Help — PULSAR

Overview

PULSAR is a probabilistic sample playback machine. Each row in the rack plays one sound, triggered randomly, on a loop, or manually. Rows run independently — layer as many as you like up to 64.

The sound engine runs in your browser using the Web Audio API. All sounds are sample-accurate when using Beat Sync.

Snapshots

Five snapshot slots (A B C D E) sit in the menu bar between the title and the user icon. They work like car radio presets — save a full parameter state, then recall it instantly during a session.

Hold (3 s)	Save the current rack state into that slot. A fill animation tracks the hold; the button flashes when saved. Overwrites any previously saved state in that slot.
Tap	Instantly recall the saved state. All knobs and toggles snap to the stored values. Audio keeps playing uninterrupted — new parameters take effect on each row's next trigger.
Empty slot	Dimmed buttons have no saved state. Tapping an empty slot does nothing.
Active slot	The last-recalled slot glows with a teal border. Snapshots are saved with the patch and persist across sessions.

What snapshots capture: Rand, Prob, Freq, Offset, Sync, Loop, Pan, Pitch, Volume, and Output Channel for every row. Sound assignments and transport state are not captured.

Rack Rows

Each row has two sections: Trigger (left) and Playback (right), plus a sound selector at the top.

Sound Selector

▲ / ▼	Step through your sound library one file at a time.
Filename LCD	Shows the currently loaded sound name. Click to open the Sound Library in select mode — click any dot to assign that sound to this row.

Trigger Section

RAND	Enable random triggering. When lit, the row fires automatically on a timer. When off, the sound only plays manually via the Play button.
PROB knob	Probability (0–100%). On each tick, a random number is rolled — if it falls within the probability window the sound plays. Lower values = rarer triggers.
FREQ knob	Sync off: how often the dice roll, from very fast (1) to very slow (250). Higher = more frequent rolls. Sync on: note division — whole note down to 1/32, displayed as a note name (e.g. 1/4).
SYNC	Lock triggering to the BPM grid. When lit, the row fires at sample-accurate beat subdivisions set by the FREQ knob. The SYNC LED flashes on each beat.
OFFSET knob	Delays the trigger phase by 0–32 FREQ divisions. Use this to offset rows from each other rhythmically without changing their speed.
Roll display	Shows the last random roll value (0–100) for this row. Useful for understanding how often PROB is firing.

Playback Section

VOL knob	Row volume, 0–100%. Independent per row.
PAN knob	Stereo pan, left to right. Centre by default.
PITCH knob	Playback speed / pitch, from 0.25× (slow/low) to 4× (fast/high). Centre = normal pitch. Affects both pitch and speed simultaneously.
LOOP	Loop the sound continuously. When the transport is started, loop rows begin playing automatically regardless of RAND.
▶ Play	Transport stopped: plays the sound immediately (obeys LOOP, does not start triggering). Transport playing: if the row was paused, it rejoins — RAND/SYNC rows resume triggering at the next beat or interval; non-triggering rows play immediately.
⏸ Pause	Transport playing: stops this row's audio and triggers. The row sits out until you press Play on it again — it is not affected by the global transport or loop auto-play. Transport stopped: stops this row's audio and disengages RAND.
✕ Delete	Remove this row from the rack.
Playing LED	Green when the row is currently playing audio.

Sound Library

Open via the Library button in the toolbar, or by clicking any row's filename LCD.

Drop zone	Drag mp3, wav, or ogg files here to upload. Or click to browse.
▶ Audition	Preview a sound. Click again to stop.
Dot	Red dot = this sound is loaded on the rack. In select mode (opened from a row's LCD), click any dot to assign that sound to the row.
Name	Click to rename inline. Press Enter to confirm, Escape to cancel.
⧉ Copy	Duplicate the sound file in your library.
✕ Delete	Permanently delete the sound. If it's loaded on a row, that row will be cleared.
shared	Sounds marked shared are preset files available to all users. They cannot be renamed or deleted.

Patches

A patch saves everything: patch name, BPM, all row settings (sound, rand, prob, freq, offset, sync, loop, pan, pitch, volume), which rows were actively playing, and all five snapshot slots.

Patches always load in Stop mode. Press Play to restore the saved playback state — loop rows and any rows that were playing will start automatically.

Patches marked shared are presets available to all users.

Tips

Set PROB low (5–15%) and FREQ slow for sparse, atmospheric triggers.
Use multiple rows with the same sound at different PROB and FREQ values to create natural variation.
LOOP a long ambient bed, then layer RAND rows on top for movement.
SYNC rows to BPM for rhythmic elements; leave others free for texture.
Click the BPM label to toggle a metronome click while setting tempo.
Hold Shift while dragging any knob for 5× finer control.
Double-click any knob to type in an exact value.
Use snapshot slots to prepare several mix states and switch between them live.
Save often — the patch remembers exactly which rows were playing.

Patch Name	Editable name for the current patch. Click to rename.
New	Clear the rack and start a new unnamed patch.
Load	Open the patch browser to load a saved patch. Shared presets appear alongside your own.
Save	Save the current rack state as a patch, including BPM, all row settings, and which rows were playing.
BPM	Tempo in beats per minute. Click the BPM label to toggle the metronome click. Accepts fractional values (e.g. 98.5). Affects all rows with Beat Sync enabled.
Play / Stop	Play — starts all random triggers, auto-plays loop rows, and restores any rows that were playing when the patch was last saved. Stop — immediately silences all audio and stops all triggers.
Library	Open the Sound Library to upload, preview, rename, or delete sounds.
+	Add a new row to the rack.