Khorlo 0.9.03 User Manual

1 · How Khorlo works

Part	What it does
String	One of eight sound sources placed around the cylinder. Pitch is relative to the key you play. Position sets when a plucker reaches it. Each string can use a String, Beam, Bell, Bowl, Membrane, or Plate resonator.
Plucker	A ring with a contact point that travels around the cylinder. Rate sets its speed. Each of the eight pluckers can run at a different rate and strike a different selection of strings.
Exciter	The shape of the strike. Change it to make the attack sharper, rounder, or noisier.
Voice	One note, with its own eight strings and pluckers. At the voice limit, a new note replaces the oldest held note. Set the limit in AMP.

The cylinder itself doesn't move. The contact points move at the rates you set. A plucker at 2 Hz crosses eight evenly spaced strings sixteen times a second. Move a string to change its timing. Add a second plucker at another rate to create an overlapping rhythm.

Try faster rates. Repeated contacts can turn a plucked string into a bowed sustain. The transition starts around eight contacts per second on the same string and reaches full bow pressure around forty-five. Rate, Strength, and AMP › Build shape this sound.

The four pages

SYNTH	Pluckers on the left, strings on the right, and the 3D view between them. Macros, modulation, AMP, and the two voice filters sit along the bottom.
EFFECTS	Ten effects applied to the combined output. Drag them to change their order.
ROUTING	All modulation routes in one table. Edit sources, destinations, amounts, polarity, and velocity influence here.
PRESETS	Browse, save, and organise presets using folders, tags, and favourites.

The top bar has the ☰ menu, preset name, previous/next preset arrows, SAVE, and the master volume knob. Hover over a control to see its description in the preset-name area. You can turn this help off under ☰ › Control descriptions.

In your DAW, send Khorlo MIDI notes to play it. Tempo-synced controls follow the host's clock. The download is VST3, AU, and CLAP. There is no standalone app.

Editing the 3D view

The view shows string vibration and plucker movement while notes sound. You can edit the instrument directly:

Drag a plucker ring vertically for Height or sideways for Offset.
Drag its bright start marker sideways for Rate or vertically for Strength.
Drag a string's head around the cylinder for Position. Drag its wire vertically for Pitch.
Hold Alt while adjusting Position or Offset to snap to eighths of a revolution.

P1 has no Offset and S1 has no Position. They stay at the reference position. The 3D handles also accept modulation cables.

2 · Your first sound

The first-run tour walks through the main controls. Open it again from ☰ › Getting started, or try this:

Open PRESETS and click INIT to reset the patch. Return to SYNTH.
Hold a MIDI note. P1 starts moving and strikes S1.
Click the S2 tab to turn on a second string. Its different Position adds another strike to the loop.
Adjust S2's Pitch and Position to change its note and timing.
Move P1 Rate to speed up or slow down the pattern.
Choose an exciter shape from the buttons on the outer edge of P1. Listen to how the attack changes.
Raise Rate further to try a sustained tone. Lower Strength if you want a lighter sound.

To reach the extra controls, click the arrow beside the P or S bank tabs. It expands all four visible cards in that column. Click it again to close them.

3 · Pluckers

The left column shows four plucker cards at a time. Use the P1–P4 and P5–P8 bank tabs to switch sets. Click a numbered card tab to turn it on or off. Shift-click to solo it.

P1 and P2 cards with rate, height, strength, attack, exciter shapes, and string buttons — P1 and P2. P2 also has an Offset control.

Control	What it does
Rate	Revolutions per second, from 0.05 to 64 Hz in free mode. Higher rates move from separate plucks to sustained textures. Modulation can extend the rate beyond the slider's range.
Height	Where along the string the plucker strikes. Lower is rounder, higher is brighter.
Strength	Strike force. Higher settings are louder and brighter, with more saturation. It also controls the strength of bowed sustain.
Offset	The contact point's starting position around the cylinder. Use it to shift a plucker's timing relative to the others. P1 has no Offset.
Attack	Softens the start of the strike. Raise it for a gentler attack.

Choosing which strings to strike

The eight numbered buttons at the bottom of each card select the strings that plucker can strike. All eight are enabled by default. Click a number to skip that string.

Try sending P1 to strings 1 and 2, and P2 to strings 3 through 8. Give the pluckers different rates for a slow bass pattern and a faster top line. A string must also be switched on to sound. Locked pluckers share this selection.

