Trix

Launch price: $3 — increasing to $5 after seven days.

Trix is a software recreation of a Japanese rhythm machine from 1973, built through hands-on analysis of an original unit and its analog circuitry.

Trix uses no samples. Every sound is generated in real time by models based on the original electronic circuits, from the resonant drum voices to the metallic percussion and noise-based sounds.

Features

• 100% synthesized
• Circuit models based on an original 1973 unit
• Built-in rhythm patterns and sequencer
• Step sequencer and pattern editor
• Individual controls
• Extended Noise and Metal controls
• Master Tone and Over Drive
• Internal / Host / MIDI clock
• macOS AUv2 / VST3 / Standalone
• Windows VST3

Hardware Archaeology

Trix started with an original 1973 rhythm machine on the workbench.

Its sound-generating circuits were traced, measured and analyzed to understand how the instrument actually produces its characteristic percussion. Rather than capturing the final output as recordings, those electronic behaviors were reconstructed as real-time DSP models.

Beyond the Original

The original machine offered almost no control over its individual sounds. Their tuning, decay and character were largely determined by fixed components inside the hardware.

Trix turns those internal relationships into playable parameters.

Tune the drums, change their decay, reshape the metallic percussion, alter the noise character, drive the output, or rebalance every instrument individually.

Trix also adds a Low Conga, derived as an extension of the original percussion architecture rather than copied from a voice that existed on the hardware.

The original machine was built around fixed preset rhythms. Trix expands on this with a step sequencer and pattern editor, allowing you to create, edit and save your own rhythms while using the same circuit-modeled sounds.

System Requirements

macOS AUv2, VST3 and Standalone Universal arm64 + x86_64

Windows VST3 x64

Notice:  Generative AI (Claude and Codex) was used for coding assistance and running the testing pipeline. Hardware analysis, sound design, visual design, and all graphical assets were created by the developer.