Hands-On Creative Arpeggiation

BLEASS Arpeggiator takes the inspirationally melodic power of a classic synth arpeggiator and supercharges it with modern features demanded by today’s musicians. Developed in collaboration with top French producer Canblaster, BLEASS Arpeggiator’s capabilities extend far beyond the clichéd up-and-down monophonic patterns of an old-school synth arpeggiator, with polyrhythms, polyphony, and a large collection of highly configurable arpeggio patterns built in.

The focus of BLEASS Arpeggiator is creativity and experimentation. The plugin’s hands-on user interface is as intuitive and spontaneous to use as a classic subtractive synth, so varying and adapting arpeggios on-the-fly is an easy, fun and organic experience.
The plugin recognises incoming performance controllers, and includes a pair of XY pads (huge fun on iPad!), a pair of advanced LFOs and BLEASS’ signature Motion Sequencer. These can modulate the arpeggiator’s parameters, unlocking a deep level of creativity that’s simply not available from modern step-sequencer-style arpeggiators.

BLEASS Arpeggiator also offers a built-in sound generator. This is a cut-down yet great-sounding FM synth that’s perfect for creating the kinds of bright, sweet and punchy sounds that can work so well with an arpeggio line. You can of course use BLEASS Arpeggiator with any other synth too (see tutorials here), with each instance of the plugin creating its own MIDI source that can be bussed to any instrument within your project.

Performance Tab

The Performance tab allows incoming realtime performance control messages to be routed to BLEASS Arpeggiator’s parameters.

• Mod Wheel – Receives the controller messages from your keyboard’s (or other performance device’s) modulation wheel. Responds to CC1.
• XY-1, XY-2 – BLEASS Arpeggiator includes a pair of XY Controllers for creating exciting interconnected parameter modulations. The XY Controller panels generate two modulation values simultaneously – and X and a Y value. Drag the control point to vary these values.

Arpeggiator Tab

The settings within the Arpeggiator Tab control the rhythmic and pitch patterns produced by BLEASS Arpeggiator.

• Reset – The Reset section allows the Arpeggiator, LFOs and Motion Sequencer to be reset in response to the DAW’s beat or a specific incoming MIDI note.
• Trigger – The Trigger section controls the basic rate at which BLEASS Arpeggiator steps through the pattern of notes it creates.
• Pattern – Turn the dial to choose from 62 different rhythmic patterns, or set to the left-most OFF position if you do not want to apply a trigger pattern.
• Sequence – BLEASS Arpeggiator creates a sequence of notes based on the chord or notes you play into it. The settings in this section allow you to determine details of the generated sequence.
• Polyphony – Unlike classic arpeggiators that can only play one note at a time, BLEASS Arpeggiator can create multi-line and polyphonic arpeggios. The controls in this section let you set this up.
• Velocity – The settings in this section control the note-on velocity of the notes being generated by BLEASS Arpeggiator.

LFO Tab

• BLEASS Arpeggiator includes a pair of LFOs (Low Frequency Oscillators) that can be used to modulate the plugin’s parameters. This is a great way to create dynamic, evolving arpeggios.

Motion Tab

• BLEASS Arpeggiator’s built in Motion Sequencer allows patterns of values to be sequenced and then used to modulate up to two of the plugin’s parameters.

Synth Tab

BLEASS Arpeggiator features a built-in stripped-down FM synthesiser whose sound is a perfect match for many arpeggiated parts. You can use this on its own, use it to reinforce the sound of another synth, or disable it altogether. The synth’s oscillator section generates a sine wave whose frequency can be modulated by the FM 1 and FM 2 oscillators. In the language of FM, the main oscillator can be thought of as the carrier, whilst FM 1 and FM 2 are modulators attached to that carrier.