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Vascular · Tactile Synth

Manual

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Create a sound, move it through the stereo field, then let the network grow from it.

Amber nodes generate sound, teal nodes process it, and ivory nodes are the outlets that reach the speakers. Lines are connections, in the direction of the signal.
Amber nodes generate sound, teal nodes process it, and ivory nodes are the outlets that reach the speakers. Lines are connections, in the direction of the signal.

create

tap empty canvas
draws a generator; inside a capsule, randomizes the capsule instead
two fingers, empty
draws an acoustic instrument playing a newly woven phrase; an abstract or rhythmic guided path stays inside that path instead
rest one finger, empty
opens the palette at that point, in four sections: synths, controllers and AUv3 plugins; generators, a tile for each region and one for the acoustic instruments; processors; and combos. the field at the top finds any type by its name, its description or its region
choose a tile
opens what is inside it, each type named and described
hold a tile
stars that type as a favourite, in every session; each section ends with a ★ favourites tile holding them. holos, regions and controllers cannot be starred
guided path active
taps and palette choices are filtered to abstract, rhythmic or melodic material; none restores the whole fleet
the rhythmic path
everything it draws arrives clocked, so what appears relates to what is already playing
input · in misc
a generator that listens: the microphone, or an interface's inputs, choosing the channel in its controls. the organism never draws one by itself -- in a room with a speaker that would be a feedback loop nobody asked for
sample player · in misc
your own loop on a tape machine: varispeed, stretch, reverse, splice. choosing it opens the file picker, and the file chosen becomes the node; load and sync in its controls choose another and fit it to the tempo. the organism never draws one

play the canvas

tap a node
redraws its own synthesis parameters without stopping it. with the edit method set to tap node in session settings, a tap opens its controls instead. a plugin node always opens its sheet
double-tap a node
switches its rhythmic gate on or off. on the abstract path, and sometimes with no path, the gate is irregular: a wandering clock and loose figures
drag a node
moves it and its stereo position; session settings can assign height to volume or filter
drag a node onto the bin
push it right up against the top edge under the bin, until it will go no further. the bin glows only on contact, not on getting close; let go there and the node is gone
orange · rose · teal
generator · acoustic instrument · processor. memory is a paler orange, a holos a lighter blue with a ring inside, a synth a deeper blue, a controller a chartreuse square with its own mark, an AUv3 plugin orchid with a plug
ivory
a processor that is the outlet of its chain: nothing downstream, so this is where that branch reaches the master and where its sound sits in the stereo field. it stays ivory only while it plays that part; grow something after it and it is teal again
red · yellow · violet
a node in delete mode · muted · gated, over its own colour
a synth's kind
when a kind is chosen for a synth's randomize, the canvas names it under the node: poundhard · kick
Guided paths: what you add by hand is limited to abstract, rhythmic or melodic material.
Guided paths: what you add by hand is limited to abstract, rhythmic or melodic material.

Build

Hold a node as an anchor. Every additional touch develops the network from it.

The palette opens where a finger rests on empty canvas: generator regions, acoustic instruments, processors and ready-made chains.
The palette opens where a finger rests on empty canvas: generator regions, acoustic instruments, processors and ready-made chains.

grow and connect

hold node + tap empty
grows a processor there and connects the held node to it
keep holding + tap
grows further branches without lifting the anchor
hold node + two fingers
duplicates it with the same sound and controls, but no connection
hold node + tap node
draws a directed vessel from the held node to the tapped one
repeat a vessel
cuts it; if the tapped node hangs only from that vessel, the node goes too

signal rules

source → processors
audio flows along the chain; branches and feedback cycles are allowed
generator → generator
audio-rate cross modulation: ring, amplitude, phase or filter, chosen per target. a holos counts as a generator at either end
kick → voice
an 808 or 909 kick, or a poundhard playing a kick, drawn into a generator or a holos ducks it out of the kick's way instead: a side chain. a box halfway along the vessel shows how deep; tap it for the amount, 0 to 100 %. with several kicks the strongest wins
both directions
mutual cross modulation; both generators remain audible as sources
acoustic node
may feed processors, but cannot receive a vessel or audio-rate modulation -- except from a controller
plugin instrument
an AUv3 instrument feeds processors, but receives no vessel
controller → voice
a broken vessel carrying notes, not sound, into a generator or an acoustic node, one controller playing notes to each. an lfo may also be drawn into a MIDI plugin; nothing else is drawn into a controller
thicker vessel
closes a feedback cycle and is automatically attenuated
A node switched to drone, so it has no loop length or clock division.
A node switched to drone, so it has no loop length or clock division.

