Instruments

Choose an instrument #

Select the target track, then open the instrument tile in the device panel. The instrument browser groups built-in synths, libraries, sample libraries, and scanned plugins. Use search to narrow the list and click the intended instrument or preset. Loading a choice changes the selected track.

Library and plugin lists depend on installed content and successful scans. Keep library sample folders together when moving a collection. A preset that references missing files cannot become complete merely by rescanning its instrument file.

Draft: the instrument tile and browser choices are source-reviewed; native removal, replacement, undo and audible routing remain unverified. Removing an internal instrument tile switches the track to External MIDI. The External MIDI tile offers VST Instrument, Native Instrument, Sampled Synths and Instrument Grid choices, which open the instrument browser with initial filters.

Select more than one browser family to combine their results. Select All to clear the family filters. Search and the installed or scanned content still determine the available results. Existing add-on and authoring requirements continue to apply.

Audition browser presets #

For SoundFont or SFZ presets and OP-7 presets, hover the browser preset button briefly to request an audition. Keyboard focus also requests a preview. The preview is separate from choosing the track instrument.

To end an uncommitted preview, move the pointer off the button and move keyboard focus away if the button still has focus. Select the intended preset when you want to load it onto the track.

These gestures are source-reviewed. Native audition, cancellation and behavior across instrument families remain unverified for this draft.

Instrument device volume #

Select the track and adjust Vol on its instrument device. The control ranges from 0 to 200 percent, with 100 percent at unity gain. It changes the instrument level independently of the track mixer volume.

Instrument device volume scales the instrument audio before the track effects. Note sample overlays replace the instrument for those notes and retain their own sample-device gain.

For SoundFont and SFZ instruments, an unset Attack keeps the instrument attack unless it is shorter than 5 ms; the playback path then uses a 5 ms anti-click minimum. An explicitly set Attack value is used as entered.

These controls are source-reviewed. Native audio acceptance remains unverified for this draft.

OP-7 FM synth #

Choose OP-7 FM and start with a bank or preset in the OP-7 Presets browser. ALGORITHM selects one of 32 FM routings. FEEDBACK changes feedback strength. Each operator has LEVEL, COARSE, FINE, DETUNE, and an envelope. RATIO follows the played note; FIXED uses a fixed operator frequency.

For a small change, adjust one operator LEVEL and replay the same phrase. Changing a modulator level changes the tone, while changing a carrier level can change loudness. Use the displayed algorithm to see which operators feed the output.

The panel also has LFO controls, keyboard scaling, velocity sensitivity, FILTER, CUTOFF, RESO and DRIVE. VOICES, DETUNE and SPREAD are the unison controls. The voice-mode choices are Poly, Mono and Unison, and the glide choices are Off, Legato and Always. Draft: native listening and consecutive-note behavior remain unverified.

To import a DX7 cartridge, open the OP-7 Presets browser and choose Load .syx. Select a .syx file in the chooser. On a successful import, the browser rebuilds the bank list and selects the imported bank. Canceling the chooser leaves the selection unchanged. The browser requires the existing Built-in Synths availability. Draft: this loader is source-reviewed; native file import and playback have not yet been verified.

Draft: the filter selectors have a source-confirmed label mismatch, so their displayed response and slope labels do not reliably describe the selected processing. Filter behavior instructions remain incomplete. The modulation matrix also lacks a graphical slot editor in this source-reviewed version; no matrix authoring walkthrough is verified.

Draft: chooser-imported banks are added to the current preset-manager session. Choosing a file does not establish that its bank or edited patch will survive an app restart or project reopen. Native persistence checks are pending.

Double-click the patch name to rename it. The reviewed panel uses up to ten characters and replaces unsupported characters with spaces. This changes the current patch; saved edited-patch persistence has not been established.

Sybil-16 virtual analog synth #

Choose Sybil-16 VA and load a factory patch to get an audible starting point. Each of its two main oscillators has Wave, Coarse, Fine, and PW controls. Wave choices include Saw, Square, Pulse, Triangle, Sine, and Wavetable. The wavetable selectors are active when Wavetable is selected.

Set the oscillator levels in the mixer, then adjust Cutoff and Reso. The two filters offer SVF, Ladder, and S-K types, with LP, HP, BP, and Notch modes. Routing selects Single, Serial, or Parallel filter processing.

Use AMP and FILT envelopes for volume and filter movement. ENV3 and ENV4 provide further modulation sources. LFOs have shape, rate, sync, and timing controls. The routing table connects sources such as velocity, mod wheel, aftertouch, and MPE expression to destinations. Drag a modulation source onto a supported destination to add a route, then adjust its amount in the routing table. For example, oscillator Coarse, Level and PW, unison Detune, filter Drive and envelope amount, Volume, LFO Rate and the filter cutoff displays accept this gesture. An existing route is revealed; adding a new route requires a free routing slot. This gesture has source review; the native walkthrough remains unverified.

Uni supports 1 to 16 unison voices. Detune and Spread widen the result. Voice offers Poly, Mono, and Unison; Glide offers Off, Legato, and Always. More voices can increase output level and processing cost, so check Volume before comparing patches.

In AMP, FILT, ENV3 or ENV4, drag the attack, decay or release handle to change its time. Drag the sustain shelf to change sustain. Drag a curve midpoint vertically to bend that segment, or double-click it to reset the segment to linear.

Double-click an LFO preset shape to convert it into editable points. Drag a point to move it, or double-click empty space to add a point while the shape has room. Right-click or double-click a point to remove it when more than two points remain.

Drop a supported audio file on an oscillator waveform display to import a wavetable. A successful import selects Wavetable for that oscillator.

Punch-5 and Punch Drums #

The browser presents the drum synth as Punch Drums. Its Punch-5 family contains synthesized drum recipes and additional drum-engine choices. Choose the engine and drum voice before editing its controls, because the available controls and defaults depend on that combination.

Tune changes pitch, Decay changes duration, Tone changes brightness, Drive adds distortion, and Level balances the selected voice. Snap and an extra voice-specific control appear only for the recipes that use them. Do not expect a kick control to appear on every hat or cymbal.

Use the browser drum choices to select the sound and then replay the notes assigned to that voice. Balance individual voice levels before adding track effects.

SF2, SF3, SFZ, and experimental NKI #

SoundFont libraries use SF2 or SF3 banks. SFZ instruments can reference many separate sample files. Keep the SFZ file and its referenced samples available together. The browser groups multi-file bundles separately from plain SoundFont banks.

NKI sample-library import is experimental and bounded. It decodes supported instrument structures and maps playable regions into the sample engine. It does not provide the complete Kontakt runtime or reproduce every script, effect, or protected library.

Unsupported entries can carry a compatibility label in the browser. Kontakt 1 and unsupported Kontakt 4.2+ binary forms are explicit limits. Some Kontakt 5 external-sample and monolithic instruments have dedicated handling, but that is not a guarantee for every NKI file. Check the compatibility status and audition the actual instrument before relying on it.

Instrument Grids #

Ready-made factory Instrument Grids can be loaded and played in Free. Opening the graph for custom authoring, changing its modules or wiring, and building your own Instrument Grid require Pro and the Instrument & Effect Grids add-on.

The add-on is beta. Start from a factory choice and confirm its sound before authoring a custom patch. Instrument Grid is the instrument workspace; Patch Bay is the project routing workspace. Their jobs are different.