Humusbeta

The field guide · 108 organisms

Meet your next sound.

Synths, effects, sequencers and visual tools: these are the building blocks we call organisms. Open one to see its controls and discover what you can make with it. Group them into pods as your patch grows.

Organisms to explore: 108

AcidA mono line synth in the acid-box tradition, with accent and slide.InstrumentsAtomFour rings of evenly spread hits that arpeggiate the notes you hold, or walk a scale when you hold none.SequencersAudioTrackA timeline row that plays its audio clips and records takes of what reaches it.SequencersBloomThe shimmer reverb: a modulated reverb tank with a pitch shifter inside its feedback loop.EffectsBoardA microcontroller on a serial cable: its inputs arrive as control, its pins follow yours.PrimitivesBusA named point many cords can meet at, to fan sound in or out.BusesButtonA push button as a patchable organism, with a control outlet and a MIDI note.PrimitivesCameraInA camera as a video source.VisualChorusA stereo chorus that thickens a sound with a slowly moving delayed copy.EffectsCicadaA hi-hat organism with a closed tick, an open ring and a crash from one voice.InstrumentsClusterEight chord slots that fire as whole voicings out of a MIDI outlet.ControlComberA bank of tuned comb filters that draws chords out of whatever passes through it.FiltersCompressorA feed-forward compressor with a soft knee, a hold stage and a tempo-synced release.DynamicsConsoleAn analog summing desk: a mixer whose channels share one power rail and one output transformer, so they react to each other.MixersCrossfaderSlides between two sounds, one hand on the fade.MixersCrossoverA frequency splitter that sends a signal out in bands, one stereo pair of outlets per band, lowest first.EffectsDeckA player for audio and video alike: pitch fader, beatgrid, cues and timecode.PlayersDecomposerAudio in, MIDI notes out: a pitch tracker that hears a line or a chord as you play.ControlDigiRustA lo-fi channel that models a cheap converter going bad: fewer bits, a slower clock, a wobbling clock and hiss.EffectsDNAA generative sequencer that plays a sixteen-base genome as MIDI notes.SequencersDropsWater drops as an instrument: random rain of small physical events while the transport plays.InstrumentsFernA tempo-syncable stereo echo whose repeats thin, darken and warm as they decay.EffectsFilePlayerPlays sound files into the patch: one stereo file, or up to 32 at once, one per output.Input/OutputFileRecorderWrites what reaches it to a sound file while the patch plays.Input/OutputFilterA valve-driven state-variable filter in the tradition of the rackmount club filter.FiltersFireflyA flash over the picture, on the beat, by hand or from notes.VisualFlangerA swept short delay that combs the signal against a copy of itself.EffectsFollowerAn envelope follower that turns the loudness of a signal into a control value and a gate.PrimitivesFrequencyShifterAdds a fixed number of hertz to every frequency in the signal.EffectsGainA volume knob with a mute, the plainest box on the canvas.MixersGateAn audio gate opened by a signal level, by held MIDI notes or by a switch.DynamicsGraftA sample stitcher that cuts up to eight sound files into fragments and chains one fragment per slot into a new sample.InstrumentsGritA chip synth built on the Ricoh 2A03 console sound chip, with a cartridge slot for the Famicom expansion chips.InstrumentsHalogenPlays a picture: across is time, up is pitch, brightness is loudness.SpectralHandsA hand tracker that turns finger and hand movement into MIDI and control values.ControlHarmonizerA pitch-tracking harmonizer that adds up to four shifted copies of a single melodic line.EffectsHelixA four-strand live looper with Rec, Dub, Play and Stop on every strand.EffectsInvertFlips a signal upside down, for phase tricks and subtraction.MixersKickA synthesized club kick with a pitch envelope, a body decay, a noise click and a drive stage.InstrumentsLeafcutterA loop chopper that cuts a sound at its transients and plays the slices in time.InstrumentsLFOA low-frequency oscillator that emits a wave as a control signal for other organisms' knobs.PrimitivesLimiterA brickwall limiter with instant attack: nothing passes the ceiling.DynamicsLumenA shader compositor that paints the audio it hears and stacks video layers under it.VisualMathA one-line formula that runs once per sample, as an oscillator, a processor or a modulator.PrimitivesMicrodotA rolling offbeat bass synth driven by a sixteen-step trigger grid locked to the transport.InstrumentsMidiBusA named meeting point for MIDI cords.BusesMidiFilterLets chosen notes and controllers through, holds others back, or turns one into another.ControlMidiInNotes and controllers arriving from a MIDI port, or from every port at once.Input/OutputMidiMonitorA log of MIDI events as readable lines: source, channel, type and data.MetersMidiOutSends notes and controllers out to a MIDI port.Input/OutputMidiPlayerPlays a MIDI file: sixteen channels from its own outlets, or on down a cord.Input/OutputMineralA struck percussion synth whose partials sit on a geometric lattice, each one the previous one times Ratio.InstrumentsMixerSeveral sounds into one, each with its own level and pan.MixersMorseA pattern generator that keys a typed message as a sine tone and as MIDI notes in real morse timing.InstrumentsNoiseGateA gate that passes sound while