CHORD CASTER is a self-contained 6-note polyphonic stereo synth voice with chord sequencing, per-step automation recording, a tempo-synced modulation bus, compression/saturation mix, and a 3-tap fractional delay.

1. Record controls:
- RECORD button (arm/disarm all recording)
- NOTES button (record chord/note settings + per-channel offsets; CV SLEW applies on stage change)
- BEATS button (record beat ratios, STRUM, RETRIG ENV, CLOCK, and BEATS knob)
- KNOBS button (record all knob and attenuverter positions; KNOB SLEW smooths transitions)
- EDIT button (recall stored values on stage change without overwriting)

2. Clock and transport:
- CLOCK knob (internal BPM) + CLOCK TRIG input (external clock overrides knob)
- BEATS/STAGE knob (clock pulses per stage advance)
- PLAY button (Shift-click = loop current stage)
- RESET / FWD / REV

3. Transport + stage:
- STAGE knob + MAX knob (current stage / total stages)
- Stage display (shows Stage/Max and current chord)
- Keyboard (set root note) + 16 chord type buttons

4. Notes display:
- Shows current pitch for all 6 channels + waveform preview
- NOTE +/- buttons (increment/decrement individual voices in the voicing)

5. Beat programmer:
- Per-channel X and 1/Y buttons (set clock numerator and denominator for each of 6 channels)
- Setting X to 0 silences the gate for that channel

6. Envelope controller:
- WIDTH I / WIDTH VI (interpolated envelope timing across 6 channels)
- SLANT + CURVE (envelope shape)
- LEVEL trimpots (per-channel attenuation)
- RETRIG ENV button
- STRUM button (redirects modulation bus to trigger envelopes instead of BEATS)

7. Oscillator (Ouros-based, 6-channel stereo):
- OFFSET, SPREAD, FM, FEEDBACK, PHASE, POS, MULTI, NODE knobs + attenuverters
- V/OCT, EXT, FEEDBACK, WONK, MOD DEPTH, PRESS, DRY/WET, VOLUME inputs/controls

8. Modulation bus (6-channel):
- RATE X (multiplier of stage clock; dead zone -1 to 1 = 1x)
- WONK (self-modulation of RATE and NODES)
- WONK POS (which channel provides the self-modulation signal)
- NODES (phase distribution, -3 to +3)
- MOD DEPTH

9. Mix:
- STEREO SPREAD (pan 6 voices from R-to-L or L-to-R)
- PRESS (compression/saturation)
- GAIN

10. Delay FX (3-tap fractional delay):
- DELAY (master time: 36 / 360 / 3600 ms depending on BUFFER SIZE)
- REVERB (feedback)
- TAPS I/II/III (individual tap offsets)
- CENTER (reverb imbalance across taps)
- DRY/WET + VOLUME

11. Copy/paste + slew:
- COPY / PASTE / CLEAR / ADD / DELETE
- Shift-click COPY = copy all stages to current
- CV SLEW / KNOB SLEW knobs

12. Input bay:
- CLOCK TRIG, V/OCT, CHORD, EXT, FEEDBACK, WONK, MOD DEPTH, PRESS, DRY/WET, VOLUME
- Mono V/OCT = set root; poly V/OCT = override chord with external poly signal
- EXT input mode set in context menu

13. Output bay:
- NOTES, GATES, ENVS, MODS (6-channel poly), STAGE trigger, AUDIO OUT (stereo)

1. Set up a chord:
   - Click the root note on the keyboard and select a chord type from the 16 buttons.
   - Or patch a mono V/Oct to set root note; patch a poly V/Oct to override chord entirely.

2. Program a sequence:
   - Enable RECORD with NOTES active.
   - Dial the STAGE knob to advance, changing chord/root at each step.
   - Enable BEATS recording to also store rhythm changes per step.
   - Enable KNOBS recording to store all oscillator/FX settings per step.

3. Set rhythms:
   - Use the X and 1/Y buttons per channel to set clock divisions for each of the 6 voices.
   - X=0 silences a voice for that stage.

4. Shape the envelopes:
   - WIDTH I and WIDTH VI set fastest/slowest channel times (others interpolate).
   - SLANT and CURVE control shape; LEVEL trimpots attenuate per channel.

5. Add modulation:
   - RATE X sets modulation speed as a multiple of the stage clock.
   - NODES distributes phase across the 6 modulation channels.
   - STRUM redirects the modulation bus to trigger envelopes in sequence.

6. Dial the mix and FX:
   - STEREO SPREAD pans the 6 voices.
   - PRESS adds compression; GAIN sets level going to the delay.
   - DELAY and REVERB add space; TAPS tune tap positions.

Key modifiers:
- Shift-click PLAY = loop current stage for auditioning.
- Shift-click COPY = copy all stages up to current.
- Shift-click any knob in RECORD-KNOBS mode = apply to all stages.

