For Mac and PC (Standalone app, VST3, AUv3, AAX Plugin)

LOON is available for purchase at jamstik.com/LOON

It is also included with with the purchase of a Jamstik MIDI Guitar

LOON can be download at jamstik.com/LOONDownload and activated with a registration key or Jamstik MIDI Guitar.

Download & Install Instructions:

LOON is available as a complimentary download for all Jamstik MIDI Guitar customers. If you haven't already downloaded it, you can find the Mac and Windows download here.

1. Mac OS:

After downloading the macOS version of LOON from jamstik.com/LOONDownload, open the zip file which should create a .pkg file in the same folder. Open the .pkg file and follow the steps in the installer, entering your mac's Username and Password when prompted.

You can now open the LOON standalone app from the Applications folder. The setup process will have also installed the AU/VST3/AAX plugins for LOON so you can also go straight to your DAW and open LOON as a plugin there and continue to Step 2 Language Selection.

1. Windows:

After downloading the Windows version of LOON from jamstik.com/LOONDownload, open the zip file which should create a .pkg file in the same folder. Open the .exe file and follow the steps in the installer, allowing install through Windows when prompted.

You can now open the LOON standalone app from the start menu. The setup process will have also installed the VST3/AAX plugins for LOON so you can also go straight to your DAW and open LOON as a plugin there and continue to Step 2 Language Selection.

2. Language Selection

LOON includes translations for English, Español (Spanish), Français (French), Deutsch (German), Português (Portuguese), Italiano (Italian), 繁体字 (Traditional Chinese), 普通话 (Simplified Chinese), and 日本語 (Japanese).

When first opening LOON, you should be prompted to select a language. If you need to change language and that popup is no longer appearing, click the Menu (☰) button in the top left of LOON to expand the menu list, and then Language Selection (🌐) at the bottom of the list. 

Then select the language you want LOON to use. Click Ok when you have selected the language and then close and reopen LOON to display the new language.

Once LOON is reopened, text of the should now be in the chosen language (certain fields such as artist names, preset names and descriptions, sampler instrument names, and certain assignable parameters such may not be translated). If you wish to submit a correction or error in a translated language's text, submit a request at support.jamstik.com making sure that the "Issue Category" field is marked as "Translation Error".

3. Activating LOON

Once LOON is running you can activate the full version of LOON by clicking on the Activate button in the top left.

Activating with License Key

If you have purchased the full version of LOON you should have a License Key that has been sent to your email. If you have purchased LOON but no longer have the email, go to account.jamstik.com and sign in with the email address that you used to purchase LOON. You Licence Key should be in the Software Downloads and Codes tab.

Type or paste your License Key and Email Address in the LOON Registration popup and click activate.

If entered correctly, LOON should now be activated, the "Registered!" popup should confirm your license key, and the version number should appear in the top left where the Activate button used to be under LOON. You can now access all features of LOON including the editor and full factory sound library.

Activating with Jamstik MIDI Guitar

New Activations

If you have not registered your Jamstik with LOON before connect your Jamstik and click Activate in the top left of LOON. The Register Device popup should appear. If it does not, click Register With Device at the bottom of the LOON Registration popup and refresh on the Register Device popup as necessary until the popup acknowledges your Jamstik MIDI Guitar's serial number. If for some reason this step is not working for you, fill out a support ticket at https://support.jamstik.com/hc/en-us/requests/new for assistance.

The register device popup should look like this if you have not registered your Jamstik MIDI Guitar before. Enter your email address, if you purchased through jamstik.com make sure that it is the same email address you used at checkout when purchasing the guitar. Otherwise make sure it is the email that you wish to log into jamstik.com with to check your license keys and click Register.

If you have purchased a Jamstik MIDI Guitar with that email address you may get a screen asking if the guitar you connected matches the guitar on your account. If it does click Yes and the registration should be complete, if not click No and move on to the Device Registration form.

On the registration page select the model, handedness, and color that matches the Jamstik MIDI Guitar that you have connected as well as purchase date, retailer, and invoice number if available and click Register.

If entered correctly, LOON should now be activated, the "Registered!" popup should show your new license key, and the version number should appear in the top left where the Activate button used to be under LOON. You can now access all features of LOON including the editor and full factory sound library and your device registration and license key will be available at account.jamstik.com

Activating LOON with Jamstik MIDI Guitar after registering

If you have already registered your device with LOON, click Activate with the Jamstik MIDI Guitar connected. The Device License Found popup should appear. Enter the same email you registered with the first time and click Activate.