palette and combos

choose a region
opens its named node types; each entry says what it sounds like. 56 generator types and 72 processors in all, so the regions are how they stay findable
maverick · in misc
an effect patched from what the processors are made of -- delay lines, combs, diffusers, filters, folders, crushers, ring modulators, pitch-shifted and reversed grains, stutters, choppers, resonators -- three to five in series, in two branches or round a loop, with lfos, envelope followers, random steps and a pitch tracker wired across them. no two are alike. its eight sliders are knobs and modulation depths inside it, named for what they move; a tap draws every value again and keeps the patch. drawn with a ring inside it; the organism never draws one
convolve · in misc
convolution with impulses it makes itself. space chooses the kind -- room, hall, spring, metal body, reversed swell, scattered taps or a small box -- size its length, tone dark to open, detail the spacing, pitch or density of what is in it
choose a combo
places a complete free-standing processor chain: grind, acid, lurch, haunt, cavern or corrode
under a guided path
the palette and every combo stage are restricted to the active path

controllers

what they are
chartreuse, square nodes that make no sound, each with a mark of its own, on the controllers tile: metaseq, lfo, fugitive, drumaqueen, dodgems, metabolism and dial. metaseq plays any number of voices, the others up to six each
join
hold the controller and tap a voice. hold it and tap an empty spot to grow a voice there, already played by it. the same gesture on a joined voice cuts the vessel
metaseq
a line in the session's scale, on the grid. a synthesis voice plays each note at its own pitch, from its root plus the octave setting; an acoustic node stops its own phrase and plays the line in its own range. several voices joined to one controller play the same line
editor
the second tab of its sheet: the line in a piano roll, two bars at a time, rows in the session's scale. tap a cell to add a note, tap a note to remove it, drag a note to move it, drag its right end to lengthen it. an edited line plays as written and does not evolve; the generate controls, randomize or a tap start a new one, and back to generated returns to it
tap · randomize
a tap on the node, or randomize in its sheet: a whole new melody, with both engines and every control drawn again
pitch · rhythm
the engines. pitch: weave, markov, l-system, walk, recamán, fibonacci, lorenz, automaton. rhythm: euclid, stream, clave, automaton, thue-morse, golden, broken
the sliders
density, complexity (triplets, ratchets, figures that run across the bar), range, leap, form (repetition against new material), evolve (how much the line mutates each cycle), swing, accent and legato
octave · bars · speed
octaves from a synthesis voice's root, -2 to +3; the line's length; how fast it reads the grid
lfo
joined to up to six generators, processors, holos or plugins, with a tab in its sheet for each, in the order they were joined. on each tab three lfos, and add lfo for up to six: the parameter each moves, its waveform -- sine, triangle, square or random -- its depth, and its rate, from one cycle in a hundred seconds to forty a second. a node joined gets three drawn for it, and its own lfo stands aside -- its lfo button greyed out -- until the lfo is cut loose, when it comes back as it was
lfo · randomize
a tap on the node, or randomize all in its sheet: every tab's three lfos drawn again. each tab has its own randomize beside the tabs, for that node's three only. hold randomize all for a second and it flashes and lets every lfo go of its parameter
fugitive
one arpeggio, answered by every voice it is joined to: the first plays it, the others follow, each with its own direction, speed, transposition, octave, ratchet, loop, ornament and echo. its arp tab sets the chord, the rate, the root, the octaves, the register and the gate. holding its die brings every voice back to unison
drumaqueen
drum patterns for the generators it is joined to: a groove in a style and a metre, and a track for each voice -- what it plays, its grid, length, ratchet, pitch and accent, and an envelope for a voice that is not a drum. hold it and tap an empty spot to grow a drum. holding its die returns the plain groove
dodgems
cars bouncing round a court for each voice it is joined to, every wall they hit sounding the note of the cell it was hit at. tap the court to park a car, tap a car to turn it, hold one to take it off; one to six cars. holding its die leaves one plain car
metabolism
a game of life for each voice it is joined to: a playhead sweeps the culture and every live cell sounds. the rule, the size, how often it lives on and whether a dead culture is sown again are in its sheet; tap a cell to flip it
dial
a shift register for each voice it is joined to: a loop of notes that holds, drifts or turns new, as far as its change slider says. tap a bit to flip it; holding its die locks every register
every controller
a tap on the node, or its die, draws everything again; save and load sit in its bar

