Kiln Synthesizer

Quick start

1. Create an instrument (MIDI) track in your DAW and load Kiln Synthesizer on it. Kiln makes sound from notes; it is not an effect for an audio track. If the header reads Locked · Unlock, Kiln stays silent until you activate it or start a trial (see Installation and activation).
2. Play your MIDI keyboard, or click Kiln's window and type: a s d f g h j k l ; play the white keys from C4 up, and w e t y u o p above them play the black keys.
3. Click Library, choose Bass under Type, and click a sound: it loads, and you can play it straight away while the Library stays open. Up and Down step through the list; Esc closes it. The arrows next to the sound's name (or [ and ]) also step through sounds, with the Library open or closed.
4. Turn the macros on the Play page. Each macro the sound uses is named for what it changes, such as Drive or Punch; one that reads Not assigned does nothing in this sound.
5. Click Save, type a name, pick one of the seven types and click Save to keep your version as one of your own sounds.

What's new in 1.1.2

• Fixed a rare crash when the host saves and restores settings at the same time.

What's new in 1.1.1

• Short, heavily damped reverb settings now fade out as set, instead of ringing on or becoming unstable.
• On Windows, Kiln finds its artwork inside the loaded plugin, wherever it is installed.
• Security improvements to license file handling.

What's new in 1.1.0

A free update for every Kiln owner.

• 59 new factory sounds, and the best come first. 12 pads, 12 keys, 12 plucks, 13 leads, 3 808s, 5 gliding and gritty basses and 2 subs, each with four macros named for what they do. A new Kiln opens on Slow Pour, a warm sliding 808, instead of a bare saw; a plain Init is the first row of Factory in the Library.
• A new Library. It opens over the controls and leaves the keys live: click a sound and play it at once, step through the list with Up and Down, and close it with Esc to keep what you were playing. Featured sounds first, Favourites, seven types, character words, packs, search and sort. See The Library.
• A Legacy shelf. 212 older factory sounds, the earlier basses and near-copies of other sounds, sit on one shelf at the end of the Library. Nothing is removed: every sound keeps its name, and songs that use them sound the same.
• Chord Glide, rebuilt. Each note leaves fast, settles softly into the new chord and lands a touch apart from the others, like an analog poly. It works whether you let go of the last chord, play legato or hold the sustain pedal, and a single note added to a held chord never moves it. Switching it on while Glide is Off sets Glide to 180 ms. Projects made with Kiln 1.0 keep the Chord Glide they were made with. See The sill.
• Every page in the glass face. Voice, Source, Filter, Effects, Output and Motion now use the same knobs, words and glass as the Play and Drive pages. The glass shows what each page edits: the EQ's curve, the filter's response, the envelope or LFO shape, the oscillator's wave or sample.
• About forty settings that lived only in your DAW now have a control, such as the filter routing and slope, Filter Balance in Split, Saturation Mix, Delay's low and high cut, the Sub's wave and octave, the noise filter, voices, MPE, bend range, envelope loop, LFO sync rate, and each oscillator's unison stack, warp, FM, ring and sync. Filter FM, on each filter, is the one working setting left only in your DAW; see Settings in your DAW only.
• Sound fixes. Six wavetables (PWM Sweep, Sync Sweep, Bend Low, Bend High, S-Fold and Knee) lose a DC offset that thumped at the start and end of notes. A Glass filter's Mix and a wavetable's Warp Amount now follow the modulation matrix, and the Sync warp sweeps smoothly. A few factory sounds are fixed: on Glass Ladder, Super Glide, Chip Hop and Tin Comet, Bright now adds bite; Burnt Glow and Burnt Lantern lose their high fizz; Buzz Cinder and Long Cinder end their notes cleanly. The Utility's DC block and LFO Smooth behave the same at 96 and 192 kHz as at 48 kHz. Projects made with Kiln 1.0 sound as they did.
• Your sounds where every host can see them. In Logic, GarageBand and MainStage, your sounds now save in the same folder as in every other host. Sounds saved in those hosts before 1.1 still show up.
• Smaller fixes. Compressor Attack and Release and Reverb Pre-delay read in ms in your DAW's automation lanes; the Voices control covers its full 1 to 64; the LFO display draws the shape you hear; the license status in the header now reads Update when a newer Kiln is out.
• The Field timbre map is retired. The Library's types, words and favourites replace it. Anneal stays in the options menu.
• Your songs are safe. No parameter was added, removed or renamed. A project or a user sound saved with an earlier Kiln opens with the engine it was made with, and sounds exactly as it did.

