SNAREGRAFT is a snare instrument that grafts synthesized layers and snare wires onto your own snare sample.

1. Quick Start

1. Install the plugin and insert it on a track in your DAW.
2. Send a MIDI note or press the PLAY button on screen to trigger a hit.
3. Drop your favorite snare audio file (wav / aiff / flac / mp3) into the waveform area.
4. Adjust per-hit variation in the FLUX section.

2. Panel Overview

The screen features a hardware-style brushed metal design, and knob values display numbers only (units can be confirmed from panel labels or this manual).

SAMPLE

• The layer for loading your own snare samples. The loaded filename appears in the upper left of the waveform. You can also play the instrument using synthesized layers alone.

BODY

• The layer that synthesizes the fundamental resonance and body tone of the snare drum.

WIRES

• The layer that synthesizes the buzz and sound of the snare wires.

STICK

• The layer that synthesizes the sharpness of the stick attack.

BUZZ

• The layer that receives synthesized outputs from the other layers and adds acoustic snare wire resonance. It replicates realistic physical snare behavior—such as wires not rattling on very light hits—and serves as the core feature of this product.

FLUX

• Adjusts per-hit variations in pitch, decay length, tone brightness, trigger timing, and wire response. When playing back the same clip, the exact same variations are reproduced every time.
• In the free edition, FLUX is fixed at 20. The FLUX knob, individual adjustment by dragging the 8 bars, and ↺ AXES are Pro features (visible with a “PRO” badge in the free edition, but cannot be operated). The 8 bars retain faint tick marks showing variations across the last 8 hits, and the display of how much variation is occurring can be checked in the free edition as well.

WEAR

• Simulates head and shell fatigue where the snare gradually tires and wears as it is repeatedly struck. Stopping transport resets it to its original state.

OUTPUT

• The final shaping section, featuring drive, transient shaper, EQ, and room reverb.

Pro Features

In the free edition, the following controls are visible on screen with a “PRO” badge, but cannot be operated. Hovering the mouse over a control or PRO badge displays what it does in the bar at the top. Clicking a PRO badge opens the Pro edition page.

Starting in v1.3.0, saving, deleting, and exporting user presets are Pro features (in the free edition, SAVE and DEL are grayed out and cannot be clicked). The 100 factory presets and loading user presets saved with v1.3.0 (.snaregraft) are available in the free edition. Because the preset file format changed in v1.3.0, presets saved with v1.2.0 or earlier (.sgraft) cannot be loaded.

• A–D: Load up to 4 samples, with per-slot waveform display and switching modes (VELOCITY / AUTO PATTERN / LAYER / KEY SWITCH).
• Per-slot sound shaping: For each selected slot, adjust START / PITCH (±24 semitones) / TONE / ATTACK / DECAY / LEVEL / REVERSE independently (the panel color also changes with the selected slot).
• FLUX adjustment: Adjust overall variation with the FLUX knob, set individual axes manually by dragging the 8 bars directly, and reset them with ↺ AXES.
• KEY TRACK: Changes pitch according to the played key note. This is a Pro feature (visible with a “PRO” badge in the free edition, but cannot be operated).
• FLAM: Adjusts the interval (10–40 ms) between the soft grace note and the main stroke for the flam articulation.
• NOTES: Remaps the MIDI note assignments for articulations (CROSS STICK / RIMSHOT / FLAM) and key switches (KEY A–KEY D).
• EXPORT: Exports individual per-hit WAV files to a folder according to specified settings.

3. Parameter Details

FLUX Section

• Repeat Mode (LOCKED / EVOLVE / FREE)
  Fractal iteration mode. LOCKED repeats a fixed pattern, EVOLVE changes gradually over time, FREE is independent of transport playback
  Default: EVOLVE
• Global Seed (0 .. 9999)
  Random seed value. Identical values yield identical variation patterns
  Default: 0
• Flux [%] (Fixed at 20 in free edition / Pro edition: 0.0 .. 100.0)
  Overall amount of per-hit variation. In the free edition, this is fixed at 20 (factory presets also play with FLUX 20). Adjusting via the FLUX knob is a Pro feature.

Manual adjustment of the following 8 axes (by dragging their bars) and ↺ AXES are Pro features. In the free edition, the 8 bars function as displays of played hit variations (individual manual adjustment is disabled).

