelopes is set with the menu under the small triangle just to the right of the 'Speed' knob. Non-looping envelopes are not affected by the sync mode. The modes are:

  • Off: No synchronization, loop speed is linked to the speed knob, envelopes are retriggered by MIDI notes
  • Free: Free-running envelopes (not retriggered by MIDI notes), the loop speed is linked to the speed knob
  • Retrig: Loop speed is synchronized to the host's tempo and retriggered by MIDI notes. In this mode the loops are exactly 1 bar long by default. There's an additional speed multiplier control for each envelope that appears under the loop button when you enable it, use it to speed up or slow down individual loops. For example, set the 'Loop Speed' control to "X2" and the loop is twice as fast, or half a bar long
  • Locked: Loop speed is synchronized to the host's tempo and the loop's playback position is locked to the host's transport
  • Pitch: Loop speed is synchronized to the pitch of incoming MIDI notes so the loop lasts a single cycle of the oscillator's waveform, great for wild audio-rate modulation!
  • Chaos: The loop position is synchronized to a random / chaotic signal

Note: in non-looping mode the envelope's playback speed isn't linear across its path, it runs faster at the start and slows towards the end, so the envelope is focused on the important transient (the initial attack) of the sound. Enable 'Loop' if you want linear playback speed.

Select multiple envelope nodes by lassoing them, then edit or delete them as a group. Press Backspace to delete the selected nodes, or Command+A (Control+A on Windows) to select every node in the current envelope.

The vertical and horizontal grids are set from the envelope's right-click menu (see below). Hold Command (Ctrl on Windows) or Shift while dragging to flip the current grid setting: with a grid off, either key snaps the nodes to it while held, and with a grid on, either key frees the nodes so you can place them between the divisions.

Envelope Preset & Edit Menus

Each envelope has its own preset menu, opened from the small triangle at the bottom left of the envelope display. In addition to the Preset Menu, right-clicking anywhere on the envelope itself opens its Edit Menu. This menu contains specific editing commands, has options to set the vertical and horizontal grid and allows you to select the envelope's Editing Mode (see below). You can also long-press the envelope background to open the menu without right-clicking.

The Edit menu also has a Draw mode which allows you to use the mouse to draw in an envelope curve, Draw mode can also be accessed by holding shift while dragging.

Record mode is similar to Draw mode except the envelope shape is drawn at the current playback position while the mouse button is pressed.

Editing Modes

The 'Mode' submenu in the envelope's right-click menu sets how the envelope draws the path between its nodes:

  • Smart: a smooth curve flowing through every node, good for organic shapes and sine-like LFOs
  • Lines: straight lines between the nodes. Drag anywhere on a line to bend it into a curve, from sharp exponential attacks to slow logarithmic tails. With several nodes selected the drag bends all of them together, and holding Command (Ctrl on Windows) mirrors the bend across rising and falling segments
  • Steps: each node holds its value until the next one, for instant jumps, sample-and-hold and rhythmic gating.

Envelope Banks

As well as the 9 envelopes above, Buzz Zone has a second complete bank of 9 envelopes, Bank B, that you can use alongside Bank A.

The 'B' button to the left of the envelope display selects Bank B for editing, the editor then shows the Bank B envelopes and your edits apply to Bank B. Click it again to return to Bank A.

The horizontal slider just below the 'B' button is the Envelope Bank Crossfade, which blends between the two banks, hard left is Bank A only, hard right is Bank B only, and anywhere in between is a mix. The crossfade can also be modulated by velocity, the modwheel or aftertouch from the Modulation Destination menus on the Options page, so the sound can morph between completely different envelope shapes per note.

This is great with drums and percussion, set Bank A to a short, sharp envelope and Bank B to a longer, more open one, then route the bank crossfade to velocity. Soft hits play Bank A's tight envelope and harder hits crossfade in Bank B's longer one, giving a single sample real timbre and shape variation across the velocity range.

The envelope preset menu also copies between banks: 'Copy A to B' copies the displayed envelope from Bank A into the matching slot in Bank B, and 'Copy A to B (All)' does all 9 at once. 'Copy B to A' and 'Copy B to A (All)' work the same way in the other direction.

Note: when 'Envelope Banks' is chosen as a destination in any of the Modulation Destination menus (Velocity, Modwheel, Aftertouch or Pitchwheel), that modulation source takes over the bank crossfade. The A/B button still switches which bank is displayed for editing, but the routing through the banks follows the modulation source rather than the button.

Effects

Buzz Zone's output stage has a single effect slot with a choice of 25 reverbs and effects for adding space, movement or character. The Effects knob (the rightmost of the upper row) sets the effect depth, and the effect type is chosen from the small triangle to its right.

The 25 available effects are:

  • Small Room: A short, tight room reverb that adds a subtle sense of space
  • Med Room: A medium-sized room reverb with a slightly longer tail
  • Large Room: A larger room with more pronounced reflections
  • Small Hall: A short, reflective hall, suited to leads and percussion
  • Med Hall: A medium hall with a longer, more spacious decay
  • Large Hall: A long, expansive hall for big, lush spaces
  • Sparkle: A bright reverb with emphasis on the higher frequencies, great for pads and atmospheres
  • Ambience: A subtle, short reverb that adds a sense of real space without colouring the sound noticeably
  • Diffused: A smooth, heavily diffused reverb with no obvious early reflections
  • Shimmer: A long reverb with an octave-up pitch shift fed back into the tail for the classic shimmer sound
  • Cavern: A very long reverb with a dark, cavernous character
  • Chamber: A medium reverb modelled on an acoustic echo chamber, sitting between a room and a hall in size
  • Big Space: A huge, expansive reverb for ambient and cinematic textures
  • Chorus: A classic chorus that adds movement and width
  • Phaser: Sweeps notches through the frequency spectrum for a swirling, hollow tone
  • Flanger: A metallic, jet-like sweep effect
  • Wavefolder: A wavefolding distortion that folds the peaks of the waveform back to add upper harmonics
  • Distortion: A versatile distortion, useful for warmth, grit, or full overdrive
  • Echo: An echo / delay effect. The Effects knob does more than just set wet/dry here: as you turn it the echo sweeps through three different combinations of delay time, decay length and wet/dry mix, crossfading from one to the next, so a single knob covers everything from short slapback to long ambient repeats
  • Vint Chamber: A warm, slightly dusty chamber reverb in the style of vintage digital units
  • Vint Plate: A vintage plate reverb emulation in the spirit of the EMT 140
  • Vint Hall: A vintage-flavoured hall reverb with a slightly dark, characterful tone
  • Vint Room: A vintage room reverb with a touch of analogue warmth
  • Texture: A short, subtle reverb that adds atmosphere without drawing attention to itself
  • Broken Verb: A custom reverb made of diffusing echoes that produce a granular, glitchy character

Sequencers

Buzz Zone has six independent piano-roll sequencers, each able to play a sequence of MIDI notes through the synth and sample engines.

There are three basic ways to use the sequencers, each suited to a different way of working:

  • Off: with none of the sequencers running, Buzz Zone behaves as a normal synth, playing the notes coming from the host or your controller. This is the default for any preset that doesn't use the sequencers
  • Sync: the sequences play in sync with the host transport, start the host and the sequence runs along with the rest of your project. Great as a 'track starter', building up patterns and loops inside the plugin. Incoming MIDI from the host or your controller still plays the sound, layered over the sequences
  • Triggered: incoming MIDI notes fire and transpose the sequences via Triggers in the Utility Strip, keys mapped to actions like 'Play Sequence 1' or 'Transpose'. Made for live jamming and improvisation with a keyboard or pad controller. See the Utility Strip section below

Open the sequencer view by clicking the 'Sequencers' button on the front panel. The top of the sequencer view has a row of six thumbnails, one per sequence, each a miniature preview of that sequence's notes. Click a thumbnail to edit that sequence in the main editor below. Copy sequences between slots by dragging from one thumbnail to another. The currently selected thumbnail has a small triangle next to it that opens the sequence menu for that slot (see below).

The small LED inside the Sequencers button sets the Sequencer Playback Mode: lit, the sequencers follow the host transport; unlit, they're triggered by incoming MIDI notes from your controller or the Utility Strip. It's a shortcut for the same menu on the Options page, and it's the switch between the 'Sync' and 'Triggered' ways of working described above.

Clicking the 'Maximize Sequencers' button at the bottom right corner of the editor hides the lower panel of knobs whenever the sequencer view is open, giving the editor more room.

Tip: hold Alt while dragging a thumbnail to drag the sequence out of Buzz Zone as a MIDI file, ready to drop into a track or MIDI editor in your host.

