1. The whole instrument
STRATUS: tabbed pad engine centre, control panel + presets left, FX chain + LFO rack right, keyboard bottom.
The running plugin -- every area is detailed below.
The whole instrument -- 01-overview
Overview
STRATUS is a pad instrument: every voice owns two independent engine slots (A and B) crossfaded by the MORPH knob -- 24 engines from PADSYNTH additive to VOID drones, CLUSTER clouds and GLASS harmonica. Same-engine pairs still work: B renders whenever morph > 0, so you can crossfade two independent tunings of one engine.
On top of the voices sit baked-in layers (sub, noise bed, ensemble chorus, Eno-style shimmer, a 5-lane drift walk), a chord bank that fans one key into a voiced pad, and the CONVOLVE tab -- the synth bus convolved by a generated (or self-captured) impulse response.
The MATRIX tab is an NxN grid: columns pick slot A, rows pick slot B -- click a cell to set the pair, drag to glide through combinations. The whole path is host-automatable.
Control Reference
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| MATRIX tab | NxN engine grid -- column = slot A, row = slot B. Click or drag to morph. |
| CONTROLS tab | Per-engine knobs for both slots + global grid (morph, chord, layers, filter, env). |
| CONVOLVE tab | IR generator + display: GEN IR, RND IR, CAPTURE (self-convolve), MUTATE/REVERSE/INVERT/NORM, AUTO EVO. |
| AETHER tab | Spatial aether network -- orbiting wet taps with beam phase. |
| MORPH | Slot A->B crossfade (also a drift lane, LFO-linkable). |
| CHORD | OFF / MIN9 / MAJ9 / ADD9 / SUS4 / MIN11 -- each offset gets a voice. |
| DRIFT | 5-lane smoothed random walk folded into detune, bandwidth, cutoff and morph. |
| RND | Randomize both slots + globals -- lands in the preset list as rnd-* history. |
| AUD | Audition the pad. |
| THEME | Cycle the colour theme. |
| Demo | Unregistered: engines 0--7, 3 FX slots, free-tier effects. REGISTER unlocks all 24. |
2. MATRIX -- pick the engine pair
Columns are slot A engines, rows are slot B. One click voices the pair; dragging glides through the grid like an X/Y pad.
The engine matrix -- every cell is an (A, B) engine pair. Dimmed cells are demo-locked engines; REGISTER opens all 24.
MATRIX -- pick the engine pair -- 02-matrix Set A = PADSYNTH, B = GLASS -- a bright additive base morphing into glass harmonica partials.
MATRIX -- pick the engine pair -- 03-matrix-pair
3. CONTROLS -- per-slot knobs
Two engine sections on top (A accent, B dim) show only the knobs the selected engines own; the global grid sits below.
The CONTROLS tab adapts to the matrix pair -- PADSYNTH's profile/bandwidth knobs for A, GLASS's vibrato/air for B, then MORPH, CHORD, layers, filter and envelope globals.
CONTROLS -- per-slot knobs -- 04-controls Push MORPH to 0.6 -- most of the way to slot B. It's a smoothed per-sample crossfade and a drift lane, so it can also wander on its own.
CONTROLS -- per-slot knobs -- 05-morph
4. CONVOLVE -- the pad convolves itself
The synth bus runs through a generated impulse response -- or the last few seconds of its own output.
The CONVOLVE tab: IR envelope display, a 16-type generator (noises, sweeps, METALLIC, FORMANT, CHAOS...), generator knobs that live-regenerate the IR, and the ops row.
CONVOLVE -- the pad convolves itself -- 06-convolve RND IR re-rolls the generator type + knobs and republishes -- the swap is a lock-free ~0.8 s crossfade, so it never clicks. It also lands in preset history as rnd-*-ir.
CONVOLVE -- the pad convolves itself -- 07-rnd-ir CAPTURE freezes the pad's own recent output into the IR -- the synth convolves itself and turns into a frozen spectre of what it just played.
CONVOLVE -- the pad convolves itself -- 08-capture
5. AETHER -- spatial orbit layer
An orbiting wet-tap network that spreads the pad through space.
The AETHER page -- wet taps orbit on a beam; tap energy and beam phase are live-animated.
AETHER -- spatial orbit layer -- 09-aether
6. Every control: global grid
The bottom half of the CONTROLS tab -- these always apply, regardless of the matrix pair.
