1Getting started

VIBRANIUM is used in landscape. On launch, the audio engine starts and the last sound you used is reloaded: the AUDIO light turns yellow.

1. Play the on-screen keyboard, or plug in a USB MIDI keyboard (it is detected automatically).
2. Change sounds with the ◀ ▶ arrows on either side of the LCD, or pick one in the PRESETS tab.
3. Change sound engine with ENGINE: Classic, FM4, Drums…
4. Turn the knobs to shape the sound, then STORE to save it in your bank.

2The rack and the LCD

Top strip

Tab bar

The first tabs are the pages of the loaded engine (for example OSC FILTER MOD MATRIX FX for Classic). Then come the common tabs: ARP/PAT MULTI PRESETS LIBRARY MIDI SETUP. Swipe the bar horizontally to see the last ones. On the right, KEYB shows or hides the keyboard to give the panels the full height.

3Knobs and keyboard

Knobs

• Drag up to increase, down to decrease. The full travel is about three and a half times the knob's height, for fine control.
• Double tap: back to the default value.
• While you turn it, the LCD shows the parameter name and its exact value (Hz, ms, cents, %…).
• Bipolar parameters (detune, envelope amount, modulation) start from the centre.
• When panels extend past the right edge of the screen, a white › MORE arrow appears on the right: tap it (or swipe the page) to see the rest. All rows scroll together; the arrow disappears once you reach the end.

Keyboard

• Two octaves, playable with several fingers; the played key goes down and lights up in violet. C keys show their octave (C3, C4…).
• OCT + / OCT - shift the keyboard by one octave; the starting note (C3…) is shown between them.
• BEND: pitch bend wheel, springs back to centre. MOD: modulation wheel (routable in the matrix).
• With the TOUCH VELOCITY option (SETUP tab), the bottom of the key plays loud and the top plays soft.

4Vibranium Classic engine (virtual analog)

The free engine, 16-voice polyphonic. The signal flows through the oscillators, the mixer, the filter then the amplifier, before the effects.

OSC tab

FILTER tab

MOD tab

Three LFOs (low-frequency oscillators) make the sound move: vibrato, wah, tremolo, stereo sweeps… The tab reads left to right, like a synth panel:

• LFO: the LFO 1 LFO 2 LFO 3 buttons select the displayed LFO (yellow light). The small red dot shows an LFO is already modulating something. KEY TRIG restarts the LFO on each note; when off, it runs freely.
• WAVE: SHAPE steps through the shapes; you can also tap an icon directly: sine, triangle, saw, square, S&H (random steps). RATE sets the speed (0.02 to 20 Hz).
• DESTINATIONS: tap a destination (yellow light), then set its amount with AMOUNT; the LCD shows the value. A red light marks a destination already in use. Amounts are positive or negative (the LFO acts normally or inverted).

ASSIGN: one free destination per LFO. Select ASSIGN, choose the target with the DEST knob (pitch, oscillator level, cutoff, pan, speed of another LFO…), then the amount with AMOUNT; the chosen target is shown next to the light.

On a phone, the › MORE arrow appears if the panels don't fit the width.

MATRIX tab

Six free modulation slots. Each slot connects a Source (OFF, LFO 1, LFO 2, F.ENV, A.ENV, VELO, KEY, MODWH, PRESS, LFO 3) to a Dest (pitch, pitch of one oscillator, PW, cutoff, resonance, speed of LFO 1, 2 and 3…) with a positive or negative Amount. By default, velocity opens the filter and the MOD wheel opens it further.

FX tab

Seven effects per sound, all in this tab. On a phone, tap › MORE to scroll to the last panels. Every effect is neutral by default (Type OFF or Mix at 0): it costs nothing until you use it.

The panels are laid out in the order the sound flows through them: distortion → ring / shift → phaser → chorus → delay → reverb → character.

5Vibranium FM4 engine PREMIUM

4-operator frequency-modulation synthesis, 16 voices. Ideal for electric pianos, bells, punchy basses and metallic pads.

6Vibranium Drums engine PREMIUM

An analog drum machine designed for reggae and dub, 8 voices. Each instrument is played by a keyboard note (General MIDI layout) and has a Dub send to the echo and the spring reverb.

7Arpeggiator and patterns (ARP/PAT tab)

ARPEGGIATOR

Each part (P01 to P16) has its own arpeggiator. On a phone, hide the keyboard with KEYB to see the whole page; with the keyboard shown, the page scrolls vertically.