Capture (recording notes into the sequencer)

Capture records the MIDI notes you play into Buzz Zone (from a controller, or from MIDI on the host's track) straight into a sequence slot, turning a live performance into a sequencer pattern in one step.

The 'Capture Bars' setting on the Options page controls how much is captured. 'All' captures everything since the last capture or since playback began, 'Last' just the most recent bar, 'Last 2' the last two bars, 'Last 4' the last four. The bar settings are handy for jamming, play for a while, settle into a good loop, then capture just the last bar or two without rewinding.

The fastest way to capture is to double-click any sequence thumbnail, the current Capture Bars setting is applied. Hold Alt and double-click a thumbnail to capture in merge mode, layering the new notes over the existing sequence rather than replacing it. Both are also in the Sequence Manager menu (the triangle next to each thumbnail).

So it's quick to fill all six sequences, play a few bars, double-click a thumbnail to capture, keep playing, double-click another, and so on, all without stopping. Buzz Zone keeps a rolling buffer of your recent playing and crops each capture to the current Capture Bars setting. Capture also works when the host's transport is stopped.

Sequence Menu

The sequence menu, opened from the triangle to the right of the currently active thumbnail, manages presets for that slot and gives you sequence-level editing tools. Buzz Zone ships with a library of factory sequences in folders, and you can save and load your own.

Below the presets are the following menu items:

  • Clear: empties the sequence
  • Capture: replaces the sequence with the most recent MIDI input received from the host. The number of bars captured is set by 'Capture Bars' on the Options page
  • Capture (Merge): like Capture, but merges the captured MIDI into the existing sequence rather than replacing it. Useful for layering parts on top of each other
  • Loop At End: when enabled, the sequence loops back to the start when it reaches the end. When disabled, it plays as a one-shot and stops at the end
  • Route To Utility Strip: when enabled, the notes this sequence plays are also fed into the Utility Strip, where they can control Triggers on the Utility Strip the same way as notes from your controller. Useful for a 'conductor' sequence that starts, stops or transposes the other sequences using its own notes, for example a long sequence on slot 1 that plays trigger notes at the right moments to launch patterns on the other 5 slots
  • Length: sets the number of bars in the sequence (1, 2, 4, 8, or 16).

The sequence menu also has a 'Transform' submenu of sequence-level transformations:

  • Double Time: plays the sequence at twice the speed by halving every note's time position. Also halves the number of bars where possible, so the same notes still fill the sequence
  • Half Time: plays the sequence at half the speed by doubling every note's time position. Also doubles the number of bars
  • Double Length: doubles the number of bars and duplicates the existing notes into the new second half
  • Half Length: halves the number of bars and trims any notes that fall past the new end
  • Reverse: plays the sequence backwards
  • Flip: mirrors the pitches around the centre of the current pitch range, the highest note becomes the lowest, and so on
  • Shift Left / Shift Right: shifts every note left or right by a sixteenth note. Notes that wrap past the start or end wrap around to the other side
  • Transpose +1 / -1 / +12 / -12: transposes the whole sequence up or down by 1 semitone or 1 octave

At the bottom, a 'Manage Sequences' submenu has the file commands: 'Load Sequence...' opens a file browser to load a sequence from disk, 'Save Sequence' and 'Save Sequence As...' save the current sequence, and 'Open Sequences Folder' opens the sequences folder in your operating system's file browser.

The MIDI Editor

The main area of the sequencer view is the MIDI editor, a piano roll for drawing, editing and arranging the notes of the selected sequence. It has three regions, the keyboard down the left, the ruler along the top, and the note grid in the middle. Edits apply to the selected sequence, and the thumbnail updates as you go.

Editing Notes

In Select mode (the default tool), click an empty area of the grid to start a lasso selection, or click a note to select it. Drag a note to move it, drag from its left or right edge to resize it. Double-click an empty area to add a note, double-click a note to delete it.

Hold Shift while dragging to bypass snapping. Hold Alt while dragging a note to copy it (on iPad, press and hold for a moment before dragging to duplicate). Hold Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) and drag to paint velocity values, whichever tool is selected.

Select multiple notes by lassoing them. Hold Shift while lassoing to add to the selection, Shift+click toggles individual notes in and out. Selected notes move and resize as a group, drag any one and they all move.

When more than one note is selected, eight handles appear around the selection's bounding box. Drag a corner handle to scale in both time and pitch, an edge handle to scale in one axis, scaling from the opposite corner or edge. Hold Shift to bypass snapping, and drag past the pivot for a true retrograde or inversion.

The arrow keys move the selected notes by one grid division, Shift+arrow moves further (an octave up or down, four divisions left or right). Delete or Backspace deletes the selection.

Tools

The current tool is shown above the keyboard column at the top left of the editor. Click the label (or right-click anywhere in the grid) to open the Tool menu, or use the keyboard shortcut. The six tools are:

  • Select (Shift+A): the default tool. Click to select notes, drag to move them, drag from a note edge to resize. Drag an empty area to lasso
  • Draw (Shift+D): clicks paint new notes onto the grid. The starting position snaps to the grid and the length of each new note matches the length of the last note drawn or resized. Hold Shift to keep painting on the same pitch row regardless of vertical cursor movement, hold Alt to snap to a triplet grid
  • Expression (Shift+E): edits per-note expression values (see the Editing Expression section below)
  • Spray (Shift+R): drops small randomised clusters of 2-4 notes around the cursor. Continued dragging adds more clusters as the cursor moves. Clicking an existing note deletes it instead
  • Euclidean (Shift+U): drags out a Euclidean rhythm on the row under the cursor. A vertical drag adjusts the density (number of pulses), a horizontal drag adjusts the resolution (number of steps). The current pattern and its name are shown in a pill at the centre of the editor as you drag. Tresillo, Bossa-Nova, Bembé and many other classic and exotic rhythms are named for easy recognition. Alt-click clears the pitch row instead
  • Split (Shift+S): clicks split a note into two at the click position. If the clicked note is part of a multi-selection, every selected note crossing the click X is split. Alt-click splits every note at that X

The Tool menu also includes 'Multi-draw', a stamp mode for the Draw tool. With one or more notes selected, enabling Multi-draw turns the Draw tool into a brush that stamps the selected notes as a unit at each click, transposed so the lowest selected pitch follows the cursor row. Useful for repeating a chord or motif across a sequence at different pitches. You can also reload the multi-draw 'stamp' by copying a different set of notes onto the clipboard (select some notes and use the Copy menu item, or Command/Control + C).

The Tool menu's Edit submenu has a set of editing commands:

  • Cut / Copy / Paste / Paste Replace: standard clipboard commands. Paste lands the clipboard at the playhead position. Paste Replace replaces the current selection with the clipboard and then moves the selection to the next unselected note, useful for stamping the same pattern across a melody one note at a time
  • Duplicate: duplicates the selection one slot to the right. The slot size is chosen automatically based on the selection's length (a sixteenth note, a beat, or a bar) so repeated presses produce evenly-spaced copies. Sub-grid micro-timing is preserved, so the duplicates groove the same way as the originals
  • Mute Selected / Solo Selected: mute or solo the selected notes during playback. With nothing selected, these change to 'Enable / Disable Mute' and 'Enable / Disable Solo', letting you toggle the existing mute or solo state on and off, useful for A/B-ing two arrangements without erasing your mute or solo choices
  • Quantize: snaps the selection to the current grid. With nothing selected, the whole sequence is quantised. Hold Alt to quantise the note ends as well as their positions
  • Quantise 20% / Swing 20%: nudges the selection 20% of the way toward grid-perfect or fully swung. Repeated presses move the notes closer each time without ever reaching exactly the grid or full swing, useful for dialling in a feel rather than committing to fully quantised or fully swung
  • Grid: sets the grid division, used both for quantising and for snapping as you edit
  • Apply Scale: snaps the pitches of the selected notes to the current scale. With nothing selected, the whole sequence is snapped
  • Crop: deletes everything outside the selection. Useful for trimming a sequence down to a specific phrase
  • Fixed Velocity: sets the velocity of every selected note to the same fixed value
  • Reset Expressions: resets the per-note expression values of the selected notes back to their defaults

Editing Expressions

As well as MIDI velocity, every note in Buzz Zone's sequences can carry a set of per-note expression values that modulate the sound while the note plays. Edit them with the 'Expression' tool.

With the Expression tool selected, the expression you're currently editing is named in the top right corner of the editor. Click the name to open a menu listing every expression, the nine main ones and all the extras.

