Chapter 12 - Modulate

Modulate is where UNA moves.

Chord Mode gives the piece its harmony; Melody and Bass give it its shape and lines. Modulate is where those pieces stop being static and start to evolve - a filter that swells over 8 bars, a groove that mutates every pass, an accent that fires when you quick press a control in the middle of a chorus, a mod wheel on your keyboard that reaches inside a track and reshapes it live.

The mechanism is simple: a Modulator takes a source and points it at a target. That's the whole model. Everything else in this chapter is choosing the source, choosing the target, and shaping how strongly and how often the modulation happens.

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Getting in and out

From Performance Mode, press MODULATE.

The page shows the current 8 Modulators - either the patch page (Mod 1–8 in cyan) or one of the two global pages (Global Mod 1–8 or 9–16 in green). The 8 PARAMETER Knobs each correspond to one of those displayed 8 Modulators.

EDIT		PAGE
	PLAY / STOP	BACK

• EDIT - opens the selected Modulator's edit page, where you pick its source, target, and settings.
• PAGE - cycles through the three pages: patch → global 1 → global 2 → patch. The label colour tells you which page you're on (cyan for patch, green for global).
• PLAY / STOP - the transport.
• BACK - return to Performance.

CONTROL Knob rotate picks a Modulator within the current page (Modulators 1–8).

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Two kinds of Modulator - patch and global

UNA gives you 8 Modulator slots per patch, plus 16 global modulators:

• Patch Modulators (8 slots, coloured cyan) save with the patch. They belong to a song, an arrangement, a specific moment. Switch patches and the Patch Modulators switch with you. These are your song tools.
• Global Modulators (16 slots on two pages, coloured green) shared across every patch. Switch patches and they keep running. These are your studio tools - the slow evolution that shapes a whole set, the live-controlled CC output that always drives your outboard reverb, the manual macro you keep on hand for the whole session.

Both kinds behave identically under the hood - same sources, same targets, same gestures. The only difference is scope. A Patch Modulator lives in this patch; a Global Modulator lives on the unit.

• Patch Modulators can target another Patch Modulator or any Global Modulator;

• Global Modulators can only target other Global Modulators.

This rule prevents circular loops from forming, and it means the studio setup doesn't accidentally depend on which patch or bank is loaded.

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The performance gestures

Before we get to editing, three gestures that make Modulators feel like a performance instrument rather than a menu structure. These all happen right on the Modulation page - no drilling into edit sub-modes.

• Quick press a PARAMETER Knob. Fires the corresponding One-shot Modulator for one Rate period. Great for "chorus is coming, punch it now" moments.
• Hold a PARAMETER Knob. A One-shot Modulator that you hold keeps looping past its natural end - one period, another period, another - until you release. When you release, UNA plays out the remainder of the current period, then stops cleanly. So a held knob gives you a sustained fill; letting go lands it musically at the next period boundary. (If the Modulator is set to Continuous, quick press and hold do the same thing - it's already running.)
• CONTROL + PARAMETER Knob press. Toggles that Modulator between Continuous and One-shot, in place. UNA doesn't restart the modulation - the phase is preserved, so you can flip mid-modulation without a jump.
• CONTROL + PARAMETER Knob rotate. Temporarily changes that Modulator's Amount, live. Release CONTROL and the Amount snaps back to whatever was stored. The on-screen Amount bar tracks the held value so you can see what you're doing. Great for a "push harder for this chorus, then back off" gesture without permanently editing the patch.

These four gestures cover most live use. You'll spend most of your Modulator work in the edit pages below; you'll spend most of your Modulator play in these four gestures.

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The Modulator anatomy

Every Modulator has these ingredients:

• A source - what generates the modulating value. UNA has six of them, covered below.
• A target - what the Modulator moves. Can be any parameter on any track or sub-mode (including another Modulator's parameters), or a MIDI CC output that leaves UNA and drives your outboard gear.
• An amount - how much the source pushes the target. 0 is no effect; higher amounts push the target further from its base value.
• A rate - how fast the source cycles (for time-based sources).
• A mode - Continuous (runs forever) or One-shot (fires once when triggered, runs for one Rate period, then stops).

One Modulator moves one target. To modulate several parameters together, use several Modulators - they can share the same source, so a single "master swell" wave can drive Melody pitch, Chord layers, and CC-mapped delay on an outboard reverb, all locked in phase.

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Editing a Modulator

Select a modulator using CONTROL, then press EDIT.

