Ctrl-clicking the notes chains patterns so one will play after the other. In internal mode you can select one of the 24 existing patterns by clicking one of the 8 white note buttons in combination with a bank number (note: when using your host you can use MIDI notes to trigger all 96 patterns). When not in edit (pattern write) mode, most of the controls will not be active. This section might be slightly confusing at first. The bottom half of the interface is dedicated to manipulation of your sequences. Pre routes the signal through the equalizer and then through the diode clipper, while Post routes the input through the clipper first and then the EQ.Īs I mentioned earlier Phoscyon can be sequenced in your external host as well as with the internal pattern based sequencer.
The distortion was designed to be an equivalent to a transistor amplifier with equalization. Some 20+ presets in the Phoscyon distortion presets group do a good job in showcasing the variety of sounds you can get with this effect. This type of effect is often used in combination with the 303 so it’s great to have one included with Phoscyon. If you have never seen a real TB-303 you might be surprised it originally does not come with a distortion effect. Furthermore there’s a knob for setting the tempo multiplier and arp repeat, which both do exactly what you would expect one multiplies the arp tempo so it plays more notes per step, and the repeat defines how many times a note is allowed to repeat before moving on to the next note in the arp chord/mode sequence. A shuffle parameter sets the swing/syncopation from 0 to 100, to add some groove to your arp notes. Arp mode, sets the order in which arpeggiated notes will play random, up, down, or up/down.įour buttons are available to set the octaves which are used for the notes, from -1 to +2.Arp chord, which has 7 predefined chord types (Major, Minor, 7th, m7th, M7, m7-5, and Dim) and a custom mode which takes notes from your host.The arp section on Phoscyon features two large knobs: Something that the original TB-303 doesn’t have it an arpeggiator. In the video below I will run through a few presets so you can get an idea of the sounds of Phoscyon and the various synthesis controls are tweaked to demonstrate how they affect the sound. The default accurate mode has linear tuning across the scale, but if you set it to vintage or low battery mode you’ll get de-linearized tuning for some vintage detuned sound. D16 has even emulated some oscillator tuning modes. Phoscyon’s sound is generated by 2 oscillators with authentically emulated saw and square waveforms.
The built-in preset manager can store presets in groups, a handy little feature to assist you in finding the sound you’re after with ease. Phoscyon can store up to 128 presets per bank, which you can of course save and load. Presets store information about the sound, arpeggiator, distortion, and volume parameters. Moving on to the next section we find the presets section. You can save your custom MIDI CC maps as well. Click the MIDI learn button, adjust a control on Phoscyon and on your controller and voila, all done. With the new MIDI learn system it’s dead simple to link Phoscyon’s parameters to your external controller. Phoscyon has 96 patterns which can be triggered by MIDI notes in Host mode great for performing live. When using the internal sequencer it can be synced to the internal clock -30-300 bpm, or to your host tempo. In the top of the screen you can set the sequencer mode to either internal or external (when internal LED is off). The interface shows that Phoscyon offers quite a number of additional features to the original TB-303.
It also marks the first official release of an AudioUnit version.
The long awaited (almost 2 years) version 1.8 update brings some new features like new shuffle/swing parameters, oscillator tuning settings, updated preset management and MIDI learn (similar to other D16 plug-ins), accent velocity level settings and lots more. Its first official release was in February 2006 and it received a few updates since then.