Disto Disco: User Manual

Overview

Disto Disco turns distortion into movement. Start with gentle drive and classic distortion modes, then venture into stranger territory: distorting delays, vocoders, spectral effects, granular clouds, and more. Every dial can move in time with the host, while Random and Spice can send the whole patch somewhere new. It runs as a VST3 / AU plugin on Mac and Windows, and on iPad and iPhone as an AUv3 plugin (AUM, Cubasis, Drambo, Loopy Pro, Logic Pro and any other AUv3 host) and as a standalone app that distorts whatever the device is listening to.

The feature set at a glance:

A dropdown of distortion modes grouped into Drive, Time, Spectral, Math and Granular, each with its own set of dials.
A shared tone stage after every mode: Low Cut, Tube saturation and High Cut.
An envelope follower that adds or removes distortion with the level of the input, and a dry / wet Mix.
A step-pattern modulator for every dial of the current mode, for the tone stage, for Mix and for the envelope follower, each with its own length, smoothing and depth, and one switch that stops all of them at once.
Random with a Spice dial that sets how far each press reaches, and a second Random for the modulator alone.
Factory presets, and your own, shared between every format on a machine.
Light and dark themes.

The chapters that follow walk every control in the order it appears on screen: the top row first, then the boxes below it from left to right and top to bottom, then the info bar at the foot of the window and the settings overlay the gear opens.

The top row

Left to right:

< / >: step to the previous / next mode without opening the list. Wraps around at the ends.
Mode dropdown: the distortion mode. Clicking it opens a panel listing every mode under its section heading, in this order: Drive, Time, Spectral, Math, Granular. Click a row to load it; the arrow keys move, Return loads, Esc closes, and clicking anywhere outside the panel closes it too. Choosing a mode swaps the dials in the MODE CONTROLS box for that mode's own set and puts a one-line description of the mode in the info bar. Until the plugin is activated the modes that demo mode holds back are greyed out and cannot be loaded (chapter 11). Chapter 3 lists every mode with its dials.

Presets

centered in the row:

< / >: step to the previous / next preset without opening the list. Wraps around at the ends.
Preset list: opens a panel with two buttons at the top, System and User, showing one at a time. System is the factory bank, with at least one starting point for every mode; User is your own saves. Until the plugin is activated a preset built on a mode the demo holds back is dimmed and cannot be loaded, and the arrows step over it (chapter 11). The panel opens on the side that holds the loaded preset, scrolled to it; the left and right arrow keys switch sides, Esc closes. A preset stores the whole patch: the mode and every dial, the tone stage, envelope follower and Mix, the output trim and clip ceiling, and every modulator with its pattern, length, smoothing and depth. Loading one selects the first modulator it has running, so the step grid shows movement rather than whatever was on screen before.
Save / Edit: with a factory preset loaded the button reads Save and opens a dialog asking for a name, with Save As and Cancel. With one of your own presets loaded it reads Edit and the dialog offers Save As (a new preset), Overwrite (replace the loaded one in place, renaming it if you edit the field) and Delete (asks for confirmation first), plus Cancel.

Spice (dial, 0 to 100%, default 50): sets how wild Random gets, with more movement and controls at higher settings. It makes no sound on its own. At 0 a press changes the mode and its dials and leaves nothing moving; as it rises more modulators join in, the tone and envelope dials come into play, and at the top every destination is in play and the caps that keep feedback and resonance in check are off. Double-click returns it to 50.
Random: randomizes the mode and its dial settings and adds movement. Patterns you have drawn are never wiped, only switched on or off.
Gear: opens the settings overlay over the boxes below (chapter 10). Click again to close it. Until the plugin is activated this is a red Buy chip instead, which opens the same overlay and reads Back while it is open.

Mode controls

The Mode Controls box holds specific dials for each mode that control its sound. Every dial works the same way: drag up or down to turn it, double-click to return it to its default, and the info bar shows the name, the value and a one-line description while you hold it. A dial that a modulator is driving shows the moving value on its ring while the knob itself keeps the setting you gave it.

The modes, in dropdown order, with each dial's range and default:

Drive modes

Drive modes reshape the signal with different forms of distortion. They range from gentle warmth to fuzz, folding, bit crushing and high gain.

Soft

a soft clip that rounds the peaks and thickens the body, warm to firm.