UNA opens Modulator Edit, showing the Modulator's current target in the header and its parameters listed below.

The control layout depends on which source is active, but the top-level shape is:

SOURCE	(source-specific)	TARGET
(varies)	PLAY/STOP	BACK

• SOURCE - opens the source picker.
• The source-specific control - opens the current source's own configuration page. Its label matches the source: SHAPE for Waveform, SEED for Random, SEQUENCE for a Stepper source, ASSIGN for MIDI CC, and so on.
• TARGET - opens the target picker.
• APPLY - commit changes.
• CANCEL - discard and return.

Editing the parameters

The bottom half of the screen is the parameter list.

Rotate CONTROL to select; press and rotate CONTROL to edit the selected value.

The row set depends on the current source - a time-based source (Waveform, Random, Time Sequence, Step Sequence) shows the full set; a static source (Macro, MIDI CC) hides unrelated parameters.

For time-based sources:

• Amount - how strongly the source pushes the target. 0–200%. 100% is the source's natural depth; below cuts back, above pushes past the natural range (and clips against Min/Max if a range is set).
• Rate Time - how long one full cycle of the source takes. ¼ Bar → 16 Bars, tempo-locked. Default 1 Bar.
• Steps - the length of this Modulator's step lane, 1–32. Only shown for Time Sequence and Step Sequence sources; edits the Modulator's own stepper lane directly.
• Pre Wait - insert time before the modulation begins. The target sits at its resting value for this long, then the source begins. OFF → 16 Bars.
• Post Wait - insert time after the modulation Rate time period completes. Sits between mode rate cycles in LOOP mode; holds after the fire in 1-SHOT mode. OFF → 16 Bars.
• Range Max - upper limit the source can push the target to, shown in the target's own units (e.g. 127 for velocity, +7 for octave). OFF disables the ceiling, falling back to the target's own maximum value.
• Range Min - lower limit, same units. OFF disables the floor, falling back to the target's own minimum value.
• Range Span - how the shape maps between the current value and those limits. MIN → MAX swings bipolar (full source, centred on the current value); VAL → MAX pushes only upward; MIN → VAL pulls only downward.
• Mode - Sets the modulation behaviour.
• LOOP: runs forever while Enabled

• 1-SHOT: fires once per arming, then disarms itself and awaits re-enable (Switching to 1-SHOT automatically disables the Modulator so you can arm the next fire deliberately).

• Enabled - ON / OFF for this Modulator. (Also toggled by quick pressing the corresponding PARAMETER Knob on the Modulation page).

For Macro and MIDI CC sources, only four rows are shown - Rate, Waits, Span and Mode are hidden because a static offset has no time-based shape to phase or gate:

• Amount - the raw target value the macro / CC is currently set to, in the target's own units. On Macro it moves when you turn the Modulator's knob; on MIDI CC it's read-only and driven by the last incoming CC value.
• Range Max - upper limit the macro / CC can reach on the target.
• Range Min - lower limit.
• Enabled - ON / OFF for this Modulator.

The Modulator Edit diagram

The top half of the screen draws a live picture of what this Modulator will do to its target - the shape, the timing, the amount, the range, and where they interact.

Every row you edit updates the diagram in real time.

Five elements make up the picture:

• The shape trace. The main coloured line - the source's actual output at its current settings.

• For Waveform it's the LFO curve; for Random, Time Sequence and Step Sequence, the step pattern. For Macro and MIDI CC, an icon and the live incoming CC value.

• The dark-grey reference shape sits behind the coloured trace and shows the source at 100% Amount and full Span, ignoring Range.

• It's a design aid - no matter how much you cut Amount or squeeze Range, you can always see the shape you picked.

• The Min / Max range lines are the horizontal grey lines across the diagram, positioned in the target's own units.

• The active modulation shape is clamped between them. Where the coloured trace hits one of those limits it turns RED, so you can see where the modulation has reached the range limits.

• The Amount bar on the far right shows the amount of modulation currently applied.

• On Macro / MIDI CC it shows the deviation relative to the target's current base value.

• Pre and Post Wait periods appear as flat lines on either side of the shape, sized proportionally to their bar counts.

• Faint vertical dividers mark the pre|active and active|post boundaries.

Below the trace, a row of grey markers spans the full cycle; one per bar. Useful for reading the length of a slow cycle at a glance.

Highlighting. Whichever parameter you have selected, in the list, lights up in YELLOW on the diagram.

