Pendulate User Guide
Pendulate User Guide
Pendulate User Guide
Newfangled Audio
www.newfangledaudio.com
I
Contents
2 Navigation Bar 3
2.1 UNDO/REDO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 A/B COMPARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 LIBRARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3.1 SEARCH and FILTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3.2 PRESET LIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3.3 PRESET INFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3.4 PLUGIN UI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.4 PRESET SELECTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.5 SAVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.5.1 PRESET NAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.5.2 SET AS DEFAULT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.5.3 HEART ICON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.5.4 SAVE BUTTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.5.5 EXPORT BUTTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.5.6 PLUGIN UI and DESCRIPTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5.7 CATEGORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5.8 AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5.9 TAGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5.10 DESCRIPTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.6 MPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.7 RND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.8 SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.8.1 GENERAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.8.2 GRAPHICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.8.3 PRESETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.8.4 MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.8.5 TUNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.9 Resize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3 Preset Bar 12
3.1 Preset Selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2 Preset Load and Save Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3 Compare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4 Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
II
3.5 Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.6 SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.6.1 RENDERING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.6.2 VISUALIZATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.6.3 SHOW CONTROLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.6.4 SHOW CABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.6.5 PITCH BEND LOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.6.6 MIDI LOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.6.7 TIMBRE MIDI CC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.6.8 TUNING MASTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.7 MPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.8 RND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.9 Color Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.10 Resize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6 Conclusion 30
III
Chapter 1
Newfangled Audio
Pendulate
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cha·os
1. (Physics) behavior so unpredictable as to appear random, owing
to great sensitivity to small changes in conditions. Pendulate is a
synthesizer built on a chaotic oscillator.
2. the formless matter supposed to have existed before the creation
of the universe.
Pendulate is a monosynth loosely based on a "West Coast" architecture
(referring to synthesizers designed by Buchla and Serge), however, it uses
a chaotic oscillator based on the physics of a double pendulum.
The double pendulum is chaotic in the mathematical sense: what ini-
tially looks like randomness contains underlying patterns, interconnect-
edness, constant feedback loops, repetition, self-similarity, fractals, and
self-organization. When designing the Pendulate oscillator we took great
care to bring out these underlying patterns and create an oscillator that
can smoothly fade from a sine wave to total chaos, with an expanse of
territory to explore in between.
The output of the double pendulum oscillator is run through a wave-
folder section, and followed by a low pass gate. Every parameter in all
three sections can be modulated by an envelope generator, an LFO,
and MIDI and MPE controllers.
The manual will break out each of these sections and give you some tips
about how to get most out of this unique synth.
2
Chapter 2
Navigation Bar
At the very top of the plug-in is a navigation bar which allows you to
undo and redo changes, access the preset librarian, settings, and man-
age several other global features of the plug-in.
2.1 UNDO/REDO
On the far left is an UNDO and REDO button. After changing any plug-in
parameter in the plug-in interface the UNDO button will activate. Press-
ing it at this point will undo this action. At this point the REDO button will
become active, and pressing it will redo this action. Multiple levels of
undo are available and you can move back through several changes
to reach an earlier state.
3
2.3 LIBRARY
The Library button launches the Preset Librarian which can be used to
explore the plug-ins presets based on any combination of category, au-
thor, tags, or favorites.
4
2.3.2 PRESET LIST
The bottom of the Preset Librarian shows the list of presets which match
the current criteria. It displays the FAVORITE status using a heart icon, the
preset NAME, the preset CATEGORY, the preset AUTHOR, and the preset
BANK. You can sort the list by any of these. The up and down arrows on
your keyboard will allow you to toggle through the presets.
2.3.4 PLUGIN UI
The center left of the Preset Librarian displays a miniature version of the
plug-in UI. This plug-in UI is not editable, but it is live and will show you
the current settings of the plug-in, as well as any meters. We’ve found it
incredibly useful to see this display as we’ve toggled through presets to
get a sense of what each preset does.