PATTERN PREMIUM

One-bar rhythms (16 steps) played by the part, with ► PLAY and a row of LEDs following the current step. Shuffle adds swing.

• Drums (Drums engine): ONE DROP, ONE DROP 2, STEPPERS, ROCKERS, RUB-A-DUB, DEMBOW.
• Bass: BASS ROOTS, ONE DROP, DUB, SUB, STEPPERS, ROCKERS, RUB-A-DUB, DANCEHALL. The note played on the keyboard transposes the riff.
• Chords: SKANK ONE DROP, SKANK DOUBLE, SKANK STEPPERS, SKANK DANCEHALL, ORGAN BUBBLE, ORGAN SKANK, ORGAN ROCKERS. Play a chord (A minor by default): it is remembered and the pattern replays it.

CLOCK

Tempo in BPM. INT: internal clock. MIDI: follows the external MIDI clock and its Start/Stop messages (the tempo then shows EXT).

8Multi mode (16 parts) PREMIUM

• SINGLE: a single sound that answers every MIDI channel.
• MULTI: 16 parts, each listening to its own MIDI channel. Tap a part to select it: the engine tabs, ARP/PAT and PRESETS then apply to it.
• On each card: ON/OFF, sound name, engine and active pattern or arpeggio, MIDI channel (◀ CH ▶), volume Vol and pan Pan.
• DEMOS: Ambient Machines, Dancehall Riddim, Dub Session, FM Dreams, Synthwave Night, Trance Rig. A demo replaces the current multi.

9Presets and banks

• BANKS (left): F FACTORY, the read-only factory sounds; U USER A, your 128 slots. The counter shows how many slots are used.
• Categories: ALL, INIT, BASS, LEAD, PAD, KEYS, ORGAN, BRASS, BELL, ARP, FX, REGGAE, DUB, DANCEHALL. Tap one to filter the list.
• Tap a sound to load it into the selected part.
• INIT: start again from a neutral sound. STORE: save into USER A.
• IMPORT PREMIUM: a .vbrp file (one sound) is loaded into the part; a .vbrb file (a bank) is copied into the free slots of USER A, nothing is overwritten.
• EXPORT / EXPORT BANK PREMIUM: share one sound or a whole bank.

Factory sounds: 75 for Classic, 33 for FM4, 9 Drums kits, plus a few demo sounds.

To discover the effects, try these at the end of the bank: Fuzz Bass, Acid Fold, Tape Echo Lead, Phaser Strings, Barber Pad, Ring Bell, Lofi Keys and Tape Dub Stab (Classic); Phaser EP, Warp Bells and Shift Chime (FM4); Tape Dub Kit (Drums).

10Library and Firmware Packs

NATIVE ENGINES lists the built-in engines, with their version, polyphony and number of related packs. Tap one to load it.

FIRMWARE PACKS PREMIUM: INSTALL opens a .synthpack file. VIBRANIUM checks its signature and content, then shows a summary (name, author, version, content) before installing; an invalid pack is rejected. A pack can add sound banks for the existing engines, and be updated to a newer version.

Free packs are offered above, in the Firmware Packs section: Dub Lab, FM Crystal, Drum Sessions and Essentials Vol.1.

11MIDI

MIDI INPUT

• CHANNEL: OMNI (1-16) or a specific channel, for SINGLE mode.
• USB keyboard: plug it in (with an OTG adapter if needed), it appears in the list of sources.
• From a computer (DAW, software sequencer): connect the phone over USB and set its USB mode to “MIDI”: tap the Android notification “… via USB” (often at the bottom of the shade, among the silent notifications), then choose MIDI. The computer then sees a MIDI device (on Mac: “USB MIDI Device”): select it as the MIDI output in your software.
• “Vibranium Synth” virtual port: other MIDI apps on the device (sequencers, DAWs) can play VIBRANIUM directly.
• Messages received / lost: diagnostic counters.

BLUETOOTH LE MIDI

Switch on the Bluetooth controller, tap SCAN, then CONNECT on the device found. It then appears under MIDI INPUT. Android asks for the “Nearby devices” permission the first time.

12Audio setup

AUDIO ENGINE (information)

Status, API (AAudio or OpenSL ES; exclusive or shared), sample rate, burst, buffer size, output latency, audio thread, active voices, average and peak CPU load, xruns (dropouts).