The first nine expressions map directly to the nine main synth parameters, the ones with envelopes (see the Envelopes section). When the sequencer view is open, the small chevrons above each main knob (which normally select that knob's envelope) double as the selectors for which expression you're editing. Click the chevron above the filter knob to edit per-note filter cutoff, above the position knob for per-note position, and so on. The chevrons are shortcuts to the same nine entries at the top of the menu, and the quickest way to reach them.

The chevron above the synth Level knob is a special case, it selects per-note MIDI velocity rather than a level expression. Velocity affects both engines together, and has no effect on volume if 'Velocity To Volume' is 0 on the Options page. Velocity can also drive any modulation destination via the Velocity Modulation Destination menu, so editing velocity as an expression is a handy way to modulate any destination from inside a sequence.

The ninth main expression (the rightmost chevron, sample level) is another special case. As an envelope it just scales the sample level. As a per-note expression it's a combination control with two ranges, the default of 05 sitting between them where both sample and synth play at full volume. 0 to 0.5 fades the sample from silent up to full, 0.5 to 1 turns the synth down leaving the sample at full. Handy for mixing sample and synth content in one sequence, for instance leaving most notes at the default and raising drum-hit notes (with a drum sample loaded) to 1 to solo the sample on those notes.

The remaining expressions have no chevron of their own and are selected from the menu. They are:

  • Bank: per-note crossfade between Envelope Bank A and Envelope Bank B (see the Envelope Banks section above)
  • Speed: per-note envelope speed. Speeds up or slows down every envelope for that note
  • Release: per-note envelope release
  • Resonance: per-note filter resonance
  • Effects: per-note effects dry/wet. The default is fully wet, so setting this to 0 plays the note dry without effects
  • Pan: per-note stereo panning
  • Sample: per-note sample start time
  • Probability: per-note playback probability. Sets the chance a note plays each time the sequence loops, useful for adding variation to repeating patterns
  • Skip: Sets notes to play only on certain loop passes: every other loop ('Odd' & 'Even'), every 3rd or 4th loop ('1-3' etc.), or only on the first pass ('Once').
  • Roll: Generates short rolls of repeated notes
  • Snapshot: Selects one of the plugin's snapshots when the note plays. Note: this is an experimental feature. Since a snapshot can store every plugin and Utility Strip parameter, things can quickly get convoluted, so use with care!

At the bottom of the expression menu is Dice Mode. When Dice Mode is enabled the expression values, rather than set the depth of the expression, set the depth of randomization for that expression.

With the Expression tool selected, each note's current value is shown by a small vertical 'lollipop' rising from the bottom of the editor, taller means higher. Drag a lollipop head up or down to edit that note's value. Notes sharing both start position and value have their lollipops stacked. You can also edit a note's expression by dragging vertically on the note itself. With 'Audition' on (see below), expression edits are heard in real time as you drag them.

Dragging across the editor with the Expression tool paints expression values onto any notes you sweep over.

Double-click a note in Expression mode to reset its expression to the default. The Reset Expressions menu item (keyboard command: Shift+Backspace) in the tools menu resets all expression values on the selected notes.

Tip: the expressions aren't only static values drawn per note, the Utility Strip's Expression modules (Expression LFO, Expression Envelope, Expression Random Walk and others) can modulate them live, see the Utility Strip section.

Ruler and Loop

The ruler along the top shows bar numbers and tick marks and the loop region. Double-click the ruler anywhere to start free playback from that point, snapped to the grid. Hold Shift while double-clicking to bypass snapping. Double-click again to stop.

Drag the white playhead triangle to scrub through the sequence.

Move the loop region by dragging the middle of the bar at the top of the ruler, or resize it by dragging the small triangles at either end. Clicking the bar without dragging toggles the loop on or off, filled means it's on. Hold Shift while dragging to bypass snapping.

Tip: Snapshots can capture each sequencer's loop region, so you can step through different looped selections of the same underlying sequence, see the Snapshots section below.

Drag horizontally in an empty area of the ruler to scroll the editor left and right, drag vertically to zoom the time axis.

The Piano Roll Keyboard

The keyboard down the left of the editor doubles as a way to audition notes and select notes by pitch.

Clicking a key plays that note through the synth and sample engines, so you can hear each pitch in the current preset. It also selects every note of that pitch in the sequence, handy in drum sequences where each pitch is a different drum. Shift+click adds the pitch's notes to the selection, and dragging vertically across the keys extends the selection through a range of pitches.

The empty label area to the left of the keys scrolls and zooms the pitch axis, drag vertically to scroll, horizontally to zoom. Double-click it to zoom the editor to fit the existing notes.

Snap, Scale, Zoom, and Audition

A few editor-wide options can be toggled from the Tool menu or with keyboard shortcuts, each briefly showing its new state in a pill at the centre of the editor:

  • Grid Snap (Shift+G): when enabled, note positions and lengths snap to the current grid division (set by Grid in the Edit submenu)
  • Scale Snap (Shift+F): when enabled, the Transform handles, multi-note drags and the Spray tool all snap pitches to the current scale, keeping your edits in key. The current scale's notes are highlighted in the editor when a scale is active
  • Auto Zoom (Shift+Z): when enabled, the editor automatically zooms to fit the existing notes whenever the sequence changes
  • Audition (Cmd+U): when enabled, edits to existing notes are auditioned in real time. Drawing a new note, moving a note or changing an expression value plays the result back as you edit. When disabled, edits are silent until the next playback

The Utility Strip

The Utility Strip is a modular workspace along the bottom of the plugin where you build your own MIDI setups, arpeggiators, note repeaters, chord generators, LFOs, randomisers, CC mappers, snapshot switchers, sequencer launchers and lots more, by loading small self-contained modules from a big factory library. None of it changes the Buzz Zone sound engines, instead it shapes and generates the MIDI going into the engines and the sequencers, so a single preset can play and manipulate itself, respond to your controller in custom ways, or morph between sounds, all without programming a note in your DAW.

Click the keyboard icon to show or hide the Utility Strip. It has two views, the Keyboard View, which shows the on-screen keyboard and holds the MIDI Triggers, and the Panels View, which holds the Panels. Switch between them with the small round button near the top right corner of the Strip.

Two libraries, three kinds of module

Modules load from two factory libraries, the Trigger library (via Add Trigger in the Keyboard View) and the Panel library (via Add Panel in the Panels View). Depending on what it does, a module can appear in one view, the other, or both:

  • Panel only — no on-keyboard trigger, just a Panel in the Panels View. Things like Simple Delay or CC Mapper, which run continuously and don't need launching from a key.
  • Trigger only — a Trigger on the keyboard with no Panel, like Undo or Play Sequence, which is just an action bound to a key.
  • Both — a Trigger on the keyboard and a Panel in the Panels View, linked together. A lot of the pattern modules work this way, the Panel holds the controls while the Trigger starts and stops it.

When a module has both parts they're treated as one unit, so colouring, deleting or saving either part affects the whole group. Everything you load is saved with the preset, and you can also save the whole setup on its own as a Strip Preset (see below).

How modules connect

Modules pass four kinds of signal, notes, CC, parameters and per-note expressions, and they each travel differently. Notes and CC both flow through the Panels left to right, in the order the Panels sit in the chain, so where you place a module matters, a Transpose before an Arpeggiator isn't the same thing as one after it. Parameters don't run along the chain at all, instead you drag a connection straight from a module's output onto any control you like, a KNOB on another Panel or a knob on the main plugin, and the order of the Panels makes no difference.

That gives you three ways to wire a setup together. The CC path is the simple one, drop your modules in and CC passes from one to the next down the chain, then out to the engine through a mod wheel or CC assignment on the plugin, reach for it when you want the tightest timing or a straightforward in-order chain. The parameter path is the free one, drag from a source like a Parameter LFO onto a KNOB, or onto any control on the main plugin, and they're connected wherever the Panels happen to sit, reach for it when you want to patch things together freely or modulate a control the CC path can't get to. And the expression path is the polyphonic one, the Expression modules write to the same per-note expressions the sequencer's Expression tool edits (see the Editing Expression section), each picking its destination, Filter, Pan, Position and so on, from a menu on the Panel. Where CC and parameters move one value for the whole plugin, an expression is carried by each individual note, so every note gets its own modulation, whether it came from your controller or from a sequencer. Values written this way override any expression drawn on the notes in the piano roll, use this path when you want movement inside the notes themselves, per-note filter sweeps, pan movement, evolving pads where each voice moves on its own.