Amount (0 to 100%, default 50): how hard the signal is pushed into the shaper.
Crush (0 to 100%, default 0): drops the bit depth and sample rate; it rides Amount.
Tone (0 to 100%, default 100): sets how much high end remains in the distorted signal; right is wide open.
Bias (0 to 100%, default 0): skews the drive onto one half of the wave for even harmonics.

Growl

a split-band drive that keeps the low end full while adding a distorted top.

Amount, Crush, Tone: as on Soft.
Bite (0 to 100%, default 50): sets how hard the high band is driven.

Fold

a wavefolder that turns peaks back through zero for bright, inharmonic tone.

Amount, Crush, Tone: as on Soft.
Symmetry (0 to 100%, default 0): folds the positive and negative halves differently for more even harmonics.

Fuzz

collapses toward a square, with supply sag behind every hit.

Amount, Crush, Tone: as on Soft.

Roar

an octave-up fuzz that shifts the sound toward its octave above.

Amount, Crush, Tone: as on Soft.
Buzz (0 to 100%, default 100): sets how much of the octave-up fuzz replaces the original signal.

Lead

a high-gain lead channel with cab voicing, vibrato and space.

Drive (0 to 100%, default 50): sets gain, tightness and midrange bite together.
Tone (-100 to +100%, default 0): tilts the finished tone brighter or darker around 1 kHz.
Comp (0 to 100%, default 40): adds sustain and compression, and gates quiet passages.
Vib (0 to 100%, default 38): sets the vibrato depth at a fixed speed.
Space (0 to 100%, default 40): adds a tempo-synced delay and reverb.

Crush

sample rate and bit depth reduction, a melody of artifacts as Rate moves.

Rate (100 to 20000 Hz, default 6000): how often the signal is resampled.
Bits (1 to 16, default 8): how many bits each sample keeps.
Drive (0 to 100%, default 30): how hard the signal is pushed into the quantizer.
Tone (-100 to +100%, default 0): tilts the crushed tone brighter or darker.
Jitter (0 to 100%, default 0): randomizes the sampling clock, from a pitched crunch to noise.

Time modes

Time modes work with recent sound, repeating it as echoes, loops or resonances. They bend, shift or scrub that history to create movement.

Delay

a delay whose echoes distort with each repeat and bend when Time moves.

Time (20 to 1200 ms, default 375): sets the time between echoes.
Feedback (0 to 110%, default 40): sets how much each echo feeds back, self-oscillating past 100%.
Drive (0 to 100%, default 35): adds saturation inside the loop, making every repeat dirtier.
Tone (-100 to +100%, default -25): tilts inside the loop, making each repeat darker or thinner.
Space (0 to 100%, default 20): reverb around the echoes only.

Helix

a pitch-shifting delay whose echoes climb or sink with each repeat.

Time (20 to 1200 ms, default 300): how far apart the repeats are.
Feedback (0 to 95%, default 55): sets how much of each shifted repeat returns for another pass.
Pitch (-24 to +24 semitones per repeat, default +12): sets the pitch change on each repeat.
Drive (0 to 100%, default 30): saturation inside the loop.
Space (0 to 100%, default 35): reverb around the repeats only.
Drive (0 to 100%, default 30): saturation inside the loop.
Space (0 to 100%, default 35): reverb around the repeats only.

Resonator

a tuned feedback loop that rings at the note you set.

Pitch (C1 to C7, default A2): sets the note the resonance rings at; the info bar shows the note name and its frequency.
Decay (0 to 100%, default 55): sets how long the resonance rings.
Drive (0 to 100%, default 25): adds saturation to the resonance as it rings.
Damp (0 to 100%, default 45): reduces high end in the resonance.
Spread (0 to 100%, default 30): detunes the left and right resonances for stereo width.

Scrub

a delay whose playhead scrubs through recent history as the input level changes.

Scale (0 to 200, default 50): how far the playhead jumps with the input's level.
Bias (-100 to +100%, default 0): sets steady playback drift, from fast forward through freeze into reverse.
Smoothing (0 to 100%, default 0): smooths the playhead motion.

Spectral modes

Spectral modes reshape the balance of frequencies in the signal. They can filter, move, swap or silence different parts of the sound.