MORPH -- per-sample crossfade slot A->B. Also drift lane 4, so it can wander on its own.
Every control: global grid -- k-morph CHORD -- OFF / MIN9 / MAJ9 / ADD9 / SUS4 / MIN11 -- each interval gets its own voice.
Every control: global grid -- s-chord PITCH -- global transpose.
Every control: global grid -- k-pitch DETUNE -- global detune spread.
Every control: global grid -- k-detune SUB -- sine one octave down under every engine.
Every control: global grid -- k-sub BED MODE -- noise bed: OFF / HISS / RAIN / CRACKLE / WIND.
Every control: global grid -- s-bedmode BED LEV -- noise bed level.
Every control: global grid -- k-bedlevel BED TONE -- noise bed brightness.
Every control: global grid -- k-bedtone ENSEMBLE -- 4-line Solina-style chorus depth.
Every control: global grid -- k-ensemble SHIMMER -- Eno-style shimmer reverb mix (pitch-shifted feedback loop).
Every control: global grid -- k-shimmer SHIM PITCH -- shimmer shift: +12 / +7 / +19 / +24 semitones.
Every control: global grid -- s-shimpitch SHIM DECAY -- shimmer tail length.
Every control: global grid -- k-shimdecay DRIFT -- depth of the 5-lane random walk folded into detune, bandwidth, cutoff and morph.
Every control: global grid -- k-drift DRIFT RATE -- drift speed.
Every control: global grid -- k-driftrate FLT TYPE -- OFF / LP / BP / HP.
Every control: global grid -- s-ftype CUTOFF -- global lowpass (skewed, 20--20k).
Every control: global grid -- k-fcut RESO -- filter resonance.
Every control: global grid -- k-fres FLT ENV -- filter envelope depth (bipolar +-48 st).
Every control: global grid -- k-fenv F ATT -- filter envelope attack.
Every control: global grid -- k-fatt F DEC -- filter envelope decay.
Every control: global grid -- k-fdec F SUS -- filter envelope sustain level.
Every control: global grid -- k-fsus F REL -- filter envelope release.
Every control: global grid -- k-frel ATTACK -- amp attack.
Every control: global grid -- k-aatt DECAY -- amp decay.
Every control: global grid -- k-adec SUSTAIN -- amp sustain level.
Every control: global grid -- k-asus RELEASE -- amp release.
Every control: global grid -- k-arel VEL SENS -- velocity sensitivity.
Every control: global grid -- k-velsens LEVEL -- synth bus level.
Every control: global grid -- k-level WIDTH -- output stereo width.
Every control: global grid -- k-width MASTER -- final output level (dB).
Every control: global grid -- k-master
7. Every engine and its controls
Each step selects the engine in slot A on the CONTROLS tab -- the top section shows exactly the knobs that engine owns. Slot B gets the same set with its own values.
0 PADSYNTH -- additive per-voice: P PROFILE (SAW/SQR/TRI/GLASS), BRIGHT (rolloff), BANDWIDTH (partial detune), BW GROW, STRETCH (inharmonicity).
Every engine and its controls -- e0-padsynth 1 STRING -- Solina-style: DETUNE (L/R saw split), OCT (octave-down layer). Width comes from ENSEMBLE.
Every engine and its controls -- e1-string 2 SUPERSTACK -- 7-voice supersaw: DETUNE (+-50c spread), MIX (side oscillators), DRIFT (per-osc sine wobble).
Every engine and its controls -- e2-superstack 3 STRETCHBED -- frozen-loop pad: POSITION, LOOP (window size), XFADE (raised-triangle overlap), DETUNE, SCAN (position drift).
Every engine and its controls -- e3-stretchbed 4 WAVETABLE -- 8 baked additive waves: POS scans the table, DETUNE the stereo pair.
Every engine and its controls -- e4-wavetable 5 FORMANT -- vowel choir through 3 bandpasses: VOWEL (A/E/I/O/U continuous), FORM (formant shift +-1 oct).
Every engine and its controls -- e5-formant 6 PDGLASS -- Casio phase distortion: AMOUNT (knee warp), MULT (0..7 harmonic multiplier -- fractional values go glassy).
Every engine and its controls -- e6-pdglass 7 FMPAD -- 2-op FM: RATIO 0.5..8, INDEX 0..10 with a ~0.4 s blooming index env, FB (modulator feedback).
