VARIANZ DRIFT is a VST3 / AU plugin combining an 8-channel drum synthesizer with a step sequencer. Instead of playing back samples, it generates the sound anew on every hit. Never the same sound twice, yet reproducible as many times as you want. That is the core concept behind this instrument, designed for EDM and techno.

1. Quick Start

1. Load VARIANZ DRIFT on an instrument track in your DAW.
2. Choose a sound kit from KIT at the top of the window. 35 kits are organized by category.
3. Choose a rhythm from PATTERN next to it. There are 104 patterns, independent of KIT, so you can combine them freely.
4. Press the Space key or the play button in the footer to start playback.
5. Turn up FLUX on each channel to deepen the per-hit variation. Try moving this control first.
6. When you find a sound you like, save it via FILE > SAVE....

2. Screen Layout

Header (Top Bar)

• The logo is on the left, followed by the FILE (save / load), KIT, and PATTERN selectors to the right.
• Use the < and > buttons to step through a list one item at a time.
• The bar directly below displays a description of the control currently hovered over with the mouse.

STEP GRID

• An 8-channel × 16-step sequencer grid. Click steps to toggle them on or off.
• There are 8 pattern slots to switch among. Use COPY and PASTE to copy a pattern to another slot.
• Each channel’s step length can be shortened independently to build polyrhythms.
• Triggered steps display an overlay showing how much variation was applied on that hit.

VOICE / SHAPE

• Shapes the sound of the selected channel. Choose a channel by clicking its channel strip or its row label in the grid.
• VOICE is a sound source preset. Selecting one switches the combination of BODY, the core, and NOISE, the grit. Changing the combination manually switches the display to CUSTOM.

VARIANZ

• The heart of the instrument. Seven meters display how much pitch, length, brightness, volume, attack, pan, and timing shifted on each hit.
• WEAR controls how much the sound wears out as playback continues. The bar along the top edge shows the progress toward full wear.
• ALL CH on the right offsets pitch, brightness, length, saturation, volume, body / noise balance, and variation across all 8 channels at once. At 0, the kit plays as set.

Channel Strips (8 Channels)

• Provides per-channel controls for volume, pan, variation depth, output routing, and mute / solo.

3. Parameter Details

PITCH

Sets the base pitch of the voice. The center frequency of the noise filter moves with it.

DECAY

Sets the length of the sound. Shorter values produce tighter hits.

TONE

Adjusts the overall brightness, moving both the body, the core, and noise, the grit, together.

SWEEP

Controls how far the pitch drops right after the hit. Higher values produce a deeper boom. This largely defines the character of a kick.

MIX

Sets the mix of the body, the core, and noise, the grit. Fully left gives body only; fully right gives noise only. For snares, set this toward the right—otherwise it will sound like a tom.

DRIVE

Adjusts the saturation applied after mixing body and noise. It lifts the tail without crushing the initial attack.

BODY / NOISE

Chooses the BODY layer, which makes the core of the sound, and the NOISE layer, which adds the grit. Body options are SINE / FM / RESO / RING; noise options are OFF / WHITE / METAL / BURST.

• Each layer has two dedicated knobs (B EXTRA / N EXTRA). Their function changes depending on the selected layer, so readjust these two knobs after switching layers.

FLUX

Sets the variation depth for the channel. Each hit varies in pitch, length, brightness, and timing.

• Default: 60
• Setting this to 0 produces the exact same sound on every hit.

WEAR / SPAN

WEAR controls how much the sound wears out as playback continues, and SPAN sets the number of bars until it is fully worn. Stopping playback resets the wear.

REPEAT

Determines how variation is handled from loop to loop.

• LOCKED … Same every loop. Produces the exact same performance no matter how many times it loops.
• EVOLVE … Gradually changes from loop to loop.
• FREE … Draws a fresh variation every time.

SEED

Picks a different random draw for the variation. The same number always returns to the same variation. When you land on a variation you like, note down this number so you can reproduce it.

CHOKE

Specifies which channel is cut off when this channel triggers—for example, cutting an open hi-hat with a closed hi-hat.

OUT

Chooses the output destination from MAIN, individual output, or both. Channels routed to an individual output have their PAN fixed (so you can pan them on the destination track).