Lowpass

a classic lowpass filter with Drive and transient tracking.

Cutoff (100 to 12000 Hz, default 400): where the filter starts removing highs, and where it rings.
Reso (0 to 100%, default 70): emphasizes the frequencies right at Cutoff; at the top it whistles on its own.
Drive (0 to 100%, default 40): saturation either side of the filter, plus noise to excite it.
Track (0 to 100%, default 55): how far a hit throws Cutoff open.
Decay (10 to 1000 ms, default 220): how long Cutoff takes to fall back after a hit.

Bandpass

three resonant bands walking the spectrum, each at its own speed and place.

Rate 1, Rate 2, Rate 3 (0 to 10 Hz, defaults 0.15, 0.40 and 0.07): how fast the low, mid and high band walk the spectrum; at 0 a band parks, and the info bar says so.
Drive (0 to 100%, default 45): saturation before the bands.
Stereo (0 to 100%, default 50): how far each band swings across the stereo image as it moves.

Vowel

the sound morphs from one vowel to the next, plus added distortion.

AEIOU (0 to 100%, default 25): slides the formants along the vowel path.
Throat (-100 to +100%, default 0): the size of the voice.
Drive (0 to 100%, default 45): saturation before the formants.
Peak (0 to 100%, default 45): how narrow the formants are.
Air (0 to 100%, default 25): adds the highs of the distorted signal back for clarity.

Vocoder

attack and release on the spectrum itself: hits soften, tails smear.

Resolution (shown as a band count, up to 4096, default 128): how finely the spectrum is split; finer is crisper and adds more latency.
Attack (0.5 to 50 ms, default 5): how quickly it responds as the input gets louder.
Release (5 to 500 ms, default 50): how quickly it lets go as the input quiets.
HF Emphasis (-12 to +12 dB, default 0): tilts the highs of the output.

Distorted Vocoder

a filter bank driven into saturation by its own spectrum.

Resolution: as on Vocoder, but capped at 1024 bands, since a filter bank costs far more per band than an FFT. Switching to this mode from a finer setting drops the dial to the cap.
Attack, Release: as on Vocoder.
Drive (0 to 100%, default 50): drives the output into saturation.
HF Emphasis: as on Vocoder.

Spectral Gate

keeps only the strongest frequencies and silences the rest.

Resolution: as on Vocoder.
Threshold (0 to 100%, default 25): how loud a frequency must be to get through.
Tilt (-100 to +100%, default 0): favors lows or highs, letting that end through more readily.
Drive (0 to 100%, default 0): drives the gated result hard into saturation.

Phase Swap

keeps the tone, bends the timing toward a delayed copy.

Resolution: as on Vocoder.
Amount (0 to 100%, default 100): how much of the borrowed timing is used.
Tilt (-100 to +100%, default 0): applies more of the swap to one end of the spectrum.
Delay (1 to 500 ms, default 80): how far back the timing is borrowed from, and how strongly it bites.

Math modes

Math modes apply simple mathematical operations to two versions of the input signal. They often sound harsh or unmusical, which is what makes them useful for raw, unusual textures.

The Math modes share one dial set; which dials a mode shows depends on the operation.

Max

keeps the larger value from two copies of the input signal.

Balance (0 to 100%, default 50): sets the level of each copy before they are compared.
Tilt (-100 to +100%, default 0): makes one copy brighter and the other darker.
Drive (0 to 100%, default 0): adds soft clipping distortion to both copies.
Rectify (0 to 100%, default 0): turns the negative half of the signal positive for an octave up sound.
Delay (Off to 50 ms, default Off): delays one copy of the input signal.

Subtract

subtracts a softly clipped copy of the input signal.

Balance, Tilt, Drive, Rectify, Delay: as on Max.

Absolute Difference

subtracts a clipped signal copy.

Balance, Tilt, Drive, Delay: as on Max.

Divide

divides each point in the signal by the one before it, creating sharp spikes.

Balance, Tilt, Drive, Rectify: as on Max.
Tame (0 to 100%, default 50): smooths harsh spikes and lowers their level.

Squared

multiplies the signal by itself for a buzzy, harsh distortion.

Tilt, Drive: as on Max.
Body (0 to 100%, default 0): adds the original signal beneath the distortion.
Rectify, Delay: as on Max.

