The face¶
The face is the pedal front. The title reads Bent Spool with the line TAPE MISCHIEF MACHINE. It has six knobs, a mode switch and a few buttons. A strip along the top holds the preset stepper.
Knob ranges in this manual are given as a percent of the knob's travel. A host's parameter list stores the same knobs as values from 0 to 1, so 15% is 0.15.
Controls¶
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| DRIVE | Input distortion amount, 0 to 100%, default 15%. Heard at every MIX setting. See DRIVE, OD and FUZZ. |
| OD / FUZZ | Two-position switch under DRIVE that picks the drive voice. Default OD. |
| Centre knob | RATE in TREM, TIME in REPEAT, LENGTH in LOOPS. Its label changes with the mode. With SYNC on it steps through note lengths. |
| SHAPE | Default 30%. Changes meaning with the mode: tremolo waveform, repeat pitch, or the spread of the loop voices. |
| MODE switch | TREM on the left, REPEAT in the middle, LOOPS on the right. Click a position to jump straight to it. TREM to LOOPS is one click. |
| CHAOS | Default 20%. Mode-specific randomness. See CHAOS. |
| WEAR | Default 25%. Tape wear applied after the mode. See WEAR. |
| MIX | Default 50%. Dry to processed. See Signal flow. |
| SYNC | Switch beside the readout. Left is free, right is synced to the host tempo. |
| Readout | The text window at bottom left. Shows the value of the centre knob. |
| Lamp | Next to the readout. Its brightness follows the CHAOS knob. It is purely visual. |
| BACK | Flips to the back panel. |
Next to the mode switch, one button changes with the mode:
- TREM: nothing is shown.
- REPEAT: HOLD and LATCH.
- LOOPS: FREEZE.
The centre knob¶
| Mode | Label | Free range | Readout |
|---|---|---|---|
| TREM | RATE | 0.5 to 12 Hz | 2.4 Hz |
| REPEAT | TIME | 0.01 to 1.2 s | 0.11 s |
| LOOPS | LENGTH | 0.01 to 16 s | 0.40 s |
At the default centre position that is about 2.4 Hz in TREM, 0.11 s in REPEAT and 0.40 s in LOOPS. In each mode the value follows an exponential curve, so the first part of the travel changes it slowly and the end changes it quickly. In LOOPS an extra taper stretches the long end: at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the knob's travel, LENGTH is about 1, 4, 9 and 16 seconds.
With SYNC on¶
The centre knob becomes a stepped selector and the readout shows a note length instead. A dot means a dotted note; a T means a triplet, two-thirds of the plain note.
| Mode | Stops, from the knob's minimum to maximum |
|---|---|
| TREM | 1/1, 1/2., 1/2, 1/4., 1/2T, 1/4, 1/8., 1/4T, 1/8, 1/8T, 1/16, 1/16T, 1/32, 1/64 |
| REPEAT and LOOPS | 1/64, 1/32, 1/16T, 1/16, 1/8T, 1/8, 1/4T, 1/8., 1/4, 1/2T, 1/4., 1/2, 1/2., 1/1, 2/1, 4/1 |
TREM is listed slowest first, so turning the knob up always makes the pulse faster. TREM stops at 1/64 and has no 2/1 or 4/1. Each list runs in order of length, so the triplets sit between their neighbours. REPEAT leaves out any note length longer than 1.2 s at the current tempo.
One note length is one tremolo cycle in TREM, the spacing between copies in REPEAT, and the fragment length in LOOPS.
REPEAT can't go longer than 1.2 s between copies, so its knob only offers note lengths that fit at the current host tempo. At 120 BPM the longest is 1/2. LOOPS is limited to 0.01 to 16 s, and the readout adds MAX or MIN to the time if the note length you picked is beyond the limit, for example 16.00s MAX.
Bent Spool takes the tempo from the host. The standalone app has no host, so sync runs at 120 BPM there.
Gestures¶
Desktop
| Gesture | Result |
|---|---|
| Drag a knob up or down | Changes the value. Every knob has the same drag length. |
| Hold Shift or Control while dragging | Moves 10 times slower. |
| Mouse wheel over a knob | Small steps. |
| Double-click a knob | Resets it to its default. In AAX it opens a typed-value entry instead. |
| Right-click a knob | Opens typed value entry. |
| Click a switch or button | Toggles or selects it. |
| Hold HOLD | Active while the button is held down. |
| Drag the bottom-right corner | Resizes the window, 75% to 200%. Double-click the corner to go back to 100%. |
The window size is remembered and shared by every Bent Spool on the computer. If the host resizes the window, the pedal scales and keeps its shape.
iPhone and iPad
| Gesture | Result |
|---|---|
| Drag a knob up or down | Changes the value. A bubble above the knob shows it. |
| Drag sideways at least 40 points from where you touched | Switches to fine mode, 10 times slower. |
| Tap a switch or button | Toggles or selects it. |
| Hold HOLD | Active while your finger is down. |
Touch targets are at least 44 points. The pedal fills the whole view. It picks the portrait plate or a wide plate, whichever fits the view better, and rotating the device switches between them. Both have the same controls.
FREEZE, HOLD and LATCH¶
These are explained with their modes: HOLD and LATCH and FREEZE.