Aural Forge development log
Changes in Aural Forge
A running record of what I’m adding and changing while Aural Forge is in active development.
Newest notes appear first. This is not a versioned release history yet—just the larger instrument, workflow, and content changes that are shaping the synth.
Low-pass gates and flexible amp control
- Added a low-pass gate as both an envelope mode and a filter response, with independent openness and Color controls.
- Amp Source can now select ENV1–4, Gate, or supported oscillator engines’ internal dynamics.
- The voice amplifier now offers Digital, Muffler, and Braids color modes.
Four-lane Steps modulation
- Steps now provides four independently addressable modulation and gate lanes, each with its own 16 step values and slew.
- Sequence length can be shared across all four lanes or set independently per lane.
- Step Clock can follow the patch or a local rate, while Step Trigger can advance from notes, Arp, Marbles, Mod Osc cycles, envelope gates, or another Steps lane.
- Clocking, playback order, phrase length, reset, and Step Map assignment behavior are shared across the four related lanes.
Faster modulation assignment
- Modulation sources can be dropped directly onto compatible source-selector pills.
- Source and destination menus are searchable, grouped by function, and limited to controls available in the current patch structure.
- Oscillator and FM pitch-modulation depths display their real semitone ranges, with finer control around smaller values.
- Matrix Gate, Random Gate, Random Velocity, and Random Start are available as modulation destinations.
Wavetable rendering quality
- Wavetable playback now uses a band-limited BLIT renderer designed to reduce aliasing.
- Eco, Normal, High, and Ultra select progressively higher 1×, 2×, 4×, and 8× rendering quality.
- These choices provide explicit performance and sound-quality tradeoffs for wavetable patches.
Chaos modulation attractors
- Added Lorenz and Rössler Chaos generators with Global and Per Voice operation.
- Independent X and Y outputs provide two related modulation paths from each evolving orbit.
- Binaural decorrelation, selectable reset sources, and a live trajectory display make the motion visible and controllable.
Tides modulation oscillator
- Added a Tides modulation core with Gates, Amplitude, Phase, and Frequency output modes.
- Four simultaneous A–D endpoints expose the relationships between its generated shapes.
- Tides can continue generating modulation whether or not its signal is also routed into the audible oscillator path.
Marbles generative modulation and notes
- Added Marbles as a global generative source with timing, gates, stepped and smooth values, looping memory, seven modulation endpoints, and optional note generation.
- Follow Chord connects Marbles to Aural Forge’s harmony detector, moving from chromatic output through detected scale, chord, and root relationships.
- Each layer can independently receive played notes, four Arp/Matrix lanes, and three Marbles lanes.
- Live histories, captured loops, patch-clock synchronization, and standalone transport integration are part of the Marbles workspace.
Compact output analysis
- The compact output analyzer can switch between Wave and Scope views.
- It can be placed on either side of the Mixer and retains its position with the workspace.
- Compact and full analyzer settings remain independent, allowing each view to serve a different role.
Standalone transport controls
- The standalone instrument now has its own play and tempo controls, starting at 120 BPM on a fresh launch.
- Tempo persists between sessions, and Command/Ctrl+P controls playback.
- Hosted formats display the DAW’s transport state while leaving transport control with the host.
Plaits: 24 synthesis engines
- Plaits joins Aural Forge with all 24 synthesis engines:
- Classic VCF, Phase Distortion, Six-Op FM Bass, Six-Op FM Keys, Six-Op FM Strings, Wave Terrain, String Machine, and Chiptune.
- Virtual Analog, Waveshaping, Two-Op FM, Grain/Formant, Additive, Wavetable, Chord, and Speech.
- Swarm, Noise, Particle, String, Modal, Bass Drum, Snare Drum, and Hi-Hat.
- Harmonics, Timbre, and Morph retain their engine-specific roles and can be driven from Aural Forge’s envelopes, Mod Oscs, and general modulation system.
- Plaits’ internal LPG and dynamics are integrated alongside direct and ENV1-controlled level modes.
- Main and auxiliary synthesis outputs participate in Aural Forge’s stereo and output-mixing system.
- Dedicated templates and listening presets make the individual synthesis families easier to explore.
Braids: 47 models with their own character
- Braids contributes all 47 synthesis models, organized by family:
- Classic: CSAW, Morph, Saw / Square, Fold, Buzz, Square + Sub, and Saw + Sub.
- Sync / Stack: Square Sync, Saw Sync, Triple Saw, Triple Square, Triple Triangle, Triple Sine, Triple Ring, Saw Swarm, and Saw Comb.
- Digital: Toy and QPSK.
- Filter / Formant: ZLPF, ZPKF, ZBPF, ZHPF, VOSIM, Vowel, and Vowel FOF.
- Additive: Harmonics.
- FM: FM, Feedback FM, and Chaotic FM.
- Physical: Pluck, Bowed, Blown Reed, and Flute.