Sign Multiply

a raw, buzzy distortion that turns the wave positive.

Tilt, Drive, Tame: as on Divide.

XOR

bitwise XOR with the previous sample, glitchy and harsh.

Balance, Tilt, Drive, Rectify, Tame: as on Divide.

Granular modes

Granular modes cut recent sound into short pieces, then scatter, repeat or layer them. They create textures from sparse grains to a continuous layer.

Rain

scatters short grains, from sparse drops to a full shower.

Rate (0 to 100%, default 50): sets how often grains are triggered.
Decay (100 to 2000 ms, default 200): sets how long each grain rings.
Bias (-100 to +100%, default 0): sets the balance of clean and fuzzy grains; -100% is all clean, +100% all fuzzy.
Spread (0 to 100%, default 0): sets how far back in time grains are taken from.
Filter (0 to 100%, default 0): sets how strongly each grain is filtered by a resonant bandpass.

Hail

rhythmic patterns of live chunks and instant repeats.

Pulse: chooses the pattern of live chunks and repeats, Random at full right.
Time (1 to 100 ms, default 30): sets the length of each chunk.
Crossfade (0 to 100%, default 100): softens each switch with a fade; 100% is the longest fade a chunk allows.
Freeze (0 to 100%, default 0): replaces chunks with randomly recalled ones.
Stereo (0 to 100%, default 0): randomly pans chunks left and right, with more width at higher settings.

Cloud

a continuous weave of overlapping grains with random pitch.

Size (20 to 500 ms, default 100): how long each grain lasts.
Density (0 to 100%, default 50): how many grains overlap.
Bias (-100 to +100%, default 0): sets the balance of clean and fuzzy grains.
Pitch (0 to 12 semitones, default 0): sets the range of random pitch changes for each grain; 0 is in tune.
Spread (0 to 100%, default 20): sets how far back in time grains are taken from.

Levels

The Levels box controls the final output volume and how strongly output peaks are clipped.

In / Out meters: the level going into the plugin and the level leaving it.
Vol (-60 to +6 dB, default 0): sets the final output level, after the soft clipper.
Clip (-12 to 0 dBFS, default -0.3): sets the output level where the soft clipper catches peaks; lower bites earlier and harder. At the default it is a safety net; pulled down it is a tone control.

Tone

The Tone box shapes the distorted signal before it is mixed with the dry signal.

Low Cut (20 to 2000 Hz, default 20): removes lows from the distorted signal.
Tube (0 to 100%, default 0): adds tube saturation to the distorted signal. It also levels what it saturates, so the top of the dial holds a wide range of input levels to a narrow output.
High Cut (200 to 20000 Hz, default 8000; fresh instances on iPad and iPhone start at 4500): removes highs from the distorted signal.

Envelope follower

The Envelope Follower box makes the amount of distortion follow the input level. It can make louder or quieter parts of the sound more distorted.

Dynamics (-100 to +100%, default Off): sets whether loud or quiet input gets more distortion. The center is Off, and the follower is out of the path entirely.
Release (20 to 2000 ms, default 80): sets how fast the effect returns after a peak. The rise is fixed and fast, so transients are always caught.

Dry / Wet

The Dry / Wet box blends the clean input with the distorted signal.

Mix (0 to 100%, default 100): how much distortion you hear; 0% is dry, 100% is the distorted signal alone. A fresh instance opens fully wet.

Modulator

The Modulator box uses step patterns to create repeating movement on the controls you choose, in time with the host. Every dial of the current mode, the three TONE dials, Mix, Dynamics and Release each have a modulator of their own: a pattern of 16 steps that swings the dial around the setting you gave it, in time with the host. The box edits one of them at a time; the others keep running. Top to bottom, left to right:

