Appendix: Factory Preset Reference

This appendix documents the founding fourteen factory presets shipped with Poly. Each preset is a starting point, not a destination — the parameter tables and experiment suggestions below are designed to help you understand what each preset does and where you might take it. The engine now ships 43 factory presets across 10 categories; the additional presets are grouped and browsable in the plugin’s category menu and the site’s Try It modal.

1. Four on the Floor

A straight four-on-the-floor kick anchored by a backbeat snare and steady hi-hats, with a polymetric ghost layer at E(7,16) that introduces subtle asymmetric motion beneath the grid.

Four on the FloorFactory: Four on the Floor

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Timeline
1	Kick	4	4	0	1/4	36	110	30	fixed(4)
2	Snare	4	2	0	1/4	38	100	30	—
3	Hat	8	8	0	1/8	42	80	30	—
4	Openhat	7	4	0	1/8	46	60	25	—

Macros: Density 0.5, Complexity 0.5, Syncopation 0, Swing 0, Tension 0, Humanize 0

Experiments:

• Push the Swing macro to 0.5 for a house feel, or drop it to 0 for rigid techno.
• Increase Lane 4’s hits from 7 to 9 and listen for how the ghost layer thickens.
• Set Lane 4’s steps to 15 instead of 16 to create a true polymetric ghost pattern that drifts against the kick grid.

2. Polymetric Drift

Four lanes at prime-number cycle lengths — 3, 5, 7, and 11 steps. Because no two primes share a common factor, the combined pattern does not repeat for lcm(3, 5, 7, 11) = 1155 steps. The groove is always recognisable but never literally repeating.

Polymetric DriftFactory: Polymetric Drift

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Timeline
1	Kick	3	2	0	1/4	36	105	30	fixed(3)
2	Rim	5	3	0	1/16	37	85	30	—
3	Tom	7	4	0	1/16	45	70	30	—
4	Hat	11	7	0	1/16	42	65	30	—

Macros: Density 0.4, Complexity 0.7, Syncopation 0, Swing 0, Tension 0.3, Humanize 0

Experiments:

• Automate the Density macro from 0.2 to 0.7 over 16 bars to hear the prime-ratio interactions emerge gradually.
• Try replacing Lane 1’s steps with 4 (non-prime) and notice how the groove becomes more predictable.
• Increase Humanize to 0.4 for a loose, organic feel that makes the polymetric shifts less mechanical.

3. Sparse Pulse

A minimal patch — three lanes, low density, ghost-heavy. Designed to sit beneath melodic content without competing. The groove is more felt than heard, a skeletal pulse with whispered ghost notes providing subliminal rhythmic texture.

Sparse PulseFactory: Sparse Pulse

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Humanize	Timeline
1	Kick	2	1	0	1/4	36	100	30	0ms	fixed(2)
2	Rim	3	2	0	1/8	37	70	30	3ms	—
3	Clap	5	2	0	1/16	39	45	20	0ms	—

Macros: Density 0.25, Complexity 0.5, Syncopation 0, Swing 0, Tension 0, Humanize 0.3

Experiments:

• Use as a foundation and add one lane at a time to build a custom groove from the skeleton up.
• Increase Lane 3’s velocity to 65 and ghost to 30 to make the ghost layer more audible — it becomes a textural shaker.
• Try scene morphing from this preset (Scene A) to a dense patch (Scene B) for a verse-to-chorus transition.

4. Breakbeat

A syncopated kick at E(3,16) displaces the downbeat emphasis, creating the broken feel that defines breakbeat and drum-and-bass drumming. The snare pattern provides the backbeat while hat and ghost lanes fill the grid with rhythmic detail.

E(3,16)

BreakbeatFactory: Breakbeat

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Swing	Timeline
1	Kick	5	3	0	1/16	36	115	30	0	fixed(5)
2	Snare	4	2	0	1/4	38	105	30	0	—
3	Hat	16	12	0	1/16	42	75	30	0.15	—
4	Tom	7	3	0	1/16	45	55	25	0	—

Macros: Density 0.5, Complexity 0.6, Syncopation 0.5, Swing 0, Tension 0.4, Humanize 0

Experiments:

• Rotate Lane 1 through positions 0-5 to find different kick displacement patterns. Each rotation is a different breakbeat variant.
• Push Syncopation to 0.8 to shift emphasis further off the grid.
• Add a 5th lane with E(5,7) at 1/8 for a polymetric ride pattern that drifts against the 16-step grid.