5
2.4 PRESET SELECTOR
2.5 SAVE
The SAVE button launches the preset save screen where you can save a
preset and assign categories, tags, and descriptions, as well as set the
default state of the plug-in.
6
2.5.1 PRESET NAME
This field sets the preset name. There can only be one preset with a given
name.
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2.5.6 PLUGIN UI and DESCRIPTION
This section shows the current settings of the plug-in, and how it will ap-
pear in the preset librarian.
2.5.7 CATEGORY
Set the category for the preset you are saving. A preset can have only
one category. If the preset doesn’t fit into any of the existing categories
you can use the [+] button to create a new one.
The existing categories are based on those that are found in the existing
presets. If you create a new one it will appear in this list with an "X" on it.
If you decide not to use the newly created CATEGORY you can remove
it by clicking on the "X". However, once the preset is saved this category
will be permanent and available to all newly saved presets, unless you
delete all presets which use it.
2.5.8 AUTHOR
The AUTHOR section allows you to add your name and a url if you main-
tain a presence on the web. This will be automatically populated with
the information from the last saved preset, so you will only likely need to
enter it once.
2.5.9 TAGS
You can add any number of TAGS to a saved preset. These TAGS will
allow your preset to be found in the preset librarian. It’s best to add the
tags that apply to the preset, and don’t add the ones that don’t. You
can create a new tag using the [+] button.
The existing tags are based on those that are found in the existing pre-
sets. If you create a new one it will appear in this list with an "X" on it.
If you decide not to use the newly created TAG you can remove it by
clicking on the "X". However, once the preset is saved this tag will be per-
manent and available to all newly saved presets, unless you delete all
presets which use it.
2.5.10 DESCRIPTION
If desired you can add a short description to the preset. It’s best to use
this field to add information about what a preset is for, or any hints for a
user about how to use it.
2.6 MPE
Generate supports a relatively new MIDI mode called Midi Polyphonic
Expression, or MPE. If you’re using an MPE compatible controller and an
8
MPE compatible host, turning on the MPE button will allow you to have
polyphonic pitch bend, pressure, and timbre controls. Generate is al-
ready amazing with a normal midi setup, but MPE allows you to add
another level of expressiveness.
2.7 RND
Generate also has a random preset generator. You can engage this by
hitting the RND button.
2.8 SETTINGS
The SETTINGS button pops down a settings page which contains addi-
tional options. They are sorted into 4 tabs.
2.8.1 GENERAL
INSTALLED VERSION
This displays the version number that is currently installed. If you are run-
ning the latest version it will tell you. If there is an update an UPDATE
button will appear. Clicking this button will bring you to the downloads
page where you can get the latest version.
USER GUIDE
2.8.2 GRAPHICS
SHOW METERS
The SHOW METERS button will show or hide the additional meters in the
plug-in. Specifically, turning it off will hide the glow in the RADAR control,
the envelope graph behind the LEVEL DETECTOR section, and the curve
graphic behind the CURVE section.
BRIGHTNESS
The BRIGHTNESS control will control the brightness of the glow in the
RADAR control, the envelope graph behind the LEVEL DETECTOR sec-
tion, and the curve graphic behind the CURVE section.
9
OPENGL GRAPHICS RENDERING
The USE OPENGL button will enable OpenGL rendering of the UI. For this
setting to take effect you must close and reopen the UI. If you that the
plug-in UI renders better with OpenGL on or off on your computer you
can save this as the default setting and new instantiations will always
load using this setting.
COLOR SCHEME
The COLOR SCHEME dropdown will allow you to choose one of several
different color schemes for your viewing pleasure.
SHOW CONTROLS
SHOW CABLES
The SHOW CABLES button will turn the modulations cables on all the
time, rather than dynamically showing them while you’re patching.
2.8.3 PRESETS
PRESETS FOLDER
Clicking the REVEAL button will bring you to the presets folder. This is only
necessary if you want to share you presets with someone else, or access
these files for another reason.
DEFAULT SETTINGS
Pressing the SAVE button will save all the current settings as the default
for the plug-in. This is useful if you’d like a different starting point than the
one we’ve provided.