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Modulation Range - SPAN, MIN, and MAX

Range Span decides which direction the shape pushes the target from its current value; Min and Max decide how far it can go. Two small levers - but together they turn a raw source into something musical.

• MIN → MAX is the classic bipolar swing: the shape moves the target both above and below the current value.
• Sine on Pitch with Min = −2 semitones, Max = +2 gives you a subtle vibrato either side of the note; an LFO on filter cutoff (via CC) with Min = 40 and Max = 100 swings across those two values around wherever the knob currently sits. This is what most people mean when they say "LFO on a parameter".
• VAL → MAX only ever pushes up from the current value.
• A velocity swell that lifts your current dynamic toward Max but never drops below where you started; a reverb send that opens up into the chorus but never mutes; a slow rise that crescendos and doesn't retreat.
• MIN → VAL only ever pulls down from the current value.
• A "duck" on velocity level, mod wheel at rest sits at 100, holding pulls it down to 40 and back on release.

Min and Max as safety rails. Even with the classic MIN → MAX swing, tight range limits keep an adventurous source under control.

• A Random modulator on Octave will walk anywhere from −10 to +10 if you let it - set Min = −2, Max = +2 and the walk stays inside a musical band.
• A filter LFO with Min = 20 will never fully close, so even at minimum Amount you don't drop into sudden silence.
• A velocity swell with Max = 100 gives you a comfortable ceiling so the source can't ever punch through into painful territory.

Min and Max as a CC mapping clamp. For MIDI CC sources, Min and Max squash the incoming CC's full 0–127 travel down into just the window you set.

• Set Min = 45, Max = 75 on a velocity target and full mod-wheel travel now feels like a subtle trim rather than a violent lurch.
• Set Min = 30 on a filter cutoff target and no matter how far you push the wheel back, the filter can't ever fully close.

Any incoming CC stays inside the window you define, and the target parameter can't leave that window regardless of what your controller sends.

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Choosing a source

Press SOURCE from Modulator Edit.

UNA opens the six-option source picker.

Source	What it does
Waveform	LFO-style time-based modulation. A shape (sine, triangle, saw, square, and 12 more) sweeps the target back and forth at your chosen Rate.
Random	Steps to a random value on every cycle. Great for organic, human-like variation.
Time Sequence	A 32-step pattern of values spread evenly across the Rate period. Sequenced modulation on a timeline.
Step Sequence	A 32-step pattern locked to the target track's step timing - advances one value per sequencer step, whatever the track's Time setting is. Sequenced modulation locked to the music.
Macro	A static offset value that you set by hand. Doesn't move on its own; moves when you turn the Modulator's Amount knob. Useful for "give me a manual filter knob mid-performance."
MIDI CC	Driven by an external MIDI source - a CC number, a mod wheel, aftertouch - that you assign via MIDI Learn. What you play on your keyboard reshapes what UNA plays.

Rotate the CONTROL Knob to select from six sources; press APPLY to commit.

The rest of this section covers each source type's own config page.

Waveform

Press SHAPE in Modulator Edit when Waveform is the source. UNA opens the shape editor.

Sixteen base shapes are available: SINE, TRI, BELL, LOG, SAW, EXP, SQUARE, HIGH, LOW, and their inverses.

• Rotate the CONTROL Knob to browse (the current shape draws live so you can see what you're picking).

Two extra controls sit alongside the shape picker:

• Quick press MORPH and rotate the CONTROL Knob to blend the current shape into the next one. So SINE morphed 40% toward TRI is a triangle-ish sine, midway between the two.
• Quick press BIAS and rotate the CONTROL Knob to shift the phase of the wave. Push it forward to have the wave land its peak earlier in the cycle.

MORPH and BIAS can both be toggled with a quick press, or press and hold + rotate CONTROL to quick change without toggling.

• RESET / REVERT works the same way as elsewhere in UNA: press to snap back to the entry state, press again to bring your edits back.
• APPLY commits;
• CANCEL discards.

Random

Press SEED when Random is the source. UNA opens the seed picker.

Each of the 256 seed values produces a deterministic sequence of random values: same seed → same sequence, every time.

• Rotate the CONTROL Knob to browse seeds; the modulation previews live as you scroll.

• APPLY commits.

Time Sequence and Step Sequence

Both stepper sources share the same editor - press SEQUENCE in Modulator Edit. UNA opens a familiar-looking screen: the same 32-step editor as the Melody Stepper (Chapter 10).