Loop and once

Click the icon beside Rate to choose loop or once. Loop repeats while the note is held. Once travels one revolution per note and stops.

Free, tempo, and linked rates

Click SNC beside a card to cycle its rate mode. P1 offers Free and Tempo. P2–P8 also offer LNK.

Free: Set Rate in hertz.
Tempo: Choose a beat division. Click the rate field, scroll over it, or right-click to type a division. Each division sets the length of a full revolution. At 1/4 with eight active strings, one revolution produces eight strikes per quarter note.
LNK: Set a ratio of P1's rate. Ratios read P1:this plucker. A 4:1 ratio runs at one quarter of P1's speed. 1:8 runs eight times faster.

Exciter shapes

Choose from the five buttons on the outer edge of the card:

Impulse	A sharp, bright strike.
Half-sine	A rounder strike, like a soft mallet.
Exp	A fast attack with a short decaying tail.
Saw	An asymmetric, buzzy strike.
Noise	A burst of noise. This is the default exciter.

The exciter pad

The pad shapes the strike itself, and most of a sound's character is decided here. Drag inside it, or use the H, W, and N sliders beside it, which set the same three values in the same order:

Hardness	Drag up for a harder striker. Higher Hardness gives a brighter strike.
Contact Width	Drag right to widen the contact. A wider contact softens the top end.
Noise	Right-drag to add noise to any exciter shape, including Noise itself.

Right-click a slider to enter an exact value. Shift-drag inside the pad for finer changes.

4 · Strings

The right column works like the plucker column. Switch banks with S1–S4 and S5–S8. Click a numbered tab to turn a string on or off, or Shift-click to solo it.

S1 and S2 cards with their vertical Level faders at the right edge — S1 and S2. Position appears on S2. Each card has a Level fader on its right edge.

Control	What it does
Pitch	Tunes the string up to 24 semitones above or below the played note, in semitone steps. Every string, including S1, is tuned relative to your MIDI note.
Detune	Adds a fine offset of up to one semitone either way. Small differences between strings create beating and an ensemble sound.
Pan	Places the string in stereo. Strings start centred.
Position	Places the string around the cylinder and changes when pluckers reach it. S1 is fixed at the reference position.
Wash	Makes repeated strikes blend into a sustained wash. Higher settings reduce each new strike according to how strongly the string is already ringing.
Decay	Sets the string's ring time. The slider reads about 0.05 to 3 seconds. The resonator, pitch, and damping also affect the tail.
Level	Sets this string's volume, from silence to +6 dB. The vertical fader is beside the resonator buttons. Double-click for 0 dB. It also accepts modulation.

Expanded controls

Expanded S1 card showing Stiffness, Brightness, Drive, Spread, and Coupling — The string column expands inward to show its physical properties.

Stiffness	Stretches the overtones apart. Small amounts add a piano-like or metallic character. Larger amounts can sound bell-like.
Brightness	Controls how long the high frequencies survive. Low settings sound muted. High settings let the top end ring.
Drive	Adds saturation. On strings, strong attacks can start sharp and settle as the sound decays. The other resonator types saturate without this pitch bend.
Spread	Detunes the second resonating body by up to a semitone. It only affects the sound when Coupling is above zero.
Coupling	Adds a second resonating body for a doubled, beating sound. Set Coupling first, then adjust Spread. This increases CPU use.

Coupling and Spread work within one string. They do not couple separate strings or set stereo width. Use Pan to position strings in stereo.

Resonator types

The six buttons on each string card select its resonator:

String	A modelled plucked string. The default.
Beam	A struck bar with widely spaced overtones. Try it for mallet sounds.
Bell	A bell with a low hum and a cluster of ringing overtones.
Bowl	A singing bowl with widely spaced partials.
Membrane	A drumhead for tuned and noisy percussion.
Plate	A dense metallic sound with closely spaced partials.

The controls stay available for every type. On the five non-string resonators, Stiffness changes the spacing of the partials, Decay controls their ring times, and Coupling adds detuned copies whose tuning is set by Spread.

Play a new note after changing the type. A sounding note keeps the resonator it started with. Stiffness, Coupling, and Spread can change while a note sounds. At very low pitches, the non-string resonators use fewer partials and may omit the coupled copies.

