Reverie Pro Mode: Your First Custom DSP Chain
A hands-on tutorial: construct a custom chain, tweak parameters, save as preset, and iterate with seed control.
Dreamscape mode gives you presets. Pro Chain Builder gives you everything else. Let's build a chain from scratch, save it, and iterate on it like a pro.
01Step 1: Pick a source audio
Start with a source that has recognizable character – a piano chord, a vocal phrase, a synth pad of 10–30 seconds. Avoid busy drum-heavy material for your first chain; ambient tools love harmonic sources.
02Step 2: Add a Source module
Every chain must start with a Source-tier module. You have two choices: Dreamtime (our extended Paulstretch, for classic smeared stretch) or Spectral Freeze (for sustained frozen texture). For this tutorial, use Dreamtime. Set the stretch factor to 20× and the window size to 0.5 seconds.
03Step 3: Add spectral shaping
After Dreamtime, add a Lowpass filter with cutoff around 4 kHz. This tames the high-frequency smear that Dreamtime produces. Optionally add Spectral Blur with amount 0.3–0.5 for extra softening.
04Step 4: Add harmonic layers
Insert Chord Layer with a chord voicing that matches your source. Try "Fifth" or "Sus2" for a neutral, wide sound. Then add Formant with vowel "A" at 30% intensity for subtle vocal coloration without making it sound cartoonish.
05Step 5: Add spatial effects
Now the reverb stage. Shimmer Reverb with decay 7 seconds, shimmer amount 0.3, and wet level 0.5. Then Stereo Width at 1.6× with subtle movement at 0.05 Hz. The result: a wide, evolving halo around your core texture.
06Step 6: Master bus
End the chain with a Compressor (ratio 2:1, threshold -12 dB, soft knee) and Normalize to -3 dBFS. This keeps dynamic range tight while leaving headroom for the consumer's playback.
07Step 7: Generate and iterate
Set duration to 5 minutes, hit Generate. Listen. If the low end is muddy, reduce Dreamtime window size. If the shimmer is too loud, cut Shimmer wet to 0.3. If the texture feels static, add a Temporal Evolution module with a 30-second filter period.
08Step 8: Save as custom preset
Happy with the result? Save as custom preset. Give it a name and an icon. It now lives alongside the factory presets and can be applied to any future source.
You built your first chain
Pro Chain Builder unlocks with the 29€ one-time upgrade. All 37 modules, unlimited custom presets, seed control, 30-minute exports, 4 formats at 16/24-bit. Lifetime updates.