Contents
- Introduction
- Main Features
- Quick Start
- Main User Interface
- Modulation Overview & Sources
- LFOs, Random Motion and Step Sequencing
- Matrix Routing
- Effects Overview
- Graviton Reverb
- Starburst Delay
- Robotic Mutation
- Hyperspace Filter
- Presets, Random Sample, Clear FX and Panic
- Tips & Tricks
A cricket hears through special membranes called tympana, located just below its front knees.
Introduction
XenoCricket is a click mangulator built for transforming short percussive source sounds into characterful, animated, alien percussion. At its simplest, it is an easy way to browse cricket-inspired clicks and sweeten them with space, delay, filtering and robotic mutation. At its most adventurous, it becomes a modulation-heavy sound design tool for chirps, blips, rattles, glitches and evolving textures.
The interface is laid out to support both fast results and deeper exploration. The main page provides immediate access to the core sound and effect amounts, while the LFO and Matrix pages open up a larger modulation environment for motion, instability and pattern-based behaviour.
XenoCricket also rewards experimentation. Random sample loading, quick preset auditioning, motion sources and emergency utility buttons encourage playful workflows without abandoning control.
Only male crickets chirp. They rub their front wings together in a process called stridulation to attract mates.
Main Features
Source & Playback
Choose a colony, browse individual clicks, view the waveform and shape the source using Pitch, Decay, Transient and Pitch Drift.
Four Processing Modules
Graviton Reverb, Starburst Delay, Robotic Mutation and Hyperspace Filter each have quick controls plus deeper dedicated editing pages.
Blend & Performance
Balance dry and processed sound with the DRY/XENOBOT blend control, then use Reverse, Ping Pong, Echo Freeze and Void Freeze for extra behaviour.
Modulation
Six LFOs, random movement generators, a step sequencer and matrix slots let you automate pitch, effect parameters, timing, spatial motion and more.
Quick Start
- Select a colony from the top-left drop-down. This chooses the source family or sound set you want to explore.
- Browse the current click with the waveform view and left/right arrows. The current click name or number appears at the top centre.
- Set the foundation with Pitch, Decay and Transient. These three sliders quickly shift the identity of the source.
- Add movement with quick effect amounts such as Reverb, Delay, DNA Morph and Filter/Resonance.
- Blend the result with the DRY–XENOBOT control near the bottom of the main page.
- Go deeper by opening the LFO or Matrix page, or by entering the deep pages for an effect module.
- Save the result as a preset once you have a sound worth keeping.
Because crickets are cold-blooded, chirp speed changes with the weather. In Celsius, count chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3, then add 4. In Fahrenheit, count chirps in 14 seconds and add 40.
Main User Interface
Left Side Controls
- Pitch retunes the click source.
- Decay changes the length of the source.
- Transient shapes the front edge or bite of the sound.
- Pitch Drift introduces organic pitch instability.
- Graviton Reverb and Space provide quick access to reverb level and spaciousness.
- Starburst Delay and Echo Tone add echoes and tonal colour.
Right Side Controls
- Robotic Mutation sets the amount of robotic processing.
- Xenobotic DNA Morph acts as a macro-style character control for the mutation layer.
- Hyperspace Filter and Resonance shape the filtering stage.
- Carapace, Feedback and Output provide final-level and character balancing.
- Pan Drift adds stereo motion or drifting placement.
A cricket can eat and sing at the same time — multitasking at the insect level.
Main Page Details
Tabs
Main returns to the performance page. LFOs opens modulation source editing. Matrix opens destination routing and signed depth control.
Waveform Display
The central waveform view confirms which click is loaded and helps you quickly browse through individual source hits.
Bottom Buttons
Reverse, Ping Pong, Echo Freeze, Void Freeze and Panic are performance tools for quickly pushing or recovering the sound.
Signal Blend
The DRY–XENOBOT slider controls the balance between the unprocessed source and the processed signal. Keep it closer to DRY for subtle enhancement, or move toward XENOBOT when you want the full alienized result to dominate.
Sample Utilities
- RND SAMP loads a random sample from the current available pool.
- NORMALISE evens out source level for easier comparison.
- CLEAR FX gives you a clean processing slate.
Their powerful hind legs let them jump up to 20 times their own body length.
Modulation Overview & Sources
XenoCricket’s modulation system is designed around named sources edited on the LFO page and routed on the Matrix page. This keeps source design and destination assignment separate: first decide how a control signal should move, then decide what parameter it should affect.