Earlier updates

• 1.0.3 (Windows): the glass draws the waveform line of the sound you play, as it does on macOS.
• 1.0.2: no click when you let go of a note on sounds with a curved release; sounds and A/B recall exactly; a little lighter on Windows.
• 1.0.1: Knock, the Clipper and Bass Mono got their own views on the Drive page; the glide curve (Lin or Exp) on the sill; LFO fade-in on the face; readouts in plain units; the modulation matrix in words; a Mac installer half the size.
• 1.0: the glass face and the Play page; Chord Glide; a bass engine (per-voice drive with six characters and Low Keep, Knock, an exponential glide, Clean Legato, Bass Mono and a master clipper); LFOs that fade in; 70 new factory sounds (64 basses and 6 leads); cleaner drive and soft clip. Obsidian 1.1 came with it, a free update for Obsidian owners.

The window

Kiln's window has four parts that stay in place: the header at the top, the page names under it, the key bed at the bottom, and the page itself in the middle. On every page except Play, the lower right holds the sill (the voice controls) above the preset's four macros, so the controls you reach for most are always in sight. Most pages show one part at a time: the words at a page's top right pick its views, and the glass on the left draws what the page edits.

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1. Oscillators. Osc 1, Osc 2 and Osc 3; the bright one is shown.
2. Views. Sound, Unison and Pitch. Click a word to switch.
3. The glass. What the page edits; here, the oscillator's wave.
4. Controls. The shown oscillator's controls for this view.
5. The sill. Voice mode, Chord Glide, Clean Legato, Glide and its curve.
6. Macros. The preset's four macros, on every page.

The header and pages

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1. Previous and next. Step through sounds. [ and ] do the same.
2. Sound name. The sound's name, with its type and where it comes from, such as 808 · Factory. Click to open the Library.
3. Save. Opens the Library on its save row.
4. Library. Browse, play, search and save sounds.
5. License. Reads Licensed, Trial · with the days left, or Locked · Unlock, and Update · with the version when a newer Kiln is out. Click it to open the license card.
6. Options (···). Tooltips, keyboard shortcuts, update checks, tuning and Anneal.
7. Pages. Play, Voice, Source, Filter, Drive, Effects, Output and Motion. Keys 1 to 8 open them in order.

The key bed

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1. Computer keys. The range your computer keyboard plays. The arrows (or Z and X) move it an octave.
2. Keys. Click to play. Notes from your DAW or MIDI keyboard light the keys too.
3. Typing range. The bracket under the keys marks what the computer keys reach.
4. Low Keep mark. On the Play and Drive pages, while Drive is on, the drive's Low Keep frequency shows at its note.
5. Out. Kiln's master output.
6. Meter. The output level.

The Play page

The Play page is for playing, not editing: the glass window shows what you hear, and the macros are the moves the sound designer chose for this sound.

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1. Macro 1. Named by the preset (here, Drive).
2. Macro 2. Here, Blend.
3. Macro 3. Here, Punch.
4. Macro 4. Here, Tone.
5. Note or chord. One or two held notes show their names; three or more show the chord.
6. Waveform. The sound as it plays, steady on the lowest note.
7. Spectrum. The sound's frequency content, low on the left.

The new basses and leads

On the 64 basses new in 1.0 the macros are Drive, Blend (or Sub on eight of them), Punch and Tone:

• Drive raises the drive amount.
• Blend brings the clean voice back in under the drive (it lowers the drive's Mix). Where that slot is Sub, it sets the sub oscillator's level.
• Punch shortens the amp envelope and adds Knock at the same time.
• Tone moves the filter or the oscillator shape.