A panel's name tells you which path it works on. Panels starting with CC feed the CC chain, panels starting with Parameter drive a parameter, and panels starting with Expression write a per-note expression, so CC LFO, Parameter LFO and Expression LFO are the same modulator sending its output three different ways. Panels with 'To' in the middle convert between them: CC To Parameter turns an incoming CC into knob movement, Knob To CC does the reverse. Panels starting with Knob reshape a knob you're already driving on its way to its destination, scaling, clipping, quantising or smoothing it. The Sweeps And Strums panels convert a single continuous control into notes, so a CC sweep or a knob move plays a strum, a gliss or a scale run.

into notes, so a CC sweep or a knob move plays a strum, a gliss or a scale run.

Panels that control a parameter or an expression have a menu to choose what they control, and a target icon next to it. Pick a destination from the menu, or drag the target icon onto the control you want. A Parameter Panel can control any knob or control on the plugin. An Expression Panel can only control a small set of them, so as you drag, only the ones it can control are highlighted.

Combining More Than One Parameter Source

The parameter path connects a source straight to its destination, so pointing two Parameter Panels at the same control makes them fight over it. To drive one control from more than one source, combine them first with the 'Knob Mixer' module.

Panels View

Each Panel is a single module of MIDI processing, an Arpeggiator, a CC LFO, a Transpose and so on.

Click an empty area of the Panels View, or a Panel's drag bar, to open the panel menu and choose Add Panel. The submenu follows the folder structure of the library (Input, MIDI CCs, MIDI Note Effects, Modulation (CC), Modulation (Expression), Modulation (Parameter), Patterns And Sequences, Routing, Templates, Utilities), and new Panels are given a distinct colour automatically. Panels are laid out left to right in the order they process MIDI, so moving one changes where it sits in the chain, placing a Transpose before or after an Arpeggiator gives very different results. To reorder a Panel, drag its drag bar.

Clicking a Panel's drag bar (or right-clicking it) opens its menu, where you can reset, rename, delete, recolour and add Panels, and pick a preset if the Panel ships with any.

Tip: presets can also be cycled by holding Ctrl and clicking the drag bar (add Shift to go backwards).

Keyboard View — MIDI Triggers

A Trigger is a module bound to a range of keys, play any note in that range and it fires. In Buzz Zone, Triggers cover musical tools like Arpeggiators, Chords and Strum, instant commands like Randomize Preset and snapshot selection, and the full set of sequencer controls, Play Sequence, Stop, Restart, Transpose Sequence, Capture and more, so you can launch and manipulate the six sequencers live from your controller.

The top strip of the keyboard is the edit zone, where you place and manage Triggers. The rest of each key still plays notes as normal so you can audition sounds while you work. Once a Trigger is placed, its key range is coloured and carries a small label, so you can see which keys play sequences, which transpose, which fire commands. With Show Tooltips on, hovering a trigger key describes what it does, a quick way to learn an unfamiliar setup.

Click a key in the edit zone (or right-click any key) to open the Trigger menu and choose Add Trigger, whose submenu follows the folder structure of the Trigger library. The key you click becomes the start of the Trigger's range. Once it's placed, drag the body of the region to move it, or either edge to resize the range. The same menu lets you cut, copy, paste, rename, delete and recolour Triggers, and (holding Alt) save them to the library.

Triggers can also come from inside the plugin. Turn on 'Route To Triggers' in a sequence's Sequence Manager menu and that sequence's notes feed into the Triggers as if they came from your controller, so a 'conductor' sequence can launch, stop and transpose the others from inside the project (see the Sequence Manager section).

Position (Before and After Triggers, or After Sequencers)

Every Panel has a Position, set from the 'Position' submenu in the Panel's menu (click or right-click its drag bar). Where the chain order decides which Panel processes the MIDI first, the Position decides which of three stages it runs in:

  • Before Triggers: the Panel runs before the MIDI Triggers see anything, so the notes it plays can fire Triggers on the keyboard, exactly as if you'd played them yourself
  • After Triggers: the default. The notes the Panel plays reach the sound engines but don't fire Triggers
  • After Sequencers: the Panel runs last, after the sequencers have added their notes, so it can work on those too

Most Panels work wherever you put them, so you'll rarely need to change this. The exception is the panels in the MIDI Triggers folder, which listen for MIDI arriving at the plugin: to drive one of those from another Panel's output instead, set that Panel's Position to 'Before Triggers' so its output reaches the trigger stage.

The Position submenu also has three 'All' items that move every Panel to the chosen stage in one go. The setting stays active, so newly added Panels land in that stage too, though you can still move individual Panels to a different position. Click the ticked 'All' item to switch the mode off, leaving the Panels where they are.

Strip Preset

Everything you've loaded into the Utility Strip, every Panel and every Trigger, can be saved and recalled together as a Strip Preset, so you can build a favourite setup once and drop it onto any plugin preset. The Strips menu is the small downward triangle just above the Utility Strip on the left. It works like the main preset menu, with the usual copy, load and save options plus an Enable item that turns the whole Strip on or off. A Strip is always saved with the preset, but loading an older preset that doesn't contain one leaves your current setup in place, while loading a preset that was saved with a Strip swaps that Strip in.

Sample / Wavetable Drag & Drop

You can drag sample or wavetable files onto the sample and wavetable menu areas to load your own. The wavetable engine uses standard wavetable files (2048 samples per frame) of any length. Use the left/right arrows to select the next or previous sample in a folder.

Preset Menu

The current preset is shown at the top of the GUI. Click the preset name to open the preset menu, which has the list of presets, save and load options, randomisation tools, Snapshots, and a number of preset management commands.

The arrows on either side of the preset name step through presets one at a time. Hold Option (Alt) while clicking one to step through Snapshots instead (see the Snapshots section below).

As well as the preset list, the Preset menu has:

  • Init Preset: loads the default preset
  • Randomize Preset: completely randomises all parameters of the current preset. Envelope nodes and sequence notes are not randomised
  • Mutate Preset: adjusts all parameters by a small amount, subtly changing the sound in a random way
  • Save Preset: saves the current state to the loaded preset file (with confirmation if the file already exists)
  • Save Preset As...: saves the current state to a new preset file
  • Load Sound Only: when enabled, loading any preset only changes the sound, the sequences are kept from the current preset. Useful for trying different sounds with a sequence you've already set up
  • Load Sequences Only: when enabled, loading any preset only changes the sequences, the sound stays as it is. The opposite of 'Load Sound Only', just as useful for trying different sequences with a sound you've already dialled in

The dice icon at the top left of the GUI repeats the last randomisation you used (Randomize or Mutate), handy for quickly making variations. Hold Control while clicking the dice to include envelope nodes and sequence notes for more extreme results, or Shift to always mutate, whichever you used last.

The 'Manage Presets' submenu at the bottom of the Preset menu has these additional commands:

  • Load Preset File...: opens a file browser to load a preset from anywhere on disk
  • Save As Default Preset: saves the current state as the default preset, loaded automatically by new instances of the plugin
  • Delete Preset: permanently deletes the loaded preset file
  • Clear GUI Patches: strips any custom GUI overrides stored with the preset (an advanced feature for anyone editing the GUI layout)
  • Open Presets Folder: opens the presets folder in your operating system's file browser
  • Get More Presets...: opens the Toybox Audio website to download more preset packs

Snapshots

Snapshots let you store several complete variations of a sound inside a single preset and switch between them instantly, or morph smoothly from one to the next. They're great for building a pad that opens up in the chorus, or keeping a handful of variations of a sound you can flip through as you play.

A Snapshot stores the whole sound: every parameter, every envelope shape, and each sequencer's loop region.

Creating and recalling Snapshots

Snapshots are managed from the Snapshots submenu in the main Preset menu (opened by clicking the preset name at the top of the GUI). They work as live variations rather than as separate 'save' and 'recall' steps: select an empty slot and nothing changes, the sound carries on as it was, but as soon as you start turning knobs that slot captures the current sound and stores any further changes you make. Once a slot has something in it, selecting it recalls those settings. The preset name briefly flashes the Snapshot number as you switch, with a dot (•) next to slots that contain a Snapshot.

The first eight slots have keyboard shortcuts, ⌘1 to ⌘8 on macOS (Ctrl 1 to Ctrl 8 on Windows), and you can also step through Snapshots by holding Option (Alt) while clicking the preset ‹ › arrows. The submenu also has functions to set the maximum number of slots (up to 64), set the morph speed, and clear the current or all Snapshots.

Morphing

Set Morph Speed to anything other than Off and switching Snapshots no longer jumps, the sound slides smoothly from wherever it is to the target Snapshot over the time you set. The parameters and the envelope shapes are morphed together, so the knobs sweep and the envelope curves reshape in one continuous move. Short times just take the edge off an abrupt switch, longer ones turn a Snapshot change into a slow evolving transition, great for pads, risers and builds.

