Troubleshooting and FAQ¶

If nothing here helps, see Support.

Sound¶

The sound goes quiet for a second every minute¶

On desktop, this is the demo. After every 60 seconds of audio the output is silent for 1 second. Activate a license and it stops. Copies of Bent Spool that were open when you activated keep the demo until you reopen them.

On iPhone and iPad it happens only if you are not unlocked and you are using REPEAT or LOOPS, or have a project that holds them. TREM never does it. See free tier and unlock.

My mode or drive voice switched back to TREM and OD¶

This is the end of the 15 second preview on iPhone and iPad. Unlock to keep REPEAT, LOOPS and FUZZ. You do not lose your project's settings by previewing. See Trying the locked parts.

FUZZ sounds like OD¶

On iPhone and iPad, without the unlock FUZZ plays as OD. The setting is kept, so unlocking brings FUZZ back.

MIX is all the way down and I still hear distortion¶

DRIVE comes before the dry tap, so it is heard at every MIX setting. Turn DRIVE down. See Signal flow.

I hear nothing from LOOPS, or it is quiet¶

LOOPS plays what it has recorded. After switching to it, or after a reset, it needs about twice the LENGTH of audio before it is at full level. It records in the background while other modes are active, so play something and wait. If FREEZE is on, it plays the held buffer, and the buffer was empty or silent if you pressed FREEZE on a silent input. Press FREEZE again to resume recording.

REPEAT sounds like one stuttering note, not a melody¶

SHAPE below 40% leaves the copies at unison or an octave down, and above that they are pitched up. Pitched copies are deliberately cut at the repeat boundary. Try SHAPE around 50% for a fifth, or 70% for an octave up. Lower TIME and raise REPEATS to fill the gaps, or turn on GAPLESS for pitched-up copies.

A pitched-up repeat has gaps¶

That is normal. Copies pitched up end before the next copy starts. GAPLESS, on the back panel, lets them play on.

The pulse drifts out of time with my project¶

With SYNC off, RATE is in Hz and does not follow the tempo. Turn SYNC on. In TREM, with SYNC on, the pulse corrects toward the beat gradually and only while the host transport is rolling. If CHAOS is up, the pulse also drifts and skips cycles on purpose.

Sync runs at the wrong tempo in the standalone app¶

The standalone apps have no host and always sync at 120 BPM.

REPEAT has no stereo spread¶

REPEAT's copies come out centred unless a stereo option is on. Every factory preset turns it on except REPEAT - 15 Gated Sixteenths, so starting from a factory REPEAT preset gives stereo copies. The option has no control on the panel. See Parameters.

Presets and sessions¶

Saved presets are only in Bent Spool's own browser (iPhone and iPad) or its menu (desktop). The host's menu lists the 48 factory presets only.

Save preset... appears only when the plug-in is licensed. See Desktop license and demo. Without a license you can still load presets and import .bentspool files.

I can't rename or delete a preset on desktop¶

The desktop version has no rename or delete. Choose Show presets folder and rename or delete the .bentspool file in Finder or File Explorer.

The stepper says "Edited"¶

You changed a control after loading a preset. The name comes back when you load the preset again. HOLD and LATCH do not count as edits.

The stepper says "Current settings" after I reopened my project¶

The host restored the settings but no preset is loaded. Nothing is wrong.

My project is big¶

If LOOPS FREEZE is on, the project holds the frozen audio, roughly 20 to 80 MB. Turn FREEZE off before saving to avoid it, or turn off Save Frozen Audio in the host's parameter list.

Importing a preset on iPhone or iPad says it needs an unlock¶

Saving and importing both need the unlock.

Licensing¶

On Windows my pasted key looks cut off¶

Use version 1.0.1 or later, where the key field takes the full key. Click the field, paste the whole key and click ACTIVATE. Older Windows test builds limited the field to a few characters.

ACTIVATE says it could not reach the server¶

Bent Spool could not connect. Check your firewall or VPN. You can also activate once in the standalone app, or import an offline license with IMPORT OFFLINE LICENSE. The message says your key was not used.

I activated, but another open copy still shows the demo¶

Copies that were open before you activated stay in demo mode. Reopen them.

Do I need to be online to use Bent Spool?¶

Only to activate, and to re-check the license every 30 days. If the check can't reach the server, your activation stays valid and the plug-in keeps working.

Can I use the license on three computers?¶

Yes. One license can be active on three computers. On each one, every installed format shares the activation. The same license works on macOS and Windows, and the three activations are shared between them.

Do I need to buy again on iPhone, iPad and desktop?¶

On Mac and Windows, no: one desktop license covers both. On iPhone and iPad, yes. The iPhone and iPad unlock and the desktop license are separate. A purchase on one does not carry over to the other.

The unlock didn't reach the AUv3¶

The app and the AUv3 share the unlock through an App Group. Run Restore Purchases from the unlock sheet. Check that you are signed in to the same Apple ID that bought it.

Install¶

The plug-in doesn't show up in my host¶

Restart the host so it rescans plug-ins. Check that you ticked that format in the installer (macOS). The paths are in Install. On Windows, only the VST3 and the standalone app exist: there is no AU or AAX. Bent Spool is an effect, so look under effects, not instruments.

Where is the Pro Tools plug-in?¶

The AAX plug-in is installed to /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/Bent Spool.aaxplugin and appears under the Modulation category.