Contents

1 · Overview & Requirements

The Waylinator is a polyphonic synthesiser running on an Electro-Smith Daisy Pod hardware module. It is controlled over USB using a browser-based editor that communicates through the Web Serial API.

• Browser: Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge (any recent version). Firefox and Safari do not support Web Serial.
• Cable: Micro-USB to your computer — the same cable used to flash firmware.
• No install required — open editor.html directly from your file system.

2 · Connecting to the Device

1. Plug the Daisy Pod into your computer with USB. Power it on.
2. Open editor.html in Chrome or Edge.
3. Click Connect at the top of the page. A browser dialog will appear listing available serial ports — select your Daisy Pod (typically labelled "USB Serial Device" or similar).
4. The button label changes to Disconnect and a green dot appears. The editor automatically reads the current device state — you will see the values appear in the Device Log within a second.
5. Wait for the status bar to say Device state loaded. Ready to edit and write. before making any changes. Do not click Write to Device before this message appears.
6. After making changes, click Write to Device to push everything back. The device acknowledges by echoing its state in the Device Log.

3 · Hardware Controls

The Daisy Pod has two knobs, two buttons, and one rotary encoder with a push-click. All controls work in real time — you do not need the editor connected to use them.

Knob 1 — Chorus

Knob 1 controls the chorus effect: turning it clockwise increases both the depth (pitch shimmer amount) and the rate (LFO speed) of the stereo chorus simultaneously. At minimum the effect is dry; at maximum the sound widens noticeably and shimmers. In a few patches (WAYLO_XFADE2 family, FIXED_PULSE group) Knob 1 instead controls a per-voice pitch LFO depth and rate — the same "wider as you turn" feel applies.

Knob 2 — Delay

Knob 2 controls the wet level of the 3-tap LCR delay (Left-Centre-Right panned repeats). At minimum there are no delay repeats; at maximum the delay is prominent. Knob 2 is independent of Knob 1 — you can have dry chorus + wet delay or vice versa.

Button 1 — Decrease Envelope

Each press of Button 1 steps the attack time down by 5 ms and the release time down by 20 ms. Both the amplitude envelope and the filter envelope are adjusted together. The minimum is 1 ms. This is a quick on-stage way to get a snappier, more percussive feel without opening the editor.

Button 2 — Increase Envelope

Each press of Button 2 steps the attack time up by 5 ms and release up by 20 ms. Maximum is 2 seconds. Use this to add sustain and a slower fade-in for pad-like sounds.

Exception: on the SINE_FM_PIANO_ADJ patch (patch 20), Button 1 and Button 2 control only the FM piano's attack time (not the global envelope), in very fine steps of 0.1 ms up to a maximum of 50 ms.

Note: buttons have no effect on the SINE_FM_PIANO or SINE_FM_PIANO_ADJ patches for the global envelope — those patches manage their own internal envelope separately.

Rotary Encoder — Patch Selection

The rotary encoder (the clickable knob, separate from the two analog knobs) navigates patches and switches banks.

Banks — A, B, and C

The Waylinator has three banks that fundamentally change how the current patch behaves. The LEDs on the Pod change colour to show which bank is active.

Bank A — Standard (default)

Normal polyphonic operation. ADSR envelopes, note-on/note-off, velocity sensitivity. This is the default bank on power-up.

Bank B — EWI / Breath Driven

Most patches switch to monophonic legato mode. Amplitude and filter cutoff are controlled by breath (CC2 or channel pressure) rather than the ADSR envelope. Phase is preserved across notes so there is no click on legato transitions. Portamento (glide) is active between notes using the EWI Portamento (ms) parameter.

In Bank B, the rotator patches (MIDIROTATOR, CHORDROTATOR, CDG_ROTATOR, EFC_ROTATOR, DIATONIC_CHORDS, DIATONIC_FOURTHS, FIFTH_UP, FIFTH_UP_FOURTH_DOWN) switch to a legato chord update mode — the chord changes smoothly without a note-off/note-on boundary, giving a wind-instrument feel to harmony patches.

