Layers Page

Floe is built around three layers, each holding a sound of its own, playing together as one.

For each layer, you pick a sound source, its Instrument, then shape it further with envelopes, filters, an LFO, looping and more.

A sound can use a single layer or blend two or three together. The LAYERS page is where you control all aspects of these identical layers.

How sound flows through the engine

When you play a note, all three layers play at once (unless a layer is limited to a key range). Each is processed on its own, then the three are mixed together and sent through the effects rack and the master volume. A layer with no Instrument is simply silent.

The layer layout

1. Layer header — the layer's Instrument and its mixing controls, always visible.
2. Tabs — switch between the layer's groups of controls: PLAYBACK, MAIN, LFO, EQ, ARP and CONFIG. A dot on the EQ, LFO or ARP tab shows that it's switched on.
3. Tab controls — the controls for the selected tab. Each tab has its own chapter. You can right-click these to copy, paste or reset all of its settings at once. It's a quick way to give two layers the same configuration.
4. All-layer buttons — these act on all three layers together. loads a random Instrument into every layer, with each layer following its own Instrument browser filters (see Randomisation). clears every layer.

Layer header

1. Instrument selector — shows the layer's Instrument. Click it to open the Instrument browser and choose a different one. Right-click for more options: unload the Instrument, copy and paste the Instrument or the whole layer, or swap this layer with the one to its left or right (macro assignments move with a swapped layer).
2. Instrument navigation — the arrows step to the previous or next Instrument, and jumps to a random one: a quick way to audition sounds without opening the browser. They follow the filters you've set in the Instrument browser, so they only move between the Instruments that match. unloads the Instrument, leaving the layer empty and silent.
3. Mute and Solo — Mute silences this layer, and Solo lets you hear it on its own. Silenced layers keep running in the background, so if you unmute or unsolo them they carry on seamlessly from wherever they've got to. To save CPU, unload the Instrument instead. It's simplest to just use either Solo or Mute across the layers, not both — if you do mix them, Solo is prioritised over Mute.
4. Volume — the layer's level, with its level meter alongside. While notes are sounding, red marks on the slider show the level of each voice. A voice's level depends on its velocity, where it falls in a key range fade, and any MPE volume expression.
5. Pan and Stereo — Pan places the layer anywhere from left to right. It uses a constant-power pan law (-3 dB at centre), so the layer keeps the same perceived loudness wherever you put it. Stereo narrows or widens the layer: negative values pull it toward mono, positive values push it wider. Pan comes after Stereo, so you can narrow a wide sound and then place it as a single point. A mono sound has nothing to widen, so pushing it to maximum stereo width silences it.
6. Detune and Pitch — Pitch moves the layer up or down in semitones, and Detune fine-tunes it in cents (hundredths of a semitone). Both work by speeding up or slowing down the audio. Right-click Pitch to jump up or down an octave. Right-click Detune and choose Fold into Pitch to move any whole semitones from Detune into Pitch, leaving the overall tuning unchanged. For a multi-sampled Instrument, Transpose on the CONFIG tab may sound more natural.

See Controls for the ways to adjust knobs, sliders and number fields.

The tabs

Below the header, each layer's controls are grouped into six tabs. Each has its own chapter:

• PLAYBACK — how the layer plays its samples: play mode, sample start, reverse, granular synthesis and looping.
• MAIN — the volume envelope and filter.
• LFO — add movement to various aspects.
• EQ — a three-band equaliser to shape the layer's tone.
• ARP — the arpeggiator, which turns held notes into rhythmic patterns.
• CONFIG — how the layer responds to your playing: transpose, pitch bend, keytracking, monophonic, MPE, key ranges and the velocity curve.

Right-click a tab to copy, paste or reset all of its settings at once. Copy a tab on one layer and paste it into another to give both layers the same settings, or reset a tab to start it afresh.