Because each Snapshot also stores the sequencers' loop regions, you can use them to step through different loop selections of the same underlying sequence, jumping between sections of a longer pattern as you play.

Selecting Snapshots over MIDI

Like everything else, Snapshots can be driven from the Utility Strip. Bind a Snapshot Trigger such as Next Snapshot or Select Snapshot to a key, or load a Snapshot Panel like CC To Snapshot, Velocity To Snapshot or CC To Morph Speed to drive them from your controller or from inside a preset. Connect a slow LFO to Knob To Snapshot and the sound will drift around your Snapshots by itself.

MIDI Learn

You can assign incoming MIDI CC (Continuous Controller) messages to any of the instrument's knobs by drag and drop:

  1. Enable 'MIDI Learn' mode from the Settings menu.
  2. Turn a knob on your MIDI controller.
  3. Drag and drop the CC number that appears in the top section of the GUI onto any knob to make the assignment.

MIDI CC assignments are saved automatically for all instances of the plugin, and can be cleared with 'Reset MIDI Learn' in the Settings menu.

Settings Menu

The Settings menu, opened from the icon with three vertical lines at the top right of the GUI, contains:

  • MIDI Learn: enables MIDI Learn mode for assigning MIDI CC messages to the plugin's knobs (see the MIDI Learn section)
  • Reset MIDI Learn: clears all MIDI CC assignments
  • Enable OSC: enables Open Sound Control for remote control from external applications or hardware
  • Set Size: sets the GUI scale to 80%, 90%, 100%, 110% or 120% of the default
  • Set Current Size As Default: saves the current size so new instances open at that scale
  • Show Tooltips: turns the pop-up tooltips on or off
  • Open Manual...: opens this manual in your web browser
  • Go To Website...: opens the Toybox Audio website in your web browser

Options Page

The Options page is opened with the 'Options' button at the top left of the GUI. It holds extra parameters and settings in five groups: Global, Filter, Sequencer, Modulation and Envelopes.

Global

  • MIDI Resets Oscillators: when enabled, incoming MIDI notes reset the phase of the oscillators
  • Samples Follow Pitch: when disabled, the pitch of the samples is fixed, whatever note is played
  • Legato: sets how overlapping notes behave when Polyphony is set to 1 (monophonic). 'Off' plays normally, each note retriggering the envelopes. 'On' stops overlapping notes from retriggering the envelopes, so notes transition smoothly between pitches. 'Slide' behaves like 'On' but also restricts the Glide control (below) to only the overlapping notes, so isolated notes start in tune and only the overlaps glide
  • Glide: slides notes smoothly from one pitch to the next
  • Polyphony: sets the maximum number of notes that can play. In 'Stack 3' mode 3 voices play at once for a thick, chorused sound, in 'Stack 5' mode all 5 play at once
  • Mirror Mode: repeats a range of MIDI notes across the whole keyboard, so one played note sounds several times over. 'Off' is the normal full range of notes. 'Repeat' divides the keyboard into two-octave ranges, one per voice of the current Polyphony setting, all sounding the same pitch, so with Polyphony at 5 a single key plays five stacked voices at once, think of it as tuning all your guitar strings to the same note for instant power chords. 'Mirror' works the same way but reverses the direction of every other range, so playing higher up the keyboard sounds lower notes, a more experimental mode. Use 'Stack And Mirror Detune' below to spread the repeated voices apart
  • Global Tuning: Select the tuning system applied to all notes. Historical temperaments, just intonation, world tunings etc, use Key to set the root note
  • Stack And Mirror Detune: sets how much the individual voices are detuned from one another when Polyphony is set to 'Stack 3' or 'Stack 5', or when a Mirror Mode is enabled. Higher values give a thicker, more chorused stack
  • Parameter Smoothing: sets the amount of smoothing applied to parameter changes, softening abrupt jumps as knobs move or automation sweeps

Unison

  • Chord Depth: Sets the depth of the chord pitches, gradually bending into the destination chord

Filter

  • Filter Key-tracking: sets how much the cutoff frequency of the filters (both engines) follows the pitch of incoming MIDI notes
  • High Quality Filters: uses high quality filter algorithms. Disable this to use less CPU

Sequencer

  • Key: sets the key used when the sequences are transposed. When 'Scale Snap' is enabled, drawing and editing tools also snap notes to this key
  • Scale: sets the scale used when the sequences are transposed. When 'Scale Snap' is enabled, drawing and editing tools also snap notes to this scale
  • Trigger Quantize: quantises sequence triggering so triggered sequences start in time with the host's beat divisions
  • Trigger Legato: when enabled, playing overlapping trigger notes won't restart the sequence
  • Audition While Drawing: when enabled, new notes are auditioned as they're drawn in with the Draw tool
  • Allow Held Notes To Finish: when enabled, any notes currently playing finish naturally when switching between sequences
  • Always Snap To Scale: when enabled, sequence notes are always snapped to the selected scale, even when no transposition is applied
  • Capture Bars: sets how many bars of MIDI input are captured. 'All' captures everything played, 'Last' just the last bar, 'Last 2' the last two bars, 'Last 4' the last four
  • Sequencer Playback Mode: sets whether the sequencers follow the host transport or are triggered by incoming MIDI notes. The LED inside the Sequencers button on the front panel is a shortcut for this control

Modulation

  • Velocity To Volume: sets how much MIDI velocity affects the volume of the sound
  • Velocity Modulation Destination: chooses a destination to modulate from the velocity of incoming notes
  • Velocity Depth: the knob next to the Velocity Modulation Destination menu, sets how much velocity affects the selected destination
  • Modwheel Modulation Destination: chooses a destination to modulate from MIDI modwheel messages (two separate slots)
  • Modwheel Depth: the knobs next to the Modwheel Modulation Destination menus, set how much modwheel affects the selected destinations
  • Aftertouch Modulation Destination: chooses a destination to modulate from MIDI aftertouch
  • Aftertouch Depth: the knob next to the Aftertouch Modulation Destination menu, sets how much aftertouch affects the selected destination
  • Pitchwheel Modulation Destination: chooses a destination to modulate from MIDI pitchbend. Set it to 'Master Pitch' for the classic pitchbend behaviour, or any other destination for more creative effects
  • Pitchwheel Depth: the knob next to the Pitchwheel Modulation Destination menu, sets how much pitchbend affects the selected destination
  • Invert Modulation: small arrows next to each modulation Depth control. When enabled (arrow pointing down) the modulation is applied negatively, decreasing rather than increasing the destination's value
  • Pitchbend Range: sets the maximum number of semitones the pitchbend wheel can bend notes up or down (applies when the Pitchwheel Modulation Destination is 'Master Pitch')
  • Pitchbend Mode: sets how the synth responds to pitchbend arriving on different MIDI channels, so a pitchbend wheel can bend the whole sound, each voice, or each note on its own. The three modes are 'Normal' (the usual behaviour, the synth bends globally in response to pitchbend on any channel), 'Voice' (pitchbend on channel 1 bends the whole synth, while pitchbend on channels 2 to 6 bend each of the polyphonic voices independently) and 'Note' (pitchbend on channel 1 bends the whole synth, while pitchbend on channels 2 to 13 bend each note: C, C#, D and so on, independently)
  • Select Snapshot: sets which MIDI CC switches between the snapshots (see the Snapshots section)

Envelopes

  • Analog Attack: gives the initial attack of the envelopes a smoother, more analog shape
  • Note Offs Stop Envelopes: when enabled, the multi-segment envelopes stop when MIDI notes are released

iPad Version

The iPad version is identical to the desktop version, except in how presets are handled.

In standalone mode on iOS, a 'Play' button and a tempo slider appear in the top preset bar when the sequencers are active.

The iOS Settings menu also has two items not on the desktop:

  • Show Help Overlay: the iOS equivalent of 'Show Tooltips'. Enable it and the GUI dims to show the overlay is active, with a small close button at the top right, while it's on, tapping any control (including a trigger key on the on-screen keyboard) shows its tooltip. Tap the close button to exit
  • Dynamic Knobs: when enabled, moving a finger slowly across a knob gives a finer adjustment than moving it quickly. Since the iPad has no Shift key, this is the touch equivalent of holding Shift on the desktop

On the iPad, presets are stored in a sandboxed (hidden and secure) folder shared between the standalone app and the AUv3 plugin, which you can't reach through the iPad's Files app.