STRESS 60 s runs a one-minute endurance test: the 16 parts play together with arpeggios and held chords, then a report tells whether the device held up without crackles.

SETTINGS

PDF MANUAL opens this manual as a PDF (Internet connection required); LICENSES shows the open-source licenses.

13MIDI sequencer PREMIUM

Open it from the ☰ menu › MIDI sequencer. Its 16 tracks match the 16 parts of Multi mode, each showing its sound name.

Transport bar

• ► play / stop; ● record on the armed track (REC → P01, the selected track, marked R).
• CYCLE: loops the yellow area of the ruler.
• Position display (bar.beat.step) and tempo.
• Q 1/16: quantizes the notes of the selected region to 16th notes.
• DEL: deletes the selected region. NEW: new empty project. ✕: back to the synthesizer.
• MIXER: shows or hides the mixing desk. SONGS: save, open and share songs.

Regions

• Tap an empty area: creates a one-bar region.
• Tap a region: selects it. Drag: moves it (including to another track). Drag the right edge: changes its length.
• Double tap: opens the editor under the arrangement.

Editor: piano roll and tablature

• PIANO: tap an empty area = add a note, tap a note = select it, drag = move, right edge = length (snapped to 32nd notes).
• TAB GTR and TAB BASS: the same notes shown as guitar (6 strings) or bass (4 strings) tablature, to find a riff on the neck.

Note inspector

When a note is selected, a bar shows its pitch and position, then:

• LENGTH: − / + step to the previous or next grid value; shortcuts 1/32 1/16 1/8 1/8. 1/4 1/2 1 bar 2 bars. An off-grid length is shown as “≈ 1/8”.
• → ALL: gives this length to every note of the region.
• VEL.: − / + set the note's velocity.
• DEL: deletes the note.

Mixer

MIXER opens a studio-style mixing desk, one channel strip per active track:

• instrument slot (the part's sound) and pan knob;
• fader graduated in dB;
• post-fader meter, with a 2-second peak hold and a red clip indicator;
• MUTE silences the track, SOLO plays only that one (several solos allowed); these states are saved with the session;
• coloured track name, and on the right the Stereo Out / MASTER strip.

Songs

SONGS opens the list of your songs. A song keeps everything: sounds and mix of the 16 tracks, tempo and sequencer notes.

• Type a name then SAVE (REPLACE if the name already exists).
• OPEN loads a song in place of the current one: save it first to keep it. DEL deletes it after confirmation.
• EXPORT FILE / IMPORT FILE: share a song (.vbrsong file) with another device.

The current project is also saved automatically.

14AI assistant PREMIUM

Describe a sound in your own words, typed or spoken, and VIBRANIUM programs it for you. Open it from the ☰ menu › AI assistant. At the top, choose A SOUND or A SONG (see below).

• Type: write your request then SUGGEST A SOUND (or the keyboard's Send key).
• Speak: tap the red microphone and say your request; it is written into the field and sent automatically. Dictation uses Android's speech recognition (Google); VIBRANIUM does not request microphone access.
• Suggestions: tap a ready-made idea (“Deep dub bass”, “Wide slow pad”, “Darker”…).

Two kinds of requests

• A new sound: name a type of sound, and optionally a style and qualities — “deep dub bass”, “wide slow pad”, “bright lead with tape echo”, “dub drums with lots of echo”, “lo-fi electric piano”. The assistant starts from the closest factory sound, then tweaks it.
• Tweak the current sound: without a sound type, the request applies to the loaded sound — “brighter”, “a bit darker”, “add a phaser”, “no reverb”, “wider”, “glide”.

Nuances understood: very, a bit, less, without. The offline mode knows sound types (bass, lead, pad, piano, organ, brass, bells, arpeggio, drums, siren…), styles (reggae, dub, dancehall), qualities (bright, dark, warm, deep, fat, wide, dry, slow, percussive, long…) and effects (echo, tape, reverb, distortion, fuzz, lo-fi, phaser, metallic, vibrato, wobble, tremolo). The AI modes understand any language.

Listen, keep or cancel

• The suggested sound is loaded right away on the selected part: play to hear it. The panel shows the starting sound and the list of changed settings.
• KEEP keeps the sound (marked modified: STORE to save it in your bank).
• ANOTHER suggests a variant (another starting sound, or a stronger tweak).
• CANCEL goes back exactly to the previous sound.

Choose who answers

At the top of the panel, Answer: offers five modes.