Bank C — Audio Input Blend

The Daisy Pod's audio input is mixed into the synthesiser output. You can feed a guitar, instrument, or backing track into the Pod and blend it with the synth sound. Bank C behaves like Bank A for all other parameters (polyphonic ADSR).

Audio input gain in Bank C is set conservatively (lower gain on WAYLO_XFADE patches which already multiply the output further, higher gain on other patches). Use Knob 2 to set the delay wet to taste; the synth and audio signal both pass through the delay and chorus effects.

4 · MIDI Controls

Pitch Bend

Pitch bend is received on any MIDI channel. The behaviour depends on the current patch:

Mod Wheel (CC1)

The mod wheel is a global filter / FM feedback control. Its effect varies by patch:

CC2 / Breath (and Channel Pressure)

CC2 (breath controller) and MIDI channel pressure (aftertouch) both control breath expression on EWI patches and Bank B. See section 16 for the full EWI reference. On all other patches in Bank A or C, CC2 is ignored.

Note Velocity

In Bank A and C, velocity scales the amplitude of harmony/chord notes via the Chord Volume parameter. The lead (trigger) note always plays at full velocity; harmony notes are attenuated by the Chord Volume multiplier applied to the incoming velocity. In Bank B and EWI patches, velocity is secondary to breath — it contributes a small multiplier but breath drives the main dynamics.

5 · Keyboard Zones & Transposition

Several patches split the keyboard into two zones: a lower control zone and an upper playing zone. Notes in the lower zone set a transposition or base pitch silently; notes in the upper zone trigger sounds using the current transposition state. The split point varies by patch.

6 · Remapping Patches

WAYLO_TRANS (patch 5)

What it sounds like: Square wave left / Sawtooth right through chorus and delay — same as SQUARE_SAW. The difference is entirely in pitch assignment.

How it works: The 88-key range is split at C4 (MIDI 60).

• Keys below C4 silently set a transposition amount. C3 (MIDI 48) = 0 semitones offset. Each semitone above C3 adds +1 st; below C3 subtracts.
• Keys at or above C4 play a note, but the sounding pitch is the played note plus the transposition minus one octave (output = note + transposition − 12).

Example: hold D3 (transposition = +2), play C4 → sounds as C#3. Hold G3 (transposition = +7), play C4 → sounds as G3 — a fifth above C4 down an octave.

Use it for: playing in a comfortable upper-register position while your left hand nudges the key of a looped part. Great for transposing melodic lines on the fly.

ZAWINUL (patch 6)

What it sounds like: Square wave left / Sawtooth right through chorus and delay.

How it works: Every MIDI note is mirrored around C4. Notes below C4 reflect upward; notes above C4 reflect downward. The mapping is: output = 60 + (60 − input) for notes below 60, and output = 60 − (input − 60) for notes above 60. C4 itself stays at C4 (it maps to itself).

Example: play E4 (64) → sounds as G#3 (56, four semitones below C4). Play A3 (57) → sounds as Eb4 (63, three semitones above C4). The keyboard is effectively reversed.

Use it for: Zawinul-style reversed-keyboard voicings where low physical keys play high pitches and vice versa. Familiar patterns produce unexpected harmonic colours.

SAMCHILI (patch 7)

What it sounds like: Square wave left / Sawtooth right through chorus and delay.

How it works: SAMCHILI is a cumulative offset system operating within a 4½-octave range (C2 to G6, MIDI 36–91).

• Keys at C2 and below (MIDI ≤ 36): set the base note. The base note is set to the played key plus two octaves, smart-wrapped into the C2–G6 range if it would fall outside.
• Keys at C#2 and above (MIDI ≥ 37): add a cumulative offset to the base note. The offset is played note − 60 (so middle C = 0, D above = +2, B below = −1, etc.). The base note is updated by that amount and then the result is played. Smart wrapping keeps the output inside C2–G6 by folding to the same pitch class in the opposite octave.

Practical meaning: your right hand wanders chromatically and the sounding pitch drifts with it — repeated upward motion continuously raises the register, downward motion lowers it — until it wraps. Your left hand resets the base to a specific position.

Use it for: unusual melodic lines that don't map to standard keyboard geography. The cumulative drift creates phrases that are difficult to play any other way.