On the six new leads they are Bright, Vibrato, Shape and Pluck. Bright adds bite on four of them (it brings in the drive) and moves the filter on the other two (its cutoff or its resonance); Shape moves the oscillator's shape. Vibrato sets the vibrato depth and Pluck shortens the amp envelope.

The 59 sounds new in 1.1 name their macros the same way, for what each one does in that sound.

The Library

Click Library in the header (or the sound's name). The Library opens over the controls and leaves the keys live: click a sound and play it straight away, on the on-screen keys, your computer keys or MIDI.

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1. Featured, Favourites, All sounds. Each time you open Kiln's window, the Library first opens on Featured: 36 of the best factory sounds, mostly leads, basses and 808s with a few pads, keys and plucks, starting with Slow Pour, the sound a new Kiln opens on. If you own Obsidian, 16 of its sounds are featured too. When the sound you are on is not featured, that first open goes to All sounds instead. Favourites are the sounds you starred. While the window stays open, the Library reopens where you left it, or on All sounds if the sound you are on is not in that view. The types, packs, words and search below work inside the one you choose here, so choose All sounds to look through everything.
2. Type. Bass, 808, Lead, Pad, Keys, Pluck and FX. The number beside each is how many sounds it would show. Click a chosen type again to clear it.
3. Packs. Factory (471 sounds plus Init at the top: one saw, everything else off, to start from scratch), each expansion pack you own, Your sounds and, last, Legacy (212 older factory sounds, kept so your songs still find them). In All sounds, pick a type with a pack to see, say, the legacy pads. Click a chosen pack again to clear it.
4. Search. Narrows the list: it reads names, types, packs, character words and descriptions, so in All sounds "legacy bass" finds the older basses.
5. Sort. Best (our order within each type), A–Z, or Pack.
6. Character words. Dark, Bright, Warm, Driven, Glide and the rest. Pick one or more; a sound must have them all.
7. Star. Adds the sound to your Favourites, or takes it out.
8. The glass. Shows the sound as you play it.
9. Macros. The sound's four macros, live: turn them while it plays.
10. Play a phrase. Plays a short line that suits the sound's type; it reads Stop while it plays.
11. Save. Name your sound, pick its type and click Save.

• Click a row to load it. Up and Down (and Page Up, Page Down, Home and End) step through the list and load as they go; Enter loads the selected row. A double-click loads and closes. Esc, Library again or any page name closes the Library, and the sound you were playing stays.
• Typing in Search or the name box sends the keys to the box; click the list again to play.
• Factory sounds never change: Save always makes your own copy, and the Library tells you if the name is taken or the file could not be written.
• [ and ] (or the header arrows) step through the factory sounds, then your packs, then your own sounds, with the Library open or closed.
• Your favourites are kept in one file beside your own sounds, so every project sees the same stars.

Expansion packs

A Vitric Sounds expansion pack, such as Obsidian, downloads as a zip. Unzip it and put its .xml pack files straight into Kiln's Expansions folder (not in a folder inside it), which Kiln creates the first time you open the Library, then open the Library again. Until a pack is installed, the Library shows the folder under Packs.

• macOS: ~/Library/Vitric Audio/Kiln/Expansions
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Vitric Audio\Kiln\Expansions

The pack appears under Packs, and its sounds join All sounds and the types. Put every file from the zip in the folder: each Kiln plays the newest version it can read. Obsidian 2.1 (93 sounds) needs Kiln 1.1; Obsidian 2.0 (91 sounds) and 1.1 (66 sounds) work from Kiln 1.0; Kiln 0.3 keeps using Obsidian 1.0. When a newer version of a pack you own is out, the Library says so under Packs. A session saved with a pack sound reopens with its sound and name even if you later remove the pack.

The sill

These voice controls sit at the lower right of every page except Play, above the four macros.

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1. Voice mode. Poly, Mono or Legato.
2. Chord Glide. Each note of a new chord slides from the nearest note of the last chord. Its state reads under it.
3. Clean Legato. Slides and re-attacks without clicks.
4. Glide. How long a slide takes.
5. Glide curve. Lin or Exp.
6. Macros. The same four macros as on the Play page.