Add a key: tap the mode you want (🔑 = key missing) or ⚙ AI settings. Choose the service, tap Get an API key to create it on the service's website, paste it, choose the model then SAVE.

• Claude: Opus 5.5 (recommended), Sonnet 5.5 (cheaper), Haiku 5.5 (very economical).
• OpenAI: GPT-6.1 Sol (recommended), GPT-6 Astra (most powerful), GPT-6 Luna (very economical).
• Gemini: Gemini 3.8 Flash (recommended), Gemini 4 Argon (most powerful), Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite (very economical).

Possible messages: key rejected (check it), credit or quota reached on your account, too many requests (wait a moment), no connection.

Installing the local AI

☰ menu › Install local AI (or the Local AI ⬇ mode in the assistant). DOWNLOAD fetches the model once: 1.1 GB, Wi-Fi recommended, app open. An interrupted download (STOP, network loss) resumes where it stopped. Once installed, the menu shows Local AI: installed ✓; USE selects it, DELETE frees the space.

Create a song with AI

In A SONG mode (or ☰ menu › Create a song with AI), describe a song in one sentence then COMPOSE A SONG: “Laid-back dub in A minor”, “Happy house at 124 BPM”, “Dark steppers with lots of echo”, “Chill lo-fi for studying”… Works with every answer mode, including Offline.

• 13 styles: reggae one drop, dub, dub steppers, reggae rockers, dancehall, hip-hop, lo-fi chill, house, techno, synthwave, pop, ambient, drum & bass.
• The AI picks tempo, key, chord progression, form (intro, verse, chorus, bridge, drop, outro), instruments and their sounds; VIBRANIUM then writes the notes: drums with fills, a bass that follows the chords, skank or held chords, pad, arpeggio and a melody repeated in every chorus.
• What you specify is always respected: style, tempo (“90 BPM”), key, minor/major, “no drums”.
• Each instrument gets its own part (sound, volume, pan), and playback starts at once. The panel sums up style, tempo, key, progression, form, length and the sound of each part.
• KEEP opens the song in the sequencer, where every note stays editable; ANOTHER composes a variant; CANCEL restores your previous sounds and project.

15Menu and Premium

The ☰ menu slides in from the left; tap outside it to close it.

• STUDIO: MIDI sequencer (or back to the rack), AI assistant, Create a song with AI, Install local AI (or “Local AI: installed ✓”).
• PREMIUM: the list of Premium features, Unlock everything (one-time Google Play purchase, no subscription) and Restore my purchases (new device, reinstall).
• ABOUT: open-source licenses (Oboe, AndroidX, Kotlin, VT323 font).

16Troubleshooting

I hear crackles

Leave BUFFER on AUTO or choose a larger value, lower the polyphony (Voices) or the unison, close heavy apps. Check the xruns on the AUDIO page of the LCD.

My MIDI keyboard doesn't play anything

Check that it appears in the MIDI tab and that the MIDI light blinks when you play. In SINGLE mode, set CHANNEL to OMNI; in MULTI mode, check the part's channel (CH).

My computer can't play VIBRANIUM over USB

The phone must be in USB MIDI mode. By default, many phones switch to “charging” or “file transfer” every time they are plugged in: no MIDI port is created and the computer sees nothing. Pull the notification shade all the way down: the system notification is called something like “Charging this device via USB” or “USB mode”; it is often among the silent notifications. Tap it: the USB Preferences screen opens, choose MIDI.

Without a notification, the screen is also in the settings, with the phone plugged in: depending on the brand, Connected devices › USB, or Developer options › Default USB configuration (the latter makes it permanent; developer options are enabled by tapping “Build number” 7 times in About phone). The mode often goes back to “charging” at each unplug: redo it after each connection unless you made it permanent.

Then, in your software, choose the MIDI output matching the phone (on Mac: “USB MIDI Device”). In VIBRANIUM's MIDI tab, the source USB · Android USB peripheral port appears and the “Messages received” counter goes up when you play. As long as no source is connected, the MIDI tab reminds you of this setting.

The CLIP light comes on

The output is clipping: lower VOLUME, the part volumes in Multi mode or the Drive.

The sound stops when I switch apps

Turn on BACKGROUND EXPANDER in SETUP.

A note is stuck

PANIC.

I lost my Premium purchase

☰ menu › Restore my purchases, with the same Google account used for the purchase.

A question, a bug, an idea? [email protected]