Pilot

Pilot is a UDP synthesizer designed to be controlled externally. It was created as a companion application to the livecoding environment ORCA.

Install & Run

You can download builds for OSX, Windows and Linux, or if you wish to build it yourself, follow these steps:

git clone https://github.com/hundredrabbits/Pilot.git
cd Pilot/desktop/
npm install
npm start

Commands

Pilot has 16 voices and 8 effects. Commands can be entered directly with the input bar, or through UDP via the port 49161. You can send multiple commands at once by using the ; character. For example, 03C;13E will play a C3 and E3 chord.

Channel

• 0 to 5 is Amplitude Modulation (poly)
• 6 to 9 is Frequency Modulation (poly)
• 10 to 11 is a single oscillator, a filter and two envelopes (mono)
• 12 to 14 is a single oscillator with an amplitude envelope and frequency ramp to emulate membrane (mono)

Drums

The last voice (F) features a sample player with 116 drum sounds from the Roland TR-808, with courtecy of Michael Fischer .

• BASS DRUMS (C0 - C2) - 25 samples
• SNARES (C#2 - C#4) - 25 samples
• CYMBALS (D4 - D6) - 25 samples
• TOMS: LOW, MID, HI (D#6 - F7) - 15 samples
• CONGAS: LOW, MID, HI (F#7 - G#8) - 15 samples
• HI-HATS SECTION (A8 - D9) - [ 1 Closed, 5 Open]
• ONE-SHOTS (D#9 - G9) - [Cowbell, Clave, Clap, Maracas, Rimshot]

To use your own sample set, add audio files to the media folder and edit mapping.json to your needs.

Play

The Play commands allows you to play synth notes.

Command	Channel	Octave	Note	Velocity	Length
04C	0	4	C	64	1/16
04Cf	0	4	C	127	1/16
04Cff	0	4	C	127	1bar

Settings

The Settings commands allow you to change the sound of the synth. The settings command format is a channel value between 0-G, a 3 characters long name, followed by four values between 0-G. The possible waveforms are si, 2i, 4i, 8i, tr, 2r, 4r, 8r, sq, 2q, 4q 8q, sw, 2w, 4w and 8w.

Command	Channel	Name	Info
0ENV056f	0	Envelope	Set Attack:0.00, Decay:0.33, Sustain:0.40 and Release:1.00
1OSCsisq	1	Oscilloscope	Set Osc1:Sine, Osc2:Square

Global

Effects

The Effects are applied to all channels. The effect command format is a 3 characters long name, followed by one value between 0-G for wet and depth.

Command	Channel	Operation	Info
BITff	All	Bitcrusher	..
DISff	All	Distortion	..
WAHff	All	AutoWah	..
CHEff	All	Chebyshev	..
FEEff	All	Feedback	..
DELff	All	Ping Pong Delay	..
TREff	All	Tremolo	..
REVff	All	Reverb	..
PHAff	All	Pashor	..
VIBff	All	Vibrato	..
CHOff	All	Chorus	..
STEff	All	StereoWidener	..
EQUff	All	EQ3	..
COMff	All	Compressor	..
VOLff	All	Volume	..
LIMff	All	Limiter	..

Masters

EQU0, COM0, VOL0, LIM0, 0-z to set levels, reset for initial values.

dB metering -6 -18 -48 no signal

Special

• bpm140, sets the BPM to 140. This command is designed to apply to effects like feedback.
• renv, randomizes envelopes.
• rosc, randomizes oscillators.
• refx, randomizes effects.
• reset, reset all.

Record

Press cmd/ctrl+r to record, and press it again to stop.

Convert OGG to MP3

Just use ffmpeg.

~/Documents/ffmpeg -i last.{ogg,mp3}  

Extras

• This application supports the Ecosystem Theme.
• Support this project through Patreon.
• See the License file for license rights and limitations (MIT).
• Pull Requests are welcome!