5 · Gestures and locking

Gesture	Action
Drag	Adjust a control.
Shift-drag on a P/S slider	Adjust the property across all eight pluckers or strings, keeping their relative offsets until a value reaches its limit.
Shift-drag on other controls	Fine adjustment on AMP, filter, and effect knobs, the exciter pad, and the 3D handles.
Alt-drag	Snap Position and Offset to eighths of a revolution.
Double-click a value control	Reset it. Most sliders return to the middle. Exciter controls return to neutral, string Level and effect trims to 0 dB, and limiter Input to 0 dB.
Right-click a value control	Enter an exact value. The exciter pad uses right-drag for Noise instead.
⌘ / Ctrl-drag	Adjust modulation depth on a modulated control.
Mouse wheel on Rate	Step through tempo divisions or linked ratios.

Arrow keys depend on what you are editing. See Keyboard shortcuts.

Tab menus

Right-click a tab for these actions:

Numbered P or S tab	Turn on/off, Solo, Copy, Paste, Paste to all, Lock, Randomise, and Reset.
P or S bank tab	All on, All off, Only the first, Spread evenly, Randomise all, Unlock all, and Reset all. These actions cover all eight cards.
MOD tab	Copy, Paste, Clear destinations, and Reset.

Paste to all keeps each string's Position or plucker's Offset. To distribute the positions evenly, choose Spread evenly from the bank menu.

Locking cards together

Right-click a numbered tab and choose Lock to…. The tab gains a padlock with the other card's colour. Editing either card updates the shared properties on both.

S1 and S2 with S2 locked to S1, showing the padlock on S2 — S2 follows S1's shared settings. Its Pitch, Position, and on/off state remain independent.

Locked pluckers keep separate Offsets.
Locked strings keep separate Pitches and Positions.
On/off remains independent for every card.

You cannot lock another card to a card that is already following one. Choose Unlock from its menu to separate it, or Unlock all from the bank menu.

6 · Modulation and macros

MOD1–MOD6 use shapes you draw. Each holds up to six destinations. MOD7 and MOD8 use incoming controls such as velocity, macros, and MPE expression. Each holds nine slots, with a separate source and destination per slot. Both offer the same sources.

Assigning modulation

Drag a MOD tab onto the control you want to move. Available targets light up as you drag. You can route to P and S sliders, exciter controls, AMP and filter knobs, effect knobs, and 3D handles.

You can also click a destination slot to open the Mod Destinations picker. Browse its groups or search for a control by name. Click a filled slot to change its destination.

The Mod Destinations picker, with Plucker 1 selected and its seven controls listed — The picker. Pluckers, strings, effects and GLOBAL down the left, the chosen group's controls on the right, and a search box across the top.

MOD1 panel with an envelope and a destination assigned to S1 Pan — Each destination has an amount dial and a polarity setting.

Amount	How far the route moves the control. Zero stops its effect but leaves the route assigned.
+	Moves upward from the value you set.
−	Moves downward from the value you set.
±	Moves in both directions around the value you set.

To delete a route, double-click its amount dial or click its × on the ROUTING page. To remove every route from a MOD, right-click its tab and choose Clear destinations.

A modulated slider shows a range line for its reach and a coloured mark for its current value. The displayed reach also responds to the route's velocity influence.

S1 Pan with a bipolar modulation range extending both ways from centre — S1 Pan with bipolar modulation. The black range line extends to both sides of centre.

Drawing shapes

Drag a node to move it.
Drag between nodes to bend the segment.
Double-click to add a node.
Alt-click a curve to straighten it.
In Envelope mode, right-click a node to make it the sustain point.

Use the shape menu for starting points including Ramp, Saw, Triangle, Sine, Square, Pulse, Exp, Log, AD, ADSR, and Steps. Save custom shapes under MY SHAPES. They are stored on disk alongside your preset data.

Mode	Playback
Trigger	Runs once for each note, using the shape's length.
Loop	Cycles continuously as an LFO. It can sync to tempo.
Envelope	Holds at the sustain node while the key is down, then plays the rest of the shape when you release the key.
One-shot	Plays through once, ignoring key release.

