Helin is made to be played: on its own keys, from a MIDI keyboard, or from your host.
The on-screen keys
- The keys button in the bottom-right corner steps the keyboard from hidden to half height, to full height and back.
- Tap near the top of a key to play softer and near the bottom for full strength. Slide a held finger down the key for aftertouch.
- Hold on Notes In keeps notes sounding after you let go, good for drones. Tap a held key again to release it.
MIDI keyboards and controllers
Plug in a MIDI keyboard or pair one over Bluetooth and play; it is heard without restarting the app. Velocity, the mod wheel, pitch bend, aftertouch and the sustain pedal all work. Cable the wheel or aftertouch from Notes In to any knob, or use a MIDI CC node for any other knob or fader on your controller.
Quick slots
Every node’s popup has four quick slots, 1 to 4, beside its title. A tap glides the node’s sound settings to that slot over about a second, which makes them fun to play live. Each slot starts with a ready-made setting; a long press saves the current settings into it instead. Slots belong to the kind of node, so your Filter slots are there in every sound, in the app and the plugin.
Tempo, clock and panic
- In the app, the tempo pill shows the BPM: drag it to change it, or tap it to type a tempo. When a MIDI clock comes in from a plugged-in device, Helin follows it. Switch off Follow MIDI clock to keep your own tempo.
- The panic button, the square in the top bar, stops every sound at once, held notes and echo and reverb tails included.
- The app keeps playing in the background, so a MIDI keyboard still sounds while you use another app. Switch off Background audio in the settings to stop that.
Next: Helin in a host