BASS COLLIDER v1.0

Created by Pascal Glenn — 2026  
Open-source monophonic bass synthesizer, 16-step sequencer and live performance instrument for the Critter & Guitari Organelle family.

BASS COLLIDER is designed to move quickly between three jobs: play a bass sound live, program an animated bass line, and store the entire performance in one of 1000 memories. It starts with an empty A/B sequence so a new project begins clean.

Main features

- Monophonic bass synth with saw/pulse morph and sub oscillator
- Resonant driven low-pass filter
- Bass-specific Accent and true Slide/Glide behavior
- 16-step graphical OLED sequencer
- A / B / A-B alternating patterns
- Per-step Note, Velocity, Probability and Ratchet
- Per-step Cutoff, Resonance, Drive and Glide parameter locks
- 10 included factory sound presets
- Scale-aware programming: Chromatic, Major, Minor, Dorian, Phrygian, Pentatonic
- Sequencer octave range -3 to +2
- Independent wooden-key LIVE OCTAVE range -3 to +2
- LFO to Pitch / Filter / Amp with Sine / Triangle / Saw / Pulse waves
- Stereo width, delay and reverb, with low-end-safe widening
- Live playing from the Organelle wooden keyboard or external MIDI
- Pitch bend, mod wheel and sustain support
- Live sequence recording
- Footswitch Start/Stop
- 1000 complete memories with SAVE / LOAD / DELETE directly on the Organelle
- Protected pattern clear and protected memory delete
- SOUND HOME reset to return to a known starting sound without erasing the pattern
- Clean exit and AUX+long-encoder Panic/Stop

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QUICK START

1. Start with a blank bass line

BASS COLLIDER opens with empty A and B patterns.

On GRID in EDIT mode:

- Wooden keys 1–16 = toggle steps 1–16
- K1 = Note
- K2 = Velocity
- K3 = Probability
- K4 = Ratchet 1–4
- Key 20 = Accent selected step
- Key 21 = Slide selected step
- Key 22 = Start / Stop
- Key 23 = erase selected step
- Key 24 = clear current A or B pattern, protected by a second press

A newly created step uses the current programmed note. Changing K1 auditions the note immediately.

2. Play the bass live

On GRID, short-press the encoder to switch:

- EDIT = keys program the sequence
- PLAY = all 24 wooden keys become a live bass keyboard

Outside GRID, the 24 wooden keys play live automatically on SOUND, ENV, MOD, FX and MEM. MIDI notes also play live.

3. Change the live keyboard octave

The wooden-key keyboard has its own octave control, independent of the sequencer octave.

On SOUND / ENV / MOD / FX / MEM, or GRID while in PLAY mode:

- AUX + key 17 = LIVE OCT down
- AUX + key 18 = LIVE OCT up
- AUX + key 19 = return to default LIVE OCT -2

Range: -3 to +2. Default -2 gives the familiar low bass register.

> Organelle key numbers follow chromatic keyboard numbering, not simple left-to-right row numbering. Physical key 17 is the 10th lower-row musical key and key 18 is the 11th lower-row musical key. See WOOD_KEY_MAP.md.

4. Make a slide

Program consecutive notes, then select the destination step and press key 21 to enable Slide. If the preceding note is still held by the sequencer, the pitch glides into the slide step without the normal envelope retrigger.

5. A / B / A-B

Key 19 on GRID/PAT/LOCK cycles:

A → B → A-B → A ...

- A = play pattern A
- B = play pattern B
- A-B = alternate one full pattern cycle of A, then one full cycle of B

A and B are stored together in each memory.

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PAGES AND CONTROLS

Turn the black encoder to change pages:

GRID → PAT → LOCK → SOUND → ENV → MOD → FX → MEM

GRID — graphical 16-step editor

Two rows of eight cells show the 16 steps.

- Empty cell = rest
- Filled cell = active note
- Accent mark = accent enabled
- Slide mark = slide enabled
- Moving frame = playhead
- Edit marker = selected step

EDIT mode

- K1 Note
- K2 Velocity
- K3 Probability
- K4 Ratchet

When a GRID knob is moved, the OLED briefly identifies the edited value: `NOTE C1`, `VELOCITY 88%`, `PROB 75%`, or `RATCHET x3`. The normal GRID header then returns.

GRID header example: `BC A 120 E10 C1S` = Bass Collider, Bank A, 120 BPM, edit step 10, note C1, Slide enabled. `A` appended to the note means Accent; `S` means Slide.
- Keys 1–16 toggle steps
- Key 17 note down one semitone
- Key 18 note up one semitone
- Key 19 A / B / A-B
- Key 20 Accent
- Key 21 Slide
- Key 22 Start/Stop
- Key 23 erase selected step
- Key 24 clear current bank; press again within 3 seconds to confirm

Short encoder press = EDIT / PLAY.

PLAY mode

All 24 wooden keys play the bass live. AUX+17/18 changes LIVE OCT; AUX+19 returns to the default live octave.

PAT — sequence settings

Normal knobs:

- K1 BPM 45–200
- K2 Swing
- K3 Gate
- K4 Pattern Length 1–16

Hold AUX:

- K1 Root
- K2 Scale
- K3 Transpose -12 to +12 semitones
- K4 Humanize

Encoder short press = next factory riff.  
AUX + encoder short press = previous factory riff.