- Percussion: Bell, Metallic Drum, Kick, Cymbal, and Snare.
- Wavetable: Wavetable, Wave Map, Wave Line, and Wavetable x4.
- Noise: Filtered Noise, Twin Peaks, and Clocked Noise.
- Granular: Cloud and Particles.
- Timbre and Color are labeled according to what they actually control in each model instead of remaining generic knobs.
- The Character section adds bit depth, sample rate, signature processing, flattening, and drift.
- Braids’ internal attack/decay envelope can modulate pitch, Timbre, and Color, control its VCA, retrigger automatically, or use delayed triggering.
- Shared pitch, Timbre, and Color routing connects the module to the rest of Aural Forge’s modulation system.
Elements, Rings, Clouds and Space Verb
- Elements brings bowed, blown, struck, and sampled excitation into a resonator architecture with Modal, String, and Sympathetic Strings models.
- Its exciter and resonator stages expose their detailed structure—geometry, brightness, damping, position, space, mallet, bow, breath, strike, and external-input behavior—inside Aural Forge’s shared oscillator surface.
- Rings can operate as a playable resonator source or a post-voice effect, accept external oscillator audio, and expose independent Odd and Even output levels and positioning.
- Clouds joins the post-voice effects for granular processing.
- Space Verb adapts the reverb design from Elements as its own effect.
- New cards, menus, templates, modulation routes, and listening presets accompany the modules.
- These integrations are based on the open-source instruments originally created by Émilie Gillet for Mutable Instruments. Sincere thanks to Émilie for making such remarkable work available to the music-technology community.
Gain staging and FX input control
- Each FX bus now has a smoothed input-gain stage at the post-sum, pre-chain boundary.
- The gain-staging view more clearly identifies stage references and RMS levels across the signal path.
- Output Loudness Target provides a clearer final normalization reference for the instrument.
Oscillator interaction workflow
- Shared interaction cards organize oscillator-pair routing around the two participating oscillators.
- Sync, cross-modulation, phase modulation, ring modulation, and related interaction controls now share a consistent workflow.
- The Prophet-12 oscillator block adds through-zero FM alongside its exponential and linear FM modes.
A focused Note Generator workflow
- Matrix and Tracker are now the two selectable Note Generator workflows.
- Matrix remains the primary musical pattern environment, while Tracker provides the advanced multitrack workflow.
- Arpeggiation remains available as a Pattern pitch mode rather than a separate top-level engine.
- Existing presets using the previous engines are migrated into the supported Pattern workflow.
JP-8000 filter profile
- Added a Roland JP-8000 digital filter profile with its own resonance and input-loss behavior.
- Input-side resonance compensation preserves the intended response as resonance increases.
- The profile was shaped against measured behavior rather than presented as another label over a generic filter.
MIDI mapping and host control
- Added persistent MIDI Learn and Unassign actions with Absolute, Relative, and Takeover controller behavior.
- A shared controller-page catalog exposes organized synth and FX controls to CLAP hosts that support controller pages.
- Custom and target-derived macro names are mirrored to the host, keeping DAW-visible control names aligned with the patch.
- MIDI mappings are stored as user configuration rather than inside individual presets.
Redesigned Chorus/Ensemble
- Chorus/Ensemble now provides Chorus, Dimension, Ensemble, and Hyper topologies.
- Clean and BBD delay models separate the underlying delay character from the selected topology.
- Tone, stereo placement, delay character, and motion can be shaped independently.
- Fifteen factory presets range from subtle widening to lush treatments, including Juno I, Juno II, and combined Juno configurations.
Prophet-12 digital oscillator block
- Added Sequential Digital, a four-oscillator block based on the Prophet-12 digital architecture.
- Its oscillators combine classic and complex waves with wavetable playback, individual glide, and extensive shape control.
- Circular hard sync, exponential and linear FM, and amplitude modulation provide the block’s characteristic interaction structure.
- A dedicated Prophet-12 template and filter profile provide a complete starting configuration.
Oscillator phase distortion
- Five phase-distortion shapes—Skew, Square, Round, Octave Plus, and Width—reshape the internal phase mapping of supported synthesized oscillators.
- Phase-distortion depth can be modulation-routed, turning the shapes into animated timbral controls rather than static oscillator settings.
- Phase distortion operates within the oscillator itself; it does not require another oscillator as a modulation source.
Audio-rate oscillator phase modulation
- Audio-rate Phase Mod allows one oscillator to directly modulate the phase of another supported synthesized oscillator.
- Cross-oscillator routing produces classic DX-style harmonic, metallic, and increasingly inharmonic spectra as modulation depth rises.
- This is a separate synthesis process from the oscillator’s phase-distortion shapes.
Prophet-5/6 profiles and Analog Trimmers v2
- Added a combined Sequential profile with distinct Prophet-5 and Prophet-6 oscillator behavior.
