Tremolator

Tremolator treats tremolo as a programmable amplitude pattern rather than just an amount and speed. Its wave shapes draw on classic amplifier and electric-piano behavior, while the rhythm editor lets those shapes become sequenced pulses, gaps, and accents. Analog Styles add different saturation responses around that modulation.

Rate supplies the tempo basis and Rhythm selects its subdivision or pattern. Groove changes the internal swing or shuffle, Feel moves the overall pattern around the beat, and Accent changes which pulses stand out. These controls let a tremolo part contribute to the arrangement instead of simply repeating at a fixed frequency.

The Tweak panel adds an envelope follower that can change rate and depth in response to the source. A louder note can therefore speed up, slow down, strengthen, or relax the modulation according to the settings. Start with a shape and rhythm that fit the part, establish depth, then introduce dynamic behavior and stereo width. Custom shapes and multi-bar patterns extend it from familiar guitar tremolo to deliberate rhythmic gating.

Manual, About Tremolator, p. 4; The Tremolator Control Panel, pp. 5–8; Tweak Menu and Editors, pp. 9–17.

Main modulation and timing

Depth sets the amount of amplitude change, from subtle movement toward strong gating with abrupt waveforms. Shape selects the modulation contour, and the Mod indicator shows its activity.

Rate establishes a tempo from 30 to 240 BPM. Rhythm chooses subdivisions or a custom pattern; the documented basic choices span a thirty-second note to four bars. MIDI follows the supplied clock, and Tap Tempo derives a manual tempo from taps. Set both Rate and Rhythm deliberately, since changing the subdivision changes the audible pulse without changing the tempo number.

Groove shifts even beats toward shuffle or swing. Feel shifts the whole pattern relative to the beat. Accent favors the downbeat or the other pulses, giving the sequence a different emphasis without redrawing it.

Input / Output manage level and interact with saturation. Compare processed and bypassed level when stronger drive makes the tremolo appear more forceful.

Dynamic Tweak controls

Threshold determines when the incoming level begins influencing modulation. Attack / Release set how quickly those changes engage and return, each documented from 0 to 5000 ms. Long settings need enough sustained input to complete the movement.

Mode Env responds proportionally to how far the signal exceeds the threshold. Gate instead drives the selected modulation amount toward its full setting when the threshold is crossed. This is gating of the control behavior, not an extra ordinary noise gate on the audio.

Rate Mod raises or lowers the modulation speed; Depth Mod changes its intensity. These are relative to the main controls and interact with their available headroom. Rate modulation can temporarily move away from clock sync before returning to the base timing.

Width spreads the stereo result, with extreme settings using out-of-phase information. Check mono when that matters. Analog Style offers Clean, Fat, Squash, Dirt, Crunch, Shred, and Pump responses.

Shape and Rhythm editors

Shape Editor adds and moves points in a custom waveform. Smoothing softens point transitions, and Smoothing Mode chooses the connecting curve. Save the result through its shape-preset controls.

Rhythm Editor places complete shape cycles into rhythmic slots. Num Bars / Beats per Bar define the pattern, Bar selects the page to edit, and Grid sets the duration of newly added events. Leave sufficient empty space for longer events and use Rhythm Preset to recall or save a pattern.

Manual, Main Controls, pp. 5–8; Threshold, Attack, Release, Mode, Rate/Depth Mod, Width, and Analog Style, pp. 9–13; Shape Editor, pp. 14–15; Rhythm Editor, pp. 16–17.