5. Latin Feel

The son clave at E(3,8) organises an ensemble of conga, shaker, and cowbell. Each lane has a defined relationship to the clave matrix — the conga fills the gaps, the shaker provides continuous subdivision, and the cowbell marks structural accents.

E(3,8)

Latin FeelFactory: Latin Feel

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Humanize	Timeline
1	Clave	5	3	0	1/16	75	95	30	0ms	fixed(5)
2	Conga	7	4	0	1/8	63	85	30	2ms	—
3	Shaker	16	12	0	1/16	70	55	30	0ms	—
4	Cowbell	4	3	0	1/4	56	75	30	0ms	—

Macros: Density 0.5, Complexity 0.4, Syncopation 0, Swing 0.3, Tension 0, Humanize 0.2

Experiments:

• Increase Lane 2’s mutation for an improvisatory conga feel reminiscent of a live conguero.
• To reach the exact son clave, set Lane 1 to E(5,16), enable Timeline mode, and shift one step (position 13 to 12) — the son clave is non-Euclidean, so no plain E(k,n) lane produces it (see Chapter 3).
• Push Swing to 0.7 for a deeper Cuban lilt.

6. Afro-House Phrases

Five lanes with staggered phrase gating create a texture that breathes — parts enter and exit at different times, so the ensemble is always shifting. The phrase offsets ensure that at least two lanes are always active, preventing complete silence while maintaining the feeling of structural variation.

Afro-House PhrasesFactory: Afro-House Phrases

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Humanize	Phrase Len	Gap	Offset	Timeline
1	Kick	4	3	0	1/4	36	110	30	0ms	0	0	0	fixed(4)
2	Shaker	16	12	0	1/16	70	60	30	0ms	0	0	0	—
3	Conga	7	4	0	1/8	63	85	30	2ms	8	2	0	—
4	Tom	5	3	0	1/8	43	70	25	0ms	12	4	4	—
5	Cowbell	3	2	0	1/4	56	65	30	0ms	4	4	8	—

Macros: Density 0.45, Complexity 0.5, Syncopation 0, Swing 0.15, Tension 0, Humanize 0.15

Experiments:

• Reduce all Gap values to 2 for a denser texture where parts overlap more.
• Change Lane 5’s Offset to 0 so it enters simultaneously with Lane 2 — hear how staggered vs aligned entry changes the feel.
• Automate Density from 0.3 to 0.7 to create an Afro-house build.

7. Reich Phasing

Two lanes run the identical pattern E(5,12), but Lane 2 applies drift, causing it to gradually shift phase relative to Lane 1. The third lane provides a sparse structural anchor. Over many bars, the two primary voices move from unison through various phase relationships and eventually (if drift is slow enough) back to unison — the essence of Steve Reich’s phasing technique.

E(5,12)

Reich PhasingFactory: Reich Phasing

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Drift	Timeline
1	Woodblock	5	3	0	1/12	76	90	30	0	fixed(5)
2	Woodblock	5	3	0	1/12	76	90	30	0.25	—
3	Hat	4	4	0	1/4	42	45	30	0	—

Macros: Density 0.3, Complexity 0.2, Syncopation 0, Swing 0, Tension 0, Humanize 0

Experiments:

• Increase Lane 2’s drift to +2 for faster phasing — the patterns separate and reconverge more quickly.
• Change the note assignments so Lanes 1 and 2 play different pitched percussion — the phasing becomes a melodic canon.
• Set Humanize to 0 for maximum precision, or push it to 0.3 to hear how looseness interacts with the phasing process.

8. Kotekan Interlock

A Balinese-inspired interlocking pair (polos and sangsih) with a structural gong cycle and a high-register shimmer. Lane 2 uses Kotekan L1, which generates a complementary pattern that fills the gaps left by Lane 1, recreating the interlocking technique of gamelan percussion.

Kotekan InterlockFactory: Kotekan Interlock

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Kotekan	Timeline
1	Woodblock	3	2	0	1/8	76	95	30	off	fixed(3)
2	Woodblock	3	3	0	1/8	77	85	30	L1	—
3	Kick	4	1	0	1/4	36	100	30	off	—
4	Hat	7	4	0	1/16	42	50	20	off	—

Macros: Density 0.4, Complexity 0.3, Syncopation 0, Swing 0, Tension 0, Humanize 0

Experiments:

• Change Kotekan from L1 to L3 or L5 for different interlocking densities.
• Increase Lane 4’s hits to 13 for a denser metallic shimmer that approximates a gamelan section in full flow.
• Add a 5th lane with E(7,12) as a West African bell pattern — the kotekan pair and the bell create a genuinely cross-cultural polymetric texture.

