INK in a host

INK Synth runs as an AUv3 instrument in any AUv3 host, such as AUM or Drambo. It is the same instrument as the app, with the same three engines, sounds and projects. The host supplies MIDI, tempo and transport, mixes INK's audio and saves INK's state with the song. INK MIDI, a MIDI processor with the same engines and no sound, ships in the same app (INK MIDI).

#Ports

1234

Each engine plays the MIDI on its own In channel. The engine tab on screen sets only what you edit, not which engine the host's MIDI reaches.

#MIDI in

To play an engine from the host, open Settings › MIDI Settings and set the engine's In to a channel, Any channel or an MPE zone. Every engine's In starts Off, in a host as in the app. Bend range appears under In once In is on (MIDI in). The plug-in tells the host it accepts MPE.

1234

The host connects MIDI sources to the plug-in: choose the controller or app that plays INK in the host's MIDI routing. In a plug-in, the MIDI section of Settings has two pages, MIDI Settings and Clock (Settings and background audio).

In and Out are saved with the project and in the host session. Program Change messages from the host are ignored (MIDI implementation).

On iPhone and iPad, while an INK Synth plug-in with an engine's In on is running, the standalone app in the background leaves incoming notes to it, so one controller does not play both. The app's INK in another app setting chooses this: Plug-in only (default) or Both play (MIDI in).

#Audio out

Audio out, the last row of the engine sheet, chooses whether an engine plays through the Main bus or through its own stereo bus.

• Main: the engine plays through the Main bus with the other engines. The default for every engine of a new project.
• Multibus: Multibus takes the engine out of Main and sends it to its own bus, Engine 1, Engine 2 or Engine 3. The bus carries the finished engine: after its effects, Multiband, Level, Mute and Solo.

1234

To give an engine its own host channel, set its Audio out to Multibus, then enable its bus in the host and connect it. Until the host enables the bus, a Multibus engine plays through Main.

OUTPUT sets the gain of Main and of every own bus, and each bus has its own safety limiter. In the standalone app the AUDIO OUT row is greyed and every engine plays through Main.

Audio out is saved with the project and in the host session, so a project set up in the app keeps it for the plug-in.

#Host parameters

Each engine has three automation parameters in the host: its two macros and its level. To automate a sound parameter, give it a cell in the Matrix's A or B column and automate that macro; one macro can move any number of Matrix rows (Macros and dice).

The host's 0 to 100% spans the macro's whole range: 0% is −100%, 50% is 0%, 100% is +100%. The CCs work on the engine's In channel (MIDI implementation).

Moves made in INK reach the host, so it can record them as automation: a drag on A or B on the Sound tab, on the XY pad of the All page, or on an engine's Level.

#MIDI out

Each engine sends its MIDI to the host on the output of its own number: Engine 1 on INK 1, Engine 2 on INK 2, Engine 3 on INK 3. Connect an output to the instrument it should play. A MIDI route may also name any of the three outputs. Every engine's Out starts Off; set it in Settings › MIDI Settings › Out (MIDI out).

#Tempo and transport

• With Sync on, an engine follows the host's tempo. Its Tempo knob shows the host's tempo followed by host and is greyed (Arp rhythm and tempo).
• The host's start starts every engine, each synced engine on the step the song position implies. The host's stop stops every engine (Clock and sync).
• On the Seq tab, a label beside Play reads DAW plays or DAW stopped, the state of the host's transport.
• On the Clock page, Receive is Off or Any: with Any, INK follows a MIDI clock the host passes to it. While the host gives a tempo, the host's tempo wins.
• The host sends the clock: to clock other gear, use the host's own MIDI clock output.

#Latency

INK reports its latency to the host, which compensates for it. The latency is about 2.5 ms, the same at every Multiband setting. MIDI out leaves with the same delay, so it lines up with the audio after compensation.

#Differences from the app

• Record samples and import audio in the app. Kits made there play in the plug-in.
• On iPhone and iPad, Import and Export of sounds, projects and wavetables work in the plug-in, with the system's Files picker and share sheet.
• What's new opens from Settings › ABOUT INK; in a plug-in it never opens by itself.
• The host session restores INK's state when the song opens; the app's checkpoint applies only to the standalone app (Projects).
• Notices show as a small card inside INK's window. Tap Close to close one.

#What the host session keeps

The full table is in Projects.