holos

what it is
a whole patch in one node, a lighter blue with a ring inside it: a voice, sometimes a second voice modulating it, and up to three processors, all taken from the fleet and wired inside -- in a chain, crossed, round a feedback loop, or split and mixed back
synths · holos
first on the synths tile: assembles one where your finger rested, on the chosen path -- its voice and every stage come from that path's own vocabulary, a melodic one plays a sampled phrase. with no path chosen it picks one of the three. every holos is a new patch
how it hangs together
colour -- a filter, a resonator, a shaper -- before motion, a space only ever last, and never more than one destructive stage
its eight sliders
knobs brought out from the pieces inside, each named for the knob and whose it is -- cutoff · moog, grain · cloud. every piece has at least one, and each slider moves its knob over a window of its own, sometimes reversed. the edit header says what is inside, in signal order
tap it
redraws every value inside -- the eight sliders and every hidden knob -- and glides to them. the same pieces and the same wiring, a different sound from them
wiring
it is a voice, and a generator as far as wiring goes: it feeds processors, another generator or holos drawn into it modulates the whole patch, and an 808 or 909 kick drawn into it ducks it. drawn into a generator, it modulates that

synths

what they are
full, self-contained synthesizers, a deeper blue, on the synths tile, after the holos. the organism never draws one; each is placed by hand
anima
a touch synthesizer played by simulated hands; its mod button gives the hands a new motion
bayarea
a wavefolded oscillator through a low-pass gate, into a spring of reverb
caligula
eight oscillators modulating each other, delay and distortion; its randomize deals a new sound from its own recipes and moves the sliders
polylog
an analog polysynth: two oscillators, two filters, envelopes, unison
poundhard
FM drums: three operators, a folder, noise, transients, filters, effects. always clocked, and its kick ducks what it is drawn into
resurgent
three oscillators, two filters, envelopes, LFOs and effects
kind row
under the bar of resurgent, poundhard, polylog and anima: any, or a kind -- pad, kick, strings, glass. the next randomize deals that kind. poundhard keeps its kind on the node, so a tap deals one too
randomize
a whole new sound, and the sliders moved to where it sits

AUv3 plugins

what they are
the AUv3 instruments, effects and MIDI plugins on the device, as nodes: an instrument is a generator, an effect a processor, a MIDI plugin a controller. in the app only, not in vascular as a plugin itself, and unlocked by one purchase, restored in the gear's purchases tab
palette · AUv3 plugins
instruments, effects or MIDI, each searchable by name or developer and sorted either way. until it is bought a plugin node can be placed but holds nothing, and its sheet offers the unlock
its sheet
the plugin's own interface, or its parameters, of which up to eight can be ticked as slots an lfo moves. an instrument has drone and clock, and on the clock gen rhythm, gen melody and octave − / +; randomize, a random preset where it has presets, save and load, keep on an effect, and a level

Perform

The buttons separate deliberate edits, generative change, the gesture looper, storage and transport. The fx sequencer has a tab of its own.