To make presets easy to share and back up, the app automatically copies every new preset into a folder you can reach in the Files app: "On My iPad/Buzz Zone/Exported Presets". Each time you launch the standalone app it backs up any new presets made in either the standalone or AUv3 version.

Zip-compressed folders of presets can be imported with the 'Import Zip File...' menu item, and there's an 'Import Zip File...' item in the sample and wavetable menus too for importing folders of sample and wavetable files.

Appendix 1: Utility Strip Panels and Triggers

The Utility Strip module library consists of both 'Panels' (loaded into the Panels View) and 'Triggers' (loaded onto keys or ranges of keys on the keyboard to trigger actions, sequences etc).

Panel Library

Panels are the Strip's processing modules, generating and shaping the notes, CCs, parameters and expressions passing through it.

Input

On-screen controls you can assign to anything, knobs, sliders, buttons, pads and keyboards, plus a follower that tracks the plugin's own internal signals.

  • Button (Momentary): A simple button to assign to controls and parameters, on only while it's held
  • Button (Toggle): A simple button to assign to controls and parameters, latching on and off with each click
  • Drumpad: A simple on-screen MIDI drumpad
  • Follower: Follows an internal signal of the plugin, smooths it with Attack and Decay, and sends it to a parameter or control
  • Keyboard: A handy on-screen keyboard
  • Macro Knob: Drives a parameter or control from a single macro knob
  • Slider: A slider to assign to controls and parameters
  • X-Y Pad: Drives up to three parameters from a single X-Y pad

MIDI CC And Pitchbend

Panels that generate, remap or reshape MIDI CC and pitchbend messages, for driving the plugin's knobs or anything mapped to a CC.

  • Bar Position To CC: Sweeps a MIDI CC across a set number of bars, synced to the host
  • CC Arp: Arpeggiates held notes, with an incoming MIDI CC setting the arp speed
  • CC Mapper: Reshapes an incoming MIDI CC's response curve and remaps its channel
  • CC Note Repeat: Repeats held notes, with an incoming MIDI CC switching it on and setting the repeat rate
  • CC Smoother: Smooths a jumpy MIDI CC into gliding values
  • CC To CC: Remaps one MIDI CC number to another
  • CC To Expression: Routes an incoming MIDI CC to a per-note expression
  • CC To Morph Speed: Sets the snapshot morph speed from an incoming MIDI CC
  • CC To Parameter: Maps an incoming MIDI CC to a synth parameter or control
  • CC To Parameter (Ranged): Maps a MIDI CC to a synth parameter with adjustable input range and depth
  • Follower To CC: Follows an internal signal of the plugin, smooths it with Attack and Decay, and sends it out as a MIDI CC
  • Knob To CC: Sends MIDI CC messages from a knob
  • Knob To CC (No Snapshots): Sends MIDI CC messages from a knob, the knob's position is not recorded in the snapshots
  • Knob To Pitchbend: Sends MIDI pitchbend messages from a knob
  • Mod Wheel Mapper: Reshapes the mod wheel's response across low, mid and high
  • Mod Wheel Vibrato: Adds pitch vibrato with the depth set by the mod wheel
  • Modwheel To 3 Parameters: Drives three synth parameters or controls at once from the mod wheel
  • Velocity Tremolo: Wobbles note velocity up and down with a host-synced LFO for a tremolo effect

MIDI Note Effects

Panels that transform the note stream itself: transposing, delaying, humanising and randomising the notes passing through.

  • Fixed Note: Forces every incoming note to a single fixed pitch
  • Humanize: Adds subtle random timing and velocity variation for a more natural feel
  • Multi-tap Delay: Echoes each note through three taps with independent timing and velocity
  • Multi-tap Delay Advanced: Echoes each note through three taps with per-tap timing, velocity and transpose
  • Random Note Walk: Drifts the pitch of incoming MIDI notes up and down with a random walk within a range
  • Random Velocity Walk: Drifts the velocity of incoming MIDI notes up and down with a random walk within a range
  • Randomize Note: Randomly offsets each incoming MIDI note's pitch by an adjustable amount
  • Randomize Velocity: Randomly offsets each incoming MIDI note's velocity by an adjustable amount
  • Scale: Snaps incoming MIDI notes to a chosen key and scale
  • Simple Delay: Echoes each note once at a set delay time, synchronized to the host
  • Transpose: Transposes MIDI notes by a specific amount
  • Transpose Octave: Transposes MIDI notes up or down in octaves

MIDI Triggers

Panels built on MIDI Triggers, so they respond to MIDI arriving at the plugin. To drive one from another panel's output instead, set that panel's Position to 'Before Triggers' so its output reaches the trigger stage.

  • CC To Command: Fires a chosen command from an incoming MIDI CC
  • CC To Snapshot: Uses an incoming MIDI CC to select the current snapshot
  • Velocity To Snapshot: Selects a snapshot from how hard each note is played

Modulation (MIDI CC)

Modulation sources that send their output down the chain as a MIDI CC.

  • CC Custom Envelope: Shapes a hand-drawn envelope and sends it out as a MIDI CC
  • CC Custom LFO: Sends a hand-drawn LFO shape out as a MIDI CC
  • CC Envelope: Sends an ADSR envelope out as a MIDI CC on each note
  • CC LFO: Sends a free-running or synced LFO out as a MIDI CC
  • CC Random Walk: Drifts a MIDI CC up and down with a random walk between set limits
  • CC Randomize: Sends a fresh random value out as a MIDI CC on each note
  • CC Stepper: Steps a MIDI CC through evenly spaced values, with optional ping-pong
  • Pitchbend Custom Envelope: Shapes a hand-drawn envelope and sends it out as pitchbend
  • Pitchbend Custom LFO: Sends a hand-drawn LFO shape out as pitchbend

Modulation (Expression)

Modulation sources that write to a per-note expression, so every note carries its own movement.

  • Expression Custom Envelope: Shapes a hand-drawn envelope and routes it to a per-note expression
  • Expression Custom LFO: Routes a hand-drawn LFO shape to a per-note expression
  • Expression Custom Shaper: Shapes incoming per-note expression values through a hand-drawn curve
  • Expression Envelope: Routes an ADSR envelope to a per-note expression on each note
  • Expression LFO: Modulates a per-note expression with a free-running or synced LFO
  • Expression Random Walk: Drifts a per-note expression with a random walk on each incoming MIDI note
  • Expression Randomize: Sets a fresh random per-note expression value on each incoming MIDI note
  • Expression Stepper: Each incoming MIDI note steps a per-note expression through evenly spaced values

Modulation (Parameter)

Modulation sources that drive a parameter or control directly, wherever the panel sits in the chain.

  • Parameter Custom Envelope: Shapes a hand-drawn envelope and routes it to a parameter or control
  • Parameter Custom LFO: Routes a hand-drawn LFO shape to a parameter or control
  • Parameter Custom Shaper: Shapes a knob through a hand-drawn curve before it reaches a parameter or control
  • Parameter Envelope: Routes an ADSR envelope to a parameter or control on each note
  • Parameter LFO: Modulates a parameter or control with a free-running or synced LFO
  • Parameter Random Walk: Drifts a parameter or control with a random walk between set limits
  • Parameter Randomize: Sets a fresh random value on a parameter or control on each note
  • Parameter Stepper: Each incoming MIDI note steps a parameter or control through evenly spaced values

Patterns And Sequences

Panels that generate notes, arpeggios, chords, patterns and phrases from what you play.

  • Arpeggiator: Plays held notes as an arpeggiated pattern, synced to host tempo
  • Bass Patterns: Plays built-in bass patterns from held notes, snapped to a key and scale
  • Chords: Turns single notes into chords and chord patterns
  • Euclidean Sequence: Spreads a set number of pulses evenly across the steps for Euclidean rhythms
  • Note Repeat: Repeats held notes polyphonically, synced to host tempo
  • Note Repeat (Polyphonic): Repeats held notes polyphonically, synced to host tempo or free-running
  • Note Stepper: Steps through a note sequence, advancing one step per key-press
  • Random Note: Plays random notes from a chosen scale and range
  • Strum Chords: Builds a chord on each played note and strums it with adjustable style and timing
  • Transpose Stepper: Steps through a sequence of transpose amounts, one step per note
  • Unleash: Fires off a fast, chaotic burst of notes, synced to host tempo

Sweeps And Strums

Panels that play through a set of notes from a single continuous control, so a CC sweep or a knob move becomes a strum, a gliss or a scale run. Each one differs in how its notes are chosen, a pitch range, the degrees of a scale, a chord, or eight notes you pick yourself. Every panel comes in a CC version, swept by an incoming controller, and a Knob version, swept by a knob on the panel that anything on the parameter path can drive.