Chord Glide, step by step

1. Set the voice mode to Poly.
2. Turn on Chord Glide. The line under it reads On · Poly, and if Glide was Off it is now 180 ms, a good place to start.
3. Play a chord, then the next one. Each note of the new chord slides from the closest note of the last one and lands softly, so the voices move like a section of players. Voices never cross, and a three-note chord can move to a four-note chord.

The last chord can be one you just let go of (within about a second and a half), one you are still holding when two or more new notes land together (the held notes move into the new chord without a new attack), or one the sustain pedal holds. A single note added to a held chord never moves it. A quick roll (all notes within about 30 ms) glides as one chord. Projects saved with Kiln 1.0 keep the Chord Glide they were made with.

The Voice page

The Voice page has two views, picked by the words Arp and Voice at its top right: the arpeggiator, and how notes become voices. The glass shows the sound you play.

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1. Views. Arp and Voice.
2. Arpeggiator. Turns the arpeggiator on.
3. Latch. Keeps the pattern going after you let go.
4. Rate. The step length, in time with your DAW.
5. Pattern. The order the notes play in.
6. Octaves. How many octaves the pattern climbs.
7. Gate. How long each step sounds.
8. Swing. Pushes every other step late.
9. Chance. The chance each step plays.

Arp

Voice

The Source page

The Source page holds the three oscillators. Pick one with the words Osc 1, Osc 2 and Osc 3, and one of its three views with Sound, Unison and Pitch at the top right; The window shows the page. The glass draws the oscillator's wave: one cycle of the wavetable frame or the analog shape, or the whole sample with its start and loop marked.

Sound

Loading a sample

Pick Sample, then click Load to choose a WAV, AIFF or FLAC file, or drop a file on the Source page's controls, on the right: it loads into the shown oscillator and switches it to Sample. Clear removes it. The sample's name shows beside Load. Kiln reads the root key from the file's sampler data when it has any, otherwise from a pitch analysis (C4 when the sound has no clear pitch). The session keeps a copy of each sample, up to 16 MB per sound; beyond that it saves a link to the file. If the linked file has moved, the name reads Missing: and the file's name; click Load and choose it again. Long files load their first 2,097,152 samples (about 48 s at 44.1 kHz).

Unison

Pitch

The Filter page

Two filters. Pick one with Filter 1 or Filter 2; Serial, Parallel and Split at the top right set how they connect. The glass draws the shown filter's real response (the other filter faint behind it, when it is on) with a point for cutoff and resonance: drag it, or double-click it to reset both. The Glass model draws its modes instead, without the point.

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1. Filters. Filter 1 and Filter 2.
2. Routing. Serial, Parallel or Split.
3. Balance. In Split, how far each filter reaches into the other side.
4. Cutoff. Where the filter acts.
5. Model. SVF, Ladder, Comb, Formant or Glass.
6. Resonance. Emphasis at the cutoff.
7. Drive. Heat into the Ladder.
8. Keytrack. How far the cutoff follows the note.
9. Morph. Low to band to high pass, or the vowel.
10. Mix. Unfiltered and filtered blend.
11. Slope. 12 or 24 dB an octave.
12. The point. Cutoff and resonance in the glass.

The Glass resonator

With Glass chosen, the filter shows its own controls, with Material as the large knob. The resonator rings at each note you play, so you play it like an instrument: start from a sound with the Glass character word, move Material and Position, then set Damping for the length of the ring.

The Drive page

The Drive page has three views, picked by the words Drive, Knock and Clipper at its top right. Drive and Knock work on each voice; the Clipper and Bass Mono work on Kiln's master output. The glass window on the left shows the sound in every view. Each time you open Kiln's window, the page starts on the Drive view.

The Drive view

The drive works on each voice separately, after the filter, so every note of a chord distorts on its own and a bass keeps its shape under heavy drive.