Pattern slots: a short press recalls a slot, a long press stores the canvas in it.
Pattern slots: a short press recalls a slot, a long press stores the canvas in it.

left buttons

trash · tap
arms node deletion; tap the button again to disarm
trash · hold
clears the whole canvas
trash · drop
a node pushed against the top edge under this button touches the bin: it glows, and letting go there deletes the node. coming near it does nothing -- the node has to be put in
sliders · tap
arms editing; tap a node to open its controls. hidden while the edit method is tap node
randomizer · tap
opens a sheet with create, transform, expand and dismantle; it opens on the tab used last. while angiogenesis runs, create is greyed out; the rest work on the canvas as it is, and ending angiogenesis still returns the canvas it started from
angiogenesis · tap
engages the search: it moves, rewires, grows and prunes processors around the existing sources. it never creates or removes a generator, never prunes a processor marked keep or one an lfo or a controller reaches, leaves a live input set the way you set it, and keeps at least two processors on the canvas. restrained, in session settings, only moves nodes. the button flashes while it runs; tap it again to stop it and return to the exact canvas it started from
angiogenesis · hold
while it runs: pauses it where it is. the button glows solid, nothing moves, and the canvas can be stored into a pattern as it stands. tap to carry on; tap again to stop, and the canvas returns to where it began
create
clears the canvas and grows a whole patch: abstract, rhythmic or melodic
transform
throws what is there: node positions, wiring, every node's gate, processors included -- a fresh rhythm or none, drums excepted -- every generator's parameters or every processor's parameters; lfos deals a new modulator to about half the generators, processors and holos, and structures draws every running rhythm and melody again -- rhythms, the 303's line, chords, acoustic phrases, metaseq lines
gates · lfos · structures, held
takes off what that button dealt: every gate, or each node's modulator or rhythm and melody as they were before the first tap. the button flickers and says cleared; one undo step
with capsules drawn
the transform tab works only outside them; a tap on a capsule throws what is inside it
expand
reads what the canvas leans towards -- rhythmic, melodic or abstract -- and extends the network that way without clearing anything. mostly processors: chains deepened, sources given a second outlet, rooms several chains share, vessels run between chains; and the voices the organism lacks, a kick under a kit first, wired to duck the bed. simple, medium and complex are degrees of network complexity. in a rhythmic organism every new voice arrives on the grid, at the division the canvas plays, with a part written in the gaps of what is already playing. one undo step, however much it adds
simple · medium · complex
the three sizes of expansion: two to three processors and no new voice; three to four, and one at times; four to six, and one more often than not, with rooms and cross-vessels in step. a voice the organism lacks can add one
dismantle
expansion run backwards: takes nodes off the outside of the network, only ones whose going silences nothing else, and never the last voice. how many is read off the canvas -- about the square root of its nodes, one more when it is densely wired, at most six; the tab says how many before you press. one undo step
capture · the looper
records what you do to the canvas and gives it back, layer over layer. it has a section of its own below
compass · tap
opens guided paths; an active path also constrains processors and parameter changes during the search
compass · hold
opens global steering: one control moved on every node that has it -- filter across the generators, the holos and the acoustic voices, dry/wet across the processors -- grouped by kind, in each kind's colour, with the count of nodes each will move
mixer · tap
arms mute; tap nodes to silence or restore them, hold one to solo it with its chain -- hold it again to bring the rest back
mixer · hold
opens bit crush, saturation, compression, delay, reverb and output
rebalance · tap
spreads the outlets evenly across the stereo field, in the order they stand. levels are left alone. one undo step
undo
steps back one gesture; a whole slider sweep counts as one
redo
steps forward again; dark while there is nothing to redo
grid · tap
opens the 32 pattern slots
grid · hold
opens the fx sequencer, which has a tab of its own in this guide. the button stays lit while a pattern morphs or any lane has bars on it
capsule · tap
capsule mode: draw a line round some nodes and close it where it began; up to three capsules. the transform tab then works only outside them. under angiogenesis a capsule's nodes move only within it and what grows there stays there; vessels still form across its edge, and other nodes pass through it in a membrane of their own. tap again to leave the mode; the capsules stay
tap a capsule
on an empty spot inside it: what session settings choose for a capsule tap, all at once -- its nodes' places within it, its wiring, its gates, its generators' and processors' parameters, its lfos, its rhythms and melodies. nothing outside it changes. one undo step
capsule · hold
clears every capsule; the button flashes
gear · help
sessions and settings · this guide
help · hold
puts the notes back over the interface itself, with each region ringed; it is shown at every launch until that is switched off, on the overlay itself or in global setup

