Pocket Analog Instructions

Introduction

Pocket Analog is a virtual analog synthesizer built around three bandlimited oscillators, a resonant filter, four envelope generators, combined with reverb, chorus delay, and phaser effects.

The oscillators use bandlimited wavetables that automatically select a table with fewer overtones at higher pitches to avoid aliasing. Pulse width modulation is available when the PULSE waveform is selected.

MIDI velocity, aftertouch, modulation wheel, and keyboard tracking can be routed to filter cutoff, amplitude, and vibrato. A step sequencer and arpeggiator are included for melodic patterns.

Navigation

The main sections are selected via the vertical buttons on the left side of the interface: VCO1, VCO2, SUB, FILT, EG, ROUTE, FX, and SEQ.

Several sections have subsections selectable by tab buttons inside the section. The VCO sections have OSC and PWM tabs. The ROUTE section has VEL, AT, MW, and KEY tabs. The FX section has tabs for each effect.

General controls:

Oscillators

Pocket Analog has two main oscillators (VCO1, VCO2) and one sub oscillator (SUB). Each oscillator section is divided into two subsections accessed via the OSC and PWM tabs.

OSC Tab

WAVE selects the waveform: SINE, TRI, SAW, or PULSE. The PULSE waveform enables pulse width modulation, available in the PWM tab.

AMP EG selects which envelope generator controls the amplitude of the oscillator.

GAIN sets the output level of the oscillator.

COARSE sets the pitch in semitones relative to the played note.

FINE sets the pitch in cents for detuning.

TUNE EG selects which envelope generator modulates the pitch of the oscillator.

SYNC enables hard sync. When active, the oscillator is locked to the base note frequency and forced to restart its waveform on every cycle of that master frequency. The oscillator still runs at its own pitch set by COARSE, FINE, and TUNE EG — but the forced restart shapes the sound into a bright, cutting timbre that changes character as the oscillator pitch is adjusted. Tuning the oscillator higher produces a brighter sound. Sweeping the pitch with TUNE EG creates the classic sync sweep — a rising or falling tonal movement heard in many lead synthesizer sounds.

SUB is a sub oscillator with two routing options that can be active simultaneously. RINGMOD ring modulates the main oscillators with SUB. NORMAL adds SUB directly to the signal path. Enabling both produces a mix of the ring modulated and unmodulated signal.

PWM Tab

Pulse width modulation is active when the oscillator waveform is set to PULSE.

PW sets the base pulse width. At 0 the waveform is a square wave (50% duty cycle). At 1 it is a narrow pulse (5% duty cycle). The full knob range covers the perceptually distinct half of the pulse width range, as both halves of the duty cycle produce mirror-image spectra that sound identical.

PW EG selects which envelope generator modulates the pulse width.

PWM sets the target pulse width that the envelope sweeps toward. The envelope interpolates from the PW value at note-on to the PWM value as the envelope rises. Setting PW to 1 (narrow) and PWM to 0 (square) causes the envelope to open the sound from thin and buzzy toward a fuller square wave. Reversing the settings causes the opposite sweep.

Filter

Pocket Analog uses a resonant low-pass filter modeled after the Moog ladder filter.

CUT sets the filter cutoff frequency.

RES sets the resonance. At high values the filter self-oscillates.

CUT EG selects which envelope generator modulates the cutoff frequency.

GAIN sets the output level of the filter.

Envelope Generators

Four envelope generators (EG1–EG4) are available. Each has ATTACK, DECAY, SUSTAIN, and RELEASE stages. Any of the four EGs can be assigned to oscillator amplitude, oscillator pitch, filter cutoff, and pulse width modulation independently.

Routing

The ROUTE section maps MIDI performance data to synthesis parameters. It is divided into four tabs: VEL (velocity), AT (aftertouch) and MW (modulation wheel).

VEL Tab

VEL>FILT routes note velocity to filter cutoff. Higher velocity opens the filter further.

VEL>AMP routes note velocity to output amplitude.

AT Tab

Both channel pressure and polyphonic aftertouch are supported.

AT>FILT routes aftertouch to filter cutoff.

AT>AMP routes aftertouch to amplitude.

AT>VIB routes aftertouch to vibrato depth. Vibrato is generated by a per-voice LFO whose base rate and character are set by the JITTER parameters in the settings.