• Flux Pitch [%] (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Variation amount for pitch
  Default: 13.75
• Flux Decay [%] (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Variation amount for decay time
  Default: 10.0
• Flux Tone [%] (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Variation amount for tonal brightness
  Default: 13.75
• Flux Level [%] (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Variation amount for volume level
  Default: 22.5
• Flux Attack [%] (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Variation amount for attack speed
  Default: 8.75
• Flux Pan [%] (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Variation amount for stereo panning
  Default: 7.5
• Flux Timing [%] (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Variation amount for trigger timing
  Default: 25.0
• Flux Wires [%] (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Variation amount for snare wire response
  Default: 21.25
• Flux Pitch Manual (false / true)
  Manually set pitch variation amount
  Default: false
• Flux Decay Manual (false / true)
  Manually set decay variation amount
  Default: false
• Flux Tone Manual (false / true)
  Manually set tonal brightness variation amount
  Default: false
• Flux Level Manual (false / true)
  Manually set volume level variation amount
  Default: false
• Flux Attack Manual (false / true)
  Manually set attack variation amount
  Default: false
• Flux Pan Manual (false / true)
  Manually set panning variation amount
  Default: false
• Flux Timing Manual (false / true)
  Manually set timing variation amount
  Default: false
• Flux Wires Manual (false / true)
  Manually set wire response variation amount
  Default: false
• Timing Mode (STUDIO / LIVE)
  Timing processing mode. STUDIO provides accurate timing, LIVE provides low latency
  Default: STUDIO

WEAR Section

• Wear [%] (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Depth of tonal change caused by wear. Tone gradually becomes darker over time
  Default: 0.0
• Wear Span (4 .. 128)
  Number of bars required for maximum wear to develop
  Default: 32
• Wear Reset On Stop (false / true)
  Resets wear state when transport stops
  Default: true

BODY Section

• Body Tune [Hz] (100.0 .. 500.0)
  Fundamental resonance frequency of the drum body
  Default: 185.0
• Body Detune (0.0 .. 12.0)
  Detune amount of the body overtones
  Default: 7.0
• Body Shape (0.0 .. 1.0)
  Waveform sharpness of the drum body. Higher values produce a harder sound
  Default: 0.25
• Body Pitch Env (0.0 .. 36.0)
  Depth of pitch envelope applied to the body attack
  Default: 14.0
• Body Pitch Time (1.0 .. 60.0)
  Decay time of the body pitch envelope
  Default: 12.0
• Body Attack (0.0 .. 20.0)
  Attack time of the drum body
  Default: 0.0
• Body Decay (20.0 .. 800.0)
  Decay time of the drum body
  Default: 130.0
• Body Level (-60.0 .. 6.0)
  Volume level of the drum body
  Default: 0.0
• SOLO BODY
  Solos the body sound; other layers and snare wires are muted

WIRES Section

• Wires Tone (0.0 .. 1.0)
  Tonal brightness of the snare wires
  Default: 0.55
• Wires Attack (0.0 .. 30.0)
  Attack time of the snare wires
  Default: 0.5
• Wires Decay (30.0 .. 1200.0)
  Decay time of the snare wires
  Default: 200.0
• Wires Level (-60.0 .. 6.0)
  Volume level of the snare wires
  Default: -3.0
• SOLO WIRES
  Solos the wire noise layer

STICK Section

• Stick Snap (0.0 .. 1.0)
  Sharpness of the stick attack. Higher values produce a harder attack
  Default: 0.6
• Stick Decay (0.5 .. 20.0)
  Decay time of the stick attack
  Default: 3.0
• Stick Level (-60.0 .. 6.0)
  Volume level of the stick attack
  Default: -6.0
• SOLO STICK
  Solos the stick impact sound; other layers and snare wires are muted

SAMPLE Section

• Sample Start (0.0 .. 500.0)
  Playback start offset of the sample
  Default: 0.0
• Sample Pitch (-24.0 .. 24.0)
  Pitch adjustment for the sample
  Default: 0.0
• Sample Tone (0.0 .. 1.0)
  Tonal brightness of the sample
  Default: 0.5
• Sample Attack (0.0 .. 30.0)
  Attack time of the sample
  Default: 0.0
• Sample Decay (10.0 .. 3000.0)
  Decay time of the sample
  Default: 3000.0
• Sample Reverse (false / true)
  Plays the sample in reverse
  Default: false
• Sample Level (-60.0 .. 6.0)
  Volume level of the sample
  Default: 0.0
• Sample Auto-Tune (false / true)
  Automatically detects fundamental pitch of sample and tracks BODY TUNE
  Default: true
• Sample Embed (false / true)
  Saves loaded audio data into the DAW project (when off, stores file path only)
  Default: true
• SOLO SAMPLE
  Solos the loaded sample; other layers and snare wires are muted
• CLEAR
  Unloads the sample. The three synthesis layers continue to sound
• PLAY
  Auditions a hit on screen, producing the same sound as sending a MIDI note from your DAW