If entered correctly, LOON should now be activated, the "Registered!" popup should show your new license key, and the version number should appear in the top left where the Activate button used to be under LOON. You can now access all features of LOON including the editor and full factory sound library. If you are getting a notification about the Jamstik being registered to a different email, make sure you are using the same email you registered the Jamstik with and contact support at https://support.jamstik.com/hc/en-us/requests/new for assistance.

4. Installing Sound Library

To install the LOON Sound Library you may need to close and reopen LOON until you see the popup below and click Install Sound Library. Your computer may ask for your Username and Password to allow LOON to install this library.

A new "Install Sound Library" popup should open. You can change the installation folder or leave it at the default location:
macOS: /Library/Jamstik/LOON/Sound Library
Windows: C:\ProgramData\Jamstik\LOON\Sound Library

The sound library should now be installed. Once installed, if you have used Jamstik Creator in the past you may got a popup to transfer your soundpacks and user presets to LOON from Jamstik Creator. All presets and sound packs from Jamstik Creator are compatible with LOON and can be transferred or reinstalled. Once LOON is installed, .jspack files will install to LOON by default.

Running LOON in a DAW:

LOON is able to be run as a standalone application as well as an AU Audio Unit plugin on Mac as well as a VST3 or AAX plugin on Windows and Mac. By default, the installer will install these in the default system folders. The plugins can be added to a DAW the same way any other 64 bit VST3/AU/AAX plugin is added. Refer to your DAW's help guide or manual for detailed instructions on running plugins in your DAW. A few selected DAW guides are available below.

Ableton Live LOON Setup 

Logic Pro macOS LOON Setup

GarageBand Mac LOON Setup 

LOON Preferences
 

The LOON Preferences page is accessible by clicking LOON Preferences in the top left dropdown menu of the LOON Window.

Reset License: Will delete your registration from LOON. You can then register with a different key or Jamstik MIDI Guitar.

Report Issue: Leads to https://support.jamstik.com/hc/en-us/requests/new where you can fill out a support ticket.

User Manual: Leads to this guide at jamstik.com/loonGuide

Language Selection: Retriggers the language selection popup from installation.

Audio/MIDI Preferences, MIDI CC Assignments, and Tempo Settings lead to pages that are covered in this section.

Audio/MIDI Preferences 

Audio/MIDI Preferences only appear in standalone mode, while in a DAW MIDI and audio is handled by your DAW. Here you should select your output audio device, driver, sample rate, and buffer size.
For windows ASIO or WASAPI are recommended for the least delay. On macOS CoreAudio is suggested. Buffer Size affects the delay between when LOON creates sound and when your speakers play it. For best delay this should be as low as possible without causing distortion when playing notes. The level you can adjust this to is dependent on your machine's hardware and sound card.

Sample rate is generally fine at 48000 or 44100 but is adjustable for specific purposes.

The MIDI Devices section controls what MIDI Devices are sending MIDI notes to LOON. You should select all MIDI devices you wish to play notes on and click ok.

MIDI Assignments

LOON MIDI Settings

MIDI Device Mode:

Make sure that this setting matches the setting of the MIDI device you are using in LOON.

• Single-Channel: Single-Channel Mode is compatible with most DAWs and VSTs and the default on most MIDI controllers.
• Multi-Channel: Multi-Channel mode allows strings on the Jamstik MIDI Guitar to be split into 6 different channels. Few MIDI controllers will operate in this mode.
• MPE Mode: The Jamstik was built to send expression on 6 channels. MPE mode allows even greater individual note control and expression. MPE MIDI controllers are somewhat rare but are compatible with LOON if this mode is selected.

Pitch Bend Range:

Changes the pitch bend range that LOON is listening for. Refer to your MIDI controller's guide to know what pitch bend range your device outputs. It is generally +/- 2 for most MIDI controllers and +/- 48 for MPE-enabled MIDI controllers.

Jamstik Link:

By default this control is on in standalone and off when in a daw. When this setting is on, changes on LOON to MIDI Mode and Pitch Bend Range will change the Jamstik MIDI Guitar's MIDI Mode and Pitch Bend Range and vise versa.

You may want to keep this off in plugin mode as changing the MIDI Mode and Pitch Bend Range on tracks you have recorded on in a different setting may make the MIDI playback sound incorrect.

System CC Assignments:

Here you can set CC assignments on external MIDI controllers to perform basic functions inside of LOON. Either type the CC number in the drop-down or click MIDI Learn and then adjust the CC control to assign it to a function.

Macro CC Assignments:

Here you can set CC assignments on external MIDI controllers to perform macro adjustments inside of LOON. Either type the CC number in the drop-down or click MIDI Learn and then adjust the CC control to assign it to a function.