MW Tab

MW>FILT routes the modulation wheel to filter cutoff.

MW>VIB routes the modulation wheel to vibrato depth.

Jitter

CENTS sets the base vibrato depth in cents.

Effects

Each effect has a power button to activate or deactivate it. The power state is saved with the preset and reported to the DAW host.

Reverb

An algorithmic reverb with controls for mix, gain, feedback, and damping.

Chorus Delay

A stereo chorus delay with modulation. DEL sets the delay time, FB sets feedback, MIX blends dry and wet signal. MOD RATE and MOD DEPTH control the modulation LFO applied to the delay time, producing chorus and flanger effects at short delay times.

Phaser

An all-pass phaser applied per note. Each note has its own independent phaser instance, so polyphonic playing produces rich, non-correlated phasing. RANGE sets the sweep range. FB controls feedback for more pronounced notches. RATE sets the frequency of the phaser's LFO, which sweeps the center frequency of the all-pass filters.

Sequencer and Arpeggiator

The SEQ section combines a step sequencer with an arpeggiator. Both share the same timing engine and operate simultaneously — the sequencer determines which notes play, and the arpeggiator transposes each of those notes through a set of intervals.

Timing

BPM sets the internal tempo from 10 to 960 BPM.

TIME DIV sets the duration of each step as a fraction of one beat: 1/64, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, or 4 beats per step.

SYNC DAW replaces the internal BPM with the host DAW tempo when running as a plugin.

SWING shifts the timing of alternating steps. At 0 all steps are evenly spaced. Increasing SWING shortens the duration of even steps and lengthens odd steps, creating a shuffled rhythmic feel.

GAIN sets the output level of the sequencer in decibels.

Recording Notes

The sequencer stores a list of notes, each with a pitch, duration, and velocity. Notes are recorded by playing them on a MIDI keyboard while LEARN is active. Each note-on and note-off pair becomes one step, capturing the exact duration the key was held. When LEARN is off the sequence plays untouched and incoming MIDI notes only trigger the synth normally.

LEARNMODE selects how notes are recorded. In APPEND mode, notes are always added to the sequence. If the count exceeds STEPS, the oldest notes are dropped from the front at the next cycle boundary. In REPLACE mode, notes are appended until the sequence reaches STEPS steps. Once full, each new note overwrites the step that was playing at the moment the key was pressed, allowing targeted replacement of individual steps while the sequence runs.

STEPS sets the maximum length of the sequence.

REEINIT NOTES, when active, plays each step using the pitch and duration from the recorded note but re-initialises it with the current synth parameter settings on every tick. This allows the sound of existing steps to be reshaped without re-recording them.

ZERONOTE inserts a silent rest step into the sequence at the current position. Useful for adding gaps between notes without re-recording the whole sequence.

CLEAR flushes all recorded steps and resets the sequencer and arpeggiator position to the beginning.

DON'T IMPORT NOTES — when loading a preset, the stored note sequence is skipped and the current sequence is preserved. Only the synth parameters are restored.

WAIT FOR ZERO holds any parameter changes until the sequence returns to step 0, keeping transitions in sync with the loop boundary.

Arpeggiator

MODE selects the arpeggiator direction. When set to OFF the arpeggiator is inactive and each sequencer step plays at its recorded pitch. The available modes are:

ARP STEPS sets how many arp intervals are cycled before the sequencer advances to the next note. Range is 1 to 32.

Steps 1 through 32 each define the interval in semitones from the previous arp step. Step 1 sets the offset from the played note (0 = unison). Step 2 sets the interval from step 1. Step 3 sets the interval from step 2, and so on. This means the arp builds intervals cumulatively: if step 1 is 0 and step 2 is 7, the second note is a perfect fifth above the played note. If step 3 is 5, the third note is a perfect fourth above step 2, landing an octave above the played note.

Negative semitone values move downward, allowing descending or mixed-direction interval patterns independent of the arpeggiator direction mode.

MIDI Learn

MIDI learn is available for controls that affect the sound. Press the MIDI LEARN button to enter learning mode, then touch the control to be assigned and move a controller or touch a button on your MIDI device. Control Change messages are assigned for knobs. All other parameters are assigned to Note On messages.

Presets

Presets are saved and loaded via the preset buttons. The current state of all parameters is stored, including effect power states and midi-learned parameters.