Every hit a different electrical character
Mutator is a psytrance synthesizer for zaps, buzzing leads, squelches, metallic chatter and growls. You write the rhythm on one note, and each repeated hit plays a different timbre from a seeded, lockable pattern while the pitch stays on the note you played.
Also in Nebula Complete and All Access.
Highlights
What sets it apart
A pattern of timbres, not notes
A repeated MIDI note steps through 8, 16 or 32 steps of seeded DNA. Each step changes the sound, never the pitch, unless you turn on Pitch Mut.
Lock, reseed, freeze
Click a step to edit its eight values, lock it with L, press New DNA to reroll the rest, or Freeze to capture what is playing into a loop. Type a DNA seed to recall a pattern.
The same every time
The pattern restarts with the transport and is a pure function of the seed and the hit count, so playback from a bar and a bounce from it match hit for hit.
Features
Everything in Nebula Mutator
Sound
- Five characters: Spark, Squelch, Metallic, Robotic, Growl
- Voltage, Bite, Shape, Zap and Scream macros
- Filter with Cutoff, Reso and Env: LP 24, LP 12, BP, HP
- ADSR plus Length Mut, so each hit's length can vary
Mutation
- Pattern length 8, 16 or 32 steps
- Loop, Evolve and Chaos modes
- Mutation 0 makes every hit identical
- Randomiser: eight controls move per hit or sweep across the pattern
Playing
- Mono or Legato, Glide and Velocity
- Mod wheel adds Movement; pitch bend is ±2 semitones
- Harmonic keeps a screaming resonance on the note's harmonics
Panel
- Triggered oscilloscope of the real output, PRE or POST
- Eight panel colours, saved as a preference on this Mac
Claude
Claude can help
No connector of its own. Inside Nebula DAW, Claude can put Mutator on a new track and choose a factory preset with the DAW's general tools (set_instrument, select_preset), as the README shows.
Measured
What the tests show
- Core test suite: 267 checks, 0 failures; plug-in suite: 693 checks, 0 failures (latest entry in docs/ARCHITECTURE.md; README still says 669)
- auval -strict passes, native and x86_64 under Rosetta
- pluginval at strictness 10 passes on the AU and the VST3, with and without the editor tests
- rt-check passes: no allocation under the audio callback, proved with a planted violation
- Factory presets levelled to about -12.5 dBFS RMS with every peak under -1 dBFS on a bar of sixteenths
- One latency, the same online and offline: 30 samples at 2x and 4x oversampling, 0 at 1x
Questions
Nebula Mutator FAQ
Does the mutation change my notes?
No. The fundamental is always the MIDI note. Pitch Mut is the only control that lets a step change the note, and it is off by default and in every factory preset.
Will a bounce sound the same as playback?
Yes. The pattern starts at step 1 when the transport starts or jumps, and the n-th hit depends only on the pattern, the seed and n.
Can I keep a pattern I like?
Yes. Freeze captures what is playing into a Loop, locked steps are kept when you press New DNA, and typing the DNA seed recalls a pattern.
Does it take audio input?
No. It is an instrument with no input bus, played from MIDI.
What does it need?
macOS 11 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. It loads as AU or VST3 in Logic, Ableton Live, Bitwig, Cubase, FL Studio, Reaper and Nebula DAW.
Try Nebula Mutator free for 30 days
Download, install, and every product runs fully for 30 days. No account and no card needed. Buy the ones you keep.