Atoms
5,034 knowledge atoms — one concept each, the smallest teachable units. This is the reference library, not a course: atoms back the hands-on lessons on the two course paths and are here to look up, not to learn from in order. To find something specific, use search or browse by domain, level or type.
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A compressor's threshold, ratio, attack, and release determine when and how much gain reduction is applied
A condenser microphone uses a charged capacitor whose capacitance varies with diaphragm movement
A cosine/gradient palette defines a whole color ramp from a few coefficients and animates it by shifting phase over time
A counter-melody moves against the main line, filling space via call-and-response without adding density
A custom DAW template eliminates friction between inspiration and capture
A custom pow(sin(x),n) shaping function replaces noise() to give a smooth periodic radius variation with a distinctive character
A de-esser is a frequency-selective compressor that attenuates only sibilant frequencies
A dedicated stereo mic guarantees mono compatibility; a two-mic array offers flexibility and lower cost
A delay line feeding back into itself creates a comb filter with resonant peaks at integer multiples of 1/delay
A delay line is a circular buffer read behind a rotating write pointer
A detuned multi-carrier FM operator patch combines analog warmth with metallic attack for EBM bass
A diffusion model learns to reverse a fixed noise-adding process by training a neural network to denoise step-by-step
A diffusion model steers noise toward the training distribution, not toward exact stored images
A distorted found-sound noise stab on off-kick positions gives a dark techno beat its industrial character
A drum fill is a brief deviation from the groove at a phrase end that signals a structural transition
A drum groove is built layer by layer, each element filling the rhythmic gaps the others leave
A drum voice sets its oscillator to a fixed Hz rather than tracking MIDI pitch
A dynamic microphone uses electromagnetic induction — a coil moving in a magnetic field generates voltage
A Euclidean sequencer with fewer hits than steps creates irregular, long-cycle rhythms well-suited to techno bass
A Eurorack case's power supply must cover the summed current of every module across the +12V/-12V/+5V rails, with headroom
A fader that won't sit still diagnoses which processing a track needs
A field recording can be reimagined by treating it as raw material rather than a finished document
A filter's cutoff frequency is the point where output falls to 0.707 of maximum — the half-power (−3 dB) point
A filtered arpeggio fills frequency space behind the lead without competing with it
A fixed set of self-imposed constraints (one font, one image, one palette) speeds generative iteration
A fixed wavetable aliases at high pitches when its harmonics exceed the Nyquist frequency
A fixture definition encodes a lighting device's channel layout and capabilities so QLC+ can control it intelligently
A Fixture Group defines the physical grid arrangement of heads that an RGB Matrix uses as pixels
A fixture Head groups channels belonging to one light output device within a multi-output fixture
A flam — two notes in quick succession — adds a dragging, off-grid texture to drunk drummer beats
A flanger adds phasing movement to a Reese bass, reinforcing its sweeping, comb-filtered character
A flat color placed between two parents reads as their mixture when it is a believable middle-ground in hue and lightness
A Gaussian (bell-shaped) envelope is preferred as a grain window because it produces smooth, artifact-free grain transitions
A global time scalar stretches or compresses all envelopes simultaneously, preserving their shape ratios
A GLSL shader program splits into a vertex shader run per-vertex and a fragment shader run per-pixel
A GLSL sine oscillator needs a bias and gain to map its -1/+1 range to 0-1 for color
A GPLv3+ VCV plugin requires its derivative works to also be GPLv3+
A GPURenderPipeline bundles shader modules, vertex buffer layout, and render targets into a fixed, reusable draw configuration
A GPUVertexBufferLayout declares the byte stride and attribute format of each vertex, linking buffer data to shader @location slots
A grain generator is always just an amplitude envelope applied to a waveform — the same structure regardless of cloud size
A grain is a short fragment read from a buffer, and it is the basic unit of granular synthesis
A granulator is shaped along independent axes of grain length, source position, density, and transpose
A hat patch becomes a cymbal by lengthening the envelope decay time
A heavily compressed open hi-hat on the off-beat drives the forward motion of a four-to-floor techno groove
A hi-hat is synthesized as white noise passed through a high-pass filter with a fast decay envelope
A hi-hat mute (choke) group makes a closed hat cut off a ringing open hat
A highly accurate monitor system tends to make mixes that translate well to many playback systems
A hit is 'easy to sing, easy to say, easy to remember' — a listener-centred songwriting heuristic
A house remix is a new record built around another artist's vocals, not an alteration of the original
A layer mask is drawn as a polygon in VPT's mask editor and saved as a black-and-white PNG
A light grain pass over the final composite is the most reliable 'make it look intentional' move — it unifies layers and hides banding
A live cinema performer operates across multiple simultaneous space types, not just the projection
A live performance patch should prioritise the most-used controls as always-visible with less-used controls accessible but hidden
A lock trig fires parameter changes without triggering a note
A low-pass gate couples amplitude and brightness on one control voltage for an organic, plucked decay
A MATHS attenuverter scales and inverts a channel's contribution, nulling at 12:00
A Maths ramp/saw LFO differs from the triangle only by setting RISE full counter-clockwise
A Max for Live device bridges an external OSC control surface to Live via the LOM
A mic preamp must boost mic-level signals (–70 to –50 dBu) to line level without adding audible noise
A microphone's polar pattern defines how its sensitivity varies with the direction of incoming sound