There are 6 optional factory riffs:

ACID WALK • DUB SPACE • ELECTRO • FUNK ONE • DARK PULSE • SLIDE CITY

Each factory riff loads a complete A + B pair. Loading a factory riff replaces the current A/B patterns, so save your work to a MEM slot first if you want to keep it.

Factory riffs are optional and are not loaded automatically at startup.

LOCK — per-step parameter locks

Select a step, then set:

- K1 Cutoff lock
- K2 Resonance lock
- K3 Drive lock
- K4 Glide lock

Turn a lock control to its extreme low end to set that lock to OFF.

Short encoder press auditions the selected step.

SOUND — core bass voice

Normal:

- K1 Cutoff
- K2 Resonance
- K3 Saw ↔ Pulse morph
- K4 Drive

Hold AUX:

- K1 Sub oscillator
- K2 Filter-envelope amount
- K3 Sequencer octave -3 to +2
- K4 Glide time

Short encoder press cycles the 10 included factory sound presets:

ACID CORE • DEEP SUB • RUBBER • DIRTY SAW • DUB ROUND • LASER BASS • FUNK PLUCK • PWM MONSTER • DARK RESO • ELECTRO PULSE

These 10 sounds are built-in starting points. Any sound you create by changing the synth, envelope, modulation or FX should be SAVED to one of the 1000 MEM slots if you want to keep and recall it later. The same applies to custom bass lines and complete projects.

SOUND HOME — safe reset

From SOUND, ENV, MOD or FX:

Hold AUX + short-press the encoder = SOUND HOME

This restores the starting sound, envelopes, modulation, FX, sequencer octave and live octave. It does not erase A/B patterns or notes.

ENV — envelopes

Normal:

- K1 Attack
- K2 Decay
- K3 Sustain
- K4 Release

Hold AUX:

- K1 Filter Decay
- K2 Filter Sustain
- K3 Filter Release
- K4 Accent Amount

MOD — LFO

- K1 LFO Rate
- K2 LFO Depth
- K3 Destination: Pitch / Filter / Amp
- K4 Wave: Sine / Triangle / Saw / Pulse

MIDI CC1 (mod wheel) adds modulation depth.

FX

Normal:

- K1 Stereo Width
- K2 Delay Mix
- K3 Reverb Mix
- K4 Delay Feedback

Hold AUX:

- K1 Delay Time
- K2 Reverb Room
- K3 Reverb Damping
- K4 Master Level

The widening is designed to leave the deepest bass more centered.

MEM — 1000 complete memories

- K1 = hundred bank 0–9
- K2 = memory 1–100 inside that bank
- Encoder short press = LOAD
- AUX + encoder short press = SAVE
- AUX + key 23 twice within 3 seconds = DELETE
- AUX + encoder turn = previous / next slot one memory at a time

Memory slots run from 0001 to 1000.

The 10 factory sound presets and 6 factory riffs are included with BASS COLLIDER as starting material. They do not replace the user-memory system. When you create your own sound, bass line or complete setup, SAVE it to one of these 1000 slots if you want to keep it. You can then LOAD it later or DELETE the slot when it is no longer needed.

Each memory stores the complete project state, including:

- A and B patterns
- Notes, velocity, probability and ratchet
- Accent and Slide
- Parameter locks
- Sound and envelopes
- Modulation and FX
- BPM, swing, gate and pattern length
- Root, scale, transpose and humanize
- Sequencer octave
- Live keyboard octave
- Selected sound/factory state

Files are stored in:

/sdcard/data/basscollider/

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LIVE RECORDING

While the sequencer is running, use AUX + key 21 on GRID/PAT/LOCK to toggle LIVE REC. Played notes are written into the current step with their velocity.

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MIDI

External MIDI input plays the bass monophonically with last-note priority.

Supported performance controls:

- Note On / Off
- Pitch Bend: ±2 semitones
- CC1 Mod Wheel
- CC64 Sustain

External MIDI notes are not shifted by the wooden-key LIVE OCTAVE setting.

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SAFETY / PERFORMANCE COMMANDS

- Key 24 clear is protected by a second press within 3 seconds
- Memory DELETE is protected by a second AUX+23 within 3 seconds
- AUX + long encoder press = Panic / Stop
- Long encoder press without AUX = exit patch
- Footswitch = Start / Stop

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INSTALLATION

1. Open the Organelle web file manager.
2. Go to /sdcard/Patches/.
3. Upload BASS_COLLIDER_v1.0.zip.
4. Install/unzip it so the folder is /sdcard/Patches/BASS_COLLIDER_v1.0/.
5. Launch BASS_COLLIDER_v1.0 from the Organelle patch menu.

Hardware-tested on an Organelle S2 using the SuperCollider/Bookworm setup used for Pascal Glenn's M20SIX and ADC1000 projects.

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LICENSE / CREDITS

Created by Pascal Glenn — 2026.  
Released under GPL-3.0-or-later.

Independent open-source project. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Critter & Guitari or any other synthesizer manufacturer.