Changing these settings will map CCs to the associated Macros for all presets in LOON. Generally, Macro 1 will be the most important macro in the factory presets.

Features, Functions & Controls:

Preset Browser

When LOON launches, it will open to the preset browser. Here you can play with the over 200 included presets including presets from members of the Jamstik team designed for MPE support and presets from some of our artist partners.

When loading a preset the instrument/FX, and modulation strips populate with the elements used in that preset so that you can see how a preset is made at a glance and go in and edit them yourself.

In the first column you can select which packs you are seeing. It also shows some of the expansion packs you can download from Jamstik.com. Packs from Jamstik Creator work in LOON and can be redownloaded from account.jamstik.com.

You can filter the presets by Family, Artist, and Sampler Instrument by clicking the hamburger ≡ in the second column to narrow down the list as well as click the star button next to presets to add them to your favorites.

Starring Presets will create a new option under Type called Starred. Here you can find all the presets you've starred for quick access.

On the right side of the preset browser you can see the name, author, pack, and description for the preset. Below that are the macro knobs. You can use these to change values of pre-mapped parameters in that preset. These also can be assigned to CC controls so you can control these macros with MIDI controls.

Save

Once you have created your own preset or modified settings you wish to keep or share, you can click Save in the Preset Browser.

Here you can change your preset's name, the author name for the preset, write a custom description that will appear in the Preset Browser, as well as the family(s) that your preset will appear in in the LOON preset browser.

To save your preset into the LOON click Save. To export your preset as a .jsp file that you can share with others, click export. These presets and others can be imported into LOON by clicking load in the Preset Browser.

Once saved, your preset shows us in the "User" type in the left-hand column as well as "All Downloaded Packs".

Creator Options: 

MIDI Panic

If at any point you have a stuck note while playing, click the MIDI Panic button in the menu bar and the note will be silenced.

Volume

The volume control on the menu bar controls the master output volume of the creator. The current value is shown when dragging the white circle.

Tempo Settings:

Here you can change the tempo that presets and the assignable controls are synced to. By default when running in a DAW, the Use DAW Project Tempo will be enabled with the DAW Link option. This makes sure that the modulating instruments of LOON match the tempo of any project you are working on.

MIDI Compatibility Mode:

This breaks up the MIDI notes from a single channel MIDI controller into guitar strings in LOON. This allows MIDI controllers to play sampler instruments that have samples mapped to specific strings. It also allows MIDI notes to be shown on the on-screen fretboard for these MIDI controllers on more strings than just String 1 when only playing on the first channel when LOON is in multichannel or MPE mode.

Overlay Settings

Note Colors

Note Color: Selects between different preset color schemes with Classic Blue being the default. All of the preset schemes have different colors for notes on each string which also will reflect for MIDI Channels 1-6 (2-7 on MPE with channel 1 being grey) on the piano output.

Note Outlines: Toggles the light grey outline around played notes on the fretboard.

Edit: Clicking the edit button on the header will open up the individual HSV sliders for each string so you can create a fully custom color scheme for your string colors. This scheme or whatever you are currently playing on when you close LOON will stay in place and load up next time you open LOON

Overlay Settings

Note Text: Toggle between showing No text, Note Name, Scale Degree, or Chord Degree on the Scale and Chord Overlays.

Note Spelling: Toggle between Auto (determined by key), Sharp or Flat for note spelling in the Scale and Chord Overlays.

Fretboard Color: Select between different fretboard colors. Your fretboard color selection will stay active after closing LOON.

Fretboard Window: These buttons create a popup window for the fretboard in Portrait or Landscape orientation. This will show the same play data as in LOON as well as the overlays if enabled.

Always On Top: Checking this will make it so that the new window fretboard appears above all other windows on your desktop. This is good for when you want to see your fretboard readout while working in another program.

Scale Overlay

Scale Overlays are enabled and disabled with the power button in the section header.

Scale Type: Selects different scales or modes for the overlay to show.

Scale Root Note: Selects the root note for the selected scale or mode.

Scale Color: Selects the color that the scale bubbles appear on the fretboard.

Position: Cycles through different positions of each scale. The first position is All which shows all of the notes in the scale on the fretboard at once. Other numbers will show one position of the scale.

Chord Overlay

Chord Overlays are enabled and disabled with the power button in the section header.

Chord Type: Selects the chord type to be displayed on the fretboard.

Chord Root Note: Selects the root note for the selected chord.

Chord Color: Selects the color that the chord bubbles appear on the fretboard.

Voicing: Cycles through different voicings of each chord. The first voicing is All which shows all of the notes in the scale on the fretboard at once. Other numbers will show different chord positions that can be played on guitar.

