Instructions
The PolyGnome is a VST3 Sequencer Plugin which helps music producers generate polyrhythms within their Digital Audio Workstation
The process of experimenting and implementing complex polyrhythms within DAWs is complex, and PolyGnome aims to simplify this
With PolyGnome, you can easily visualize, create, and edit 12 simultaneous 8-bar MIDI sequences, where each sequence in each bar is subdivided into 1-16 subdivisions
Each beat of each subdivision sequence can be individually toggled to add space to your rhythm
Finally! You'll never struggle to make a 16:15:14:13:12:11:10:9:8:7:6:5:4:3:2:1 polyrhythm again! (But please don't)
Setting Up
0: Add PolyGnome.vst to your DAW's VST folder.
1: Open two empty MIDI tracks in your DAW.
2: Add PolyGnome to track 1.
3: Route the output of track 1 to the input of track 2.
4: Arm track 2 for recording.
5: Add MIDI instrument of your choosing to track 2.
Usage
Each of the 12 rows on the Sequencer represents 1 sequence, with each sequence having its own parameters.
Each sequence contains up to 16 buttons, each representing a subdivided note of the bar. When pressed, the buttons turn on or off.
While PolyGnome and your DAW are in "Play" mode, PolyGnome will export MIDI notes to your DAW based on your configuration of the Sequencer.
You can create a loop of up to 8 bars worth of sequences, with each bar's sequences having their own parameters such as subdivisions.
Each sequence has its own set of settings.
2: Mute button: temporarily turns off all MIDI notes for a given sequence.
3: Velocity slider: changes the velocity value of MIDI notes exported from 0-127
4: Sustain slider: changes the duration of the exported MIDI note from 0-100% of the subdivision duration
5: Subdivision slider: changes the amount of subdivisions for the sequence.
6: MIDI value sliders: the MIDI note that the sequence is exporting. This value can also be changed by clicking the text box and entering a valid MIDI string (A-1, C#5, G9, etc.) or integer (0-127), or by playing a MIDI note on your instrument. By default these values are set to 36-47, cooresponding to the first 12 samples of most Ableton drum racks.
7: MIDI Keyboard: Displays notes being played by PolyGnome
1: Play: Turns PolyGnome on or off.
2: Load Preset: Loads a .pgnome file and sets all of the sequencer buttons and values.
3: Save Preset: Saves a .pgnome file with all of PolyGnome's values, which can be reloaded by yourself or others.
4: Help Text: This area will display helpful text about any of PolyGnome's components when they are moused over.
5: Auto-Loop button: When selected, the view will change to the next bar when the currently viewed bar is done playing.
6: Bar Slider: Changes the number of bars in the loop.
7: Bar Select buttons: Changes which bar is currently being viewed.
8: Bar Copy buttons: Copies the settings of all sequences in the bar currently being viewed to another bar.
