Ambi Encoder Wrangler

s3g Ambi Encoder Wrangler is an autonomous Benjolin/rungler-style logic instrument with as many as 64 independent voices and direct first-through-seventh-order ACN/SN3D output. One voice is one complete dual-oscillator, register, and state-variable-filter circuit at one ambisonic point. It has no audio input or MIDI note input; use its parameters and factory states to shape a continuously evolving field.

Rungler synthesis compares two coupled oscillators and clocks the result through a feedback shift register. The changing bit pattern modulates oscillator pitch and filtering, producing repeating figures that continually slip into new, irregular states.

Workflow

1. Insert the plugin on a 64-channel REAPER track, choose a factory state, and select the ambisonic ORDER.
2. Follow it with an ambisonic decoder.
3. Set the independent VOICES.
4. Choose the wide-ranging LEGACY or pitch-centered BOUNDED circuit law.
5. Shape oscillator coupling and rungler behavior, then move continuously from low-pass through an open center to high-pass.
6. Set topology motion and the field's azimuth, elevation, and distance.
7. Open the LISTEN page to let the completed ambisonic field write and steer the registers.

Factory States

The PRESET parameter recalls a complete starting state. The collection ranges from unruly clocks, masks, filters, and moving topologies to slower bass, pad, and high-register fields.

Use Register A: Open Circuit, Register B: Field Written, and Register C: Audio Clocked to compare the listener's influence. Deep Current: Open and Deep Current: Settled are a second matched pair for hearing how SETTLE calms an evolving texture. Sixteen Voice Undertow, Thirty-Two Voice Dusk, and Sixty-Four High Constellation demonstrate increasingly dense bounded fields.

SAVE and LOAD preserve the complete instrument in portable .s3gawp files, including the circuit law, voice count, DJ Filter, all per-voice curves, and listener settings. RANDOM can produce either an energetic, wide-ranging patch or a calmer bass or pad state. Use it as a starting point, then reduce coupling, choose BOUNDED, or engage SETTLE when you want a gentler result.

Parameter Surface

The SURF page arranges as many as 24 captured or factory states in a two-dimensional performance space. EDIT selects and drags cells; ADD, DEL, and CAP manage their contents. In PLAY, the crosshair interpolates the instrument and the participating toolbox controls move with the effective state. CURVE changes the blend response, FOCUS ranges from broad mixtures to tighter nearest-cell regions, and GLIDE smooths the active cursor, toolbox controls, and generated field geometry. The target diamond follows drag or automation immediately. POP opens SURF in an attached panel and restores FIELD in the main editor for simultaneous monitoring.

Continuous oscillator, coupling, filter, topology, projection, mask, and per-voice curve values interpolate by distance. Discrete circuit, oscillator-input, register, topology, and curve modes come from the nearest cell. VOICES reads as an integer nearest-cell value, but surplus circuits and points use the shared membership and Wrangler's release envelope to fade audibly and visually rather than remaining stale or vanishing at a boundary. OUT, ORDER, all Listener controls, and the cursor remain live outside the interpolation. Automate the normalized SURFACE X and SURFACE Y CLAP parameters from the DAW. Project state stores the complete surface; portable .s3gawp files remain single instrument states. See Parameter Surface for the shared rules.

Logic Synthesis

The circuit-law button in the OSCILLATORS header changes how the same front-panel controls are interpreted.

• RATE A and RATE B set the two oscillators. Their LOW, SINGLE, and DOUBLE ranges permit an audible bass oscillator to run against a sub-audio register clock.
• VOICES sets the number of complete synth circuits and spatial points. Increasing it makes the field denser; reducing it exposes individual patterns more clearly.
• FM A>B, FM B>A, RUNG A, and RUNG B set coupling. In BOUNDED, low values keep the sound close to the two base pitches.
• CHANGE controls how readily the register accepts a new bit. At zero the bounded circuit repeats its current pattern; raising it produces more variation. LOOP repeats the outgoing bit, while XOR combines it with the oscillator comparison.
• DJ FILTER is continuous: the left half moves from low-pass to an open center, and the right half moves from open to high-pass. The center keeps the instrument's saturation and body. In BOUNDED the complete sound follows this filter; in LEGACY some direct oscillator and register energy remains in the mix.
• FIL FRQ, FIL RES, FIL RUN, FIL SWP, and SAT shape the filter. Z COLOR adds drive and tonal variation.

The CURVE page edits one parameter at a time across the independent voices. Its selected marker is the same voice shown on the FIELD and LISTEN pages. The complete editor is described below.

Voice-count, synthesis, filter, curve, position, and ambisonic-order changes are smoothed so they can be adjusted or automated while the instrument plays. Rung mode and size take effect at the next register step and then glide into the new structure.