it is loud enough and shuts when it is not, or ducks it the other way round.DynamicsNotesA sticky note laid on the canvas, for whoever reads the patch next.PrimitivesNumberA number box that shows one value live, takes it from a control inlet and sends it on from a control outlet.PrimitivesOscMonitorA log of the OSC messages crossing the app, in both directions, as readable lines.MetersParaEQA four-band equalizer with a shelf at each end and two sweepable bands in the middle.FiltersPaulstretchAn extreme time stretch that turns a sound file into a slow, phaseless cloud.PlayerspHAn FM synthesizer with four engines, from six-operator banks to three chip voices.InstrumentsPhaserA six-stage phaser whose notches sweep between two frequencies.EffectsPhonoA phono pre-amplifier: RIAA de-emphasis, cartridge gain and a rumble filter for a turntable plugged into a line input.Input/OutputPianoRollA looping note source that plays its clips through its MIDI cords wherever the transport is.SequencersPinkTromboneA human voice built from a model of the throat, after Pink Trombone by Neil Thapen.InstrumentsPrismA harmonic resynthesiser that splits the input into sixteen harmonics and gives each one a fader.SpectralRepeaterA loop roll on live audio: hold Repeat and the last stretch of sound repeats on the transport grid.EffectsRhizomeA six-voice MIDI synth that stacks extra voices above each note, spaced in scale degrees of the patch's tuning.InstrumentsRiffA sixteen-step acid-box bassline sequencer that sends MIDI notes with gate, accent and slide per step.SequencersRNGA source of random numbers drawn from the machine's own entropy, sent as a control value.PrimitivesSamplerA polyphonic zone-mapped sample player with eight slots, sound bank loading and recording off the patch.InstrumentsScopeAn oscilloscope with a glowing trace: the wave standing still, or left drawn against right.MetersSendA tap that mails a copy of a sound to a bus, wet next to dry.BusesSequenceA sixteen-step drum grid of one to eight rows, where every row is its own MIDI outlet.SequencersSerialInReads numbers from a serial port and puts them on control outlets a to h.PrimitivesSerialOutSends control values out of a serial port in whatever text or byte form the device expects.PrimitivesSideChainA compressor whose gain reduction is driven by a separate key input.DynamicsSideKickA transport-synced gain shaper that pumps the signal on a drawn curve, with no key input.DynamicsSigTurns a control value into an audio signal, ramped so it never clicks.PrimitivesSiltA three-voice chip synth emulating the MOS SID, the home computer sound chip, through the reSID core.InstrumentsSirenA sound-system siren: a raspy oscillator swept between two pitches by a slow ramp, held for as long as you want.InstrumentsSkeletonA whole-body tracker that turns posture and movement into MIDI and control values.ControlSliderA fader whose position is a control value any knob in the patch can follow.PrimitivesSoundInThe sound coming into the interface, one channel per box.Input/OutputSoundOutThe interface output, where the patch is finally heard.Input/OutputSoundSpaceA granulator played by flying a cursor across a map of grains sorted by sound, which also records what comes into it.InstrumentsSparkA riser that never arrives: twelve comb filters sweeping the same octaves forever.EffectsSpectralFilterA spectral shaper that tilts the tonal balance and sharpens or smooths the spectrum against its own envelope.SpectralSpectralFreezeA phase-vocoder freeze and smear that holds a spectrum while keeping it in motion.SpectralSpectralMorphBlends the spectra of two inputs so one timbre passes through the other rather than playing on top of it.SpectralSpectrumA live spectrum analyser with a waterfall.MetersStepsA one-row, sixteen-step trigger sequencer that sends one MIDI note with swing, gate and velocity.SequencersStereoToolA mid/side stereo imaging utility with width, rotation, mono bass and phase controls.MixersSubstrateAn evolving drone or pad of up to 64 detuned saw layers stacked on an interval ladder.InstrumentsTestGenA predictable test signal: a sine at one frequency, or white, pink or brown noise.Signal GeneratorsTransientShaperShapes the attack and the sustain of a sound independently of its level.DynamicsTrellisA monophonic pitch corrector that pulls a voice or lead onto the notes of a key and scale.EffectsTuningThe patch's tuning: every organism that turns a note into a frequency asks this what the answer is.ControlVarA control value with a name, so a cord or a serial line can carry the number and the word together.PrimitivesVerbatimA convolution reverb that plays your signal through a recorded impulse response.EffectsVideoFXA picture treatment with position, scale, rotation, colour and mosaic controls.VisualVideoMixAn A/B crossfader for two video feeds, or a channel mixer for up to eight.VisualVideoOutThe window or display where the picture leaves the patch.VisualVideoPadEight clip pads with a dissolve between launches.VisualVideoPlayerA video deck that loops one tape into the video chain.VisualVideoTrackA video track on the timeline that plays its clips against the transport and records what reaches its inlet.VisualVuMeterA two-needle level meter in the tradition of a tape machine's meter bridge.MetersWaveA wavetable oscillator whose cycles are drawn, grown from a seed file or rolled at random.Instruments