Bending the idiom

Layering a West African E(7,12) bell over Balinese colotomy is a deliberate cross-cultural break: gamelan’s cyclic hierarchy is self-contained and binary, so importing a foreign timeline is fusion done knowingly, not gamelan practice. See what breaks the gamelan idiom.

9. Pocket Groove

A tight four-lane groove emphasising micro-timing offsets and subtle mutation. The kick and snare lock together with precise pocket placement, while the hat and ghost lanes apply controlled looseness. This preset demonstrates that polymetric interest can come from timing variation rather than cycle-length differences.

Pocket GrooveFactory: Pocket Groove

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Swing	Mutation	Timing	Timeline
1	Kick	4	3	0	1/16	36	110	30	0	0	3ms	fixed(4)
2	Snare	4	2	0	1/4	38	100	30	0	0.1	-2ms	—
3	Hat	8	6	0	1/8	42	70	30	0.1	0.15	1ms	—
4	Clap	5	3	0	1/16	39	45	20	0	0.2	-1.5ms	—

Macros: Density 0.4, Complexity 0.5, Syncopation 0, Swing 0, Tension 0, Humanize 0.25

Experiments:

• Push Humanize to 0.5 for an extremely loose, almost drunk feel.
• Zero out all Timing offsets to hear how the pocket tightens — the same pattern with precise timing sounds robotic by comparison.
• Increase Lane 4’s mutation to 30 and add phrase gating (Length 6, Gap 2) for a ghost layer that breathes and varies.

10. Afrobeat 12/8

A compound-time groove built around a fixed timeline bell pattern — the 12/8 standard that organises West African ensemble music. The bell plays E(7,12) as a timeline (immune to macro modulation), while a four-on-the-floor kick anchors the downbeat. Shaker fills continuously at 12/12, and conga ghosts drift underneath with humanised timing.

Afrobeat 12/8Factory: Afrobeat 12/8

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Timeline
1	Cowbell	12	7	0	1/8	56	90	30	fixed(12)
2	Kick	4	4	0	1/4	36	112	30	—
3	Snare	3	2	0	1/8	38	95	30	—
4	Shaker	12	12	0	1/12	70	55	30	—
5	Conga	5	3	0	1/8	63	65	25	—

Macros: Density 0.5, Complexity 0.5, Syncopation 0, Swing 0, Tension 0, Humanize 0

Experiments:

• The bell pattern is a fixed timeline — it does not respond to Density or Complexity macros. Push those macros freely to reshape the supporting parts while the bell holds the structure.
• Increase Lane 5’s probability to 1.0 and ghost floor to 40 for a louder, more prominent conga part that steps forward from the texture.
• Try scene morphing from this preset to Pocket Groove — the compound-to-straight transition is a classic Afrobeat arrangement technique.

11. Balkan Aksak

A 7/8 aksak pattern using additive cells [2+2+3] — the rachenitsa meter of Bulgarian dance music. The davul (bass drum) and rim share the same additive grid, while zurna and darbuka overlay Euclidean patterns at E(7,8) that create polymetric tension against the asymmetric foundation.

Balkan AksakFactory: Balkan Aksak

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Cells	Timeline
1	Kick	3	2	0	1/8	36	110	30	[2+2+3]	fixed(3)
2	Rim	3	1	0	1/8	37	95	30	[2+2+3]	—
3	Woodblock	7	4	0	1/8	76	80	30	—	—
4	Tom	7	3	0	1/8	43	60	20	—	—

Macros: Density 0.45, Complexity 0.4, Syncopation 0, Swing 0, Tension 0, Humanize 0

Experiments:

• Change the cell sizes to [2+3+2] or [3+2+2] for different aksak variants — each rotation of the 7/8 feel changes the dance character entirely.
• Increase Lane 3’s humanize to 3ms for a looser zurna feel reminiscent of wedding band performance style.
• Add a 5th lane at E(4,11) for a kopanitsa cross-rhythm that plays 11/8 against the 7/8 foundation.

Bending the idiom

An E(4,11) kopanitsa lane runs a foreign 11-pulse cycle against the 7/8 aksak — a foreign cycle length erases the dance by default, so this cross-rhythm is a deliberate polymetric hybrid, not idiomatic aksak. See what breaks the Balkan idiom.

