LayR describes itself as ‘massively polyphonic’, and according to the developer it is capable of delivering up to 256 voices of rich, multi-layered and textured sounds. That’s impressive, but what’s even more impressive is its latest update 1.2, which delivers a huge punch of new features and functionality.
Here’s all that’s new:
GENERAL:
- Audio Unit v3.
- New App Icon.
- New look for User Interface.
- PDF Manual ( please read it! ).
- An optional “Light” colour scheme.
- More new presets!
AUDIO UNIT:
- Zoomable, scrollable editor.
- Shortcut buttons to quickly zoom to locations in the Layer Editor.
- Presets shared between instances and with stand-alone app.
NEW MIDI CC MIXER:
- A slider strip for each chanel groups Instrument levels while maintaining relative volumes.
- A slider for every MIDI controller assigned in the current Performance.
- Slider strips can renamed or hidden from the mixer panel.
- Query which instrument/layer/dial any MIDI controllers have been assigned to in the current Performance.
- Optionally transmit CCs to the MIDI output port.
LAYER EDITOR:
- Clearly labelled controls.
- Double tap or pinch on the background to zoom the UI.
- New Mod Matrix for routing modulation sources to any destination.
- New Oscillator mode providing coarse/fine tuning and improved FM with a much greater range.
- New “Fixed” oscillator mode to decouple the oscillator from MIDI notes.
- New “Sync” mode for LFOs keeps LFOs in all playing voices synced to the same phase.
- Dials: Increased accuracy and threshold between vertical and horizontal tracking (coarse/fine).
ARPEGGIO SEQUENCER:
- Every track can now have it’s own mode, length and speed.
- New Playback Types.
- New Event Types.
- Copy/Paste/Clear tracks (long press on track).
- New “Hold” button, the sustain pedal is no longer used to hold arpeggiator notes.
DRAG & DROP IN INSTRUMENT MIXER PANEL (iOS 11 only):
- Drag and drop Instrument Strips to rearrange order.
- Drag and drop Instrument Strips to copy into or merge with another Instrument.
- Drag and drop Layer Strips to rearrange order within an instrument
- Drag and drop Layer Strips to the mixer background to create a new instrument with that Layer
- Drag and drop Layer Strips to other Instruments to make a copy in the destination Instrument.
PRESET FILING:
- Easier Import/Export for presets.
- Bank Files: A new file type for importing and exporting entire banks of presets to Files etc.
- Banks and programs can now be deleted/cleared.
MIDI: ( See manual )
- A new MIDI input port for live “Performance” bank/program select using any channel. (optional)
- Option to use either MSB or MSB for bank select.
MISC:
- Optional “expert level” swipe shortcuts to open or close various panels.
- Performance “Append…” has been fixed, you can now append multiple performance programs to the currently loaded performance.
- Reverb is now silenced when changing presets.
- “Fold” amount in Filter 2 is now adjusted downwards as key notes go up, reducing aliasing artefacts as notes get higher.
- An Optional “Legacy Mode” to maintain compatibility with older devices
LayR is available on the app store and costs $19.99