Polaris

What it does

A compact step sequencer with six tracks, each running either a sample or a two-oscillator synth. The step grid extends into four patterns you switch between, and steps can be set to play only some of the time. A design page per track gives filters with an envelope, distortion, reverse, transpose, de-tune, sample length and gain, plus mod lanes for pitch, volume, cutoff and decay. A mixer adds per-track reverb and delay sends, and it records its own output to a file.

In the demo

Jade builds a beat from scratch in AUM, swapping kicks, drawing hats and then using the mod lanes to turn a pluck into a melody. She points the sampler at a folder of her own one-shots, switches a track to the synth engine, then records a take out to AudioShare.

Worth knowing

It runs standalone or as AUv3, and the window reshapes from phone width to a wide strip. In this version no parameters are exposed to the host and there is no multi out, so external modulation and per-track processing are not available.