  • CC To Range Strum: Sweeps a MIDI CC across a note range, with direction, repeats and octave spread
  • CC To Scale Sweep: Sweeps a MIDI CC up and down through the degrees of a scale
  • CC To Chord Strum: Sweeps a MIDI CC through a chord voicing, with repeats and octave spread
  • CC To Custom Strum: Sweeps a MIDI CC through eight freely chosen notes, with repeats and octave spread
  • Knob To Range Strum: Sweeps a knob across a note range, with direction, repeats and octave spread
  • Knob To Scale Sweep: Sweeps a knob up and down through the degrees of a scale
  • Knob To Chord Strum: Sweeps a knob through a chord voicing, with repeats and octave spread
  • Knob To Custom Strum: Sweeps a knob through eight freely chosen notes, with repeats and octave spread

Routing

Panels for splitting the MIDI into parallel chains, processing them separately, then merging them back together.

  • Splitter: Splits the MIDI into five parallel chains, A to E, each processed separately
  • Velocity Splitter: Splits notes into four chains (A-D) by how hard they're played
  • Mirror Splitter: Stacks each incoming note across all of the 'mirror ranges' and routes each range to its own routing chain (see 'Mirror Mode' on the Options page)
  • Round Robin Splitter: Routes each note to the next chain in turn (A, B, C...), cycling through the number of chains set by Steps
  • Start A: Starts chain A - panels after it affect only chain A
  • Start B: Starts chain B - panels after it affect only chain B
  • Start C: Starts chain C - panels after it affect only chain C
  • Start D: Starts chain D - panels after it affect only chain D
  • Start E: Starts chain E - panels after it affect only chain E
  • End A: Ends chain A, ready for Combine
  • End B: Ends chain B, ready for Combine
  • End C: Ends chain C, ready for Combine
  • End D: Ends chain D, ready for Combine
  • End E: Ends chain E, ready for Combine
  • Thru A: Passes chain A straight through, unchanged
  • Thru B: Passes chain B straight through, unchanged
  • Thru C: Passes chain C straight through, unchanged
  • Thru D: Passes chain D straight through, unchanged
  • Thru E: Passes chain E straight through, unchanged
  • Combine: Merges the parallel chains, A to E, back into one

Templates

Ready-made routing setups. Each one loads a complete arrangement of panels in a single step, the splitter, the Start and End panels for chains A to D, and Combine, leaving you to drop your own panels into each chain.

  • Round Robin Splitter: A complete four-chain setup routing each note to the next chain in turn (A, B, C...), cycling through the number of chains set by Steps
  • Routing 4 Chains: A complete four-chain split, the Splitter, Start and End panels for chains A to D, and Combine, ready to fill in
  • Velocity Split: A complete four-chain setup splitting notes into chains A to D by how hard they're played

Utilities

General-purpose helpers: note and velocity ranges, fixed values, knob shapers, labels, and snapshot and channel tools.

  • Bar Position To Parameter: Sweeps a synth parameter or a control across a set number of bars, synced to the host
  • Expression Depth: Sets how far a per-note expression moves from a knob
  • Fixed Velocity: Forces every note to a single fixed velocity
  • Knob Clipper: Clips a knob between a low and high limit before it reaches a parameter or control
  • Knob Mixer: Mixes three knobs together to drive one parameter or control
  • Knob Multiply: Multiplies knobs together to drive one parameter or control
  • Knob Quantizer: Snaps a knob's value into steps before it reaches a parameter or control
  • Knob Ranged: Scales a knob into a set range before it reaches a parameter or control
  • Knob Slew (Exponential): Slews a knob's movement with independent rise and fall times, moving off quickly and easing into the target
  • Knob Slew (Linear): Slews a knob's movement at a constant rate, with independent rise and fall times
  • Knob Smoother: Smooths a knob's movement before it reaches a parameter or control
  • Knob To Expression: Sends a knob's value to a per-note expression
  • Knob To Expression (Continuous): Sends a knob to a per-note expression, updating continuously
  • Knob To Note: Plays a MIDI note while the knob is above the threshold, with the note and velocity set on the panel
  • Knob To Snapshot: Scrubs through snapshots from a knob
  • Labels: A panel of editable text labels for annotating a setup, double-click a label to edit it
  • Mirror: Folds incoming notes into the lowest mirror range and copies them to every active range, so one key plays all the stacked voices at once. Set its Polyphony control to match the Polyphony setting on the Options page
  • Note Probability: Passes or mutes each note according to a probability amount
  • Note Range: Only lets through notes inside a set pitch range
  • Parameter Selector: Puts a parameter into a list box, for non-continuous parameters such as menus
  • Pitchbend Depth: Sets how far incoming pitchbend moves the pitch
  • Select Snapshot: Selects snapshots 1 to 8 from a range of eight keys
  • Set Channel: Sets the MIDI output channel for the notes passing through
  • Snapshot Morph Speed: Sets how quickly snapshots morph from one to the next
  • Trigger Random Snapshot: Jumps to a random snapshot when triggered
  • Trigger Randomize Preset: Randomizes the preset by an adjustable depth when triggered
  • Velocity Mapper: Reshapes the velocity response curve of incoming notes
  • Velocity Range: Only lets through notes inside a set velocity range

Trigger Library

Triggers are Utility Strip modules that are assigned to a range of keys; playing a key in the range fires the trigger. Some triggers have a panel associated with it that is displayed in the Panels View.

Patterns And Sequences

The key-range side of the Pattern panels: hold or play notes in the range to drive the arpeggiator, chord or pattern.

  • Advanced Arp: Arpeggiates held notes, with the key played setting the speed
  • Arpeggiator: Plays held notes as an arpeggiated pattern
  • Bass Patterns: Plays bass patterns from held notes
  • Chords: Plays the selected chord from a held note, arpeggiated
  • Euclidean Sequence: Plays a Euclidean pattern from held notes
  • Knob LFO: Modulates a parameter with an LFO, the key played setting the LFO speed
  • Mega Arp: Arpeggiates held notes, with the key played setting the speed
  • Note Repeat: Repeats held notes at a synced or free-running rate
  • Note Repeat (Polyphonic): Repeats held notes polyphonically, synced to host tempo or free-running
  • Note Stepper: Plays back a sequence, each key-press advancing to the next step
  • Random Note: Plays random notes
  • Simple Arp: Arpeggiates the notes held in its range
  • Strum Chords: Plays strummed chords
  • Transpose Stepper: Steps through a sequence of transpose amounts, one step per note
  • Unleash: Plays back a fast, chaotic burst of notes

Modulation (Expression)

The key-range side of the Expression panels: notes played in the range feed into the modulator.

  • Expression Custom Envelope: Modulates the chosen per-note expression of notes in its range with a hand-drawn envelope
  • Expression Custom LFO: Modulates the chosen per-note expression of notes in its range with a hand-drawn LFO
  • Expression Depth: Scales the per-note expression of notes in its range around the Default value, by the Depth knob
  • Expression Envelope: Gates an ADSR envelope from notes in its range to modulate their chosen per-note expression
  • Expression LFO: Modulates the chosen per-note expression of notes in its range with an LFO
  • Expression Random Walk: Steps a random walk on each note in its range, modulating their chosen per-note expression
  • Expression Randomize: Gives each note in its range a new random value of its chosen per-note expression
  • Expression Stepper: Advances a stepped value on each key-press, applied as the chosen per-note expression of notes in its range
  • Knob To Expression: Sets the per-note expression of notes in its range to the panel's Value knob
  • Knob To Expression (Continuous): Continuously drives the chosen per-note expression from the panel's Value knob, independent of notes

Modulation (CC)

The key-range side of the CC modulators: notes played in the range gate, trigger or step the modulator, whose output is sent out as a MIDI CC.

  • CC Custom Envelope: Notes in its range trigger a hand-drawn envelope, sent out as the chosen MIDI CC
  • CC Custom LFO: Notes in its range retrigger a hand-drawn LFO, sent out as the chosen MIDI CC
  • CC Envelope: Notes in its range gate an ADSR envelope, sent out as the chosen MIDI CC
  • CC LFO: Notes in its range trigger an LFO, sent out as the chosen MIDI CC
  • CC Random Walk: Each key-press in its range steps a random walk, sent out as the chosen MIDI CC
  • CC Randomize: Notes in its range send a fresh random value out as the chosen MIDI CC
  • CC Stepper: Each key-press in its range advances the stepper, sent out as the chosen MIDI CC
  • Pitchbend Custom Envelope: Notes in its range trigger a hand-drawn envelope, sent out as pitchbend
  • Pitchbend Custom LFO: Notes in its range retrigger a hand-drawn LFO, sent out as pitchbend

Modulation (Parameter)

The key-range side of the Parameter modulators: notes played in the range gate, trigger or step the modulator, which drives the chosen parameter or control.