Every engine and its controls -- e7-fmpad 8 MODAL -- 6 tuned resonators excited by a noise burst: DECAY (ring time), BRIGHT (upper rolloff), SPREAD (inharmonicity).
Every engine and its controls -- e8-modal 9 AIRBAND -- noise through 4 harmonic bandpasses, alternating pan: Q (sharpness), BRIGHT (upper bands).
Every engine and its controls -- e9-airband 10 PWM -- band-limited pulse: WIDTH, RATE (PWM LFO), DETUNE (stereo split).
Every engine and its controls -- e10-pwm 11 DRONE -- 8-sine cluster: SPREAD (+-cents around root), BRIGHT (partials 2/3/4 level).
Every engine and its controls -- e11-drone 12 ORGAN -- 9-drawbar additive: DRAW morphs soft->full registration, PERC is a decaying harmonic ping.
Every engine and its controls -- e12-organ 13 BELL -- 8 inharmonic partials: STIFF spreads the ratios, GLOW brings up the upper partials.
Every engine and its controls -- e13-bell 14 TAPE -- 3 triangle readers with independent wow LFOs: WOW (depth), AGE (20k->4k lowpass + hiss).
Every engine and its controls -- e14-tape 15 GRAIN -- 6-head grain cloud over the wave bank: SIZE (grain ms), SPRAY (random detune/pan per retrigger).
Every engine and its controls -- e15-grain 16 FOLD -- sine pair through a wavefolder: AMOUNT (fold depth), SYM (asymmetric bias -> even harmonics).
Every engine and its controls -- e16-fold 17 BRASS -- 3 detuned saws into a swelling LP: OPEN (base openness), BITE (bloom depth at note start).
Every engine and its controls -- e17-brass 18 VOID -- dark drone: DEEP (sub sine), DARK (LP noise wash over beating +-4c satellites).
Every engine and its controls -- e18-void 19 PRISM -- 8 partials with per-partial amp LFOs: DRIFT (LFO depth -- the spectrum keeps moving), BRIGHT (upper partials).
Every engine and its controls -- e19-prism 20 CLUSTER -- Ligeti-style semitone cloud: WIDTH (+-semitone spread), DENSITY (4..10 voices).
Every engine and its controls -- e20-cluster 21 TINES -- FM e-piano: INDEX (peak 0..8, decays to a warm floor), DEC (mallet->pad decay).
Every engine and its controls -- e21-tines 22 SWARM -- chaotic supersaw: 7 saws with random-walk pitch wobble. CHAOS (walk depth), RATE (walk speed).
Every engine and its controls -- e22-swarm 23 GLASS -- glass harmonica: {1, 1.5, 2, 3} partials + airy noise band. VIB (independent vibrato), AIR (5.5k air band).
Every engine and its controls -- e23-glass
8. Every control: CONVOLVE tab
The IR generator, ops row, wet mix and auto-evolution.
The IR display -- L channel over R, envelope of the impulse the pad is being convolved by.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-display IR GEN -- 16 material types: WHITE/PINK/BROWN/BLUE/VIOLET/GREY/VELVET noises, SINE SWP, SAW SWP, FM BELL, AM GRAIN, METALLIC, FORMANT, COMB, STEPS, CHAOS.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-irgen LENGTH (0.02--2 s, exp) -- IR duration; the label reads in seconds.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-len DECAY -- tail decay curve.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-dec BRIGHT -- damping of high frequencies in the tail.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-bright DENSITY -- reflection density.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-dens PITCH -- spectral tilt of the IR.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-pitch SWEEP -- frequency sweep amount for sweep types.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-sweep FM IDX -- modulation index for FM/chaotic types.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-fm AM RATE -- amplitude modulation in the IR.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-am SCATTER -- per-reflection scatter randomness.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-scat IR WIDTH -- stereo decorrelation of the tail.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-width PRE-DLY -- gap before the IR starts.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-predly ATTACK -- IR onset ramp (0 = percussive).
