Overview The Miaow Wah effect is a Wah pedal simulator. You can use one of the predefined Wah models or create your own filters. It can be controlled with an expression pedal or used in “auto” mode, where the Wah movement is controlled by an envelope follower detecting the loudness of the incoming signal.
Main Parameters • In & Out Gain: adjust the gain of the incoming and outgoing signals. • Position: position of the wah pedal. In auto mode, it defines the “neutral” position of the pedal. • Auto Mode: enable or disable the auto-wah mode. • Depth: depth of the auto wah effect. Use negative values for reverse effect (down instead of up). In this case you will need to set the position parameter to a non-zero value (typically 100% for a full reverse effect). • Sensitivity: sensitivity of the auto wah. Increase the value if the auto wah is not sensitive enough to your attacks. • Attack: time required to reach the maximum position when triggered with a loud signal (in auto mode). • Release: time to reach the minimum position when you stop playing (in auto mode). • Wah Model: select the type of Wah pedal from the factory models or your own presets created with the Wah editor. Note that you can combine the auto and manual modes: the position set with an expression pedal (or automation) and the envelope follower are combined together.
Wah Editor You can display the wah editor by clicking on the “e” icon next to the wah model selector. You can then edit existing presets to your own taste, or create you own filter effects: modify the blue curve (corresponding to the state of the filter in the “lo” pedal position) and red curve (for the “hi” position). Wah model presets can be saved using the menu available by clicking on the currently selected Wah model. Just like with the built-in EQ plug-in, you can load reference curves of Wah pedals analyzed with Blue Cat's FreqAnalyst Multi for comparison and matching. You can grab the triangle at bottom right of the graph to change its size. You can lock the size of the editor and GUI settings with the lock button in the toolbar to keep them unchanged while browsing presets.
MIDI Control To control the effect with MIDI, you can map the “position” parameter in the host application or plug-in. Or you can use the gear icon in the toolbar to show the MIDI settings menu buttons (green arrow icons) and do the assignment in the plug-in itself (MIDI learn supported).
Browsing Presets
In order to browse both factory and user presets, you can either use the simple presets menu or open the full featured presets browser from the toolbar that remains visible until you close it:
Click on preset files and folders to open them, or use the arrows to navigate between displayed presets. You can navigate upward in the folders tree by clicking on the current folder at the top. Type in the search box to find presets by name (it also searches in folder names). The search is performed recursively in the currently selected folder (displayed at the top).
Search Tips: you can search for multiple terms by separating them with commas. Wildcards are also supported (with * and ? characters), but they are applied to the full path of the preset. For example, to search for all presets containing the word "phase", type *phase* in the search box. To look for these presets only in the factory presets, you can type Factory Presets/*phase*.
Both global plug-in presets (main) and sub-presets for the Wah model can be found in the presets browser - just click on the appropriate category to find them.
Tone Maps
Another way to browse presets (and create new tones) is to use tone maps. Click on the tone map icon in the main toolbar to open the tones explorer window. It shows a presets browser on the left to look for presets (and load them), and a tone map on the right, which can be used to navigate presets and morph between them:
Tone maps are available for global presets ("main") or for the wah model. The preset browser pane shown here is the same as the main presets browser descrbed earlier, with an additional "+" button that can be used to add presets to the current map.
The tone explorer window can be resized: move the mouse to the border of the window until an arrow appears, then click and drag to resize accordingly.
Tone Map Features
The main feature of the tone map area is to browse presets on a 2D map. You can click on the presets icons that appear on the map to load the presets, or move around the green cursor to explore other areas and morph between presets in two dimensions.
Located at the top of the tone map panel, the toolbar provides additional commands, from left to right:
•Save your maps and reload them later using the menu icon. Use the left and right arrows to go thru existing maps.
•If you modify the presets that compose a map, you can recompute the map using the refresh icon (presets that cannot be found anyore will also disappear from the map). •Use the trash icon to reset and start with an empty map.
•Use the target icon to reveal the mouse cursor in the map (that may have disappeared once zoomed).
•The last icon lets you find the closest location on the map that fits the current settings. If the current settings have been loaded from a preset that is on the map, it will find this preset. An approximate location is computed otherwise (and will affect the current tone).
Once the map and its (green) cursor have focus, you can zoom the map using the mouse wheel. Once it has been zoomed, drag the map with the mouse to move it (or use the find cursor command to locate the cursor).
Tip: you can hide the tone map panel (using the arrow at the top of the window) if you want to use this window as a floating presets browser.
Getting Started With Tone Maps
The easiest way to get started with tone maps is to load factory preset maps that are included with the plug- in: 1.Choose the type of presets for the map: click on the icon at the top of the left pane (Main or Wah). 2.Click on the menu icon and choose a map from the list. 3.Start browsing!
Creating Your Own Maps
Factory maps are nice, but you will probably want to create your own and navigate your own tonal space with your favorite presets:
•Start with an empty map (click on the trash icon), or with an existing map that you like.
•Find presets with the browser, and add them to the map with the "+" icon (the "+" icon at the top of the results list add all of them).
•The map is computed on the fly and shows presets that sound similar at the same location. Adding new presets to an existing map may completely change its layout - it is the same as looking at an object from a completely different angle.