  • Parameter Custom Envelope: Notes in its range trigger a hand-drawn envelope, which modulates the chosen parameter
  • Parameter Custom LFO: Notes in its range retrigger a hand-drawn LFO, which modulates the chosen parameter
  • Parameter Envelope: Notes in its range gate an ADSR envelope, which modulates the chosen parameter
  • Parameter LFO: Notes in its range trigger an LFO, which modulates the chosen parameter
  • Parameter Random Walk: Each key-press in its range steps a random walk, which drives the chosen parameter
  • Parameter Randomize: Notes in its range set a fresh random value on the chosen parameter
  • Parameter Stepper: Each key-press in its range advances the stepper, which drives the chosen parameter

Effects

A key-range effect that runs while notes in its range are held.

  • Vibrato: Adds pitch vibrato while a key in its range is held, the key setting the speed

Snapshots

Keys for selecting, stepping and clearing snapshots, and setting the morph speed.

  • Clear Current Snapshot: Clears the currently selected snapshot slot
  • Next Empty Snapshot: Selects the next empty snapshot slot
  • Next Snapshot: Selects the next snapshot
  • Previous Snapshot: Selects the previous snapshot
  • Select Snapshot: Selects snapshots 1 to 8 from a range of eight keys
  • Set Morph Speed: Sets the snapshot morph speed from the key played

Sequencers (All)

Keys that act on whichever sequence is currently selected, or on all six at once.

  • Play And Transpose: Plays the selected sequence while a key is held and transposes it up or down, paired with a Select Sequence range to choose the sequence
  • Play Random Step: Plays a random step of the selected sequence
  • Retrigger Sequences: Selects a sequence and restarts it from the beginning, one key per sequence
  • Select Sequence: Selects which sequence is playing
  • Step Through Selected Sequence: Steps through the notes and chords of the selected sequence, one per press
  • Stop All: Stops all sequences
  • Transpose All: Transposes the selected sequence up or down, with C4 playing it untransposed

Sequencers (Individual)

The same sequencer actions aimed at one specific sequence. Each action below has a separate trigger for sequences 1 to 6; the description applies to whichever sequence the trigger targets.

  • Capture Merge Sequence: Captures the MIDI performance and merges it into the sequence
  • Capture Sequence: Captures the MIDI performance into the sequence
  • Clear Sequence: Clears the sequence
  • Flip Sequence: Flips all notes in the sequence
  • Play And Transpose Sequence: Plays the sequence while a key is held and transposes it up or down
  • Play From Step: Plays the sequence starting at a particular step
  • Play Random Step: Plays a random step of the sequence
  • Play Sequence: Plays the sequence while a key is held
  • Random Start: Plays the sequence starting at a random step
  • Reset Step Counter: Resets the step counter
  • Restart Sequence: Restarts the sequence from the beginning
  • Reverse Sequence: Reverses the position of all notes in the sequence
  • Select And Restart Sequence: Selects the sequence and restarts it from the beginning
  • Sequence Speed: Sets the sequence's playback speed from a range of keys
  • Step Through Sequence: Steps through the notes and chords of the sequence, one per press
  • Stop Sequence: Stops the sequence
  • Toggle Loop: Toggles the sequence's loop on and off
  • Toggle Note Mute: Toggles per-note mute for the sequence
  • Toggle Note Solo: Toggles per-note solo for the sequence
  • Toggle Sequence Mute: Toggles playback mute for the sequence
  • Transpose Sequence: Transposes the sequence up or down

Parameters And Values

Keys that set a plugin value directly, either a range of keys stepping through the options or a single key toggling a setting.

  • Brush Triggers Sound: Toggles whether the Draw tool auditions notes as they're added
  • Bypass Sample: Toggles the Sample engine bypass on and off
  • Bypass Synth: Toggles the Synth engine bypass on and off
  • Capture Bars: Sets how many bars Capture grabs (All, 1, 2 or 4) from a range of keys
  • Held Notes: Toggles whether held notes tail through sequence changes
  • Key: Sets the scale's root note, one key per note across a range of twelve
  • Launch Quantize: Selects the trigger-quantise grid (OFF, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, BAR) from a range of five keys
  • Legato Mode: Selects the legato mode (OFF, ON, SLIDE) from a range of three keys
  • Lock Sequencer: Toggles Lock Sequencer, keeping the sequencers running while the panel is hidden
  • MIDI Triggers (Off): Turns MIDI triggers off
  • MIDI Triggers (On): Turns MIDI triggers on
  • MIDI Triggers (Switch): Enables and disables MIDI triggers
  • MIDI Triggers (Toggle): Toggles the MIDI trigger bank on and off
  • Polyphony: Sets the plugin's polyphony from a range of keys
  • Scale: Steps through the available scales across a range of eight keys
  • Scale Snap: Toggles snap-to-scale for note editing
  • Select Bank B (Momentary): Enables Envelope Bank B while held
  • Select Bank B (Toggle): Toggles Envelope Bank B
  • Select Envelope Bank: Selects between Envelope Banks A and B, one key each
  • Select Sequence: Selects between sequences 1 to 6, one key each
  • Show Sequencer: Shows and hides the sequencer panel
  • Zoom To Fit: Turns the sequence editor's auto-zoom on and off

Utilities

Key-range utilities that map a range of keys onto a parameter or expression.

  • CC To Expression (Note Range): Routes an incoming MIDI CC to a per-note expression, only for notes in its key range
  • Note To Parameter: Sets a parameter from which key you play in its range, low key to high
  • Trigger Randomize Preset: Randomizes the preset by an adjustable depth when triggered

Commands (No Panel)

One-shot command keys: press to fire an action such as undo, randomise, or load the next preset, sample or wavetable.

  • Clear Envelope: Resets the current envelope to its default shape
  • Copy A To B: Copies the current tab's A envelope to its B slot
  • Copy A To B All: Copies every A envelope to its matching B slot, across all tabs
  • Copy B To A: Copies the current tab's B envelope to its A slot
  • Copy B To A All: Copies every B envelope to its matching A slot, across all tabs
  • Copy Envelope: Copies the current envelope to the clipboard
  • Flip Envelope: Flips the current envelope vertically (inverts it)
  • Next Envelope Preset: Loads the next envelope preset into the current envelope
  • Next Preset: Loads the next preset
  • Next Sample: Loads the next sample from the Samples folder
  • Next Wavetable: Loads the next wavetable from the Wavetables folder
  • Panic: Stops all playing MIDI notes
  • Paste Envelope: Pastes a copied envelope into the current envelope
  • Play Selected Sequence Step: Plays the current step of the selected sequence
  • Previous Envelope Preset: Loads the previous envelope preset into the current envelope
  • Previous Preset: Loads the previous preset
  • Previous Sample: Loads the previous sample from the Samples folder
  • Previous Wavetable: Loads the previous wavetable from the Wavetables folder
  • Random Sample: Loads a random sample
  • Random Wavetable: Loads a random wavetable
  • Randomize All: Randomises all plugin parameters
  • Randomize All Full: Fully randomises the entire plugin: preset, envelopes and samples (100% depth)
  • Randomize All Subtle: Gently mutates the entire plugin: preset, envelopes and samples (3% depth)
  • Randomize Envelopes Full: Fully randomises all envelope shapes (100% depth)
  • Randomize Envelopes Subtle: Gently mutates all envelope shapes (3% depth)
  • Randomize Preset: Randomises the current preset parameters (respects the Logo Mutates preference)
  • Randomize Preset And Samples Full: Fully randomises the preset parameters and loads random samples
  • Randomize Preset And Samples Subtle: Gently mutates the preset parameters and loads random samples
  • Randomize Preset Full: Fully randomises the preset parameters (100% depth)
  • Randomize Preset Subtle: Gently mutates the preset parameters (3% depth)
  • Redo: Redoes the last undone action
  • Render Sequence To Sample: Renders the selected sequence to an audio sample and loads it into the Sample engine (press again to cancel)
  • Reset Step Through Selected Sequence: Resets the step-through position of the selected sequence to the beginning
  • Reverse Envelope: Reverses the current envelope
  • Step Through Selected Sequence: Steps through the selected sequence one step at a time
  • Undo: Undoes the last action