Particle Chimes as an AUv3¶
Particle Chimes is an AUv3 instrument: Audio Unit type aumu, subtype
ChP1, manufacturer PFct, listed in a host as "Plastic Factory: Particle
Chimes." Load it from your host's instrument list, not its effects list. It
registers as a synth/generator, so it won't appear in an effects-only slot.
The plugin's interface¶
The AUv3 view is the whole app interface: Play, Studio, the sound browser, the skin picker, all of it. It reports a preferred size of 1024×480 and resizes to whatever frame your host gives it.
Short, wide host windows
Some hosts hand out a window wide enough to report as "regular" width but too short in actual pixels for the full three-column Studio layout. AUM is the confirmed case. Particle Chimes checks the real window dimensions, not just the size class, and automatically drops to the compact phone-style layout so the performance ribbon doesn't get clipped off-screen.
MIDI¶
The plugin reads note-on, note-off, and All Notes Off (CC 123) directly from your host's MIDI stream. Pitch bend, other CCs, and aftertouch aren't currently handled.
Automatable parameters¶
Seventeen core sound parameters are exposed as AU parameters. Automate or record them from your host like any other plugin parameter:
| Parameter | Range | Default | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resonator Model | 0 to 11 (indexed) | Modal | indexed |
| Structure | 0 to 1 | 0.30 | |
| Brightness | 0 to 1 | 0.50 | |
| Damping | 0 to 1 | 0.50 | |
| Position | 0 to 1 | 0.50 | |
| Polyphony | 1 to 4 (indexed) | 2 | |
| Chord | 0 to 10 (indexed) | 0 | |
| Bloom | 0 to 1 | 0.46 | |
| Texture Mix | 0 to 1 | 0.65 | |
| Cloud Texture | 0 to 1 | 0.50 | |
| Cloud Size | 0 to 1 | 0.50 | |
| Cloud Density | 0 to 1 | 0.60 | |
| Cloud Spread | 0 to 1 | 0.70 | |
| Reverb Mix | 0 to 1 | 0.30 | |
| Reverb Size | 0 to 1 | 0.50 | |
| Reverb Damping | 0 to 1 | 0.50 | |
| Reverb Pre-delay | 0 to 200 | 0 | ms |
Three more cover AUTO's tempo sync:
| Parameter | Range | Default | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auto Sync | on/off | on | boolean |
| Auto Division | 0 to 15 (indexed, the 16-division ladder; see The AUTO player) | 1/4 dotted | indexed |
| Auto Rate (Free) | 0.25 to 4 | 0.75 | seconds |
AUTO's on/off switch is not automatable
Whether the pattern generator is running has no AU parameter, so a saved host session never starts playing a pattern on its own the moment it loads. Sync, division, and free rate are parameters; the on/off state resets with every session load.
What's recalled but not automatable¶
Your root note, scale, and any active tuning (bank,
custom .scl, reference pitch) round-trip through the host's own session save
and reload correctly. None of them are exposed as AU parameters, so you can't
automate a key change from the host's automation lane. You only get back the
key you had when you last saved.
Factory presets¶
Four factory presets come through the standard AU preset mechanism: Bloom Zero (Dry Resonator), Gentle Cloud, Full Bloom, and Frozen Glass. They appear in your host's own preset menu, and they're separate from the sound library in the app's own preset browser.