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-attack DRY/WET -- convolver mix. GEN/RND/CAPTURE auto-raise it to 0.5 when it's ~0.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-mix EVO RATE -- AUTO EVO mutation interval.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-evorate EVO AMT -- AUTO EVO mutation depth.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-evoamt GEN IR -- regenerate the IR from the current type + knobs.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-gen RND IR -- random type + knob values, crossfaded in click-free. Recorded as rnd-*-ir history.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-rnd CAPTURE -- freeze the pad's own recent output into the IR -- self-convolution.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-cap MUTATE -- small random walk on the IR.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-mut REVERSE -- reverse the IR.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-rev INVERT -- polarity-invert the IR.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-inv NORM -- normalize IR level.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-norm AUTO EVO -- mutate + republish on a timer (EVO RATE/AMT) -- the space evolves forever, even while the tab is hidden.
Every control: CONVOLVE tab -- c-auto
9. Every control: AETHER tab
The orbiting wet-tap delay network, top to bottom.
The orbit view -- wet taps on a rotating beam; tap energy and beam phase animate live. Dragging works too: X = TIME/mod, Y = feedback.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-view AMT -- aether wet mix.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetheramt TIME (40--2000 ms) -- orbit period / delay time.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aethertime FDBK -- network feedback (0..0.97).
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherfb TAPS -- number of active wet taps.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aethertaps DARK -- damping in the feedback path.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherdark WIDE -- stereo spread of the taps.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherwide MOD -- beam modulation depth.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aethermod MOOD -- modulation rate.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aethermodrate DIFF -- diffusion between taps.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherdiff SPRAY -- per-tap time scatter.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherspray DUCK -- ducking under the dry signal.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherduck FRZ -- freeze the wet buffer.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherfreeze AIR -- high-frequency shimmer in the taps.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherair ST.OFF -- L/R tap phase offset.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherstoff REV -- reversed-tap mix.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherrev PDLY -- pre-delay before the network.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherpdly GLIDE -- time-change smoothing.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aetherglide SHIFT -- pitch-shifted feedback: OFF / +-7 / +-12 / +19 / +24.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aethershift SYNC -- FREE (ms) or beat-divisions locking the orbit to host tempo.
Every control: AETHER tab -- a-aethersync
10. RND and preset history
RND re-rolls both engine slots + globals -- and every roll is kept.
Hit RND -- engines A and B roll independently (inside the free set while unregistered), globals + FX chain too.
RND and preset history -- 10-rnd Every RND lands as an
rnd-*entry -- double-click to recall, R renames, X deletes, SAVE pins the current patch.
RND and preset history -- 11-preset-history
11. FX chain & LFO rack
Shared rack on the right: effects on top, LFO routing below.
Slot power, RDM per effect, reorder/remove, ADD browser. Demo allows 3 slots of free-tier effects.
FX chain & LFO rack -- 12-fxrack RND CHAIN / RND FX / RND PRM re-roll the chain -- recorded as rnd-* history like everything else.
FX chain & LFO rack -- 13-fxbuttons LFO LINK then click any knob -- including matrix-driven params -- and the knob's mod ring animates.
FX chain & LFO rack -- 14-lforack
12. Control panel & browser
Left column: master bus + preset history.
I/O, post-filter, EQ, compressor, limiter after the FX chain. The ? button opens this manual; search filters presets.
Control panel & browser -- 15-controlpanel THEME re-skins everything; AUD fires a pad phrase; ABOUT shows credits.
Control panel & browser -- 16-theme-aud
13. Shared areas: VU meter, I/O & FX rack
The house-style panels common to the AZOPSOFT suite.
VU meter -- stereo output level with peak hold, sitting under the visualizer. It mirrors what leaves the plugin after the master chain -- keep peaks out of the red.
Shared areas: VU meter, I/O & FX rack -- shared-vu I/O panel -- GAIN input trim and VOLUME master out bracket the post chain: multimode MODE / CUTOFF / RESO filter, LOW / MID / HIGH EQ, comp THRESH / RATIO / KNEE and limiter THRESH / RELEASE. The preset browser below has search, SAVE, theme cycling and ? (this manual).
Shared areas: VU meter, I/O & FX rack -- shared-io FX rack -- serial effect slots on the summed output. + ADD opens the effect menu, CLEAR empties the chain, ^ / v reorders slots; each slot has BYPASS, RDM (random params) and X. Rack randomizers: RND CHAIN builds a fresh chain, RND FX appends one effect, RND PRM re-rolls every slot's parameters.
Shared areas: VU meter, I/O & FX rack -- shared-fx