Custom Overlay

Custom Overlays are enabled and disabled with the power button in the section header.

Edit Mode: This lets you create your own overlay pattern. When this toggle is on you can left click on a position on the fretboard to create a bubble in the overlay. Clicking again will make an outline rectangle, and clicking once more will remove the bubble. Right clicking on a bubble lets you set the label, shape and specific color for each bubble.

Preset: Save and Load presets for custom overlays.

Default Color: Selects the default color that bubbles in the custom overlay have. You can assign colors to specific bubbles by right clicking on them.

Label: Select between showing no label, note name, or custom which are the labels you assign by right clicking a bubble in edit mode.

Editing and Creating Presets in LOON

Only accessible in the full version of LOON. To gain the ability to edit presets and unlock the entire Factory Library, purchase LOON at https://jamstik.com/LOON

The editor tab is active any time an instrument or effect panel is open. Clicking the editor tab when on another tab will open the first instrument in the Instrument rack. The editor for a Group, Instrument, Effect, Macro, or Modulator can be opened by clicking on it in the Layer or Modulation Panel.

Instrument and Effects Panel (Per Layer)

Below the Menu Bar is the Instrument and Effects panels for the current layer. For each layer it is split up between Instruments on the left and Effects on the right. Each side of this panel is scrollable and show the active instruments and effects in the current Layer. Instruments must belong to a group and effects optionally can belong to a group. The black + button will add a new group in Instruments and can be used to create a new group or effect in the Effects panel. The grey + button will add a new instrument/filter or effect in the attached group. All Groups, Instruments, and Effects and be dragged within their panels to change the order in which they are activated.

Each instrument and group has its own block in the Instrument panel. When a MIDI note is triggered, the instrument blocks will show an approximation of the resulting waveform for each sound. You can remove a block by clicking the (X) button i, turn the sound on and off with the power button, and change the Volume with the knob (does not apply to filter).
Clicking on one of the blocks (including the group itself) will open up its editor panel. Details on the editor panels are in the next section.

Layers Panels

Additionally, LOON supports 3 Layers running simultaneously in one instance of LOON. With this feature you can have multiple Effects Chains that only apply to certain instrument groups. You can switch which layer's Instrument and Effects panels are being shown by clicking the layer in the layer selector shown above. You can see all three layers temporarily while dragging a block.

In the example below, the Saw wave and Breathy Pad instruments are being sent through 10 different effects in LOON. While Artifact Bass is being sent through only EQ and Reverb. As shown below, in addition to being able to drag the instrument, effect, and group blocks inside a layer to change the order in which they are processed, you can also drag these blocks to a separate layer (in the example below, the FM synth block is being moved to a new group in Layer 2 from its spot in Layer 1).

Modulation Panel

The Modulation Panel on the right side of the editor contains Macros, LFOs, ADSRs, MSEGs, and per preset CC assignments. By default, all 6 macros will be available in a preset and the other modulators can be added by clicking the colored (+) button under their header (or the last modulator of its type in the list). These blocks show the number of controls the modulator is assigned to in the top right corner, a power button to toggle the modulator on and off, and (for all cases outside of macros) an (X) button to remove the modulator. Macros will also display the name of the macro and macros and CCs will display the current value of the control in the horizontal bar.

Modulators can be clicked on to open their editor panel. The modulator editor panels are opened on the right side of the editor as shown below.

To assign a modulator to a control you can drag the modulator block in the Modulation panel while the panel/control you want to assign the modulator to is open. You can assign modulators to many controls in instruments, effects, and even other modulators. Available controls will have a blue square outline while you are dragging. Drop the modulator on that square and that effect will be part of the modulator and can be edited further in the Assignments tab of that modulator's panel. As seen in the Sine pane's Sustain knob, controls with modulators assigned to them will show the new value with a white dot.

Instruments and Effects:

Instrument Groups

Polyphony 

There are 3 polyphony settings: Mono - Allows one note to be triggered at a time, notes will slide to each other at the speed of the portamento control. Mono Channel - Only one note allowed at a time per channel. If you are in MPE or Multi Channel mode, each channel/string can have its own note at a time and slide between them. Polyphonic - allows multiple notes to be played at once regardless of their channel.   Legato - An option for Mono and Mono Channel only - If legato is off, each midi note will retrigger the sound. If legato is off the sound will continue from its position on the next note. Portamento - Controls the speed at which notes transition or slide between each other.

MIDI Channel

This shows and changes what MIDI channels the sound group is active on. 

