Knobs

Drag up or down; hold Shift for fine moves. The mouse wheel steps. Double-click: back to the patch's value.

Keys

Tap or slide across; lower on a key plays harder. Keys − / + move them an octave; Hide keys folds them away. MPE lit: slide a held key sideways to bend just that note, up for its own mod.

Patrick

Tap a sound to load it. Tile colours show the type; the tabs stay on top as the sounds scroll (Sine: six built on the Sine wave). Save keeps your edits in a free user slot (U01 to U16).

Patch: Macros

Under the Library: the sound's four Macros, the same knobs as Mod's Macros cell (a move here moves them there too, and one undo takes it back). Each shows its name, a tick at its home and a faint mark where the joystick, wheel, Cycle or Matrix is pushing it. To set up what a macro moves, open its lanes in Mod.

Patrick: Init

Init (top right): a clean start. One saw, filter open, everything else off, every effect before the master and switched off. It's what a fresh Patrick opens on (a first visit, or a private window), and Clear state (Master, System) brings you back to it; your saved sounds stay. Saving it puts a copy in your bank.

Patrick: Save new

Save new puts the sound in the next free slot in Yours under a new name (CHOIRBOY 2), and the one you loaded stays as it was. Type a name straight away, or press Enter to keep it. Undo on the toast takes it back out. Save and Save new both keep the effects with the sound: the pedals, their order around the master and their bypasses come back when you load it. Master out and the master settings stay yours across every sound.

Patrick: Playing

With Playing on (it is, to start with), Save and Save new also keep how you were playing: the step sequencer, the piano roll, Blocks (the chords, the progression, key, rhythm and octave), the swing, the keyboard octave, Rel var and whether the sequencer shows the roll or the steps. Load the sound again and you pick up right where you left off. A tile saved this way has a small mark of three rising squares, and the loaded sound says what it brought back under its quote. Loading never starts or stops anything that plays: a running loop carries on with the saved pattern. With Keep arp on, a load keeps your playing as it is. Factory sounds and Init carry no playing. Turn Playing off to save just the sound and its effects.

Voices: Deluxe

The upgrade shelf. Prophet 4.99 Poly-Moddy: the filter contour and Osc 3 move Osc 1 / Osc 2's pitch, pulse width and the filter (bells, metal, sync sweeps). Uni-son of a Prophet: 2 to 8 voices on every key, detuned and spread across the stereo field (needs Voices 2 or more). CS-80 Lite: Brass-a-lot: the filter swell with IL, AL, A, D, Brilliance and R. Release me: the sound and the filter's own release times, and Tolerance (every voice a little different). Ribbon-a-lot: the strip beside the keys (Reach, Glide or Gliss, Spring or Stay). Every control at zero (and Ribbon in the middle) plays as before.

Voices: Pan

Where every note sits in the stereo field. Hand over head: Fingers gives every key you hold its own place (low to high, outward, in the order played, by velocity…) and the squares move as you play. Voice pan places, scatters or round-robins each new note. Auto-pan-a-lot sweeps the field in time, each voice a little later. Cutoff › Pan opens the stereo image with the filter. Oscillator pan puts each oscillator somewhere. Pan is also a Matrix destination. Everything at Centre / 0 is exactly the old sound.

Play: Arp, Blocks

Space starts and stops. Blocks: four bars of chords; tap the progression's name for the book of 90.

Play: Sequencer

Piano roll: tap to draw, drag for length, double-tap deletes. Steps: 16, each with velocity, gate, chance, ratchet, slide.

Voices: Life

The first cell of Analog: an old synth's drift. Warm-up, sag and wander, and the odd crash.

Analog

Oscillators (eight waves, Sine and Pulse last), filter, contours, Shape env, glide and cross-mod. Voices (in Contours) plays Mono or up to 8 notes. The Filter's Type picks Ladder 24 (as always), OTA 24, LP 12, BP 12, HP 12 or HP 24, and HPF thins the whole voice after it (Shelf, Flat, 240, 720); 's Filter shows the same two.