MOD7 and MOD8 sources

Note / Velocity	The played key and how hard you played it. Each voice reads its own values for per-voice destinations.
Mod Wheel / Pitch Wheel / Aftertouch	Controller values shared across the instrument. With MPE enabled, per-note pressure is available through Pressure.
Macro 1 to Macro 4	The four knobs in the MACROS panel at the bottom left.
Pressure / Slide	Per-note pressure and Slide (CC74) in MPE mode. Enable MPE under ☰ › MPE (per-note expression).
P1 Ring–P8 Ring	A ramp falling from 1 to 0 over each plucker revolution. Each voice has its own ramps. Most useful at rhythmic rates. Higher rates produce increasingly coarse modulation.

Macros

The four macro knobs do nothing until you give them a job. Pick Macro 1, 2, 3, or 4 as the source in a MOD7 or MOD8 slot, then choose a destination and amount. Give the same macro several slots and one knob moves several controls at once.

Click the name field beside a macro to label it. Its source name remains Macro 1–4 in the routing menus. Assigned macros light up and show their destination count.

Changing the whole pattern

Four destinations act on all eight pluckers or strings at once: Plucker Spread, String Spread, Plucker Random, and String Random. They sit under GLOBAL in the destination picker, and on the ROUTING page. Spread fans the positions apart. Random scatters them. Use these for timing changes across the whole set, or modulate individual string Positions for smaller changes.

Modulating another MOD

A MOD can control another MOD's rate or destination amounts. For example, use an envelope to fade in an LFO's effect. Drop the cable onto a MOD's rate field or numbered amount dial.

To reach another MOD's slots while dragging, pause over its tab until it opens, then continue to the target. A MOD cannot target itself.

The ROUTING page

Each row represents one route. Changes here also appear in the MOD panel.

Source	The MOD or controller driving the route. Click to change it.
Destination	The control being moved. Click to choose another. Inactive or unavailable destinations appear dimmed and struck through.
Amount	Depth as a percentage. Drag sideways or right-click to type a value.
Polarity	Click to cycle +, −, and ±.
Velocity	How much note velocity scales the route's depth. Drag or right-click to enter a value. This is unavailable when the source is already Velocity.
×	Delete the route.

Several sources can affect the same destination. For example, a macro can set the filter's opening while an envelope adds movement on each note.

Velocity per route

At 0%, the route's depth ignores velocity. At 100%, a soft note gets less modulation and a hard note gets the full amount. At 50%, a note played at half velocity gets three-quarters of the set depth.

Set this separately for each route. One MOD can open the filter more on hard notes while its vibrato route stays unchanged. Per-voice targets follow each note. Shared targets such as effects act on the combined sound.

7 · Amp and filters

The bottom-right panel has three tabs: AMP, FILTER 1, and FILTER 2.

AMP

Attack / Decay / Sustain / Release	The amplitude envelope for each voice. Attack controls the fade-in, Decay moves toward the Sustain level, and Release controls the fade after you let go.
Vel	How much velocity affects strike strength. At zero, strike strength ignores velocity. Routes using Velocity can still change the sound.
Glide	Slides the pitch between notes in the two mono modes, Retrig and Legato. It does nothing in Poly.
Build	How quickly a bowed string swells. Zero is immediate. Higher values build more slowly. It does not set the release time or stop a stuck note.
Bend	The pitch-bend wheel's range above and below the played note.
Voices	The maximum held-note polyphony: 1, 4, 8, 12, or 16. More voices use more CPU. The mode menu offers Poly, Retrig, and Legato.

The filter pair

Each voice has two filters. Click the dot on a filter tab to enable or bypass it without switching tabs. Both filters are off in INIT.

The FILTER TYPE picker: nine models on the left, seven modes on the right — The TYPE picker.

TYPE	Opens a picker with the model on the left and its modes on the right.
FREQ	Filter cutoff. On Vocal, it shifts the vowel's frequencies.
RESO	Emphasises frequencies around the cutoff. Higher settings can ring or self-oscillate, depending on the model.
DRIVE	Pushes more signal into the filter for saturation.
CHAR	A model-specific character control. See the table below or hover over it for a description.
ROUTING	SERIAL sends filter 1 into filter 2. PARALLEL sends the voice into both and mixes their outputs.
WET / MIX	In SERIAL, WET blends the dry voice with the filtered signal. In PARALLEL, MIX balances filter 1 against filter 2. Each mode remembers its own setting.