4. Recommended Settings

Repeating the Exact Same Performance Every Time

REPEAT: LOCKED
SEED:   Your noted number
WEAR:   0

With these three settings, the performance stays identical across any number of loops. Recommended when exporting audio.

Gradual Movement for Live Performance

REPEAT: EVOLVE
FLUX:   40–70
WEAR:   20–35
SPAN:   16–32

When a Snare Sounds Like a Tom

MIX:      70 or higher
N EXTRA2: High (when WHITE is selected)

5. Requirements

Item	Details
OS	Windows 10 / 11 x64 macOS 11 or later (Apple Silicon / Intel)
Plugin formats	Windows: VST3 (64bit) / Mac: VST3, AU
Supported DAWs	DAWs supporting VST3 or AU
Latency	0 samples (no reported latency)
Output	MIX (stereo) + 8 individual channel outputs (disabled by default)
Window size	1100 × 864 (fixed)
Screen language	Japanese / English (follows the OS display language)

6. Installation & Uninstallation

Installation (Windows)

1. Extract the downloaded ZIP file.
2. Copy the VARIANZ DRIFT.vst3 folder to C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\.
3. Launch your DAW and perform a plugin rescan.

Installation (Mac)

1. Extract the downloaded ZIP file.
2. Copy VARIANZ DRIFT.vst3 to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/, and copy VARIANZ DRIFT.component to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/ (where ~ represents your home folder. In Finder, open the “Go” menu, choose “Go to Folder…”, paste the path, and press Return. If the folder does not exist, create it).
3. Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities → Terminal), paste the following 3 lines one by one, and press Return for each. If nothing is displayed, the command succeeded.

   cd ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins
   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine “VST3/VARIANZ DRIFT.vst3”
   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine “Components/VARIANZ DRIFT.component”

   If you do not run this, macOS will show a message such as “is damaged and cannot be opened” or “cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified”, preventing the DAW from loading the plugin. These commands only remove the quarantine attribute that macOS attaches to downloaded files (you must run these commands again if you reinstall or update the plugin).

4. Launch your DAW and perform a plugin rescan (if AU does not appear in Logic Pro or other DAWs, restart your Mac).

Uninstallation

Windows: Delete the copied VARIANZ DRIFT.vst3 folder. Saved presets remain in %APPDATA%\VarianzDrift\Presets\, so delete that folder as well if you no longer need them.

Mac: Delete the copied VARIANZ DRIFT.vst3 and VARIANZ DRIFT.component files. Saved presets remain in ~/Library/VarianzDrift/Presets/, so delete that folder as well if you no longer need them.

7. Troubleshooting

• Plugin does not appear in DAW
  • Check that the files were copied to C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\ (or under ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/ on Mac), and rescan plugins in your DAW.
• Warning appears on first launch
  • Because the plugin is not code-signed, Windows SmartScreen may react. Click “More info” and then choose “Run anyway” to proceed.
  • On Mac, if a message such as “is damaged and cannot be opened” or “cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified” appears, run the commands in Step 3 of Installation (Mac).
• No sound is produced
  • Check that the built-in sequencer is running via the play button in the footer (or Space). When triggering from external MIDI, set SEQ to EXT.
• External MIDI does not trigger the intended channel
  • The default mapping follows the GM drum standard (35/36 → CH1, 37 → CH2, 38/40 → CH3, 39 → CH4, 42 → CH5, 46 → CH6, 47 → CH7, 44 → CH8). Assignments can be changed.
• Sound is quiet when triggered from external MIDI
  • Volume changes with MIDI velocity and reaches maximum at velocity 127.
• No sound from individual outputs
  • Individual outputs are disabled by default. Enable the corresponding buses in your DAW, and set the channel’s OUT to OUT or BOTH.
• Channel PAN does not move
  • When OUT is set to an individual output, PAN is fixed by design. Pan the channel on the destination DAW track instead.
• The performance changes every time
  • Set REPEAT to LOCKED. FREE draws a fresh variation every time.

8. Notes

• This product is distributed free of charge (freeware) “AS IS”, without 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 strictly prohibited (please download from the Tonecraft Tokyo official website).
• Free for both commercial and non-commercial use.
• This product uses JUCE.
• This product uses Noto Sans JP / JetBrains Mono (SIL Open Font License 1.1).

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.