Analog: Pulse width

Pulse is a square wave whose top you can make narrower or wider. Each oscillator's PW knob sets its width: 50% is a plain square, towards 4% or 96% it gets thin and nasal. PW only works while that row's wave is Pulse (it's greyed out otherwise). Osc 1's row also has Uni: on Pulse, osc 1 plays 1 to 4 times at once, Uni det apart (up to 30 cents) for a thick, moving sound, the copies spread across the stereo field by Spread (both greyed out off Pulse).

The Pulse width cell moves the width by itself, the classic slow swirl. Depth is how far (0 keeps it still), Rate how fast, Shape how it moves, To which oscillators. Mode: Free, one movement for every note; Key, it starts again with each new phrase; Voice, each note moves on its own; V key, each note starts its own from the top. Spread (Voice modes) sets the notes apart; with a unison above 1 (osc 1's Uni, or the Voices of 's DCO 2 + unison) it also spreads the stacked copies from left to right (0 keeps them in the middle). The bar shows the width now. The mod wheel, Cycle and the joystick can move it too: pick PW (pulse).

Analog: Shape env

A second contour with four segments: from where it is to L1 in T1, then to L2 in T2, then to L3 in T3, held at L3 while the key is down, and down to nothing in T4 after you let go. Times run from 1 ms to 20 s. Mode: Off, it does nothing; Amp, it shapes the loudness instead of Contours' A row (which dims and says so); Mod, it only moves what its depths reach. Filter moves the cutoff and PWM the pulse width as it rises and falls; both start at the middle: right for one way, left for the other (PWM only works on Pulse waves). Curve: Lin, straight lines that take exactly their time; Exp, curves that start fast and settle. Key makes high notes quicker, Vel makes soft notes quieter. Drag a corner of the graph to change its segment's time (sideways) and level (up and down); one undo puts a whole drag back.

Super

Star, a fourth oscillator: super saws, sub, wave, vox, FM and Casio (the Thriller frog: try Ribbit).

Model

Pianos, tines, guitars, basses, bells and bowed strings. Engine: Layer, Model, Analog or Excite. Model envelope on: its own Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release (off: the model rings by itself).

Singers

Modelled voices and choirs. Drag the cross on the vowel chart; shape the faces; place them on the stage.

Voices:

is a second way to make the analog voice: two digitally steered oscillators (DCOs) that stay perfectly in tune, with a pulse whose width can swirl, saws, a sub an octave or two below, and noise. It sits inside the analog voice, beside Osc 1 to 3: its sound joins the mixer and goes through the same filter, contours and VCA, so it plays with every note and every Mod source like the rest. Level 0 turns it off (it then costs nothing). Its tab also shows Pulse width, Shape env and LFO 2, the cells that move its width, and the Chorus: they are the same controls as on Analog, Mod and FX (a move here moves them there too, and one undo takes it back). Unison is in DCO 2 + unison.

: DCO

Range (32′ to 4′), Tune in semitones and Fine in cents set the pitch; Level how loud it is in the mixer. Width is the pulse's width (50% a square). Pulse: off, a pulse whose width moves, a plain square, or an octave-up pulse. Saw: off, a saw, a saw cut by the pulse, two saws an octave apart, a saw times a square, or a saw that restarts at the width (Width changes its colour). Pulse and Saw can play together. Sub picks the wave an octave or two below, Sub level how loud (Off, −12, −6 or 0 dB), Noise adds hiss (Off, −24, −12 or −6 dB). Width from: which of the three moves the width, the pulse width LFO, LFO 2 and the Shape env, each by its own PWM amount. The bar shows the width now.

: DCO 2 + unison

A second DCO with the same waves, a little out of tune with the first for a thicker, moving sound. On switches it in (off, its controls dim). Detune how far apart (up to 25 cents), Level how loud next to the first, Octave one below, the same, or one above.