| Source | What it does | Typical uses |
|---|---|---|
| LFO 1–6 | Repeating cyclic modulators with shape, timing, division, phase, fade-in and polarity options. | Regular sweeps, tremolo-like movement, wobble, periodic pitch or filter motion. |
| Wander | A random drifting source for softer, less rigid motion than a normal LFO. | Organic fluctuation, subtle instability, evolving ambience, wandering feedback or tone. |
| Burrow | An additional motion source intended for deeper or more characterful modulation movement. | Slow evolving shape changes and more unusual modulation contours. |
| Migrate | A movement source for travelling modulation behaviour rather than fixed cyclic repetition. | Migration between tonal states, shifting effect balance, evolving macro movement. |
| Step Sequencer | A grid-based source that outputs a pattern of discrete levels across sequential steps. | Rhythmic gating, stepped pitch lines, repeating filter patterns, ratchet accents. |
| Velocity | MIDI performance source based on how hard notes are played. | Dynamic response, expressive brightness, louder hits with more mutation or delay. |
| Mod Wheel | External performance source from your controller. | Hands-on macro control for live movement or automation recording. |
| Continuous Random | A continuously changing random control source that keeps producing new values over time instead of waiting for a specific step or note event. | Persistent instability, living movement, never-quite-the-same feedback, pitch, filter or robotic motion. |
Continuous Random is especially useful when you want constant change without a repeating cycle. Think of it as a live stream of variation: ideal for giving XenoCricket an unsettled, restless personality. Used gently, it adds life. Used aggressively, it can make the sound feel volatile and mutant.
LFOs
Core Controls
- Shape chooses the waveform.
- Timing sets synced or free operation.
- Division determines musical speed when synced.
- Feel offsets the rhythmic character.
- Phase offsets the starting point in the cycle.
Behaviour Controls
- Fade In gradually introduces the modulation after a trigger.
- Random Smooth affects how sharply or smoothly irregular motion is handled.
- Unipolar/Bipolar determines whether the LFO only adds positive motion or swings around zero.
- Sync Play and Note Retrigger help decide how playback resets.
The live output display provides immediate visual feedback for the selected source, making it easier to understand how much motion you are generating before routing it in the Matrix.
If a predator grabs a cricket by its cerci, it may sacrifice them to escape, much like a lizard dropping its tail.
Random Motion Sources
Wander is less about repetition and more about movement that feels alive. The combination of timing, division, feel, smoothness, range and rate lets you choose anything from gentle drift to much more assertive modulation.
Burrow and Migrate sit in the same family of creative modulation tools. In practical use, they extend XenoCricket beyond traditional LFO behaviour and give you more unusual or character-led control movements.
Because these sources are routed through the Matrix, a single modulation source can animate several destinations at once — or several sources can all converge on the same destination.
Some crickets can eject a foul-smelling dark fluid when threatened, discouraging predators from hanging on.
Step Sequencer
- Step Rate sets how quickly the pattern advances.
- Feel changes the rhythmic flavour, for example straight or other timing styles.
- Slew / Smooth softens the transitions between steps.
- Bipolar allows modulation to swing around a centre instead of only rising above zero.
- Note Retrigger and Sync Play determine how the pattern behaves when playback restarts or receives notes.
The step sequencer is especially powerful for stepped pitch changes, repeated filter patterns, feedback pulses and robotic ratchet-style accents.
The cerci at the rear are packed with tiny sensory hairs that detect air movement, helping the insect notice danger from behind.
Matrix Routing
Each slot contains an On switch, a Source, a Destination, a Signed Depth amount and a Curve. This layout makes the Matrix readable at a glance:
- Source chooses the modulator.
- Destination chooses the parameter being controlled.
- Signed Depth sets the amount and direction of modulation.
- Curve shapes the response feel, such as Linear, Soft or Hard.
Positive depth pushes a parameter upward as the source rises. Negative depth inverts the relationship. Curves help decide whether the response feels even, gentle or more immediate.
Cricket fighting has been a pastime in China since the Tang Dynasty. Prized crickets were given custom homes and special diets.
Effects Overview
The four main processors give XenoCricket its personality. The quick controls on the Main page provide fast macro shaping, while the deep pages reveal more specific controls and, in many cases, DNA-tagged parameters that are particularly mutation-friendly.
Graviton Reverb
A reverb module with standard space controls plus a gravity section and optional gate behaviour.
Starburst Delay
A delay engine with core timing controls, character options including bucket-brigade flavour, and a separate gate page.
Robotic Mutation
A multi-flavoured mutation processor including ring modulation, resonation, frequency shifting and ratcheting.
Hyperspace Filter
A filter with core low/high shaping plus comb and formant-inspired character controls.
In many cultures, a cricket chirping in the house has traditionally been seen as a sign of luck, wealth and a happy home.
Graviton Reverb
Graviton Reverb covers classic reverb duties while still fitting the overall alien design of XenoCricket. The core page includes the essential room-shaping controls:
- Algorithm, Mix, Pre-Delay, Size and Decay set the overall reverb type and scale.
- Damping, Width, Low Cut and High Cut refine the spectral and stereo behaviour.
Crickets can infer another cricket’s age, sex and status by chemical traces left in the environment.
Graviton Reverb — Gravity & Gate
- Gravity: Black Hole / Shimmer, Gravity Feedback, Internal Mod Rate and Internal Mod Depth push the reverb into more synthetic or cosmic motion.
- Gate Enabled, Timing, Retrigger, Division, Length, Hold, Release, Threshold and Gate Curve convert the reverb into a tighter rhythmic effect when needed.
Male crickets do not just have one song. They use separate calling, courtship and rivalry songs depending on the situation.