Header row

On / Off, at the head of the row before the panel title: the master switch for the whole section. Off, nothing modulates whatever each modulator's own On says, and the controls to its right dim to record that. Back on, every modulator returns to its own state.
< / >: step to the previous / next modulator without opening the list. Only the destinations the current mode offers are in the cycle.
Modulator selector: picks which modulator the box edits. The list runs the mode's dials first, in their on-screen order, then Low Cut, Tube, High Cut, Dynamics, Release and Mix; a modulator that is switched on is marked with a dot at the left of its row in the open list. Switching modes moves the mode-dial modulators onto the new mode's dials, and a pattern whose dial the new mode does not have waits for the mode that does.
On: switches the selected modulator on or off. Off returns the dial to manual control; the pattern is kept.
< / >: moves all steps left or right, wrapping the first or last step to the other end.
Flip: flips the polarity of every step.
Clear: sets every step to the center, leaving the destination dial at its position.
Shape: draws one of a few standard patterns into the steps, cycling Ramp Up, Sine, Triangle, Square, Zigzag, Pulse, Stairs and Decay; click again for the next one. It also switches the modulator on, so what it draws is heard.
Random: randomizes the selected modulator's pattern, length and smoothing, and switches it on. Unlike Random in the top row, it rerolls only this modulator.

The step grid

Sixteen columns, one per step, with the center line marking the destination's own setting. Click or drag in a column to set that step: above the center pushes the dial up toward its maximum, below pulls it down toward its minimum, and the info bar reads the value as you go. On the Mix modulator the bar also says what the value means: up gates in the distortion, down the dry signal, the center keeps your Mix setting. With Mix at its default of 100% all of the room is downward, so a pattern there gates the distortion out against the dry signal until you pull Mix back. Double-click a step to return it to the center. The playing step is lit while the host runs.

Bottom row

Length: Bars / Div: sets the pattern length in bars: Bars is divided by Div. Bars offers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 and 16; Div divides that by 1 to 8, so a Length of 1 bar over Div 4 runs the sixteen steps in a quarter of a bar. The info bar shows the result, for example Length: 2 bars or Length: 3/4 bars.
Depth (0 to 100%, default 100): how far this modulator moves its destination; 0% leaves it alone.
Smoothing (0 to 100%, default 100): sets how smoothly the pattern moves between steps; 0% is hard steps, 100% glides. The shape of that movement is chosen in Settings (chapter 10).

The info bar

The strip along the foot of the window. Whenever you touch a control it shows what changed plus a one-line description of that control, then clears after a couple of seconds, so every control explains itself as you use it. The longer messages, such as the description of a mode you just chose, hold for a few seconds more. Warnings appear in red and stay until the condition clears: in the demo, that the copy is not yet activated (chapter 11), and on iPad and iPhone, that the input is still muted (chapter 12).

Settings

The gear at the right of the top row opens an overlay over the boxes; the top row and the info bar stay live underneath. Click the gear again to close it.

SETTINGS AND INFO, on every platform:

Theme: a button reading Light or Dark; click to switch. The choice is saved with the instance.
Smoothing: a button reading Linear, Curved or Rhythmic; click to cycle. It sets the shape of the movement the Smoothing dial produces, for every modulator at once. See Smoothing shape below.
Tempo (iPad and iPhone standalone only): the tempo the modulators run at, in BPM. A plugin instance takes it from the host transport instead and gets no row.
Input (iPad and iPhone standalone only): which channel of the input device the effect listens to, cycling Stereo, Left and Right. It defaults to Left, which is a no-op on the built-in microphone and sends the first input of a two-input interface to both ears.
Manual: a link to this manual on snorkelaudio.com.
Build: the version of the build you are running.
Get the desktop version (iPad and iPhone only): a link to the product page.

LICENSE, on desktop only (the App Store handles entitlement on iPad and iPhone):

Key and Activate: paste your license key and press Activate. Once the copy is licensed the row disappears and Status moves to the top of the box.
Status: Licensed, Unlicensed, or Key not recognized after a failed attempt.
Buy: a link to the product page.
Get the iPad version: a link to the App Store.

Smoothing shape

First of all: for most input signals and most plugin settings, you will hear little difference. This is why we hid it in Settings. The Smoothing dial in the MODULATOR box sets how far a pattern travels from one step toward the next before the step changes. This setting picks the shape of that travel. It is saved with each preset. The three options are:

Linear moves from each step to the next at one steady speed. Below 100% Smoothing it covers as much of the distance as Smoothing allows and then jumps the rest as the step changes. At 0% you get no movement from one step to the other, instead an instant jump. This is the default.
Curved flows through the whole pattern as one curve. Good for sweeps, pads and any slow natural movement. Should typically be used with 100% Smoothing.
Rhythmic starts slow and then moves quickly to the next step shortly before it arrives. This keeps the pulse of the pattern audible. At 100% Smoothing it is the same as Linear, and the lower you set Smoothing the sharper the accent becomes.