Model	Sound and CHAR control
Clean	A neutral filter. CHAR tilts the sound darker or brighter.
DMF	A softer filter. CHAR adds warmth.
Hybrid	A four-pole ladder with two personalities. At low CHAR it is smooth and polite, with the resonance held in check. Turn CHAR up and it gets rawer and dirtier, the resonance bites harder and the low end fills out. Nothing switches over. It slides between the two.
Cascade	A warm four-pole ladder whose level holds steady as the resonance rises. CHAR bends the soft clipper inside the resonance loop, which rounds and thickens the sound. You hear it mostly with DRIVE up.
Squelch	The acid-style diode ladder. CHAR thins the bass inside the resonance loop, so the sound gets more nasal and grittier as you turn it up.
Scream	A resonant filter with the distortion built into its resonance. It starts screaming around seven tenths of RESO. CHAR hardens that distortion a little. It is a subtle control on this model.
Comb	A tuned echo with a metallic, hollow sound. CHAR controls damping.
Allpass	Phaser-like sweeps. CHAR spreads the stages.
Vocal	Vowel sounds. CHAR selects A, E, I, O, or U.

Six models offer seven modes: Low 24, Low 12, High 24, High 12, Band 6, Band 12, and Band 24. The number describes the slope in dB per octave. Comb, Allpass, and Vocal have no mode selection.

The four main knobs accept modulation. Use a MOD in Envelope mode for a filter envelope. Changing the model or mode resets that filter, so it can interrupt a ringing sound.

8 · Effects

The EFFECTS page processes the combined output of the voices. Its ten units run from top to bottom in the order shown.

Effect	What it does
Chorus	Thickens the sound with delayed, detuned copies. Choose 4, 8, 16, or 32 voices. Short delays thicken. Longer delays create more separation.
Compressor	Controls level changes. Choose Single band or Multiband and a VCA, FET, or Opto model.
Delay	Mono, Stereo, or Ping-pong repeats, with free or tempo-synced timing and a filter in the feedback path. The chosen filter determines how the repeats change.
Saturation	Tube, Tape, or Wavefolder distortion. Drive sets how hard the signal is pushed. The other controls change with the model.
Equalizer	A high-pass filter, a bell band, and a low-pass filter for shaping the output.
Filter	The same nine models and seven modes as the voice filters, applied to the combined sound.
Flanger	A short, swept delay with feedback for metallic sweeps.
Phaser	Sweeping notches for a rounder swirling effect.
Reverb	Room, Plate, Hall, or Cave spaces. Decay sets the tail, Pre Delay separates it from the original sound, Width sets the stereo spread, and Low Cut and High Cut shape its tone. Early sets the level of the first reflections. Diffuse smears them out.
Limiter	Reduces peaks. It starts last in INIT, but can be moved like any other effect.

Effect controls

Click the dot, name, or icon in a strip's header to enable or bypass it.
Drag the nine-dot grip to reorder the chain.
Drag the header's output-trim number vertically to change its level in dB. Shift-drag for fine adjustment, double-click for 0 dB. The lowest setting is silence.
Use MIX to blend an effect with its input. Every effect except Equalizer has MIX.
Drag a MOD tab onto a knob to modulate it.

Presets store effect settings and order. Loading a preset can enable or bypass the limiter, so check its state when you need peak control.

Limiter

The limiter reduces gain and rounds off remaining peaks with a ceiling curve. It has no look-ahead in this release.

INPUT	Input gain in dB. Turn it clockwise for more gain and limiting. Double-click for 0 dB.
CEILING	The maximum level of the limited signal.
ATTACK	How quickly gain reduction responds. Slower settings let more of the transient reach the ceiling curve.
RELEASE	How quickly gain recovers. Fast settings can pump. Slower settings hold the reduction longer.
CHAR	How softly the ceiling rounds peaks. Higher settings soften more of the signal near the ceiling.
LINK	How much the channels share gain reduction. Full keeps their gain changes together. Zero lets each channel respond on its own.
MIX	Blends the limited signal with the unlimited input.
MODEL	Clean, Punch, Warm, or Crush. Changes the response from transparent limiting to more obvious pumping and saturation.

The display shows the ceiling and limiter response, with live output and gain-reduction information while audio plays. Drag horizontally for Input or vertically for Ceiling.