right buttons

play / pause
a general stop: the sources, the looper's layers, the search and the fx sequencer's playheads all hold where they are, and all pick up from there. processor and master tails ring out naturally rather than being cut at the output, so it stops the way a player stops playing. as a plugin, the host's transport drives it: vascular plays when the host plays and stops when it stops, and the button follows
tap · tempo
beside play. tap the number to type a tempo, 10 to 300, whole numbers; or tap the tap button in time, two taps or more. it drives every clock, gate, sequence and woven phrase. as a plugin, the host's clock sets it and both are dimmed
record · tap
counts four beats in at the session's tempo -- wooden knocks, and the number on the button -- then starts a 16-bit stereo take on a higher knock. the knocks are not recorded. tap during the count to call it off; tap during the take to stop it. the button flashes while it runs
record · hold
opens recordings, to play, share or delete them
The randomizer: create a new network or change the current one.
The randomizer: create a new network or change the current one.

the gesture looper

what it is
angiogenesis is the organism moving itself. this is the same thing played by hand: what you do to the canvas is kept and given back, and you can stack layer on layer over it
tap · arm
the button lights. nothing is recorded until the canvas actually changes, so a layer starts on a movement rather than on a button. tapping again while armed drops back out
play · record
everything that happens is taken: nodes seeded, grown, duplicated, chosen from the palette, vessels drawn and cut, nodes deleted, and every drag, tap, gate and mute over the top. however it arrived -- your hand, the palette, or angiogenesis running at the same time
tap · close
the layer plays at once, from its own top. it is as long as you played it, held silence at the end included. what you built during the take blinks out and comes back at the moment you built it, because at nought seconds into the take none of it had happened yet
tap · overdub
arms another layer while everything already down keeps running. up to thirty-two layers, each its own length, none divided from a bar and none lined up with the others -- so they drift against each other the way two loop pedals left running would
temporary and permanent
anything the canvas gained while a layer was recording belongs to that layer: it appears and vanishes with the loop and is gone for good when the looper is emptied. what you built before arming, or between takes while it was only playing, is permanent and untouched
building underneath
the layers play over whatever canvas they find, so you can go on growing, connecting and deleting while they run. a layer never repeats the deletion of something you built outside it -- that happened once, at the time
reading the button
dark nothing captured · lit magenta armed · flashing pink recording · steady violet playing, brightening as the stack gets deeper. a white stutter says a hold emptied it, and a red one says thirty-two layers are already down
hold · stop
one and eight tenths of a second empties every layer and takes every temporary node with it. this is the only way to stop the looper: a press always means take another layer, so there is nothing to remember mid-phrase. undo does not reach a recorded layer, which is why the hold is the long one
with the search
both can run at once, and that is the intended pair: angiogenesis moves and rewires while your own layers play their shapes over whatever it leaves standing
layers belong to a pattern
storing a pattern stores the layers running at the time -- as layers, not as the half-built moment they were in. recalling that pattern starts them again from the top of each, and recalling one that was stored with nothing looping stops the looper and takes its temporary nodes with it. nothing a layer made outlives the pattern that holds it

patterns and randomizer

tap a slot
recalls it: node identity, controls, positions and wiring morph over the session's pattern morph time, the fx sequencer's lanes switch at once, its looper layers take over from whatever was running, and the sheet closes so you are back on the canvas. an empty slot does nothing
hold a slot
stores the canvas, the looper's layers and the fx sequencer's lanes there, and that slot becomes the current one; it flashes to confirm, and the sheet stays open
a filled slot
shows how many nodes and vessels are in it, and a plus for the looper layers it will start; the current one is lit
pattern morph
the fader above the slots: how long one pattern takes to become another, the same setting as in session settings
transform · position
keeps every node and vessel, but redistributes the stereo field, outside the capsules
transform · wiring
keeps every node and deals processors into new source-fed chains
transform · gates
deals every node a fresh rhythm or none, processors included and drums excepted; at least one node always changes
transform · generators
re-voices every source in place: the wiring, the positions and the processors are left alone
transform · processors
the same for every transformation, leaving the sources as they are
create
replaces the canvas with a composed abstract, rhythmic or melodic network; undo restores what was there
Global steering moves one control on every node of a type at once.
Global steering moves one control on every node of a type at once.
Recordings: play, rename, share or delete.
Recordings: play, rename, share or delete.