Note: Since MPE uses MIDI channel 1 as a global channel and doesn't expect MIDI information on that channel, these channels are increased by 1 while MPE is active. For the Jamstik MIDI Guitar, this matches the MPE and Multichannel mappings by default and other MPE controllers should also be using channels for MIDI notes starting at channel 2.

Oscillators 

Wave Types

The oscillator instrument can be made of 1 of 5 wave types - Sine, Square, Triangle, Sawtooth, or Noise.

Wave Settings

Transpose, Coarse, Fine control the wave's pitch in increasingly small amounts (Transpose is locked to whole semitones, while fine can be set down to hundreths of a cent). Drift changes the pitch of notes in a style emulating hardware synthesizers and setting the cent value here changes the maximum amount a pitch will drift from the pure pitch.

ADSR Envelope

These settings control when and how the oscillator's sound starts and ends. You can control each node with the knobs or by dragging the nodes themselves.

Attack: How long it takes the sound to reach full volume

Decay: How long the sound takes to drop to the sustain volume

Sustain: The volume that holds while note is held

Release: How long the fade to silence takes after the note is released

Curve: Controls how much the attack, decay, and release effects follow a linear (0) vs exponential (>0) rate.

Unison

Unison adds more copies of the same oscillator for a richer, larger sound up to 32 voice in LOON.

Detune changes the pitch spread between notes so that they are not perfectly in tune which makes the larger moving sound from the unison oscillator.

Stereo Width spreads these voices across the stereo field which creates a moving stereo effect on the sound.

Phase Reset

When phase reset is on the oscillator will restart the cycle when a new note is triggered and when it is off the note will continue from that place in the cycle.

Velocity Scale

This controls how much the velocity of notes affects the volume of notes produced by the oscillator. At 0% all MIDI velocities trigger at the same volume. At higher percentages high velocities will produce loud notes and vise versa, while percentages lower than 0% will invert that scale and high velocities with produce quiet notes.

Expression Volume Mod:

This toggle is designed for Jamstik MIDI Guitars using the default CC11 for String Envelope Mapping. This maps the Jamstik MIDI Guitar's string decay to the decay of the envelope which can product a more "string-like" decay and cut off and allow expression like muting to be reflected more accurately.

FM Synth

Operators

Algorithm

This control selects the FM algorithm, the way and order in which operators modulate/affect each other. In these options, the blue operators are the carriers and will directly output sound while the white operators are the modulators only. The two free algorithms can be controlled by the matrix and can create a variety of different, complex algorithms.

FM Matrix

Ratio sets the operator's pitch. A ratio value of 1 is a default sine wave while 2 would be an octave up from that pitch. By default, ratio lock is on and snaps the values when dragging these blocks to whole values.

Fine adjusts the pitch in smaller steps than ratio.

-> Output (on the free algorithms) controls the volume of that operator in the mix or how much volume is directly sent to the output wave. Changing this value does not affect how much that operator is modulating the other modulators

Level (on the non-free algorithms) controls the signal. For the carrier operators this changes the output of the carrier wave in the final sound and for the modulator operators this changes the level at which the modulator is sent through the algorithm.

-> Op This matrix changes how much the operator modulates another operator. For example, the bottom left block of the matrix affects how much Op 1 (dictated by column) modulates Op 4 (dictated by row). These can be used to create a wide variety of complex algorithms.

Per-Operator Controls

The top right knob in these sections controls the level for the selected operator.

Attack: How long it takes the sound to reach full volume

Decay: How long the sound takes to drop to the sustain volume

Sustain: The volume that holds while note is held

Release: How long the fade to silence takes after the note is released

Curve: Controls how much the attack, decay, and release effects follow a linear (0) vs exponential (>0) rate.

Velocity Scale: This controls how much the velocity of notes affects the volume of notes produced by the oscillator. At 0% all MIDI velocities trigger at the same volume. At higher percentages high velocities will produce loud notes and vise versa, while percentages lower than 0% will invert that scale and high velocities with produce quiet notes.

Rate Scaling: Changes the envelope speed based on the note played. At 1x, all notes use the same envelope timing while higher amounts will make higher notes have faster envelopes and lower notes slower.

Detune: Offsets the operator slightly from the exact pitch. To change from Hz to a DX7 style detune change the global Detune Mode in the Global tab for the FM synth module.

Level Scaling:

Breakpoint: Selects the MIDI note that separates higher and lower levels.

Lower: Changes the level progressively for notes below the breakpoint.

Upper: Changes the level progressively for notes above the breakpoint.

Both of these operate where positive values make the notes louder on that side of the breakpoint note while negative values make the notes quieter.