The demo

An unactivated copy on Mac or Windows runs as a demo. Nothing expires, and the whole plugin is there to be worked with, but some of it is held back until a license key is activated in Settings.

Some modes are locked. They are greyed out in the mode dropdown, and the previous / next arrows and Random skip them. Every section keeps at least one mode open, so each family can be heard before you buy. Clicking a locked row says so in the info bar and leaves the mode you had.
Presets on a locked mode are locked too. They are dimmed in the preset list, cannot be loaded, and the preset arrows step over them.
The audio is watermarked once the day's grace runs out. A demo plays clean for fifteen minutes of processed audio per day, counted across every instance you have open. After that it stays clean for one more 55-second interval, then a short burst of noise fades in and out every 55 seconds, and the info bar carries a red "Demo mode" line while each burst plays. The clock is per calendar day, so it starts full again the next day, and it counts audio actually processed rather than wall clock time.

Activating takes effect on the next buffer: the noise stops, the locked modes open, and the red Buy chip in the top row goes back to being a gear. No reload, and nothing you have built is lost. The iPad and iPhone app has no demo mode, since the App Store handles entitlement there.

On iPad and iPhone

The app is the same effect with live input: it distorts whatever the device is listening to, the built-in microphone or an audio interface. The first launch of a session shows a short notice saying that the plugin's home is a host app and that live input has caveats, with a link into the section below; tap Got it to dismiss it.

Audio input starts muted on every launch so that nothing can feed back before you are ready: a bar at the top of the screen offers Unmute Input, and until you tap it the info bar carries a red line asking for headphones. The line clears the moment audio goes live. Inside a host the plugin takes its input from the track as usual and the bar does not appear.

The layout follows the screen: the iPad shows the same composition as the desktop, and the iPhone re-flows it into a portrait and a landscape version, with the same controls in both.

iOS live input

Disto Disco is an AUv3 plugin first. Its home is a host app: AUM, Cubasis, Drambo, GarageBand, Loopy Pro or any other AUv3 host, where it sits in a chain, records, and has its latency compensated for you. The standalone app is what installs that plugin, and it also runs on its own so you can play straight into the effect through an audio interface or the device's own microphone. That works, and it is the quickest way to hear what the plugin does, but a phone or a tablet processing live sound has some caveats that a host does not. Here they are, in the order they are likely to bite.

Feedback, if you use the microphone and the speaker together. They sit inches apart, so the speaker's output goes straight back into the microphone and the whole thing howls, the more so with a distortion in between. Use headphones or an interface. This is why the input starts muted on every launch and why the info bar asks for headphones until you unmute.
AirPods and other Bluetooth headphones work, with two side effects. Choosing a Bluetooth microphone puts the audio session into its phone-call mode, which drops the sound quality of the input sharply, and Bluetooth output adds delay far past what anyone can play or sing in time with. Nothing stops you: it is fine for hearing what a mode does, and wrong for performing. Wired headphones or an interface avoid both.
A few modes are late by design. Vocoder, Spectral Gate, Phase Swap and Scrub work on a window of sound rather than sample by sample, so what you hear arrives noticeably after what you played. A host is told about that delay and compensates for it; your fingers cannot. Use them on recorded material, and stay with the Drive, Math and Granular modes when you are playing live.
An interface with two inputs sends your guitar to one side only. Most small interfaces present two channels whether or not you use both, so a guitar in input 1 arrives on the left and silence on the right. The Input row in Settings offers Stereo, Left and Right, and defaults to Left, which sends that one input to both ears.
Pulling the headphones out mutes the input. iOS falls back to the built-in speaker, which is the howl above waiting to happen, so the app mutes the input by itself and says so in the info bar. Plug back in and the sound returns without a tap.
Keep the app in front. While the input is live the screen is held awake, so a session you are playing will not lock itself, but the sound does stop if you switch to another app or lock the device yourself. Inside a host that limit does not apply: the host owns the audio.
Round-trip latency is small but not adjustable. The app opens the audio device at the system's default buffer, which is comfortable for a pedal and not as tight as a dedicated amp simulator. There is no buffer setting.