Voices stacks the DCOs 1 to 4 times in every note (unison), each a little out of tune: Uni det how far apart the outer ones are (up to 30 cents; it dims at 1). Spread spreads them across the stereo field, from the middle (0) to fully left and right; it is the same Spread as Analog's Pulse width cell (a move here moves it there too).

: Filter

The analog voice's filter, the same controls as Analog's Filter. Type: Ladder 24 (the filter as it always was), OTA 24 (smoother), LP 12, BP 12, HP 12 or HP 24. HPF is a gentle high-pass after the filter for the whole voice: Shelf lifts the lows, Flat does nothing, 240 and 720 thin the sound out. A change crossfades, so it never clicks. Both live on Analog's Filter too.

: Pulse width

The same controls as Analog's Pulse width cell. With Width from PWM LFO on (DCO), it moves the DCOs' width too.

: Shape env

The same controls and graph as Analog's Shape env cell. Its PWM moves the DCOs' width while Width from Shape env is on.

: LFO 2

The same controls as Mod's LFO 2. Its PWM moves the DCOs' width while Width from LFO 2 is on.

: Chorus

The same controls as FX's Chorus pedal, here beside the DCOs it widens: Save with sound, the sound's own Mode, Rate, Depth, Mix and Wet HPF, or the session's chorus while it's off.

Mod

What moves the sound: the source, LFO, LFO 2, wheel, cycle, joystick, velocity and MPE. The LFO's Delay holds it back after the first key of a phrase, then brings it in over the same time again (Off: it moves from the start).

Aftertouch (in Velocity): pressing harder on a key you already hold. It comes from a MIDI keyboard's channel or poly pressure, a pen's pressure on the on-screen keys, or Shift held while you play (full pressure). AT filter opens the filter (or closes it, left of the middle), AT level makes the note louder, AT vibrato adds the LFO's wobble. The bar shows the pressure now.

Mod: Macros

Four knobs, Macro 1 to 4 (MIDI CC 102 to 105), that each move many controls at once. Tap a macro's name to rename it (6 characters; Enter keeps it, Esc doesn't). Lanes opens what it moves: one row a lane, up to 16 in all. Target is the control the lane moves (on any tab: the picker says which). The lane adds nothing at the macro's Home, Lo at 0 and Hi at 127, each read as the value the target reaches there and how far that is from where it sits. Curve: Lin, a straight line; Ease, gentle at both ends; Step, a jump halfway. Lanes on the same control add up. Set home here makes the macro's position now its home; × removes a lane, + Lane adds one. Macros can also move MAGICATION's settings (FX). Every knob a lane moves shows a thin ghost ring on its edge: where the macros have taken it (a switch shows its step outlined). The joystick, the wheel, Cycle and the Matrix can push the macros themselves: pick Macro 1 to 4 as their destination (a named macro reads Macro 1 SWIRL); the macro's knob then shows a faint mark where it is pushed, and its tick is its home. A sound from a later Patrick may hold a lane this build can't play: it shows dimmed, marked (later).

Mod: LFO 2

A second LFO, for slow sweeps under the first. Rate (or Sync to the tempo), Shape, and four depths: Pitch, Filter, PWM and Tremolo. Filter and PWM start at the middle: turn right for one way, left for the other (PWM only works on Pulse waves). Mode: Free, one movement for every note; Key, it starts again with each new phrase; Voice, each note moves on its own; V key, each note starts its own. Delay keeps it still for a while after the key (the phrase's in Free and Key, each note's in Voice and V key), then Fade brings it in gently. Phase is where Key and V key start (on the triangle 0° is the bottom, 180° the top); in Voice it spreads the notes apart. The mod wheel, Cycle and the joystick can speed it up or slow it down: pick L2 rate.