Global

Transpose, Coarse, and Fine: Change the pitch of the FM Synth module by semitones, fractional semitones, and cents respectively.

Detune Mode: Changes how the operate detune control works in per-operator settings. Fixed (Hz) is a constant frequency offset and DX7 mode uses pitch-dependent detuning to emulate hardware FM synths.

Sampled Instruments

Browser:

Here you can add any of our professionally sampled instruments into your current settings. Many of these instruments are made of large, high-quality samples and take some time to load. These are sorted by families. The factory library contains some of the best sampled instruments from the LOON sound expansion packs in addition to a large number of other exclusive sampled instruments.

Transpose, Coarse, and Fine: Change the pitch of the sampler instrument by semitones, fractional semitones, and cents respectively.

Legato Mode: Controls what happens when overlapping notes are played.
True Legato: Keeps the current sample playing and changes the pitch

Trigger Next: Starts the new note's sample from the start.

Retrigger Current: Started the same note's sample that was played first from the start of its cycle but at the pitch of the new note.

Legato Start Offset: For Trigger Next and Retrigger Current Legato Modes, this controls where the sample starts when triggered after the initial note. A value of 0.10 s would start the sample .10 seconds from the beginning instead of starting with a potentially more harsh beginning of the sample.

Envelopes:

Enabled: Applies this global envelope setting to the sampler instruments.

Attack: How long it takes the sound to reach full volume

Decay: How long the sound takes to drop to the sustain volume

Sustain: The volume that holds while note is held

Release: How long the fade to silence takes after the note is released

Curve: Controls how much the attack, decay, and release effects follow a linear (0) vs exponential (>0) rate.

Effects

LOON ships with 10 different effects - Amp Simulation, Bitcrusher, Chorus, Compressor, Delay, Distortion, EQ, Flanger, Phaser, and Reverb.

These are applied to the output of all instruments in the layer and are applied in order from left to right in the effects panel list and can optionally be grouped.

We encourage you to experiment with these effects and see how we are using them by clicking on them when they show up in our presets. 

Shared Controls

Each effect has wet and dry faders that send into the mix.

Wet: Controls the volume of the sound with the effect being processed.

Dry: Controls the volume of the sound without the particular effect being processed

Mix: Controls how much of those signals are applied. At 0% the wet and dry signals are bypassed and at 100% the wet and dry levels are exactly what the signal becomes at this point in the chain.

FX Groups

FX groups have a Mix knob that controls the level of the contained effects. Making FX Group presets and saving them is a great way to build chains that you can use for different presets.

Amp Simulation

The Amp Sim effect will replicate the sound of plugging your synth into a guitar amplifier. This effect also gives you similar tools found on popular amplifiers such as drive and a three-band EQ.

Amp Model: Selects the amp that is being modeled for the simulation

Drive: Adjusts how hard the amp is pushed. Higher values add more distortion and sustain.

Bass, Mid, and Treble: Control the volume of low, middle, and high frequencies respectively

Presence adjusts the upper-mid and high-frequency bite, making the sound feel more forward at higher values.

Bitcrusher

The Bitcrusher allows you to alter the bit rate of the incoming signal (usually to degrade it). This can be useful when emulating classic video game tones or, when used subtly, to warm up synth sounds and help them stick out in the mix.

Bit Depth: Reduces the resolution of the audio. Lower values create noise, distortion, and grit.

Sample Rate: Reduces how often the audio is sampled. Lower values make metalic, aliased sounds.

Chorus

The Chorus effect simulates multiple voices performing the same part. It can create a nice rich sound on lead lines and pads. 

Delay: Sets the delay in ms between the original sound and the delayed chorus voices.

Depth: Controls how far the delay moves back and forth. Higher values will lead to more pitch variation.

Rate: Controls the speed at which the chorus movement cycles.

Stereo Width: Controls how far the chorus movement is spread across the left and right channels.

Compressor

The Compressor allows you to control the dynamics of the incoming signal. When applied to synthesized sounds, it can be used to further shape the transients of the signal, creating harder attacks and longer sustain.

Detection Mode: Determines how the compressor measures volume. Peak mode catches the sharp transients, fast and slow create different levels of smoothness, and legacy is based on an earlier version of the compressor from Jamstik Creator.

Attack: Controls how quickly compression begins after the signal reaches the threshold.

Release: Controls how quickly compression stops after the signal falls below the threshold.

Ratio: Controls how strongly loud sounds are reduced. For example, 2:1 means that 2dB avoce the threshold becomes 1 dB at the output.

Threshold: Sets the volume where compression begins.

Knee: Controls how gradually compression begins around the threshold. Higher values are smoother and lower values are more immediate.

