Here's some notes on the alpha-test version of "Matrixulate" VST
which is just the working title and will be changed.

Matrixulate was conceived as a way to create a multitap delay with all of my favorite ways of modulating the effect:  pitch-detection, zero-crossing detection, peak envelope, triggered attack/release envelope, and modulated LFOs.  To this end this effect is a 4-tap delay built around a modulation matrix like you might expect to see in a softsynth.

Here's a description of the controls:

1 Vol, 2 Vol, 3 Vol, 4 Vol: volume control for each of the 4 delay "taps"
(you might not want to use all 4 taps at any given time, and turning all but one 
tap's volume down will help you design your sounds in the mod matrix)

X-Y sequencer:  double-click to create a "point" on the spline envelope
click on an empty space and drag to see more of the available drawing field
The X-Y sequencer is just that - the points represent an X-Y position in time,
and the "pulse divide" setting determines in what division of a beat at the host's tempo
that the sequencer runs it's full sequencer.  So at "pule divide" of 1, the visible 
points represent x-y control settings at that time position, like any sequencer.
The "# env steps" determines how many points the sequencer runs through.

MOD MATRIX

There's 8 modulation sources, and 8 modulation destinations.
Click on a number and slide up or down to set the level.  Double click to return the 
level to zero.  Ctrl-click and slide to fine-tune the levels in decimal steps.

The mod sources are:
1 seq x: sends the horizontal coordinate of the x-y sequencer value as modulation
2 seq y: sends the vertical coordinate of the x-y sequencer value as modulation
3 env: sends a modulation level over time as set by the "duration" control, gliding from 
the "start level" to the "end level" settings
4 pitch: the detected pitch of the input audio to the plug-in, in kilohertz
5 zero x: modulation from the leading-edge zero-crossing detector
6 peak: modulation level from the peak detector
7 romlfo: modulation from the ROM wave LFO
8 fmlfo: modulation from the LFO frequency modulated by the input audio

The modulation destinations are:

1 damp: the 4-tap delay's damping parameter 
2 tap 1: delay tap 1's time parameter
3 tap 2: delay tap 2's time parameter
4 tap 3: delay tap 3's time parameter
5 tap 4: delay tap 4's time parameter
6 feedb: the overall delays' feedback parameter
7 rom scale: the peak and trough distance from the baseline of the ROM LFO's waveform
8 fm freq: the FM LFO's frequency parameter

wet/dry: standard effect mix control, turn the knob left to hear more delay

romlfo level: amount of the rom-wave lfo sent to the mod matrix

fmlfo freq: frequency of the fm lfo's oscillator, which is frequency modulated by the 
incoming audio signal

fmflo depth: amount of the fm lfo sent to the mod matrix

volume: overall volume gain sent from the plug-in

tap 1, tap 2, tap 3, tap 4:  length of delay for each tap

romflo waveform: I used EVM's ROM oscillator for an LFO for some non-standard waveform 
choices

lfo division:  tempo-sync of the rom lfo

fmlfo waveform: 3 choices of waveform, but keep in mind this is frequency modulated by 
incoming audio

#env steps: number of active points on the x-y sequencer

time mode: allows you to select the delay settings mode in seconds, milliseconds or 
samples

pulse divide:  the fraction of a beat that it takes the x-y sequencer to cycle

pitch detect:  used to select the octave that the pitch detector should interpret 
incoming audio at; the detected pitch is output in kilohertz

peak hold/peak fade:  time in milliseconds of the peak detector's envelope

0-X level:  level of the zero-crossing detector's output to the mod matrix

start level/end level:  the levels at which the modulation envelope (not the peak 
envelope) starts and ends at

duration:  the amount of time the modulation envelope takes to go from the start level 
to the end level


Planned changes:

. making the delay time controls work better with the "time modes" - one would typically not use a 50-second modulated delay, but 50 samples is far too little for making a flange-type effect

. taming the zero-crossing detector to output less spastic level changes, likewise with the LFOs - the modulation is a bit too fast for use even as an FSU interpolated delay

. making a multi-output version for use with modular hosts

. creating a ping-pong setting as the plug-in is fully stereo throughout

. finding a way to allow much longer lengths of time for the x-y sequencer to cycle through

. adding a control for the feedback of the delays (currently only controllable through the mod matrix)

. fixing typos in the labels for the mod matrix and making them mor legible

. organizing the GUI layout better and labeling sections to make designing sounds easier

. adding a giant preset bank (if you'd like to contribute presets for the final release, just drop me a line)

. create an interesting way to modulate the various delay tap levels


Credits:

Matrixulate uses 3rd party SE modules from

Dave Haupt
Ralph Gonzalez
Kelly Lynch
Scoofster
BackBONE
Chris Kerry
Etric van Mayer

The GUI's "runagate skin" was kindly created for me by de la Mancha

Matrixulate alpha version v01 was created by runagate using SynthEdit
www.3amnoise.net/runagate