Mod: Matrix

Eight rows of your own routes. Each row takes a source (Src: an LFO, a contour, velocity, the key, the wheel, aftertouch, MPE, the joystick, Cycle, Random or Constant) times its Amount into a destination (Dst): the wheel's destinations, plus each note's own cutoff and emphasis, every Pulse width at once, the pulse width LFO's and LFO 2's depths, and each oscillator's pitch (±2 octaves), and 's DCO pitch, level, width and DCO 2 detune, and Chorus mix (±50 % of the wet, for a sound that saves its chorus). Amount starts at the middle: right for one way, left for the other. Via scales a row by a second source: the mod wheel as Via brings a route in as you push it (a source that swings both ways flips it). Rows with Src or Dst off cost nothing; × clears a row. Random is a new value for every note. The macros are sources and destinations too, and Magic hold holds MAGICATION (FX) while the row's output is past about half way. Destinations for engines still to come appear when they arrive; a sound from a later Patrick shows them dimmed, marked (later).

Mod: Goldchain

A peak controller and a step sequencer that move up to 8 knobs to the beat. Right-click any knob (long-press on touch) and choose GOLDCHAIN; right-click again and choose Off to let it go (a Mac: ctrl-click; the keyboard: Shift+F10 on a focused knob). Or press Link on MOD › Goldchain and tap knobs, then Link again. Chained knobs wear two gold links, and their faint mark moves with the pump. Start: Host runs while Patrick (or, in the plugin, your DAW) plays, Key from your first key to the last key up, Free always. Source: Audio listens to Patrick's own sound before the master (Peek-a-boo: threshold, gain, focus), Seq plays Step-a-lot's steps, Both mixes them (Combine). Trigger fires the Bling envelope (attack, decay, sustain, release, tension) on every hit or step; Follow rides the level. Depth and Base set how far and from where; Invert (on to start) ducks. Volume, levels and mixes only ever go down from their knob unless that row's Boost is on. Hold chain keeps the chain while you browse sounds; Save keeps it with the sound.

FX: the pedal rack

Every effect is a pedal, in the order the sound goes through them. The line at the top reads the chain. Every pedal can go anywhere, before or after → Master →: drag it by its ⠿ grip or its title (on touch, hold the title), tap ◀ ▶, or focus the title and press Alt+←/→. The Spring can also sit in the voice. Stereo effects in front of the master keep their width: the middle goes through the master and the sides go around it. Each pedal's On / Bypass footswitch takes it out and keeps its settings; All FX off bypasses them all at once (it isn't saved). Undo on the toast puts the order back; Save state keeps it. Rigs set several pedals at once.

Crush: fewer bits and a lower sample rate for lo-fi grit. BITS sets how coarse the steps are, RATE how often the sound is sampled. SMOOTH keeps it musical; GNARLY lets the aliasing through. Try it right after the Phaser for that robotic, swirling French-house sound.

Room: a dense, smooth studio reverb. ROOM is tight and natural, HALL big and soft, 70s dark and grainy, 80s bright and shimmering. SIZE is the space, DECAY how long it rings, PRE-DELAY the gap before it starts. MOD keeps the tail moving so it never rings metallic. It sits last in the rack by default, where a reverb usually goes.

Master out, at the end of the rack: the last stop before your speakers. RAW sends your sound out untouched; MASTERED runs it through the finishing chain. PRE 73 is a British class-A console preamp and EQ (our own model): DRIVE adds warmth and weight, and the EQ has the classic fixed points. Smooth pulls back harsh, ringing frequencies, only at the moments they poke out of the sound. DEPTH is how much, SHARPNESS how narrow a peak has to be, SPEED how fast it reacts. DELTA lets you hear just what it removes. Glue: gentle bus compression that holds the mix together. Max and Limit: PUSH makes it louder. LIMIT keeps every peak, even between samples, under the CEILING (−1 dB true peak by default: safe for streaming and for converters). The meter shows loudness in LUFS against your TARGET (tap the integrated reading, or the peak, to start them again). AUTO slowly sets PUSH for you. At PUSH 0, MASTERED is turned to the same loudness as RAW by itself, so the A/B is fair: you hear the finish, not just more level. PUSH then makes it louder on purpose. While MASTERED, the volume knob feeds the chain, so the limiter always has the last word and turning it up never goes past the CEILING; in RAW it is a plain volume after everything. Each section has its own ON; all of it waits while RAW. Mono folds left and right into one, to check how your sound holds up on a single speaker or a phone. It isn't saved; it's for checking.