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1. Drive. Turns the drive on.
2. Drive (the large knob). How hard each voice is driven.
3. Type. The drive's character.
4. Bias. Adds even harmonics to some types.
5. Low Keep. Keeps the lows below it clean.
6. Tone. Darker or brighter.
7. Mix. Clean and driven blend.
8. Output. Level after the drive.
9. Views. Drive, Knock and Clipper. Click a word to switch.

The six types:

• Soft: smooth, round saturation.
• Tube: warm, asymmetric glow.
• Hard: tight, bright hard clip.
• Fold: folds the wave over itself.
• Fuzz: pulse fuzz; Bias sets the growl.
• Even: even-harmonic growl.

Knock

Knock is a pitch sweep into every note: each note starts away from its pitch and sweeps in, the punch of an 808. It moves every oscillator and the sub.

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1. Views. Drive, Knock and Clipper.
2. Knock. How far the pitch starts from the note.
3. Decay. How long the sweep takes.
4. Curve. The shape of the sweep.
5. On slides. Whether legato slides get the sweep.

The Clipper and Bass Mono

The Clipper sits on the master, after the effects and after Bass Mono. It holds peaks just under 0 dB.

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1. Clipper. Turns the master clipper on.
2. Drive. How hard the master is pushed into it.
3. Knee. How softly it rounds the peaks.
4. Bass Mono. Lows in mono below this frequency.

The Effects page

Nine effects in a chain: EQ, Compressor, Saturation, Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Delay, Reverb and Utility. Click a name to show that effect; a name is bright when the effect is on and dim when it is off. Each effect's own name, at the upper left of its controls, is its on switch. Each stays off until the sound or you turn it on.

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1. Effects. The nine names; bright when on.
2. EQ. The EQ's on switch.
3. Points. Low, Mid and High in the glass.
4. Low. The low shelf.
5. Mid freq, Mid gain. The mid bell.
6. High. The high shelf.
7. Tilt. Darker or brighter overall.

EQ, compressor and saturation

Chorus, phaser and flanger

Delay, reverb and utility

The Output page

Three views, picked by Output, Sub and Noise at the top right: the end of the chain, the sub oscillator, and the noise source. Drift is on the Voice page, and the macros are in the macro row.

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1. Views. Output, Sub and Noise.
2. Out. Kiln's master output.
3. Quality. Eco, Standard or Ultra.
4. Soft clip. A gentle ceiling on the master.
5. Auto governor. Keeps playback running under load.

The Motion page

Motion holds the modulation in three views, picked by Envelopes, LFOs and Matrix at the top right. The glass draws the shown envelope's or LFO's shape.

Envelopes

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1. Env 1 to Env 4. Pick which envelope the controls show.
2. Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release. The envelope's stages.
3. Delay, Hold. A wait before the attack, and time at the top.
4. Curves. The shape of the attack, decay and release.
5. Velocity. How much harder playing raises it.
6. Loop. Repeats while the key is held.

LFOs

An LFO moves nothing until a matrix route uses it as a source (see Matrix).

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1. LFO 1 to LFO 4. Pick which LFO the controls show.
2. Sync, One-shot, Per voice. Tempo sync, one cycle per note, one LFO per voice.
3. Rate. How fast it moves.
4. Shape. The wave the LFO draws.
5. Phase, Smooth. Where it starts, and how round it is.
6. Fade in. The time to full depth after each attack.

Matrix

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1. Pages. Six pages of eight routes, 1–8 to 41–48.
2. Source. What moves the target.
3. Target. The control it moves.
4. Depth. How far, and in which direction.
5. Clear. Empties the route.

The matrix has 48 routes in six pages of eight, picked by 1–8 to 41–48. Each route has a source, a target and a depth. Click Choose a source or Choose a target to pick from a menu (the targets are grouped by kind); turn the depth knob, from −100 to +100 %; Clear empties the route. Init has no routes; every factory sound uses some. A route you have only half made (a source without a target) stays put while you finish it.