INIT starts with the limiter on, Input at 0 dB, and Ceiling at −0.1 dB. The soft knee and ceiling curve can affect signals below the ceiling.

The ceiling applies inside the limiter. Dry signal mixed back in, output trim, later effects, and master volume can raise the final output above it. For peak control, put the limiter last, use 100% MIX, and avoid adding gain afterwards.

9 · Presets

Use PRESETS to browse and organise your library. The top-bar arrows step through the current folder while you stay on another page. SAVE lights up when the patch has changed.

A preset stores the instrument settings, including polyphony, modulation, and effects. INIT resets the sound to its starting settings.

Folders and Favorites

In Folders view, the left sidebar lists your banks and User folder:

Banks: The factory bank and any other preset folders. This release adds Factory 0.9.03 as one list. Use tags to find instrument types within it.
User: Your own presets and subfolders. SAVE can also update a factory preset after confirmation.
All: Every preset in the library, alphabetically.
Favorites: Every preset you have starred, from any folder.

Click the star on a preset row to add it to Favorites, or × to delete it. Deletion asks for confirmation. Hover over a row to see its folder. Drag the sidebar divider to resize it.

The factory bank is an ordinary folder of preset files. You can edit or delete its presets. Deleted presets stay deleted. New releases add their own factory folder alongside older banks and may offer to remove the old one.

Instrument badges

A coloured badge beside each name shows its instrument tags. A preset can have more than one: the badge uses the first tag's letters and a colour band for each. Hover to read them all. An unclassified preset has a dim badge.

Family	Instrument tags
Low	Bass (BAS), Synth Bass (SBS)
Melodic	Lead (LED), Keys (KEY), Organ (ORG), Sequence (SEQ), Synth (SYN)
Plucked	Pluck (PLK), Guitar (GTR), Strings (STR)
Tuned	Bell (BEL), Mallets (MAL)
Percussion	Drums (DRM), Percussion (PRC)
Blown	Brass (BRS), Reed (RED), Wind (WND), Vocal (VOX)
Sustained	Pad (PAD), Atmospheres (ATM), Texture (TEX), Drone (DRN)
Other	FX (SFX)

Editing and filtering tags

The tag panel has four collapsible groups:

INSTRUMENT	The instrument types listed above.
TONE	Bright, Dark, Warm, Metallic, Glassy, Wooden, Hollow, Airy, Full, Thin, Harsh, Noisy.
CHARACTER	Clean, Gritty, Soft, Aggressive, Delicate, Organic, Synthetic, Evolving, Ambient, Wide, Lo-fi, Experimental.
ARTICULATION	Plucked, Struck, Bowed, Blown, Sustained, Staccato, Percussive, Rhythmic, Swelling, Gated.

In Folders view, clicking a tag adds it to or removes it from the open preset. In Tags view, the same buttons filter the whole library. Choose two tags to find presets carrying both.

Filtering also offers UNTAGGED and DESIGNER. Select two designers to see presets by either. Tags outside the built-in list appear under OTHER, where you can remove them.

Tags travel with the preset file. Sharing or backing up a preset includes its tags. Replacing a preset file also replaces its tags.

Name, Designer, and Save To

Name	Click to edit. You can also drag this field onto a folder to move the preset.
Designer	Enter the preset author's name. It is stored in the file and appears in the Designer filter.
Save To	Shows where SAVE will write. For your own presets, edit the subfolder after User/. Leave it empty for the main User folder. On a factory preset, this field shows its factory folder and cannot be edited.

Making folders

Drag a preset onto + New Folder and enter a folder name. You can also click + New Folder to choose a destination for your next save. A new folder appears in the sidebar once a preset has been saved or moved into it.

Typing Live Set/Opener in the Name field sets the folder to Live Set and the preset name to Opener. Slashes in folder names create deeper folders.

Saving and renaming

Saving changes to the same user preset replaces that file without a prompt. Other cases ask you to choose:

Situation	Options
The name is already in use	Save as copy keeps both files and adds a number to yours. Replace overwrites the existing file.
You changed a user preset's name	Save As… saves the edited patch under the new name and keeps the original. Rename changes the existing file's name.
You save over a factory preset	Update factory replaces that factory file. Save to User saves your version separately and keeps the factory copy.

Closing a save question cancels the operation. Pressing Enter selects its default choice.