12. Bossa Nova

A bossa nova groove built around a fixed tamborim clave with ginga micro-timing — the subtle push-pull timing offsets that give Brazilian music its characteristic sway. The surdo anchors on beats 1 and 3 with micro-timing delays on the off-beats, while agogo and pandeiro weave around the clave with their own per-step timing variations.

Bossa NovaFactory: Bossa Nova

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Micro-timing	Timeline
1	Kick	4	2	0	1/4	36	100	30	yes	—
2	Woodblock	16	5	0	1/16	76	85	30	—	fixed(16)
3	Agogo	8	5	0	1/8	67	70	30	yes	—
4	Shaker	16	12	0	1/16	70	50	30	yes	—

Macros: Density 0.5, Complexity 0.35, Syncopation 0, Swing 0.2, Tension 0, Humanize 0.2

Experiments:

• Zero out all micro-timing offsets and hear how the groove loses its ginga — the same notes without the timing feel mechanical and lifeless.
• Increase Lane 4’s velocity spread to 0.3 for a more dynamic pandeiro that breathes with the pattern.
• Try scene morphing from Bossa Nova to Latin Feel — both share clave-derived structures but the timing and instrumentation create very different moods.

13. Carnatic Tala

An adi tala pattern [4+2+2] — the eight-beat cycle of South Indian classical music, divided into three unequal groups. The mridangam bass and treble share the additive grid, ghatam provides shimmer at E(5,8), and kanjira adds ghosted cross-rhythmic texture at E(3,8).

Carnatic TalaFactory: Carnatic Tala

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Cells	Timeline
1	Kick	3	2	0	1/4	36	105	30	[4+2+2]	fixed(3)
2	Tom	3	3	0	1/4	43	90	30	[4+2+2]	—
3	Hat	8	5	0	1/8	42	65	30	—	—
4	Clap	5	3	0	1/8	39	50	20	—	—

Macros: Density 0.4, Complexity 0.5, Syncopation 0, Swing 0, Tension 0, Humanize 0

Experiments:

• Change the cell sizes to [3+2+3] for rupak tala (7 beats) or [4+4] for eka tala — each tala creates a different gravitational landscape.
• Increase Lane 4’s humanize to 3ms for a more organic kanjira feel.
• Push Complexity to 0.8 for layakari-style subdivision doubling — the pattern fills with faster ornamental notes while maintaining the tala architecture.

14. IDM Glitch

Irregular additive cells [3+2+5+3] with heavy mutation, erratic per-step micro-timing offsets, and high probability variation across five lanes. This preset is deliberately unstable — it uses mutation rates up to 0.4 and micro-timing swings of ±12ms to create patterns that never settle into a repeatable groove. The Complexity and Tension macros push the engine toward maximum rhythmic entropy.

IDM GlitchFactory: IDM Glitch

Lane	Role	Steps	Hits	Rotation	Subdivision	Note	Velocity	Ghost	Mutation	Micro-timing	Cells	Timeline
1	Kick	4	3	0	1/16	36	115	30	0	—	[3+2+5+3]	fixed(4)
2	Snare	5	2	0	1/16	38	100	30	0.3	—	—	—
3	Hat	9	6	0	1/16	42	70	30	0	yes	—	—
4	Tom	7	3	0	1/16	45	55	15	0.35	—	—	—
5	Cowbell	11	4	0	1/16	56	75	30	0.4	yes	—	—

Macros: Density 0.35, Complexity 0.8, Syncopation 0.5, Swing 0, Tension 0.6, Humanize 0

Experiments:

• Reduce all mutation rates to 0 and hear the underlying additive/Euclidean skeleton — the pattern is surprisingly structured beneath the chaos.
• Push Lane 5’s probability to 1.0 for maximum glitch density, or drop it to 0.3 for occasional bursts of erratic hits.
• Use MIDI capture (Export Trigger) to record several passes — each mutation cycle produces a different version. Layer the best takes in your arrangement for controlled complexity.

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What to Listen For

Factory presets are starting points. Every parameter in every table above is a variable you can change. The presets demonstrate specific techniques — polymetric drift, phrase gating, kotekan interlocking, micro-timing pocketing — but their real purpose is to give you a working patch you can modify rather than a blank slate you have to build from scratch. Load a preset, listen to it for a few bars, then change one parameter at a time and listen to what shifts. That iterative process — load, listen, modify, listen — is how you develop an intuition for Poly’s parameter space.