README.md

rift

rift is an original downspout plugin rather than a flues port.

It is a transport-aware stereo buffer effect that captures source audio into a rolling memory window and, on rhythmic block boundaries, can:

• repeat a recent slice;
• reverse it;
• skip it;
• smear it at a slower replay rate;
• pitch-slip it at a different replay rate.
• add a driven dub-style multi-tap echo.

The goal is not total destruction by default. rift is meant to create repeatable, groove-locked disruption that still feels musically attached to the source material.

The source can be live input, a loaded WAV loop, or both. Sample playback is beat-mapped to the host transport before it enters the same rolling-buffer engine, so a break can be treated as a four-beat phrase even when the raw file duration does not match the current DAW tempo. Loaded samples feed the edit buffer; they are not automatically heard as the dry signal. With Density = 0 and no sequence cells, Sample mode passes the plugin input, or silence when there is no input.

rift also has a 16-cell sequence lane for repeatable edits. Pick a recipe in the UI, then click cells to store it. For example, select 2 beat and click a cell to make that position hold a two-beat stutter across the grid. With the factory default Density = 0, an empty sequence is dry/pass-through. Manual sequence cells can be added from silence. Raising Density above zero enables the older probabilistic behavior when the sequence is empty. As soon as any cell is enabled, empty cells are dry/pass and enabled cells force their stored recipe.

Controls

• Grid Blocks per bar. The mutation engine only changes actions on these boundaries.
• Density How often an empty-sequence block mutates instead of passing through. The default is 0 so a fresh instance does not process until cells are added or density is raised.
• Dub Independent per-block probability for a pronounced dub echo throw. The default is 0, so existing dry/default behavior is unchanged.
• Damage Bias toward more disruptive actions such as reverse, skip, and smear.
• Chop Shortens the repeated source fragment inside each grid block. Raise it for tighter beat chops, fast stutters, and sample retriggers without changing the main block grid.
• Memory How many bars of past audio are eligible as slice source material.
• Drift How far the engine reaches through memory, and how unstable smear/slip reads become.
• Pitch Semitone offset used by the slip action.
• Blend Crossfade amount between the end of a slice loop and its next pass.
• Mix Wet level of the slice playback layer.
• Source Selects what feeds the edit buffer: Live, Sample, or Live + Sample. Sample uses the loaded WAV file, falling back to a built-in four-beat test loop when no file is loaded. Dry/pass output remains the plugin input.
• Load WAV Opens a file picker and stores the selected sample path in plugin state.
• Sample Beats Host-visible parameter that declares how many beats the loaded sample spans. The default is 4, which is the intended breakbeat-loop case.
• Hold Freeze the current action and slice choice.
• Scatter Force the next few blocks into mutation.
• Recover Clear scatter pressure and force several dry blocks.
• Sequence Sixteen saved cells that override the random action chooser when any cell is enabled. Cell recipes include Ratchet, 1/2 beat, 1 beat, 2 beat, Reverse, Smear, Slip, and Dub.

UI

The UI is intentionally product-style rather than dev-style:

• one macro strip for the playable controls;
• large Hold, Scatter, and Recover buttons;
• a Source selector and Load WAV button for sample-backed processing;
• a bottom Modes strip with quick parameter recipes such as Stutter, Smear, and Ruin;
• a sequence lane where cells store repeatable stutter/replay recipes;
• a transport-synced marker showing the currently active sequence cell;
• an action-bias panel that makes the musical consequences of the macros legible.

Sample loading

Current sample loading is deliberately conservative. rift accepts ordinary RIFF/WAVE PCM files and 32-bit float WAV files. Compressed WAV, AIFF, FLAC, and MP3 are not supported yet.

Loaded samples are decoded outside the audio callback and then published to the processor as immutable PCM data. If a selected file cannot be loaded, Sample mode falls back to the built-in test loop rather than breaking the plugin. The loaded sample is only heard when density, scatter, or sequence cells select a wet action.

Changing source mode, changing the declared sample beat length, or loading or clearing a sample resets the rolling history. This avoids processing a newly loaded sample through stale live-input or fallback-loop memory.

Transient detection is not implemented yet. The current sample path maps the whole file evenly across the declared beat length, then lets the existing rift mutation engine choose and process rhythmic blocks. The Chop control can still make loaded breaks stutter by shortening the repeated fragment inside each selected block.

Transition handling

rift now smooths action changes with a short equal-power crossfade at block boundaries. That keeps the rhythmic hard cuts, but avoids the worst clicks when the read head jumps to a very different slice. The Blend control separately crossfades each slice wrap so repeated loops can stay aggressive without spitting a click at every restart.

Verification status

rift has:

• a portable core with deterministic tests;
• WAV sample-source loading and beat-mapped sample playback;
• saved 16-cell sequence state for repeatable stutter edits;
• text parameter state serialization;
• a DPF-backed rift.vst3 wrapper target with a custom UI and file browser.

The next major sample-mode step is transient-aware chop-point detection after more DAW testing with real breaks.