Rename does not save sound edits. It moves the existing file, including its tags and designer. Use SAVE to write changes you have made to the sound, or choose Save As to keep the edited version separately.

10 · Menu and appearance

Open the ☰ menu at the top left for these actions:

The ☰ menu, in five groups — The ☰ menu.

Undo / Redo	Undo or restore edits.
Random patch…	Create a new patch. Tame stays playable and musical. Wild can reach anything. Either can keep the current strings and randomise only the pluckers. Undo restores the previous patch.
Panic	Stop every voice and every effect tail right now. Use this for stuck notes or runaway feedback.
Performance mode	Freeze the animated background, reduce shading, and stop live modulation from animating the cylinder.
MPE (per-note expression)	Enable per-note pressure and Slide. This setting is saved with the patch.
Appearance…	Set the window size, colours, and 3D appearance.
Control descriptions	Show control help in the preset-name area on hover. Enabled by default.
Getting started…	Run the introductory tour again.
Manual…	Open the manual.
About Khorlo / Website	Which build you have, and the JAS-I website.
DSP load meter (dev)	Show audio-processing load for troubleshooting.

Window size

The Appearance panel floats over the instrument. Drag its title bar to move it. Choose a size button or drag the plugin window's corner:

Size	Pixels
75%	997 × 750
100%	1329 × 1000
125%	1661 × 1250
150%	1994 × 1500
200%	2658 × 2000

Your DAW saves the window size with the session. Presets don't store it.

Colour schemes

Ten schemes ship with Khorlo, from Abyss and Darkness through Ember, Verdigris and Forest and Venom to Halo, the light one. The same menu lets you save your own schemes and delete the ones you don't want.

Below the scheme menu, FOG sets the speed, opacity and warp of the moving background and its three colours, Left, Center and Right. Those three also light the cylinder from those sides, so the glass takes on the colours you choose. CYLINDER sets the outer glass and the inner glow, each with a strength slider and a colour. Save keeps your changes and Cancel puts them back. Reset appearance restores the original look without changing the window size. Appearance settings are remembered separately from the sound.

11 · Keyboard shortcuts

Your DAW keeps the computer keyboard for notes and transport. Send MIDI to play Khorlo. Inside a DAW these keys reach Khorlo:

Keys	Action
⌘Z / Ctrl+Z	Undo.
⌘⇧Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z	Redo.
Up / Down on PRESETS	Load the previous or next preset.
Left / Right on PRESETS	Move one column across the list.
Home / End on PRESETS	Load the first or last preset.

A few more work whenever Khorlo has the keyboard, which a DAW rarely allows: 1–6 selects a plucker and Shift + 1–6 a string, [ and ] step through the MODs, the arrow keys nudge the last control you touched (Shift for a finer step) or move selected envelope nodes up and down by 1% (Shift for 10%), and Esc closes a menu or clears the node selection.

12 · If something sounds wrong

Problem	Try this
No sound	Send a MIDI note. Check that a plucker and string are enabled, that the plucker's numbered buttons include that string, and that string Level and master volume are up. Check AMP settings and effect output trims too.
A stuck note or runaway sound	Choose ☰ › Panic. It stops every voice and effect tail right away.
The tail is too long	Shorten AMP Release or string Decay. Check delay feedback and reverb decay. For unwanted sustain while holding a note, lower plucker Rate.
A MOD does nothing	Check its destination and Amount. Make sure the target is enabled and has room to move. Envelope mode needs a note, and source MODs need input from the selected controller.
Spread does nothing	Raise Coupling to add the second resonating body. Very low non-string resonators may omit that body to reduce processing cost.
A filter does nothing	Enable its tab's dot. In SERIAL, check WET. In PARALLEL, check the balance between the two filters.
One plucker is silent	Check its on/off state, Strength, and numbered string buttons. The selected strings must also be enabled and have audible Levels.
Changing resonator type does nothing	Play a new note. Existing notes keep their original resonator type.
Hard notes start sharp	Lower string Drive to reduce the pitch bend on strong attacks. This effect applies to the String resonator.
Chords sound muddy	Try less Coupling, shorter Decay, or different Pan positions. Lower individual string Levels to balance the chord.
CPU use is high	Reduce AMP Voices or string Coupling. Bypass unused effects. For a slow interface, enable Performance mode.