FX sequencer

Hold the patterns button. Four processors, each drawn as bars over its own lane, played onto the outlets of the canvas.

The fx sequencer: four lanes of sixteenths. Each bar applies the lane's processor to one outlet for the length of the bar.
The fx sequencer: four lanes of sixteenths. Each bar applies the lane's processor to one outlet for the length of the bar.

what it does

a lane
one processor -- any of the fleet -- and the steps it is on, in sixteenths of the session's tempo
a bar
a run of drawn steps. each time the playhead enters it, the lane's processor lands on one outlet of the canvas, chosen at random, and stays there to the end of the bar. the next bar, or the same one next time round, can land somewhere else
an outlet
wherever a sound reaches the master: an ivory processor at the end of a chain, or a generator with nothing after it
two bars side by side
are one bar. leave an empty step between them for each to pick an outlet of its own
the canvas
does not change: no node or vessel is drawn for a lane, and undo does not step through it
the playhead
a line across each lane, on the clock the lane actually steps by; the bar it is inside is lit. it stops with the transport and picks up where it stopped

drawing

touch an empty step
starts a bar there; drag to extend it either way
touch a drawn step
erases from there; drag to erase more
drag back
shortens what you are drawing rather than leaving the steps you passed over
the end grip
drag it, or touch past the end of a lane, to set how many steps that lane runs before it comes round -- one to thirty-two. each lane has its own, against one clock, so a lane of seven over a lane of thirty-two is a polyrhythm. bars past the end are kept, and come back when the lane is pulled out again

a lane's controls

the name
tap to re-roll the processor's parameters; the die beside it turns to say it did
the region chip
opens every processor by region; choose one to put it on the lane at its own defaults, keeping the bars. take it off the lane removes the processor and keeps the bars
clear
wipes the lane's bars and keeps its processor
sync · drift
in sync the lane steps on the session's grid. lit, it drifts: a clock of its own that runs ahead, falls behind, stops for a while and sets off again, so its bars land when nobody could say. no two drifting lanes wander together
wet
how much of the outlet the processor replaces while a bar is on it; all the way up is an insert

the dice by done

new fx
deals four different processors onto the lanes, favouring the ones whose effect is unmistakable in a bar; your bars, lengths and sync settings stay
steps · lengths · params
draws new bars on every lane, with a new length and new parameters for each; the processors stay
clear all
wipes every lane's bars; the processors stay
a new session
opens with four processors already dealt, and no bars, so the playheads run over empty lanes until you draw
saving
a pattern slot stores the lanes with the canvas, and recalling it puts them back at once; a lane whose processor is the same keeps running. the session keeps the lanes as you left them too. the master chain is the one thing that stays with the session

Setup

Edit a node in context, then save the canvas and its performance settings as a session.

A node's sheet: level, effects send, pitch, filter and the parameters of its synthesis method.
A node's sheet: level, effects send, pitch, filter and the parameters of its synthesis method.

inside a node

volume · fx send · dry / wet
a source's level and how much of it reaches the shared master effects; on a processor, how much of it is heard against what comes in
pitch · filter
on a source: transposes it by ear, and sweeps a filter -- open in the centre, low-pass below, high-pass above
? · ★
along the top: ? explains every control; the star makes the type a favourite in the palette, in every session
keep
on a processor, beside the star: lit, angiogenesis never removes it
save · load
stores the node's settings as a named preset, the same name replacing it, and loads any preset of the same type, from any session; hold one in the list to delete it
transpose − / +
moves every note of an acoustic phrase to the previous or next pitch in the session's root and scale
family sliders
the real arguments of that node's algorithm: up to six for a generator, up to eight for a processor
invert
the box beside a slider: inverts that parameter, reading it from the far end of its range
rnd x-y
assigns two random family parameters to horizontal and vertical node position. while it is on, the pos x and pos y boxes beside each slider choose your own: any parameter on either axis, one axis each
lfo
a tap draws a fresh modulator and targets, every time; a hold takes it off. the button is lit while one runs. a modulated slider is marked ~ and shows where the parameter actually is
padlock
beside every parameter, open by default. locked -- filled in the node's colour -- no randomizer writes that parameter and no lfo, the node's own or a controller's, moves it; one already moving it lets go
drone / clock
one sustained event, or repeated strikes on the grid; percussive families arrive clocked and the rest droning. drums, percussion and poundhard are always clocked; a lushpad's reads drone / chords
1/8 · 1/4 · 1/2 · 1 · x2 · x4
a clocked node's own speed against the session tempo; every division stays locked to every other
randomize
top right, beside done: new settings for the node's sound; on a synth, a new sound, within its kind when one is chosen
gen rhythm · gen melody
on a clocked node, beside its loop length: a new rhythm, or a line of notes over the rhythm it has. gen melody is lit while one plays, and a hold takes it off. drums, the 303, lushpad, poundhard, caligula, the sample player and an input take no melody
gen chords
on a lushpad: another chord to drone on, or another progression, in the same key. randomize changes its tone and leaves the chords alone
loop length
sets this source's own loop; percussion offers one or two bars, acoustic phrases and the 303 also four
input channel
on an input node, which numbered input of the device or interface it listens to -- the number on the back of the box. with one microphone there is nothing to choose