Per-Voice Curves

The Curve page is divided into two banks. HIST · 19 is the main bank, with nineteen per-voice controls for the oscillators, register, feedback, and filter:

1. RATE A, RUNG A, FM B>A, COLOR A
2. RATE B, RUNG B, FM A>B, COLOR B
3. FILTER FREQ A, FILTER FREQ B, FILTER RES, FILTER COMP, FILTER TYPE
4. CROSS A, CROSS B, CROSS LPF
5. RUNG MODE, RUNG THRESH, RUNG SIZE

FILTER TYPE moves each voice along the same low-pass → open → high-pass path as the global DJ Filter. RUNG MODE selects COMMON, SPLIT, or SWAP: one shared register influence, separate A/B taps, or exchanged taps. RUNG SIZE selects a two-through-eight-bit register.

The MODERN · 5 bank contains PWM A, PWM B, RAMP A, RAMP B, and LEVEL. The global controls on the right remain usable while the Curve page is open.

Most curve points act as offsets around the corresponding global control: a centered point leaves the global setting unchanged, while points above or below it create voice-to-voice variation. Color, Cross, Filter Compensation, Cross LPF, Rung Mode, and Level use direct values instead. For FILTER TYPE, a stored value of 0.5 follows the global DJ Filter, while 0 forces low-pass and 1 forces high-pass. RUNG SIZE also follows the global setting at its midpoint but selects discrete register lengths.

The editor protects against accidental changes when many points are visible:

• CURVES ON/OFF is the only Curve-page control that enables or disables curve influence. Turning it off preserves every stored point.
• Clicking a parameter label only selects and arms that row. It never writes a point or silently turns curves on.
• The four voice banks show voices 1–16, 17–32, 33–48, and 49–64 with enough horizontal separation to select one point reliably. Inactive voices can be prepared before increasing VOICES.
• A mouse-down inside the graph locks both the armed parameter and nearest voice for the complete gesture. Dragging changes only its vertical value; moving sideways cannot jump to another point. Labels, voice numbers, button gaps, and the area outside the graph cannot write.
• The chosen parameter button and chosen point remain yellow. The solid line and EFFECTIVE readout show the value currently heard after the global control; the dashed line and STORED readout show the saved curve setting. Filter Type is continuous; only Rung Mode and Rung Size use discrete steps.

Topology and Placement

TOPOLOGY selects the shared spatial shape. MOTION offers STATIC, ORBIT, DRIFT, FOLD, and STIR. Motion rate, amount, depth, scale, and collapse reshape the field while it runs.

AZIMUTH, ELEVATION, and DISTANCE place the field center. SPATIAL FOLLOW controls how fully each voice follows its topology point instead of collapsing toward that center.

Field-Written Register

The LISTEN page lets the completed ambisonic field influence what the instrument does next. Four tetrahedral or eight cubical virtual pickups listen in different directions, and each voice reads a pickup near its own position. In WRITE, the decoded field can influence the register whenever oscillator B produces a clock.

SETTLE keeps each voice attached to its local pickup even when RING or BALANCE is selected, preventing the stabilizing sensor from jumping to a new direction on every register clock.

In WRITE, FIELD WRITE sets how often the decoded field influences a new register bit. Low settings add occasional responses; higher settings make the field more involved without replacing the oscillator and register logic. REG MOTION lets the register steer the spatial destination. Movement remains smooth rather than jumping between pickups.

FIELD RETURN sends a controlled amount of the selected pickup audio back into the circuit. PROPAGATE sets its delay, from a close response to a more separated echo through the field. RETURN BYPASS disables only this audible return; pickup analysis, field writing, register motion, meters, and listener memory continue.

In SETTLE, VISCOSITY sets how strongly the listener calms the instrument, CALM TARGET sets how much activity is tolerated, and RECOVERY sets how slowly the calming influence releases. When activity rises above the target, more register clocks hold the current pattern instead of changing it. The oscillators continue to run, so the result settles into a slower evolution rather than simply fading or stopping.

SETTLE works in both circuit laws. It does not turn down the output or darken the filter; it mainly slows register evolution, coupling, and topology motion. Field Return is inactive in this response mode. LISTEN OFF, or a VISCOSITY value of zero, removes the listener's influence.

The display follows one selected voice. In WRITE it shows pickup energy, active read head, comparator bit, auditory bit, final written bit, delayed-return value, and that voice's complete register word; the input cell flashes when the field performs a write. In SETTLE, it shows tension, capture, effective register-evolution, coupling and topology rates, the current HELD/OPEN decision, and the cumulative number of held clock edges. Use the arrow buttons to inspect another voice without changing its sound.

Order and Routing

The output bus is 64 channels wide. ORDER activates the corresponding ACN channels and clears the rest. Higher voice counts and ambisonic orders create denser fields and use more CPU.