The PITCH BEND LOCK button allows you to lock the amount of PITCH
BEND as you scroll through presets. Many people prefer a certain PITCH
BEND amount on all presets, and many MPE controllers require this to
have the same setting as the controller.
MIDI LOCK
The MIDI LOCK button prevents preset loading from altering your midi
mappings.
10
2.8.4 MIDI
TIMBRE MIDI CC
The TIMBRE MIDI CC knob allows you to override the MIDI controller mes-
sage which is routed to the TIMBRE modulation output. By default this is
set to MIDI CC #74, which is often set as the Y-Axis on MPE controllers,
but you can change this to be any MIDI CC and use it to route your
controller into the modulation engine. When MPE is active, Midi Learn
functionality for the selected TIMBRE MIDI CC is disabled.
2.8.5 TUNING
TUNING MASTER
2.9 Resize
The bottom right corner of the UI will allow you to resize the plug-in. To
change the default plug-in size drag the plug-in to the desired size and
save over the default preset.
11
Chapter 3
3.1 Controls
Pendulate has several control types, including vertical sliders, rotary knobs,
drop-down menus, and toggle and radio buttons, all of which have tool-
tips which will give you more information about their function if you hover
your mouse above them.
In general, all sliders and knobs can be double clicked to type in a spe-
cific value, option-clicked (alt-click on windows) to return them to their
default value, or command-clicked or control-clicked to enter a vernier
mode for fine tuning.
The large knobs in Pendulate allow you to patch up any of the Modu-
lation Outputs to each control. There is no limit on the number of mod-
ulation connections that can be created. When you click on a Modu-
12
lation Output a small square knob appears below each modulateable
control. When the Modulation Output is highlighted you can patch it to
a control by clicking on the small square knob, or, turn the small square
knob to dial in just a small amount of modulation. When the small square
knob is set to top dead center, there is no modulation being applied.
Turn to the right to add the modulation signal, or turn to the left to sub-
tract it.
Alternatively, you can patch multiple Modulation Outputs to a knob by
clicking the [+] button under a knob. Doing this will turn each Modulation
Output into a knob which will control the amount of that modulation
output routed to that control.
Clicking on an existing modulation knob will toggle it between its cur-
rent value and off. Right clicking it will totally clear the modulation route.
Moving your mouse off of a modulation route that’s set to 0 will remove
it from the UI.
If too many Modulation Outputs are routed to one knob the UI will dis-
play ellipses (...) to show that all the connections cannot be displayed,
but you can still modify these connections by clicking the [+] button.
Pendulate’s toggle buttons and knobs can be mapped to any MIDI con-
troller number.
Hold down right click on a control to initiate MIDI Learn. The control
will change colors to indicate that it’s in learn mode, and will stay in
learn mode for 1 second after the right click is released. While in learn
13
mode, any incoming MIDI control messages will link the control to the
message’s corresponding controller number.
Once a control has been learned you can clear it by right clicking the
control, this will return the control to the default color.
Hovering over the control to reveal the tooltip will also show the cur-
rent midi controller mapping as well as an asterisk if the mapping has
been disabled due to conflict with Generate’s TIMBRE MIDI CC setting.
In order to replace a midi mapping, simply repeat the actions outlined
above—the new MIDI controller number will overwrite the existing one. In
order to completely clear a midi mapping, simply right click the desired
control and release the click without moving any MIDI controllers.
14
Chaos Amount
The CHAOS AMOUNT knob blends between the keyed sinewave oscilla-
tor and the chaotic generator, you can think of it as a ratio between the
length of the first pendulum arm and the second. The chaotic generator
often has higher harmonics than the keyed oscillator, so it usually sounds
brighter - but not always.
Chaos Shape
The CHAOS SHAPE changes the shape of the chaotic generator. This is
where the magic happens, turning it up usually means less predictability
but not always. Small changes can sometimes make a big difference,
but hey, it’s a chaos generator.