BUZZ Section

• Buzz Amount (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Amount of resonant snare wire rattle
  Default: 35.0
• Buzz Threshold (-40.0 .. 0.0)
  Threshold level where wires begin to respond. Below this level, wires do not rattle
  Default: -26.0
• Buzz Tension (0.0 .. 1.0)
  Tension of the snare wires. Higher values produce shorter, tighter resonance
  Default: 0.55
• Buzz Decay (0.0 .. 600.0)
  Decay time of the wire resonance
  Default: 180.0

OUTPUT Section

• Pitch (-24.0 .. 24.0)
  Master instrument transpose. Affects both body and loaded sample equally
  Default: 0.0
• Drive (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Saturation distortion depth
  Default: 15.0
• Transient Attack (-100.0 .. 100.0)
  Boosts or attenuates attack transients
  Default: 0.0
• Transient Sustain (-100.0 .. 100.0)
  Boosts or attenuates sustain / tail
  Default: 0.0
• EQ Tilt (-12.0 .. 12.0)
  Tilts tonal balance between high and low frequencies
  Default: 0.0
• EQ Presence Freq (1500.0 .. 8000.0)
  Center frequency of the presence band
  Default: 3500.0
• EQ Presence Gain (-12.0 .. 12.0)
  Gain of the presence band
  Default: 0.0
• Room Size (0.0 .. 1.0)
  Size of the room reverb
  Default: 0.35
• Room Pre-Delay (0.0 .. 80.0)
  Delay time before early reflections
  Default: 8.0
• Room Mix (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Reverb wet mix level relative to dry signal
  Default: 12.0
• Output Level (-24.0 .. 12.0)
  Final master output volume
  Default: 0.0
• Velocity Curve (0.0 .. 1.0)
  Volume response curve relative to MIDI velocity
  Default: 0.5
• Velocity To Tone (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Influence of velocity on tonal brightness
  Default: 60.0
• Velocity To Wires (0.0 .. 100.0)
  Influence of velocity on wire response
  Default: 70.0
• Key Track (Fixed at false in free edition / Pro edition: false / true)
  Tracks pitch according to incoming MIDI note number
  Default: false

4. Recommended Settings

Tips

• S (Solo) buttons: Clicking the S button on any layer lets you audition that layer alone.
• PLAY button: Auditions a hit on demand to check your sound.
• CLEAR button: Unloads the loaded sample. The three synthesis layers continue sounding unaffected.
• Waveform display: The white line indicates the playback start position, and the orange line shows the current playback position.
• FLUX bars: Bar height represents the variation range for that axis, while the overlaid white line indicates the actual deviation applied to the most recent hit. In the free edition, FLUX is fixed at 20 (dragging bars and ↺ AXES are Pro features).
• RND button: Randomizes the GLOBAL SEED value. This creates a completely new variation sequence without changing the instrument’s tonal character. When you find a variation sequence you like, save it as a preset.
• BUZZ meter: The orange bar shows the signal strength exciting the snare wires, and the white vertical line marks the BUZZ THRESHOLD. Hits where the orange bar does not reach the white line will not trigger wire buzz.
• Presets: 100 presets organized by genre. The first part of each preset name denotes its genre (TECHNO / HOUSE / POP / FUTURE BASS / TRAP / DNB / LOFI / ROCK / CINEMATIC / INDUSTRIAL), with presets in the same genre listed together. Within each genre, presets near the top offer tighter, drier sounds, while those near the bottom offer larger sounds with longer tails. Selecting a factory preset does not change your sample settings (in the free edition, Slot A settings like START sound shaping, AUTO-TUNE, and embedding are preserved).
• Pitch-rising snare rolls: Program repeating notes (e.g. 16th notes) and draw an upward automation curve on PITCH. Because the parameter value at the moment of each hit is sampled, each hit rises progressively in pitch without having to redraw notes on a piano roll ladder. (In the Pro edition, enabling KEY TRACK allows you to achieve the same effect using note pitches.)
• EMBED button: When left enabled, sample audio data is stored directly in your DAW project, so the snare will still play even if the original audio file is moved or deleted. In return, each embedded sample increases project file size by just under 1 MB.
• NO TRANSPORT: When the DAW transport is stopped or does not report playhead position, variations run in free-running mode (variations will not be deterministic/reproducible in this state).