FX: Chorus

A short, moving delay mixed with the dry sound, its left and right taps swinging in opposite directions, for width and shimmer. Chorus picks I (slow), II (a little faster and deeper) or I+II (a fast, shallow vibrato); Rate and Depth trim it and Mix sets how much you hear. This chorus belongs to the session: it stays as it is when you change sounds.

Save with sound makes the chorus part of the sound instead. While it's on, the cell shows the sound's own chorus (marked with sound): it comes back whenever the sound loads, and the session's chorus waits, untouched, until you load a sound without one. Mode adds Free: one smooth sweep at any Rate (0.05 to 10 Hz) and Depth (up to 3.2 ms); I, II and I+II keep their own rate and depth. Mix is the share of the chorused sound (50 % = half and half); a macro or the Matrix (Chorus mix) can move it. Wet HPF high-passes only the chorused sound (Off, 40 Hz to 1 kHz), so the bass stays dry and centred.

FX: Magication

A spectral effect that turns any sound into weather. It's a session effect: it stays as it is when you change sounds (Save state keeps it), and it always sits last before → Master → (marked Fixed; it can't be moved). On switches it in; while it's off everything else in its two cells dims and it uses no power at all.

Mix blends the effect with the dry sound. Qual: Live, Hi or Ultra, finer detail but more delay; the readout shows the delay it adds (about 27, 53 or 107 ms). Dry direct (on at the start) lets the dry sound skip that delay, so playing feels instant (0 ms) and the effect comes in just after. Split puts the tone and the air on two buses for a later routing stage. Smear blurs the sound in time into a pad; Sparkl adds a shimmering glitter; Air tips the balance between the tone and the breath and noise around it. Torch is a resonant spotlight on one frequency: Glow how strong, Width how wide, and Src can sweep it with LFO 1, LFO 2 or the Shape env. Strtch spreads the partials apart into glassy, bell-like tones (or squeezes them); Shift moves them all by the same number of Hz, for strange, inharmonic shifts. Shuffl scrambles their levels, a new order Rate times a second (or in time with the tempo). Morph turns the sound into its Target: a frozen slot, a pulse or a saw at the note you play. Shimmr adds copies an Intrvl higher (or an octave lower) that bloom upward. → Osc (handing the sound to the oscillators) comes later.

FX: Magication slots

Hold freezes the sound as it is right now into a slot, and keeps it ringing until you let go. Mode says what holds it: Toggle, tap to hold and tap again to let go; Moment, held only while you press; Pedal, the sustain pedal (CC 64) holds it too; MIDI, a note from a MIDI keyboard holds it and each next note captures the next slot. The Matrix can hold it too: a row into Magic hold (Mod) holds it while the row's output is past about half way. Hold lights whatever holds it. Slot picks where a hold goes (Auto: the next one). The four bars show which slots are filled and how bright each one is. Scan glides between the filled slots; Fade is how gently a hold comes in and goes. The slots aren't saved.

Master

Engines first: a strip per engine (Analog, Model, Singers) with its fader, Solo (hear only the soloed ones) and Mute. Model and Singers faders are their Level. Each meter shows its engine after the fader (dimmed when it isn't heard).

Then the monitor, the output (volume, which goes to 11; drive, WAV record) and System (lights, MIDI, Save state). The Master is the sound's own master stage; Master out comes after it and the rack. Its RAW / MASTERED switch and Mono are here too, the same switches as on FX's Master out card.

Zero-G Zoo (System): now and then an animal tumbles through space behind the synth; Summon animal calls one right now (Shift-click for the giraffe), and so do three quick taps on the coin, or typing giraffe.

MIDI

Plug in a keyboard and play: velocity, aftertouch, wheels, sustain, program change and clock all work.

Shortcuts

A–K white keys, W E T Y U black, Z X octave, 1–6 tabs, Esc all off, R record, Shift+H howl.