Auto Gain: Automatically raises the output to match the input and compensate for volume lost in compression.

G/R Meter: Shows how many decibels of gain reduction the compressor is applying.

Delay

The delay effect is a simple effect that can be used to create a wide range of textures. This can be used rhythmically or to wash the sounds out.

Tempo Sync: Toggles the delay values between seconds and notes matching LOON's tempo.

Delay: Sets the time between repeats.

Distortion

The Distortion effect gives you more ways to degrade the incoming audio signal. Use this liberally to create screaming leads or conservatively to add warmth and saturation.

Distortion Type: Selects the shape and character of the distortion, such as smooth saturation, hard clipping, glitchy distortion, or tube-like warmth. 

Drive: Controls how strongly the signal is pushed into the distortion. 

Oversampling: Processes the distortion at a higher internal sample rate for a cleaner result with less digital aliasing. Higher settings use more CPU. 

Auto Gain: Compensates for the volume increase caused by additional Drive. 

Output Protection: Soft-limits peaks near 0 dB to help prevent the distorted signal from clipping the output.

EQ

The Equalizer gives you the tools to get surgical and shape where the sound will sit in the mix. This effect can also be used creatively by imposing new sonic colors or pairing the parameters to LFO’s.

Each band can be toggled off and on by clicking on its power button and the controls for the band are accessed by selecting the band button.

Filter Shape: Selects how the band affects the sound.

Gain: Boosts or cuts the selected frequency area. 

Frequency: Selects the center or cutoff frequency affected by the band. 

Q: Controls how wide the affected frequency range is. Higher Q values affect a narrower, more focused area.

Flanger

The Flanger can be used to add an interesting movement and depth to your incoming signal. Particularly effective on long sustained notes or pads.

Depth: Controls how far the short delay time sweeps, making the flanging movement more or less dramatic. 

Rate: Controls how quickly the sweep moves. 

Feedback: Sends part of the flanged signal back through the effect, making the peaks and notches stronger. 

Stereo Width: Controls how much the sweep moves in the left and right channels.

Phaser

The Phaser, while very similar to the Flanger, can create a more subtle movement and depth. Great on keys and electric guitar sounds.

Base Frequency: Sets the starting frequency area for the phaser’s notches. 

Frequency Spread: Controls how far apart the phaser's multiple notches are placed. 

Notch Depth: Controls how strongly the phaser cuts its moving frequency notches. 

Mod Rate: Controls how quickly the phaser sweeps. 

Mod Depth: Controls how far across the frequency range the sweep travels. 

Feedback: Sends the phased signal back through the effect, making the sweep more pronounced and resonant.

Reverb

The Reverb effect will simulate the characteristics of different rooms, spaces, or plates. This effect can be used to achieve natural reverberation or to artificially wash the sound out completely.

Reverb Time: Controls how long the reverb tail takes to fade away. 

Pre-Delay: Adds a pause between the original sound and the beginning of the reverb. 

Modulation: Adds movement to the reverb’s internal delays. Higher values create a more animated, spacious, or chorus-like tail.

The EQ tab works the same as the EQ FX but applies to the reverb itself.

Modulators

To create varied, dynamic sounds and presets, you can use the assignable controls on the right side of an active instrument controls window. Currently built-in to LOON are options for 6 Macros, LFOs, ADSRs , and MSEGs as well as custom assignable CC controls.

Assigning Parameters to Modulators

To assign a modulator to a control you can drag the modulator block in the Modulation panel while the panel/control you want to assign the modulator to is open. You can assign modulators to many controls in instruments, effects, and even other modulators. Available controls will have a blue square outline while you are dragging. Drop the modulator on that square and that effect will be part of the modulator and can be edited further in the Assignments tab of that modulator's panel. As seen in the Sine pane's Sustain knob, controls with modulators assigned to them will show the new value with a white dot.

Macros

A Macro is a control that controls 1 or more controls inside instruments or effects at once. These can be used to dramatically change the sound of a preset very quickly while playing. When you open a factory preset in LOON, multiple macros may already be assigned to controls in that preset.

To edit or make your own macro, switch to the editor view or click on the Macro button in the vertical list.

Here you can add or remove controls to the macro, adjust each control's depth in the Assignments tab, name or rename your macro, and preview the macro's effect with the knob in the top right corner. To get back to the controls for all of the macros, click the blue "View All" under the MAcros header.

LFO

Enabled Switch: Toggles the LFO's effects on and off.

Menu: Opens options to copy or paste the LFO settings. 

Gate Trigger: Controls how MIDI notes restart the LFO. None ignores notes, Mono restarts for each active note, Legato starts only with the first overlapping note, and Poly responds separately to each note. 