Starburst Delay
The core page handles the essentials: Mix, Feedback, Timing, Free Time, Division, Feedback Tone, Stereo Offset and Diffusion. The Ping Pong switch turns the delay into a wider stereo bounce.
A cricket hears through special membranes called tympana, located just below its front knees.
Starburst Delay — Character & Gate
- The Character page adds Bucket Brigade, BBD Age, Clock Instability, Stages, Repeat Pitch and Pitch Window for dirtier, vintage or more unstable echoes.
- The Gate page includes Gate Mode, Repeat Count, Gate Length / Time, Release and Cutoff, giving the delay a much more pattern-based or clipped identity.
Only male crickets chirp. They rub their front wings together in a process called stridulation to attract mates.
Robotic Mutation
Robotic Mutation is the most overtly transformative processor in XenoCricket. On the Overview page you can balance Xenobotic DNA Morph, Ring Amount, Resonator Amount and Metal Shift Amount, and enable ratcheting. The Ring Mod page then exposes Mix, Carrier Rate, Waveform, Note Tracking and Stereo Phase for more deliberate metallic or synthetic timbres.
Because crickets are cold-blooded, chirp speed changes with the weather. In Celsius, count chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3, then add 4. In Fahrenheit, count chirps in 14 seconds and add 40.
Robotic Mutation — Resonator & Frequency Shift
- Resonator includes Mix, Tune, Decay, Damping and Feedback for pitched resonances and tuned ringing bodies.
- Freq Shift offers Mix, Shift, Fine, Feedback and Stereo Divergence for inharmonic metallic motion and classic frequency-shifter strangeness.
A cricket can eat and sing at the same time — multitasking at the insect level.
Robotic Mutation — Ratchet
Key controls include Count, Timing, Free Rate, Division, Decelerate / Accelerate, Pitch Progression, Pan Progression and Probability. This section is ideal when you want a single hit to bloom into insectile chatter or machine-gun-like repetitions.
Their powerful hind legs let them jump up to 20 times their own body length.
Hyperspace Filter
- The Core page includes Mode, Cutoff, Resonance, Drive, Mix, Reso Symmetry / Bias, Key Tracking, Envelope Amount and Slope.
- The Character page adds Comb Tune, Comb Damping, Vowel Morph and Formant Spread, useful for vocalised or hollow resonant tones.
A cricket’s antennae are often longer than its whole body and help it feel and smell the world around it.
Presets & Sample Utilities
Use Load Preset and Save Preset for your sound library. The browser shown in the screenshots supports fast auditioning, making it easy to compare ideas before committing to a final load.
RND SAMP is a great way to kick off experimentation, especially when paired with modulation and the deep effect pages. NORMALISE helps keep source levels practical while browsing. Together they make fast exploration much easier.
If a predator grabs a cricket by its cerci, it may sacrifice them to escape, much like a lizard dropping its tail.
Clear FX and Panic
Clear FX and Panic both help you regain control, but they are not the same tool. One is a reset-for-the-processing-chain tool; the other is an emergency safety tool.
| Aspect | Clear FX | Panic |
|---|---|---|
| Main purpose | Reset or neutralise the effect-processing state so you can continue from a cleaner starting point. | Immediately stop or recover from runaway, frozen or otherwise unruly audio behaviour. |
| Best used when | You want to clear accumulated processing choices and rebuild the sound. | You need an instant safety action because feedback, freezes or extreme settings have become too much. |
| Typical result | A tidier, more neutral effect chain while keeping you inside the same overall working context. | A fast emergency recovery that brings the output back under control. |
| Workflow role | Creative reset tool. | Performance and troubleshooting safety tool. |
| Shared similarity | Both help you recover control quickly and are especially valuable when experimenting aggressively with delay, reverb, freeze states and mutation. | |
Practical rule of thumb: use Clear FX when you want to restart the processing idea; use Panic when the sound needs immediate rescue.
Some crickets can eject a foul-smelling dark fluid when threatened, discouraging predators from hanging on.
Tips & Tricks
- Start dry, then blend back in. Small amounts of XENOBOT blend often preserve articulation while still giving the sound personality.
- Use modulation economically. One or two well-routed sources can be more musical than filling every Matrix slot.
- Pair Wander or Continuous Random with subtle destinations. Small movements on pitch, filter cutoff or feedback can make the instrument feel much more alive.
- Use the step sequencer for repeatable identity. It is a strong choice when you want a preset to have a recognisable rhythmic fingerprint.
- Keep Panic in mind. It is the best friend of adventurous feedback and freeze experimentation.
- Right-click the Main button to audition a cricket chirp. It is a small touch, but a fun one.
Closing Thoughts
XenoCricket works well as both a quick click shaper and a deeper experimental instrument. The simplest path is to browse, tweak and blend. The richer path is to explore the LFOs, random sources, step sequencing and matrix routing until the clicks start behaving like a miniature alien ecosystem.
The cerci at the rear are packed with tiny sensory hairs that detect air movement, helping the insect notice danger from behind.