7 · Rotator Patches

The four rotator patches (MIDIROTATOR, CHORDROTATOR, CDG_ROTATOR, EFC_ROTATOR) all share the same underlying engine. Each note you play triggers three simultaneous voices: the original note, a static harmony, and a rotating harmony that cycles through a sequence of intervals.

How a rotator works

Each rotator has a list of five semitone offsets stored in the Rotator Chords fields of the editor. Call them [s, r1, r2, r3, r4].

• Original note — the MIDI note you pressed, at full velocity.
• Static voice — original note + s. The same interval every note.
• Rotating voice — original note + r1 on the 1st note, + r2 on the 2nd, + r3 on the 3rd, + r4 on the 4th, then + r1 again on the 5th, and so on. The index cycles 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 1 …

All three voices are released when you release the key. The rotating counter does not reset between notes — it keeps cycling continuously, so the harmonic colour of consecutive notes always varies in a predictable sequence.

Example — CHORDROTATOR defaults: 7, 3, 5, 4, 2

MIDIROTATOR vs. CHORDROTATOR vs. CDG/EFC

All four patches use the same engine — they just use different interval tables. You can customise each one independently in the Rotator Chords section of the editor.

Bank B + rotator patches

In Bank B, the rotator patches switch to legato chord update mode. Instead of a clean note-off / note-on boundary, the three-voice chord transitions smoothly, preserving phase for a slurred, wind-controller feel. This is most effective with slow legato playing — fast passages may overlap slightly.

8 · The Editor Layout

The editor has a sticky header that stays visible as you scroll. Inside it:

• Defaults — reset all parameters to factory values (does not write to device).
• Export as CSV / Import from CSV — save or restore a complete snapshot of all settings.
• Connect / Disconnect — manage the serial connection.
• Read from Device / Write to Device — sync with hardware (only available when connected).
• Tab bar — switch between Parameters, Patches, and Chord Editor.

Below the sticky header the page has two permanent sections always visible regardless of tab:

• Rotator Chords — text fields for the interval sequences used by the MIDIROTATOR, CHORDROTATOR, CDG_ROTATOR, EFC_ROTATOR, and DIATONIC patches.
• Device Log — a scrolling console showing every message sent to and received from the hardware, useful for troubleshooting.

9 · Parameters Tab

Each parameter row has a slider, a number input (type a precise value), a green readout showing the current value, and a Default button that resets just that one parameter. All edits are local until you press Write to Device.

Envelope

Effects

EWI / Breath Controller

These parameters affect the EWI_MONO and EWI_DUAL_WAVE_LFO patches which respond to breath (CC2) or channel pressure.

9 · Parameters Tab (continued)

SQUARE_SAW_LFO Settings (Patches 49 & 54)

These four sliders control the pitch-modulation LFO that runs in SQUARE_SAW_LFO (patch 49) and SQUARE_SAW_LFO2 (patch 54). The left and right sides of the stereo field have independent speed and depth, creating a gentle detuned shimmer.

EWI_DUAL_WAVE_LFO Settings (Patches 51, 52, 53)

Each of the three EWI_DUAL_WAVE_LFO patches has its own independent waveform selection for the left and right oscillator banks, plus a noise volume control. All three patches otherwise share the LFO depth and speed sliders above.

SQUARE_SAW_LFO2 Settings (Patch 54)

Patch 54 is a polyphonic version of the EWI_DUAL_WAVE_LFO patches — it uses the ADSR envelope and polyphonic voice allocation (not breath/legato), but with the same selectable waveforms. It also has its own Noise Volume control. The LFO speed and depth sliders above apply equally to patch 54.

10 · Patches Tab

The Patches tab shows every available sound as a checkbox list. Ticking a patch enables it in the patch rotation — the encoder on the Daisy Pod steps through only the enabled patches. Unticking hides a patch from rotation without deleting its settings.

• Select All Patches — enable every patch at once.
• Unselect All Patches — disable every patch (useful to then tick only the few you want for a performance set).

Patches marked RESERVED in the list are disabled internally and cannot be activated — their checkboxes are hidden.

