App settings
You know what settings are, I don't have to tell you.
Press ⌘,, or click the logo in the title bar, and the settings window opens.
Changes apply as you make them, there's no save step, and everything is remembered between launches.
Appearance
Three groups: Theme, Stage and Display.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Theme | The app's color scheme and visualiser design, and whatever extra controls that theme brings with it |
| Visuals | You can disable the visualiser if you find it distracting |
| Auto-hide instrument controls | Fades the instrument controls from view when they're not being interacted with, for a more zen experience |
| Brightness | Lighten the app in bright environments. It's pretty dark by default. |
| Contrast | You can scale the contrast back a little bit to soften. This is different from system-level accessibility-related high-contrast settings. |
See Themes for more info about the visualiser themes.
MIDI
Output:
| Setting | What it does | Values | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chords channels | How the Chords port sends things - see MIDI and MPE. MPE: a master channel and one string per channel, with the zone announced at the start. Multi-channel: one string per channel from channel 1, no master channel. Poly aftertouch and Single channel both put everything on one channel, the first sends energy as polyphonic key pressure per note, the second as one channel pressure, and both send one CC74 | MPE · Multi-channel · Poly aftertouch · Single channel | MPE |
| String 1 (lowest, always the root) · String 2 · String 3 · String 4 · String 5 · String 6 | Under Multi-channel only: the channel each string goes out on. Strings on the same channel arrive as one instrument, as Single channel does - see MIDI and MPE. Reset String Channels under the rows puts them back | 1–16 | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 |
| Drums channels | MPE: the kick on channel 2, the snare on 3, the hi-hat on 4 behind a master on 1, each with pressure and slide from the controls that play it, the zone announced. Multi-channel: the same on channels 1, 2 and 3 with no master. Single channel: everything on channel 1, notes and velocity | MPE · Multi-channel · Single channel | MPE |
| Kick · Snare · Hi-hat · Open Hi-hat | The note each drum sends - see Drum notes and channels | 0–127 | 36 · 38 · 42 · 46 |
Reset to Defaults under the group puts every row above it back. The Chords channels and Drums channels rows are also in the Instrument menu.
There's no row for the MIDIpad Chords and MIDIpad Drums ports, because they're always open and there's nothing to configure right now. That might change in future.
Note names is mostly there for convenience right now. Some software displays MIDI note names differently from others, this way you can align it to yours so you're not left wondering why C1 isn't triggering your kick drum. And it'll be more useful in future.
| Setting | What it does | Values | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle C | Which octave number names middle C. The note names as they're written in the app follow it, the notes themselves don't move | C3 (Ableton, FL) · C4 (Logic, notation) · C5 (Yamaha gear) | C3 |
Instruments
| Group | Rows |
|---|---|
| Chords | Voicing (Wide · Close) · Top string (Chord · Key) · Stretch ceiling · Octave tilt · Tilt engage · Reset Chords to Defaults |
| Drums | Backbeat - Automatic (a stick pushed all the way out) · Manual (R2) |
See Chords character and Drums character. Voicing, Top string and Backbeat are also in the Instrument menu.
Automation
Every instrument control in the main window answers a fixed MIDI CC message. Send these to MIDIpad in, on the instrument's own channel, to move the control from your DAW, very useful when you want to play along with things. Each row shows the control, its live value, its CC number, and a lamp that lights when one arrives.
Every instrument uses the same numbers, and the channel says which instrument you mean.
| Instrument | Channel | Controls | CCs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chords | 1 | String sustain · Energy bias · Dynamics · Shake response | 102-105 |
| Drums | 2 | Energy · Dynamics · Swing · Snare offset · Half-time | 102-106 |
64 is the middle of every centred control, and a switch reads on from 64 up. A CC writes the setting exactly as the control in the app itself would, so it's remembered like one.
License
Paste and activate a licence key, see the licensed state and last verification, or Remove Key to free up the machine slot. See Demo vs licensed.
About
Software Update, which checks for updates and shows the download's progress. Send Feedback. Send anonymous usage data, on by default, which sends only which features and settings are used and never what you play, with a link to the privacy page. Copyright, trademark notices and third-party credits.
The version number, and links to the manual, the changelog and the website, are in the settings window's footer.