Animate
The ANIMATE knob detunes the chaotic generator from the keyed oscil-
lator to add motion to the sound. It’s a very unique effect.
Interval
The INTERVAL dropdown sets the relative interval between the keyed os-
cillator and the chaotic generator. The effect of this is really only appar-
ent when the Chaos Shape is at or near 0. When Chaos Shape is much
higher than that there is a subtle effect, but it’s mostly swamped by the
chaotic system.
Osc Sync
The OSC SYNC button syncs the chaotic generator to the keyed oscil-
lator. This can drastically change the sound and often has the effect
of dropping the apparent sound an octave and adding gritty harmon-
ics.
15
Sub 1
The SUB 1 knob controls the level of the 1-octave-down sub oscillator.
Sub 2
The SUB 2 knob controls the level of the 2-octave-down sub oscillator.
3.4.2 Wavefolder
A wavefolder is a type of waveshaping that folds the wave back on it-
self several times. This creates a rich set of harmonics for the input signal
and is a type of additive synthesis originated by Buchla and common
in modular synthesis. The knobs control the shape of the wavefolding,
and therefore, the harmonics generated. Modulating the wavefolder
creates a set of moving harmonics that sound quite interesting and
pleasant. The wavefolder in Pendulate is based loosely on the one in
the Buchla 259 complex oscillator.
Drive
The DRIVE knob sets the amount of drive going into the wavefolder.
Folds
The FOLDS knob controls the number of folds the wavefolder is adding
to the signal. More folds produces more harmonics. You may need to
drive this wavefolder harder to see all the folds.
Mix
The MIX knob controls the mix between the dry input and the wavefolder
output.
16
Symmetry
The SYMMETRY knob controls the DC offset into the wavefolder, by mak-
ing the fold asymmetric it can add even harmonics to the output, in-
stead of just odd harmonics. This can sound really great when modu-
lated.
Cutoff
Key Track
KEY TRACK allows the cutoff frequency of the LPG to be set by the note
you’re playing. If KEYTRACK is 0% the cutoff frequency of the LPG is not
effected by the note value and is set by the FREQUENCY knob only. If
it’s 100% it is modified by the FREQUENCY knob, but also scales with fre-
quency so all notes will have the same timbre.
Frequency
The FREQUENCY knob loosely controls the maximum cutoff of the filter.
It’s not exact because the underlying modeled circuit doesn’t really
map to frequency well.
Resonance
The RESONANCE knob controls resonance of the LPG filter when the
POLES control is turned greater than 1. This control is not active at all
17
when POLES is at 1 and becomes more apparent the higher POLES is
turned.
Poles
The POLES knob morphs between a VCA style Low Pass Gate (one pole
low pass filter) and a resonant (three pole) Low Pass Filter. Modulate
it.
Attack
The ATTACK slider controls the attack time of the ADSR which drives the
LPG.
Decay
The DECAY slider controls the decay time of the ADSR which drives the
LPG.
Sustain
The SUSTAIN slider controls the sustain level of the ADSR which drives the
LPG.
Release
The RELEASE slider controls the release time of the ADSR which drives the
LPG.
18
Octave
The OCTAVE knob selects the base octave for the synth. This can be
anywhere from -2 to +2 octaves.
Stereo
The STEREO button allows you to select between STEREO and monaural
output.
Pitch Bend
The PITCH BEND knob controls the Pitch Bend amount. This is useful in
general. When MPE is active this must be set to the same amount as the
MPE controller to work correctly.
To prevent this setting being overwritten when a preset loads, enable
Pitch Bend Lock in the Settings menu.
Pitch Modulation
The PITCH BEND knob is also a modulation destination. This allows you
to route any modulation output to the Master Pitch, allowing you to do
vibrato, pitch stabs, and more. The total amount of pitch modulation
available is set by the PITCH BEND knob.
Hint: To add vibrato, route an LFO Triangle wave to the master pitch.
Then route the MOD WHEEL output to the LFO OUTPUT LEVEL modulation
control.