Context menu:
- Set Max Sequence Length (up to 2048)
- Stop Record At End
- External Input Mode: Maps to VCA / Triggers Envelopes / Maps to Modulation / Maps to V/Oct Offset
- Stage outputs main clock instead of stage clock
- Sync modulation bus to main clock
- Output dry poly audio (disables mixer and delay)
- Save CPU (disables 8x supersampling)

Two Chord Casters in unison: Sync both to a shared CLOCK TRIG and RESET; slightly detune OFFSET or SPREAD between them for a thick stereo stack.

MIDI keyboard live control: Use Poly Map to convert a MIDI-CV poly output to active-notes-only V/Oct; patch to Chord Caster V/OCT for live chord input that fills all 6 voices.

External oscillator: Set EXT Input Mode to Maps to VCA; patch an external poly oscillator to EXT to use the Chord Caster VCA, envelopes, modulation, and FX chain with your own sound source.

Transposition by sequence: Set EXT to Maps to V/Oct Offset; patch a second sequencer output to EXT to transpose the chord sequence by an external melody.

Karplus Strong with delay: Set BUFFER SIZE to 36ms, increase REVERB; use short DELAY times for resonator-style pluck sounds from the internal noise source.

POLY MAP is a companion utility for Chord Caster that strips inactive channels from a polyphonic V/Oct signal using a paired gate input.

Key controls:
- POLY V/OCT IN (polyphonic V/Oct input)
- POLY GATE IN (polyphonic gate input — defines which channels are active)
- MAPPED V/OCT OUT (output contains only the active note voltages; minimum polyphony is 2)

1. Patch a polyphonic V/Oct signal to POLY V/OCT IN.
2. Patch the matching polyphonic gate to POLY GATE IN.
3. Take MAPPED V/OCT OUT to Chord Caster's V/OCT input.

Poly Map reads which gate channels are currently high, extracts only those V/Oct voltages, and repacks them into a compact poly output. If only one note is active, it is doubled to ensure the output polyphony is always at least 2.

Chord Caster then distributes the active notes across its 6 channels, filling them from the input.

MIDI to Chord Caster: Connect VCV MIDI-CV (set to 6-note polyphony) → POLY V/OCT IN and POLY GATE IN. MAPPED OUT → Chord Caster V/OCT. Play chords live and Chord Caster fills all 6 voices.

Filtered poly routing: Use Poly Map to strip resting voices from any poly source before sending to voicing or quantizer modules that perform better with dense, gap-free poly signals.

CHORDY is the chord sequencer section of Chord Caster in a compact standalone form.

It adds individual note CV outputs and a ROTATE function not present in the sequencer section of Chord Caster.

Key controls:
- STAGE knob + MAX knob (current and total stages)
- REC / EDIT buttons
- COPY / COPY ALL / PASTE / CLEAR / ADD / DELETE buttons
- Keyboard (root note) + 16 chord type buttons
- BEATS knob (clock pulses per stage advance)
- NOTE +/- buttons (per-voice offset in current voicing)
- CHORD button + SHIFT button
- ROTATE trimpot + ROTATE input (rotate note assignment around the 6 voices; red LED marks the first note)
- TRIG input (external clock / advance)
- RESET / FWD / REV inputs + buttons
- STAGE output (trigger on each stage change)
- MONO outputs 1-6 (individual V/Oct per voice)
- POLY output (6-channel poly V/Oct)

1. Select a root note on the keyboard and a chord type from the buttons.
2. Patch a clock to TRIG and use RESET to align.
3. Arm REC and advance STAGE to record chord changes per step.
4. Use NOTE +/- buttons to adjust individual voice offsets within a voicing.
5. Use ROTATE to shift which physical output carries which chord tone:
   - Trimpot: static rotation
   - ROTATE CV: dynamic rotation from an external source
   - Red LED marks the current first note position.
6. Use MONO outputs 1-6 for individual voice routing, or POLY for a single 6-channel cable.
7. Patch STAGE output to trigger downstream events on each chord change.

Copy/paste workflow matches Arrange XL:
- COPY / PASTE / CLONE / CLEAR / ADD / DELETE operate identically.
- Shift-click COPY ALL copies all stages to current.

Split-voice orchestration: Send each MONO output to a different oscillator or voice for independent timbral treatment of each chord tone.

Voice leading with ROTATE: As the sequence advances, use ROTATE CV to shift voice assignments so step changes produce minimal pitch jumps per output.

Chord tones as CV: Patch MONO outputs to filter cutoffs, wavefold amounts, or panning CVs for chord-locked timbral motion.

Chord Caster companion: Use Chordy's POLY output to drive Chord Caster V/OCT for a compact external chord source, keeping Chord Caster's oscillator and FX chain in play.