• Sources: Env 1 to Env 4, LFO 1 to LFO 4, Random, Chaos, Macro 1 to Macro 4, Velocity, Release Velocity, Note, Mod Wheel, Pitch Wheel, Aftertouch, MPE Pressure, MPE Slide, MPE Lift, and Gate Count (how many keys are held, full at eight).
• Targets: each oscillator's Level, Pan, Pitch, Fine, Table Position, Warp Amount, Unison Detune, Unison Spread, FM Amount, Pulse Width, Shape and Sample Start; each filter's Cutoff, Resonance, Morph, Drive, Mix and Glass Material, Position, Damping and Shimmer; each envelope's Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release; each LFO's Rate; Sub Level, Noise Level, Noise Color, Drift, Drive Amount, Drive Mix and Pitch Env Amount (Knock); and the depth of any route (Mod 1 Depth to Mod 48 Depth). The effects are not targets.

The menus and the rows name each target in full, such as Osc 1 Table Position or Filter 1 Glass Material. Drive Amount and Drive Mix are the Drive view's large Drive knob and its Mix, and Pitch Env Amount is Knock. Warp Amount does nothing while that oscillator's Warp is Off.

To add movement: pick a source and a target, start the depth near zero, and raise it while you hold a note.

Settings in your DAW only

Almost every setting has a control on Kiln's face. These remain in your DAW's parameter list:

Anneal and tuning

Anneal

Anneal starts a sound for you from a recording. Open it from Options > Anneal from audio….

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1. Open Audio. Choose a file, or drop one on the panel.
2. Anneal. Starts the search.
3. Close. Closes the panel and stops a search; so does a click outside the panel, or Esc.
4. Drop area. Drop one audio file here.
5. Status. What Anneal is doing.

To start a sound from a recording:

1. Click Open Audio and choose a short, isolated sound, or drop one on the panel: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP3 or OGG, mono or stereo. Anneal analyzes up to the first four seconds.
2. Click Anneal and wait. While it searches, Cancel appears; it stops the search and keeps the recording loaded.
3. Click Apply on each result (up to four) to hear it, then close the panel and shape the one you like with the normal controls.
4. Save it as a user sound.

The percentage on each result is how closely its features match, not a promise that it copies the recording. The analysis runs on your computer.

Tuning

In Options, under Tuning, choose Load scale (.scl)…, Load keyboard map (.kbm)… or Reset tuning to 12-TET. A scale alone maps from C4 at 261.63 Hz; a keyboard map sets the reference key and frequency. The scale and map are saved with your session.

While one is active, the header shows Scale: and its name (with + Map when a keyboard map is loaded); click it for the same items. When an MTS-ESP tuning master is running, the header reads MTS-ESP and the master's tuning takes over. A file Kiln cannot use shows Tuning refused with the reason.

Keyboard and mouse

Letters on your computer keyboard play notes, so Kiln's own shortcuts use digits, brackets and two letters.

In Pro Tools, fine drag is Cmd + drag (Ctrl on Windows) and reset is Option + click (Alt on Windows). Typing into a box (a value, Search or the save name), or opening Anneal, the shortcut sheet or the license card, pauses the computer keys and releases any notes you were holding with them. The Library leaves them live, so you can play each sound as you pick it.

A typed value can use the units the readouts show: 2.75 kHz, -3 ct, 53 ms, 0.05 s, or 40% (40 alone works too on a control that reads in percent). On most percent controls a bare 1 or 0.5 is read as a fraction (100 % or 50 %), so add % to small values. Type off where a readout says Off. Kiln keeps the exact number you type, even when the readout rounds it.

Recipes

A sliding 808

Play overlapping notes to slide; leave a gap to re-attack.

Chords that glide

Play a chord progression, letting go of each chord just before you play the next one. Every voice slides to its nearest new note.

Grit on a sub without losing the sub

The drive adds harmonics above Low Keep while the sub stays clean and centred.

A lead with vibrato that blooms

Short notes stay straight; held notes open into vibrato.

A filter wobble

Hold a note: the filter opens and closes with LFO 1.