11 · Patch Reference

The Waylinator has 55 patch slots. Active patches (those not marked RESERVED) are listed below grouped by type. All patches run through the shared chorus and 3-tap LCR delay effects; the on-hardware knobs control chorus depth/rate (Knob 1) and delay wet level (Knob 2) unless noted.

Basic Polyphonic Oscillator Patches

Fixed Pulse-Width / Analogue-Style Patches

Chord / Harmony Patches

Transposition / Remapping Patches

FM / Synthesis Patches

Crossfade / LFO Modulation Patches

LFO Pitch-Modulation Patches

Audio Input Patches

EWI / Breath Patches

12 · Chord Editor Tab

The five CHORD_SCALE patches (43–47) each store a table of 36 chords covering three chromatic octaves (C4 through B6). When you play a note in that range, the synth looks up the chord stored at that pitch and plays all its notes simultaneously. Notes below the range (C3–B3) select a transposition offset; notes above the range are ignored.

Reading the chord grid

Each card in the Chord Editor shows one scale (CHORD_SCALE1 … CHORD_SCALE5). Inside the card is a 6-column grid of 36 cells. Each cell shows:

• Root label (e.g. "G4") — the MIDI note that triggers this chord.
• Note list (e.g. "C4, E4, G4") — the actual notes that sound when this cell's trigger note is received.

Click any cell to open the piano keyboard editor and change its notes.

Piano keyboard editor

A full nine-octave piano keyboard appears. Keys highlighted in green are currently active in the chord. Click any key to toggle it on or off. The chord can hold up to six notes. When done, click Save Chord to update the grid, or Cancel to discard.

Chord Editor buttons

Transposition control

While playing a CHORD_SCALE patch, any note below C4 (MIDI < 60) acts as a transposition key rather than triggering a chord. The formula is transposition = note − 48, so C3 (MIDI 48) = 0 semitones, C#3 = +1, D3 = +2, and so on up to B3 = +11. Notes below C3 produce negative transpositions. This lets you shift the entire chord scale up or down without editing individual chords.

13 · Importing Chords from a MIDI File

The MIDI→CSV button opens an import dialog that reads a standard MIDI file and converts its note events into a chord scale — one chord per beat position, up to 36 chords (six notes maximum per chord).

How the import works

1. Click MIDI→CSV in the Chord Editor tab. The import dialog opens.
2. Choose the Target Scale (CHORD_SCALE1 through CHORD_SCALE5) from the drop-down.
3. Click Choose MIDI File and select a .mid or .midi file from your computer.
4. The file is parsed in the browser. A preview shows how many chords were found and which notes each chord contains.
5. Tick Also download as CSV if you want a backup file.
6. Click Load into Scale. The selected chord scale is updated in the editor.
7. Return to the Chord Editor tab and click Send to Device to push the new scale to the hardware.

How chords are extracted from MIDI

The importer groups all Note-On events into time clusters using a tolerance of 10% of a quarter-note (so notes within a small window are treated as a single chord). Each cluster is then quantised to the nearest quarter-note beat. Beats are numbered from 0 and the first 36 beats become chord slots 0–35. Notes beyond six per beat are discarded; slots beyond 36 are ignored.

14 · Rotator Chords

The rotator patches each hold a sequence of semitone intervals. Every time you play a new note, the patch reads the next interval in its sequence and offsets the harmony note(s) by that amount. The sequence loops continuously.

Each rotator field accepts a comma-separated list of integers (positive or negative semitone offsets). The first value is a static constant; values 2–5 are the rotating offsets.

15 · Saving & Restoring Settings (CSV)

The top-bar Export as CSV and Import from CSV buttons save and restore a complete snapshot of all editor state (parameters, waveform selects, rotator sequences, and patch enable/disable state) in a single CSV file. They do not include chord scale data — use the Chord Editor's own Export/Import for that.

Export

Click Export as CSV. The browser downloads a file named waylinator-settings-YYYY-MM-DD.csv. Keep this file as a preset backup.

Import

Click Import from CSV and select a previously exported file. All parameters, rotators, waveforms, and patch states are restored in the editor. Click Write to Device to send the restored values to hardware.