Gate Channel: Chooses which MIDI channel can trigger the LFO. 

Master Depth: Controls the overall strength of the LFO. 

Wave Type: Changes the LFOs shape between Sine, Square, Triangle, Sawtooth, and Noise.

Unipolar: Makes the LFO move in only one direction instead of moving above and below the starting value. 

Sync: Toggles between rate values of Hz or notes based on LOON's tempo.

Rate: Controls how quickly the LFO repeats. 

Phase: Changes where in the waveform the LFO begins. 

Sample & Hold: Holds each LFO value for a short time, creating stepped movement. 

Sample & Hold Sync: Toggles between rate values of Hz or notes based on LOON's tempo for the sample and hold rate.

Sample & Hold Rate: Controls how often Sample & Hold captures a new value.

ADSR

ADSRs apply a custom envelope to the value of assigned controllers inside LOON. This can dramatically affect oscillators and create unique effects that can be triggered per note.

Enabled: Turns the ADSR modulator on or off. 

Menu: Opens options to copy or paste the ADSR settings. 

Gate Trigger: Controls how MIDI notes trigger the envelope. Mono restarts it for each active note, Legato does not restart for overlapping notes, and Poly runs it separately for each note. 

Gate Channel: Chooses which MIDI channel can trigger the ADSR. 

Master Depth: Controls the overall strength of the ADSR modulation. 

Attack: Sets how long the modulation takes to rise. 

Decay: Sets how long it takes to fall to the Sustain level. 

Sustain: Sets the modulation level held while the note remains active. 

Release: Sets how long the modulation takes to fade after the note ends. 

Curve: Makes the envelope movement smoother or sharper. 

Offset: Moves the entire modulation range up or down. 

Velocity Scale: Controls how much note velocity affects the modulation strength. 

ADR Mode: Skips the Sustain stage and moves directly from Decay to Release.

MSEG

MSEGs allow for complex and highly customizable envelopes that can be used for deep sound design within LOON.

Enabled: Turns the MSEG on or off. 

Menu: Opens options to copy or paste the MSEG settings. 

Gate Trigger: Controls how MIDI notes restart the shape. Mono restarts it for each active note, Legato does not restart for overlapping notes, and Poly runs it separately for each note. 

Gate Channel: Chooses which MIDI channel can trigger the MSEG. 

Master Depth: Controls the overall strength of the MSEG modulation. 

Graph Nodes: Drag nodes left or right to change timing and up or down to change the modulation value. 

Curve: Changes how smoothly or sharply the line moves between nodes. 

Sync: Locks the MSEG speed to the project tempo. 

Rate: Controls how quickly the complete shape plays. 

Velocity Scale: Controls how much note velocity affects the modulation strength. 

Looping: Repeats the shape after it reaches the end. 

Bipolar: Allows the shape to move both above and below the parameter’s starting value. 

Grid X × Y: Controls how precisely the nodes snap into horizontal and vertical positions.

CC

Here you can assign MIDI CC controls to specific parameters inside of LOON. Drag the New CC Assignment cell to a parameter inside of an Instrument or Effect and then either type in the CC number or click MIDI Learn and adjust the control to let LOON find your MIDI control. You can create new CC blocks by clicking add, each one can be mapped to a different CC control.

Jamstik MIDI Guitar Features

For the Jamstik MIDI Guitar specific features of LOON such as updating firmware, changing device settings, and using the built-in software tuner visit the Jamstik MIDI Guitar in LOON article.

System Requirements:

MacOS Minimum Requirements
- Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (*2.1 or higher*)
- 4 GB of RAM
- Mac OSX 10.13 (*High Sierra*)
- 50 MB free hard disc space for installer (7.5GB for Sample Library)
MacOS Recommended Requirements
- Intel Core i5 Processor (*2.5 or higher*)
- 8 GB of RAM or more
- Mac OSX 10.15 (*Catalina*)
- 50 MB free hard disc space for installer (7.5GB for Sample Library)
Windows Minimum Requirements
- Intel Core 2 Duo / AMD Dual-Core Processor (*2.1 or higher*)
- 4 GB of RAM
- Windows 7
- 50 MB free hard disc space for installer (7.5GB for Sample Library)
Windows Recommended Requirements
- Intel Core i5 / AMD Ryzen 5 Processor (*2.5 or higher*)
- 8 GB of RAM or more
- Windows 10
- 50 MB free hard disc space for installer (7.5GB for Sample Library)

FAQ & Troubleshooting: 

For all other support issues, submit a ticket at https://support.jamstik.com/hc/en-us/requests/new