A glass pluck

Quality, CPU and old sessions

• Quality (Eco, Standard, Ultra) on the Output page trades CPU against quality. Offline bounces always run Ultra, so you can work on Eco and still bounce clean, if your DAW tells Kiln it is bouncing offline. A real-time export may not, so set Ultra yourself before a real-time export.
• Auto governor keeps playback running under heavy load by easing off Ultra, then Eco, then voices.
• Unison is the biggest CPU cost: each extra unison voice (Source page, Unison view) is another oscillator per note.
• Old sessions keep the old engine. A project or user sound saved with Kiln 0.3 or earlier opens with the engine it was made with, including the old filter drive, soft clip and voice stealing, so it sounds exactly as you left it. Every control new in 1.0 starts off in those sessions. A project saved with Kiln 1.0 likewise keeps its Chord Glide, its matrix and warp, and the six wavetables as 1.0 played them.

Specifications

• Voices: up to 64 in Poly (16 by default).
• Latency: none.
• Sounds: 683 factory sounds and 80 wavetables.
• Samples: WAV, AIFF or FLAC; the first 2,097,152 samples of a file.
• Window: 1280 x 860 when it opens; resizable from 1120 x 752 to 1920 x 1290, keeping its shape.
• Formats: VST3 and AAX on macOS and Windows; AU on macOS.
• Systems: macOS 10.15 or later on Intel, macOS 11 or later on Apple Silicon; Windows 10 or later, 64-bit.

Credits

• Interface type: Archivo, copyright 2020 The Archivo Project Authors, used under the SIL Open Font License, Version 1.1.
• Tuning: the MTS-ESP client library, copyright 2021 ODDSound Ltd., used under its license.

Installation and activation

Install

1. Download the installer from vitricaudio.com/downloads or your account at vitricaudio.com/account.
2. Save your work and quit your DAW.
3. Run the .pkg (Mac) or .exe (Windows).
4. Open your DAW, rescan plugins if needed, and load Kiln Synthesizer on an instrument track.

Use AU in Logic Pro, AAX in Pro Tools and VST3 in other DAWs. The Mac installer puts the plugins in the standard folders:

• AU: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components
• VST3: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3
• AAX: /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins

On Windows:

• VST3: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
• AAX: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins

Activate your license

Until you activate a license or start a trial, Kiln plays no sound and the header reads Locked · Unlock.

1. Click the license status in the header to open the license card.
2. Paste the VT-... key from your purchase email or account page. Lost it? vitricaudio.com/license can resend your keys.
3. Click Apply license. The header then reads Licensed.

A full license works offline after activation and runs on up to three computers at a time.

Activate a computer that is offline

1. On the offline computer, open the license card and click Copy code to copy its machine code (it starts with VTM1-).
2. On any computer that is online, open vitricaudio.com/license, enter your key and the machine code, and download the license file.
3. Copy the file to the offline computer, open the license card and click Load file.

Try it free for 72 hours

1. Open the license card and click Start free trial. The trial page opens with the product and machine code filled in.
2. Sign in with the emailed link and click Start my 72-hour trial.
3. Click Copy trial key, paste it into the license card and click Apply license. Or click Download license file and use Load file. A backup copy is emailed to you.

The trial has every feature, runs 72 hours from issue and needs an internet connection while you use it. There is one trial per product, person and computer, and no payment details are needed. When it ends, Kiln goes silent but keeps every setting in your projects.

Updates

When a newer Kiln exists, the license status in the header reads Update · with its version, such as Update · 1.1.1. Click it: the license card shows UPDATE AVAILABLE with Download 1.1.1 (it opens the product page) and Later (the header goes back to Licensed, or the trial days, until the next version). Kiln checks once a day while its window is open and sends only the product, your version and your platform; turn Check for updates off in Options to stop it. Quit your DAW and run the new installer over the old one. Your projects reopen as saved.

Troubleshooting

No sound

• Kiln is an instrument: check that it is on an instrument (MIDI) track, the track is armed or monitoring, and notes reach it (the keys light when they do).
• If one oscillator is silent, its Ring may be taking its signal from an oscillator that is off or at Level 0 (the one in FM from, Source page, Pitch view). Turn that oscillator on, or Ring off.
• Look at the header: Locked · Unlock means Kiln has not been activated, the trial ended, or the license needs attention. Click it.
• On the Source page, check that an oscillator is on with its Level up, and that Out is not turned down.
• On the Filter page, check that Cutoff on an active filter is not turned all the way down.