Because it's the same machinery, the control layout matches:

LOAD	EDIT	MORPH
SAVE	PLAY / STOP	BACK

Everything Chapter 10 says about editing a Stepper lane applies here:

• rotate CONTROL to pick a step
• press-and-rotate to change its value
• MULTI for block selection
• RESET/REVERT as the safety net

The difference between the two source types is when the pattern advances:

• Time Sequence spreads the step pattern evenly across the Rate period. Set Rate to 4 bars and the pattern walks slowly; set it to 1 bar and it walks four times faster.
• Step Sequence advances with each step made by the target track. No Rate - the pattern is locked to the music. Set the modulator to 16 steps and the pattern cycles every time the target track has advanced 16 steps.

Time Sequence is for modulation that lives on its own timeline. Step Sequence is for modulation that stays married to the rate of the music.

Macro

Macro has no dedicated editor page - the Modulator's own Amount value is the Macro's output. Turn the Modulator's Amount knob and the target moves; leave it and the target holds. It's a manual offset with no automation on top.

Useful for creating an on-the-fly "filter knob," a "pitch bend," or any parameter you want to sweep by hand mid-performance.

Assign a Macro Modulator to a target parameter, and now that PARAMETER Knob has become a manual controller for the target - even in Performance Mode, without drilling in.

Because a Macro is static rather than time-based, its only presents four options: Amount, Min, Max and Enabled.

A Macro nudges the target; it doesn't seize it. When you arm a Macro, UNA remembers the target's value at that moment, and from then on the Macro applies the difference between the Amount knob and that remembered value.

The offset rides on top of whatever the target is currently doing. So if the underlying parameter changes (you edit it, or another Modulator sweeps it) your Macro offset follows along rather than overriding it.

Min and Max fence the result. They set the working range for the target, and the value the Macro produces is held inside it.

On the edit page, a Macro's Amount doesn't show a percentage like the other sources. It shows the value the target will actually become, in the target's own units, because that's the number you care about when you're using a knob as a hand controller.

MIDI CC

MIDI CC behaves in the same manner as a Macro but is driven by an external source. The Modulator Amount is driven by an incoming CC, rather than by your fingers on the knob.

Its edit page is the same short one: Amount, Min, Max, Enabled.

Min and Max matter more here, because they're what stop a controller's full 0–127 sweep from throwing the target to its extremes.

Press ASSIGN when MIDI CC is the source. UNA opens the MIDI CC assignment page.

• MIDI Channel - which channel to listen on (1–16).
• CC Number - which CC number to react to (0–127; mod wheel is 1, aftertouch varies).
• Input CC readout - a live display of the CC value currently coming in.

You can press:

• LEARN to arm MIDI Learn.

• Move a controller on your MIDI setup (mod wheel, aftertouch, a slider) and UNA fills in the Channel and CC Number automatically. This is the fastest way to hook a live controller to a UNA parameter.

• APPLY commits.

• CANCEL discards.

Worked example - Mod Wheel to Melody Pitch

MIDI Learn lets you assign a controller to an UNA parameter without knowing its CC number in advance.

To put your mod wheel on the Melody Pitch:

1. From Performance, press MODULATE, then EDIT on an unused Modulator.
2. SOURCE → MIDI CC → APPLY.
3. ASSIGN → LEARN → move your mod wheel. UNA fills in the Channel and CC number automatically.
4. TARGET → PARAMS → find Melody Pitch → APPLY.

Your mod wheel now controls the pitch live.

Note. There a no hardcoded CC mappings for UNA's Track parameters. Routing a CC through a Modulator, as above, is the way to do it.

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Choosing a target

Press TARGET from Modulator Edit. UNA opens the target picker.

PARAMS	MODS	MIDI CC
PLAY / STOP	APPLY	CANCEL

Targets are organised into three categories:

• PARAMS - every parameter across every track and sub-mode.

• Melody, Chord, and Bass parameters, all 8 Stepper parameters per track, and their morph/rotation/length values. If UNA has a parameter, it can be targeted here.

• MODS - Modulator Amount targets. Pick another Modulator here and this Modulator will move its Amount.

• The forward-reference rule applies: Patch Modulators can pick any earlier Patch Modulator; Global Modulators can only pick earlier Global Modulators. Targets that would form a loop are hidden.

• MIDI CC - CC output.

• Opens a nested config sub-page where you pick the output channel, CC number, and base value the Modulator will send.

To use this page:

• Rotate the CONTROL Knob to walk the list within the current tab;

• Hold-and-rotate to jump between category groupings.