session settings

root · scale
retunes every source into one harmonic field, generators and acoustic phrases alike; touch the scale to open the four traditions and what is in them
microtonal
imports a Scala file, which replaces the scale; clear brings the scale back
angiogenesis · type
free: nodes move, and connections, nodes and parameters change. restrained: nodes only move, changing nothing but their stereo position and their volume or filter
mutation rate
requested searches per minute; the device may slow it for safety
return duration
how long the organism takes to come back after a search
pattern morph
how long one stored pattern takes to become another
y position control
gives canvas height a meaning -- volume, filter or nothing; it begins on volume, and processors are left out. on volume, a node's own fader reads how loud it is where it stands, so dragging it down the canvas moves the fader down with it
default dry / wet balance
the balance every processor you add from then on arrives at; what is already on the canvas keeps what it has
capsules · tap capsule to change
which transforms a tap on a capsule applies, any number of them: position, wiring, gates, generators, processors, lfos, structures. all but gates to begin with
edit method
edit button: the sliders button opens a node's controls, and a tap on a node redraws its sound. tap node: a tap opens its controls, and the sliders button goes
Session settings: root note, scale, tempo, mutation rate and pattern morph.
Session settings: root note, scale, tempo, mutation rate and pattern morph.

sessions and master

select a session
loads its canvas, its settings, its 32 pattern slots and its fx sequencer, on the pattern it was left on. folders come first, opened and closed with a tap; sessions in no folder follow
tap the name
renames the session
folders
the row above the list saves, starts a new session or a new folder, and moves the session into a folder. a folder's pencil renames it and its bin deletes it, keeping its sessions
factory sessions
the app arrives with a folder of sessions to play from. a deleted one stays deleted, and one you saved under the same name in that folder is never overwritten
a settings change
is written immediately; save stores the organism into this session or a new one beside it
leaving unsaved work
asks first, and saving from that prompt writes a new session rather than overwriting the one being left
the gear's tabs
sessions; global setup, for the whole instrument whichever session is loaded -- the text size, and whether the help overlay opens at every launch; purchases, for the AUv3 plugins and restoring them; and about
master effects
six stages in signal order: bit crush, saturation, compression, delay, reverb and output
compression
a profile -- gentle, glue, warm, punch, snap, pump, smash, loud, limit -- or custom once a fader moves: dry/wet, threshold, ratio, attack, release, make-up and a filter on what it listens to, which is the mix or the kicks. the meter shows how much it takes
output · audio output
which of the device's outputs the instrument plays on, in stereo or mono to both. as a plugin the host decides
per-node send
how strongly that outlet enters the shared master chain
as a plugin
the same instrument loads as an AUv3 in a host such as AUM. the host's project keeps the canvas, the patterns and the settings, so there is no session list, no factory sessions, no purchases and no AUv3 plugins inside it
The master effects: six stages in signal order, shared by everything that reaches the speakers.
The master effects: six stages in signal order, shared by everything that reaches the speakers.

This manual is generated from the guide inside the app. The same text is available offline on the device: the ? key opens it, and holding it starts the guided tour over the live canvas.