About & controls
Choose a generator, prepare its pattern, then position the silent preview over the falling notes. Drag left/right for pitch and up/down for delay; drag edge or corner grips to change width and height. Numeric controls and arrow keys provide the same adjustments. Choose a channel, instrument and volume, then send one shot or a loop. Audio is armed separately.
Each Drop adds an independent copy to Layers. Pause freezes that copy; × removes it. Mute and Solo keep its timing running; each strip has volume, channel and pan. For a repeating phrase, turning Loop off finishes the current pass. The generator's Stop ends its own layers, while Stop all ends files, layers and live evolution. Up to four layers play at once; a fifth replaces the oldest playing layer. Paused layers are kept, so stop one first if all four are paused.
Select a layer's name or activity map to show its floating rectangle. Drag, resize or rotate it to change the running MIDI while retaining its playback position. Open that layer's gear for exact pitch, delay, width, height, rotation and instrument controls below its single-line strip. Close the editor with ×, Escape or a click outside; the canvas has no hover popup. Selecting another layer switches the rectangle; choosing a generator tab returns to preparing a new drop.
Pencil records each gesture as an independent loop: a quick click lasts 1/16 beat, holding one master beat makes a one-beat note and loop, and longer holds make longer notes and loops. Moving across pitches records successive notes through time. The Stamp icon opens the shape gallery; stamp gestures follow the prepared 1 / Loop setting. Eraser removes touched notes only from the selected layer. Click a layer's name or map to return to moving, resizing or rotating it.
Double-click with Pencil to latch a Held note without repeated attacks. Pause releases it; Resume rejoins it. Remove the layer, use Frames Stop or use Stop all to end it. Turning Loop off does not release a held note.
Frames holds stamps, drawings, images, scripts and captured frame sequences. The last eight sent copies remain in Saved drops below during the session. Files can play independently from their channel strip or become layers within the layer limits. Automata has its own live Play/Pause; its Drop sends a finite phrase from the prepared seed. Tabs and preparation edits keep existing playback running.
Controls & limits ↗ · MIDI & SoundFont credits ↗ · Download all 35 black-MIDI files · 14.9 MB
BLECH MIDI