16 · EWI / Breath Controller Reference

The EWI_MONO and EWI_DUAL_WAVE_LFO patches are designed for wind controllers (EWI, Akai EWI USB, Berglund NuRAD, etc.) or any controller that sends breath data. They can also be played from a standard keyboard — breath is optional.

Signal flow

1. Note-On → sets the target pitch. Phase is preserved across notes (no click on legato transitions).
2. CC2 (Breath) or Channel Pressure → drives both amplitude (volume) and filter cutoff simultaneously.
3. Pitch Bend → uses EWI-specific up/down ranges (set by EWI Bend Up and EWI Bend Down parameters), not the standard ±2 semitone range.
4. The ADSR envelope is bypassed entirely — dynamics come purely from breath.

Playing without a breath controller

If no CC2 or pressure data is received, the synth assumes full breath (amplitude = 1.0) so the patch still makes sound from a regular MIDI keyboard. You will lose breath dynamics but the patches are fully playable.

Portamento / glide

The EWI Portamento (ms) parameter sets the glide time between consecutive notes. At 0 ms there is no glide — pitch jumps instantly. At higher values the pitch slides from the previous note to the new one over the specified time, at the audio sample rate (smooth, artefact-free portamento).

Filter behaviour

At breath = 0 the filter cutoff sits at EWI Filter Min (Hz). At full breath it rises to EWI Filter Max (Hz). The EWI Filter Sensitivity multiplier skews this curve — values above 1.0 make the filter open faster for a given breath amount, values below 1.0 slow it down.

EWI_DUAL_WAVE_LFO patches — waveform guide

Mix different waveforms on left and right for a wider stereo spread. For example: SQUARE 75% left + SAW right creates a dense, chorused EWI-brass sound.

Noise volume

The Noise Volume control (0–100) in each EWI_DUAL_WAVE_LFO section mixes white noise into the oscillator output before the filter. A small amount (5–15) adds "breath" and air to otherwise clean waveforms — especially effective with SINE or TRIANGLE for flute-like textures. Higher values create a noisy, breathy reed character.

17 · Quick-Start Workflows

First-time setup

1. Connect hardware. Open editor in Chrome. Click Connect.
2. Wait for the status bar to say Device state loaded — the editor reads from the device automatically on connect.
3. Go to the Patches tab. Tick only the patches you want in your set.
4. Click Write to Device.
5. Use the encoder on the Daisy Pod to step through your enabled patches.

Setting up a custom chord scale from MIDI

1. In a DAW or notation app, write a chord progression and export it as a MIDI file.
2. In the editor, click the Chord Editor tab, then MIDI→CSV.
3. Choose the target scale (e.g. CHORD_SCALE1), pick your file, check the preview.
4. Click Load into Scale.
5. Browse the chord grid, click any cell to fine-tune individual chords in the piano editor.
6. Click Send to Device. Watch for chordsAck:180 in the Device Log.
7. Enable the CHORD_SCALE1 patch on the Patches tab and Write to Device.
8. Play MIDI notes C4–B6 to trigger your chords. Use C3–B3 to transpose the whole scale.

Dialling in an EWI sound

1. Enable EWI_DUAL_WAVE_LFO (patch 51) and write to device.
2. In the Parameters tab set Left Waveform to SQUARE 75%, Right Waveform to SAW.
3. Set Noise Volume to 8–12 for breath texture.
4. Set EWI Filter Min to 400 Hz, EWI Filter Max to 4000 Hz.
5. Set EWI Breath Attack to 20 ms, EWI Breath Release to 80 ms.
6. Click Write to Device and play with your breath controller.
7. Adjust EWI Filter Sensitivity and EWI Amp Sensitivity to taste.

Saving a performance preset

1. With all settings how you want them, click Export as CSV → saves parameters + patch state.
2. In the Chord Editor, click Export CSV → saves chord scale data separately.
3. Store both files together. To recall: Import CSV (parameters), then Import CSV in the Chord Editor, then Write to Device + Send to Device.

Waylinator Editor · End User Guide · Generated from editor.html and Midi.cpp