In Orbit
The Orbit page is a sort of XY macro controller on steroids, for the design of elaborate synth-wide modulations.
Fifteen of Aparillo’s parameters are laid out as ‘objects’ in the Orbit ‘cosmos’, including Operator Balance, Reverb Mix, Formant, Brightness, Arp Mix, Jitter and Filter Cutoff. Moving the red Orbiter puck towards one within its ‘radius’ (the dotted circumference) increasingly applies its effect, so by moving the objects around, specific areas of multi-parameter modulation can be defined within the Orbit. You can record Orbiter movements for triggered playback (looped or not), and up to 128 positions can be assigned to MIDI notes for keyboard-controlled operation. The X and Y axes are also MIDI CC assignable, of course.
Right-clicking an object reveals controls for adjusting its modulation Amount, Radius, Level and Pan, and all Amounts and Radii are randomisable at a click, as are the Mouse and Key recorder buffers, and object positions. Dragging in the cosmos background, meanwhile, moves all objects at once, bouncing each on back inwards when it reaches any edge.
The Orbit is pure Sugar Bytes: brilliantly innovative, deeply powerful and – more than anything – endless fun to play around with.