• APPLY commits
• CANCEL discards.

Each target previews live as you highlight it. You'll hear the modulation start affecting the highlighted target before you commit.

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Continuous vs One-shot

Every Modulator has a Mode setting:

• Continuous - the Modulator runs forever.

• Waveforms cycle. Random re-rolls. Steppers loop. This is the default for "modulation that's always alive."

• One-shot - the Modulator waits for a trigger, then fires for one Rate period, then stops.

• Waveforms complete one cycle. Random rolls once. Steppers walk their pattern once. Great for fills, drops, and drama.

You can toggle Mode via CONTROL + PARAMETER Knob press on the Modulation page, or by editing the Mode row in Modulator Edit.

There are 2 ways to trigger a One-shot, using the PARAMETER Knobs:

• Quick Press for one period
• Press and hold for a sustained loop that runs out the cycle on release.

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Modulator-of-modulator

The MODS tab in the target picker lets a Modulator target another Modulator's Amount.

A slow Modulator on one Modulator's Amount is a "conductor" that shapes how strongly the target modulator affects its own target. A slow Waveform pointed at a fast Waveform's Amount gives you a fast tremolo whose depth rises and falls over 8 bars - you get subtle motion at first, dramatic motion at the peak, subtle again as the outer wave falls.

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Worked Recipes - for Modulators

The "slow sweep" recipe. Enter Modulate. Pick Mod 1. EDIT → SOURCE → Waveform → APPLY. SHAPE → pick SINE, APPLY. Back in Edit, set Rate to 4 bars, Amount to about 60%. TARGET → PARAMS → pick a track's parameter, e.g. Melody Pitch . APPLY. Set Mode to Continuous. Now the value changes slowly across every four bars.

The "one-bar fill" recipe. Mod 2. EDIT → SOURCE → Waveform → SAW rising. Rate = 1 bar. Amount = high. TARGET → e.g. the Chord Track's Layers parameter. APPLY. Set Mode to One-shot. Now quick press PARAMETER Knob 2 when you want a chord swell fill; hold it if you want the swell to loop until you release, then land cleanly.

The "evolving groove" recipe. Mod 3. Random source. Rate = 1 bar. Amount = low (20%). TARGET → Melody Track's Velocity. APPLY. Continuous mode. The Random source draws one value per step and reseeds at each cycle boundary, so the same pattern of step values repeats every Rate cycle. With Rate = 1 bar over a 4-step bar, you get four small velocity nudges that loop bar after bar - a static groove becomes a consistent played groove. Lengthen the Rate to fit more distinct steps before the pattern repeats; change the Seed to audition a different pattern.

The "conductor" (modulator-of-modulator) recipe. Mod 1 is a fast Waveform (Rate = ⅛ note) targeting Melody Pitch - a fast trill. Mod 2 is a slow Waveform (Rate = 8 bars) targeting Mod 1's Amount. Now the trill moves over time - subtle at the start of every 8 bars, dramatic in the middle, subtle again at the end. You're modulating the modulator.

The "mod wheel to parameter" recipe. Mod 4. SOURCE → MIDI CC. ASSIGN → LEARN → move your mod wheel - UNA fills in Channel and CC number. APPLY. TARGET → PARAMS → pick a Track parameter. Now your mod wheel modifies the parameter live.

The "CC LFO/control your synth" recipe. Mod 5. SOURCE → Waveform (any shape and rate). TARGET → MIDI CC → set the output channel to whichever your outboard synth is on, set the CC number to whatever that synth's filter cutoff CC is. APPLY. Now UNA is driving your outboard synth's filter as if it had a built-in LFO. Combine with the "master swell" recipe to modulate outboard gear in phase with UNA's internal parameters.

The "studio tool" recipe. Press PAGE to select the Global Mods. Configure Global Mod 1 with a slow Waveform that drives a MIDI CC to your outboard reverb's decay time. Rate = 256 bars. Now every song/patch you engage carries this same slow reverb drift, that gets longer as the set progresses. Set once; forget about it for the rest of the show.

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What's next

The Stepper (Chapter 10) is Modulate's natural companion - Modulate can drive Stepper parameters like Rotation or Length, meaning a static Stepper pattern can be made to walk through variations without your ever entering EDIT.

Chapter 15 (MIDI) covers UNA's MIDI plumbing in detail - worth reading if the MIDI CC source or MIDI CC target got you interested in wiring UNA into a bigger MIDI rig.