- The Prophet-6 configuration includes its SSI2140-style high-pass filter.
- Analog Trimmers now provide independent variance controls for Oscillators 1–4, Filters A/B, and Envelopes 1–4.
- A global amount moves the complete trimmer model from neutral through deliberately exaggerated behavior.
- Trimmer configurations support presets, randomization, and live per-voice feedback.
Demon oscillator
- Added Demon, a sixteen-voice oscillator core with octave stacking and distributed detuning.
- Falloff and stereo-width controls shape how those voices accumulate around the central oscillator.
- Keytracked high-pass shaping controls the weight and density of the resulting stack.
Mixer Color
- Mixer Color now provides Clean, Analog, and CP3 character as a dedicated source-mixer stage.
- Drive is available as a modulation destination.
- The stage is represented in the gain-staging view so its contribution remains visible within the wider signal path.
Transactional parameter and group locking
- Individual parameters, complete cards, structural groups, and FX chains can be locked.
- Locked authored values and FX structure survive preset loading, initialization, and state restoration.
- Lock state persists with the instrument and is visible directly on card, tab, module, and chain headers.
- Group locking follows the controls actually owned by each card, including cards containing parameters without a larger structural subtree.
TB-303 signal path and post-VCA drive
- Added three reusable Single Osc profiles: Osc, Osc + Sub, and Osc + Sub + Noise.
- Added a dedicated TB-303 LP24 diode-ladder profile with its own input character, resonance behavior, and extended drive range.
- Added Accent as a velocity-triggered per-voice modulation source.
- Added Clean and Muffler VCA Overdrive modes after the envelope and VCA gain.
- Single Osc, Accent, the TB-303 filter, and Muffler can be combined into an acid-oriented signal path without turning Aural Forge into a fixed emulation.
CEM3320 topology expansion
- The four-cell CEM3320 path now provides 24 dB low-pass, high-pass, and band-pass responses.
- Added CEM3320 Variable with 12 dB low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, and notch responses.
- Both paths retain their own headroom, asymmetry, resonance limiting, output-VCA behavior, drive, and quality policy.
Roland filter, noise, and chorus modelling
- Added distinct Roland IR3109, Jupiter-8, Juno-6/60, Juno-106, and SH-101 filter profiles rather than routing them through one generic response.
- Added a dedicated Juno-106 high-pass and bass circuit.
- Added tone-shaped stereo Juno noise based on the reference signal path.
- Refined Juno chorus motion and added selectable Smooth and Clocked BBD engines to Chorus/Ensemble.
CEM3320 and model-oriented filter profiles
- A dedicated CEM3320 four-cell filter core has been added, with its own circuit tuning and profile system.
- New filter choices include a general CEM3320 profile and a Prophet-5 Rev3 LP24 baseline.
- Model-oriented profiles now carry more of their own tuning, drive, resonance, compensation, coloration, and quality behavior instead of acting as alternate labels over the same generic path.
- Selected Rossum, Juno / Jupiter / SH-101, SSI2140, and Prophet Rev1/2 profiles now use authored 2× oversampling settings.
- Clean, Analog, and Soft Clip post-filter coloration provide distinct choices later in the voice signal path.
Matrix harmony and polyphonic expression
- Matrix harmony recognition now supports normalized, as-played, and low-root voicing behavior.
- Generated Matrix notes retain their originating MIDI key and channel, allowing polyphonic aftertouch to follow the notes Matrix creates.
- Pressure is available from the first generated note, continues smoothly through changes and retriggers, and clears when the source note is released.
Matrix note generation and performance profiles
- Matrix is now the primary Note Generator mode: patterns can use Root, Fixed, or K1–K5 roles taken from the notes being held, so the same phrase can follow different chords and voicings.
- Each Matrix pattern has four pages of sixteen steps with aligned lanes for key selection, octave, scale step, velocity, gate time, probability, and step type.
- The original Tracker remains available as the advanced multitrack mode, with up to eight simultaneous tracks, sixty-four rows, and two modulation values per row.
- Play presets now define the instrument’s performance response: seven Poly and seven Mono profiles cover first-available and round-robin allocation, retriggering, release curtailing, released-voice reuse, note priority, and mono voice rotation.
- Glide is now its own reusable profile: it can be Off, active only when notes Overlap, or Always active, with fixed-duration or fixed-speed movement and several choices for where a glide begins.
Preset discovery inside Aural Forge and the DAW
- The preset browser now combines authored musical tags with details derived from the patch itself, including performance controls, active features, and oscillator-block profiles.
- Those fields can be searched together, making combinations such as Poly AT, Binaural, and a specific oscillator profile useful ways to find sounds.
- Factory and User preset locations, tags, and discovery metadata are exposed through CLAP so supporting hosts can integrate Aural Forge sounds into their own libraries.
- In Bitwig Studio, that means Aural Forge presets can participate in the DAW’s browser instead of being confined to the plug-in’s own preset window.
