vimsynth/modules/tide

modules/modulators/TIDE

TIDE

A function generator that is an envelope, an LFO and an oscillator at once, with the SHAPE on a knob. slope moves the peak from a sharp attack to a slow swell; curve bends each segment from exponential to logarithmic; warp folds it for complexity. In loop mode it free-runs as an LFO (or, turned up, an oscillator); in env mode a trig fires one cycle and it holds — a one-shot envelope with continuous slope and curve. eoc fires when a cycle ends, so one can clock the next. Patch a clock into clock and set pulses and the cycle is locked to the tempo — the rate is MEASURED from the pulse spacing, so a per-bar sweep stays a per-bar sweep without an automation writing rate.

The TIDE card as vimsynth draws it: its title bar, 7 knobs, 5 inputs down the left edge and 2 outputs down the right
TIDE on an empty rack — 32×21 cells, knobs at their defaults. Press a in the app and pick TIDE to get this card.

inputs

Down the left edge of the card, top to bottom.

trigtrigger
In env mode, fires a one-shot. In loop mode, resets the phase — so a free-running shape can be kept in step with a clock.
rate cvpitch
Moves the rate, in octaves. Track it from a SEQ and TIDE is a shaped oscillator that plays in tune.
slope cvcv
Added to slope — sweep the peak from attack to swell under an envelope or LFO.
warp cvcv
Added to warp — open up the folding for a contour that gets more complex as it moves.
clocktrigger
Locks the cycle to a clock. TIDE takes its RATE from the spacing of these pulses — pulses says how many of them one cycle spans — and re-lands on the boundary every time round, so it can neither drift nor need a tempo written into it. This is the difference from trig, which only says *start* and leaves a slightly-wrong rate to arrive early or late for the rest of the bar. Unpatched, TIDE free-runs from its rate knob as always.

outputs

Down the right edge, in the same order.

outcv
The contour. Unipolar 0..1 unless bipol is on. Into a VCA it is an amplitude envelope; onto a filter it is a sweep; into a v/oct it is a shaped LFO.
eoctrigger
End of cycle — fires when a cycle completes. Chain it into another TIDE's trig, or use it as a clock derived from the shape.

knobs

Left to right across the face — the dials in the picture.

rate0.02 … 2000 hz= 2 hz
How fast. Slow is an LFO or an envelope; above ~20 Hz it is an oscillator with a shape you can sweep.
slope0.02 … 0.98= 0.5
Where the peak sits in the cycle. Low is a sharp attack and a long tail (percussion); high is a slow swell. The one knob an ADSR spends its attack and decay on.
curve-1 … 1= 0
How each segment bends: exponential (a natural-sounding decay), through linear, to logarithmic (a slow start that rushes).
warp0 … 1= 0
Folds the contour back on itself, adding wiggles — smooth at 0, complex and chaotic turned up.
modeloop · env= loop
loop free-runs it as an LFO or oscillator; env makes a trig fire one cycle that then holds — a one-shot envelope.
bipoloff · on= off
Unipolar (0..1) or bipolar (−1..1). Bipolar for anything that must go both ways, like pitch.
pulses1 … 256= 1
How many clock pulses one cycle spans. Off a 1/16 clock, 16 is one contour per bar and 4 is one per beat. Inert until something is patched into clock; while it is, this knob REPLACES rate.

more

The full reference — every parameter curve, the patching notes and the worked examples — lives in the manual: docs.vimsynth.com/modules/tide. In the app itself, :help TIDE opens the same page without leaving the rack.