The pattern keeps playing after I let go

Latch is on in the arpeggiator. Turn it off.

I can't find a control

Most pages show one part at a time. Click the words at a page's top right: Arp and Voice on the Voice page; Sound, Unison and Pitch on the Source page (for each of Osc 1 to Osc 3); Drive, Knock and Clipper on the Drive page; Output, Sub and Noise on the Output page; Envelopes, LFOs and Matrix on the Motion page. On the Filter page, Filter 1 and Filter 2 pick the filter; on the Motion page, the words above the controls pick the envelope, the LFO or the page of routes. The Effects page shows one effect at a time: click its name. The Drive page starts on the Drive view each time Kiln's window opens. Filter FM is the one working setting left only in your DAW (see Settings in your DAW only).

A control does nothing

• Table, Position and Warp work on Wavetable oscillators; Shape, Pulse width and Sync (Sound view) on Analog; Start, Loop, Reverse and Crossfade on Sample. Warp amount does nothing while Warp is Off.
• FM amount needs FM from set to a higher-numbered oscillator that is on (Source page, Pitch view), and Ring needs FM from set to a higher-numbered oscillator. On a Sample oscillator, FM amount and the Sync switch (Pitch view) do nothing.
• On the Filter page, Drive works on the Ladder and Slope on the SVF; Balance works in Split.
• On the compressor, Ratio works in Clean, and Upward and Downward in OTT.
• The noise filter's Frequency does nothing while its filter is Off.
• Bias does nothing on Soft, Hard and Fold drive; the note under it says so.
• Decay, Curve and On slides do nothing while Knock is Off, unless a matrix route moves Pitch Env Amount (the Punch macro on the new basses does).
• The Clipper's Drive and Knee do nothing while the Clipper is off.
• An LFO, and Env 2 to Env 4, move nothing until a matrix route uses them.
• Chord Glide does nothing in Mono or Legato (it reads Needs Poly) or while Glide is Off.
• A macro that reads Not assigned is not used by this sound; route it on the Motion page.

Notes slide when I don't want them to, or don't slide

Notes slide in Mono and Legato when they overlap, and in Poly with Chord Glide on. With Legato only off (Voice page, Voice view), every note slides from the last one, in any voice mode. To stop it, set Glide to Off, turn Chord Glide off, turn Legato only back on, or (in Mono and Legato) leave a gap between notes. If nothing slides, check that Glide is above Off and that the notes overlap.

The computer keys or shortcuts do nothing

Click an empty part of Kiln's window once so it has the keyboard. Typing into a box (a value, Search or the save name), or an open Anneal panel, shortcut sheet or license card, pauses the computer keys; after typing in the Library, click the list to play again. Some DAWs keep certain keys for themselves; use your MIDI keyboard or the on-screen keys for those.

It crackles or my computer runs short

Lower the unison Voices on the oscillators (Source page, Unison view), choose Eco under Quality on the Output page, keep Auto governor on, or raise your DAW's buffer size. Offline bounces still run Ultra.

The end of my bounce cuts off the reverb or delay

Leave a few bars after the last note inside the export range, or turn on your DAW's option to include effect tails.

I can't find an old bass

In the Library, choose All sounds, then the Legacy shelf, last under Packs: the earlier factory sounds are there, and every sound keeps its name. Pick a type with it, such as Bass, or search: in All sounds "legacy bass" finds the older basses.

Kiln does not appear in my DAW

Rescan plugins and restart the DAW. In Logic Pro, use Logic Pro > Settings > Plug-in Manager and Reset & Rescan Selection. Look for Kiln among instruments, not effects.

I lost my license key

Enter your email at vitricaudio.com/license to have your keys sent again, or find them in your account at vitricaudio.com/account.

Support

Write to support@vitricaudio.com with your Kiln version, operating system, DAW and version, plugin format and the exact error if there is one.

Every purchase comes with a 14-day refund, no questions asked.