5. Requirements

Item	Details
Supported OS	Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit), macOS 11 or later (Apple Silicon / Intel)
Plugin format	Windows: VST3 / Mac: VST3, AU
Input / Output	MIDI note input / Stereo output
Screen size	1200 × 750 px (fixed, not resizable)
Supported audio formats	wav / aiff / flac / mp3 (up to 3 seconds)

6. Installation and Uninstallation

Installation (Windows)

1. Extract the downloaded ZIP file.
2. Copy the SNAREGRAFT.vst3 folder to the following location:
   C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\

Installation (Mac)

1. Extract the downloaded ZIP file.
2. Copy SNAREGRAFT.vst3 to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ and SNAREGRAFT.component to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/ (~ is your home folder. In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder and paste the path to open it. Create the folder if it does not exist).
3. Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities → Terminal), paste the following three lines one at a time, and press Return after each:

   cd ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins
   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine VST3/SNAREGRAFT.vst3
   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine Components/SNAREGRAFT.component

4. Launch your DAW and run a plugin rescan (if you copy the files while your DAW is running, the change may not take effect).

Uninstallation (Windows)

Delete the SNAREGRAFT.vst3 folder you copied. If you also want to remove presets, delete %APPDATA%\Snaregraft\Presets\.

Uninstallation (Mac)

Delete the SNAREGRAFT.vst3 and SNAREGRAFT.component you copied. If you also want to remove presets, delete ~/Library/Snaregraft/Presets/.

7. Troubleshooting

• No sound
  • Check that MIDI notes are being received, or click the PLAY button on screen to test. Also check that OUTPUT LEVEL is not turned all the way down.
• Cannot load or drop sample
  • Confirm that the file format is wav, aiff, flac, or mp3. Audio beyond the first 3 seconds is not loaded.
• Sample does not sound after reopening session
  • If saved with EMBED turned off, the sample will not play if the original audio file was moved or deleted (the three synthesis layers will continue sounding). Reload the sample or re-save the project with EMBED turned on.
• Plugin does not appear in DAW
  • [Windows] Verify that it is installed in the correct VST3 location and run a plugin rescan in your DAW.
  • [Mac] Verify that files were copied to the correct paths (VST3: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/, AU: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/), run the Terminal commands, and perform a plugin rescan in your DAW. If the AU does not appear in Logic Pro or another DAW, restart your Mac.
• macOS displays “is damaged and can’t be opened” or “cannot be verified”
  • Run the Terminal commands described in the Mac section of “6. Installation and Uninstallation”.

8. Notes

• Distributed free of charge (freeware) “AS IS”, without individual support.
• The source code is proprietary and not public.
• All copyrights to this product belong to Tonecraft Tokyo.
• Modification, reverse engineering, redistribution, and resale of this product are prohibited. Please download it only from the official Tonecraft Tokyo website or the store pages it links to.
• Free for both commercial and non-commercial use.

Changelog

• v1.3.0: The help text in the bar at the top is now in English when the OS display language is not Japanese. Redesigned the UI (brushed metal hardware style, knob values display numbers only, larger text). The FLUX bars now retain faint tick marks showing variations across the last 8 hits. The loaded filename appears in the upper left of the waveform. Pro features are now visible on screen with a “PRO” badge. FLUX adjustment and KEY TRACK have transitioned to Pro features (in the free edition, FLUX is fixed at 20; projects from v1.2.0 with FLUX set to a value other than 20 or KEY TRACK set to ON will sound different).
  Bug fixes: Pressing CLEAR during playback could rarely crash the plugin / Rendered audio could vary slightly depending on DAW buffer size (with large timing variations, overlapping hits, or when using WEAR) / In sessions with embedding disabled, saving while the sample file was temporarily missing caused the recorded sample location to be lost / Presets saved after reopening a session embedded the sample audio itself, increasing file size / Changing the DAW sample rate caused stereo samples to become mono
• v1.2.0: Added macOS support (VST3 / AU).

9. Disclaimer

• This product is provided “AS IS”, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement of third-party rights.
• Tonecraft Tokyo is not liable for any damages arising from the use of, or inability to use, this product, including but not limited to loss or corruption of project files or audio data, equipment malfunction, lost working time, or lost profits.
• Operation is not guaranteed for every combination of DAW, operating system, and hardware.
• Specifications may change, and the product may be discontinued, without notice.
• Use this product at your own risk. Back up your projects before important work.