Legato
The LEGATO button toggles a legato mode. When LEGATO is off, each
note press will go through the entire ADSR cycle. However, when LEGATO
is on, only staccato notes will trigger a new attack, legato notes will
not.
Portamento
19
Always
These modulation outputs allow common MIDI and MPE controller sig-
nals to be mapped to parameters.
1. VEL maps the the current MIDI note’s velocity to any Modulation
Input.
2. MOD maps the MIDI Mod Wheel Output to any Modulation Input.
3. KEY maps the relative pitch from the currently pressed KEY to any
Modulation Input. This can be used for adding key following to any
parameter.
4. PRS maps the midi Pressure output to any Modulation Input. When
MPE is active this is per note.
5. TMB is the MPE Timbre Modulation Output, also known as MIDI CC74.
It’s often mapped to the height along the key on several common
MPE controllers. This is only available when MPE is enabled. Alterna-
tively, TMB can be mapped to output any MIDI CC on the settings
page, so you can use it to patch an expression pedal or other con-
troller into Pendulate’s modulation system.
3.5.2 ADSR
The ADSR creates three modulation signals when a note is pressed. These
are a full ADSR envelope, an AD envelope, and an ASR envelope. All
three of these envelopes can be used as modulators.
20
Loop
The LOOP button detaches the Mod Envelope from the note on control,
and instead loops it, turning it into a second LFO. Instead of setting the
LFO Rate and Shape, you control the speed and shape of the looping
Envelope using the ATTACK, DECAY, SUSTAIN, and RELEASE times. This can
create an interesting, natural, almost throbbing modulation from each
of the ADSR, AD, and ASR outputs.
Attack
Decay
Sustain
Release
ADSR Outputs
3.5.3 LFO
There is an LFO with a sine, triangle, pulse, sawtooth, and ramp out-
put.
21
BEATS
Use this knob to set the LFO Rate in Beats. This knob is only available
when the the TEMPO button is on.
FREQUENCY
Use this knob to set the LFO Rate in Hz. This knob is only available when
the TEMPO button is off.
TEMPO
The TEMPO button toggles whether the BEATS or FREQUENCY knob is ac-
tive.
OUT LEVEL
The OUT LEVEL knob will control the master output level of the LFO. This
might be considered a bit redundant, because there are already level
knobs for every modulation routing, however, because you can mod-
ulate this output level control, this allows you to create more complex
modulation signals by using, for instance, an Envelope to modulate the
amount of LFO being applied to another control. This can be very pow-
erful when used with MPE to allow note dependent control of LFO levels
in real time.
BIPOLAR
By default the LFO outputs are unipolar, meaning they only add mod-
ulation to the position of the knob. However, some desired modulation
routings, like vibrato, require the LFO to modulate around the parame-
ters setting by both adding and subtracting from it. If you wish to do this,
turn on the BIPOLAR button.
In other words, when BIPOLAR is off the LFO outputs draw their shapes
between 0 and 1. When it’s on they draw their shapes between -1 and
1.
22
LFO Outputs
LFO Sync
3.5.4 Output
This is the final output of the effects section and the level control for the
whole instrument. This control is before the output limiter, so you can turn
it up as much as you’d like, if you’d like to overdrive the limiter. Turning
this knob down to -100dB will mute the output.
The output level meter shows the final output level of the plug-in from
-60dB to 0dB.
23
Chapter 4
Installation and
Instantiation
24
• Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/Newfangled Audio/<Plug-
In Name>.vst3
• Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/Newfangled
Audio/<Plug-In Name>.aaxplugin
• /Music/Newfangled Audio/<Plug-In Name>/
For Windows:
• c:\Program Files\Common\Steinberg\VST2\Newfangled Audio\<Plug-
In Name>.dll
• c:\Program Files\Common\VST3\Newfangled Audio\<Plug-In Name>.vst3
• c:\Program Files\Common\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins\Newfangled Au-
dio
<Plug-In Name>.aaxplugin
• My Documents\Newfangled Audio\<Plug-In Name>\
25
Chapter 5
Conclusion
26
Chapter 6
27