BlueARP VST Arpeggiator development - let's discuss! (Apple M1 ready, 4K)

[graywolf2004]

Would something like this be possible with BlueArp? (skip to 2:46)

In this video i use a Reason Rack Extension to turn polyphonic MIDI into monophonic. Longer bass notes get suppressed and retrigger as soon as the higher notes play or stop. Then a second Rack Extension sets up an arpeggio that only reacts to the lower-note range.
The result is a super quick and easy way to program arps with a "custom" topline melody. I find that really practical. I built something similar in Bitwig a while ago, and it worked pretty well, too.

I think having a feature like this in BlueArp would be really nice.

Hi. Maybe not exactly the same, but almost. If you set order algorithm to 'pitch, descending' and use the Initial program of rolling 16 notes with all KEY SELECT set to k1 and STEP TYPE to Nrm (also decrease gate to somewhere 60%), BlueARP will behave like this:
1. When just one key is pressed it plays 16th's of that key (bass line)
2. When 2 keys pressed, the higher one becomes k1 (cause our sorting is pitch desc.)
The only difference with the video is probably that if you want sustained notes (not just 16ths), I don't see the way to do this in BlueARP, will require adding some new params. But on that video the melody has just 16ths, you can get exactly the same with BlueARP.

So when you hold one key and for short time press and release the second key, you get the same result. I tried to play it live - it works with realtime quantization in BlueARP, but requires some practice (although even when you mistake, your note is still in the grid, which doesn't sound bad). For the piano roll, it works just fine.

[graywolf2004]

Just uploaded 2nd part of the BlueARP video manual, fixed arp mode

It is mostly for the BlueARP DM, but with the plugin may also make sense, especially if you need to retrigger your sequence with restart on = key or use chord-based pattern switching via chain variations
(video manuals for drum and guitar modes are yet to come)

[aquilyzer]

Hi. Maybe not exactly the same, but almost. If you set order algorithm to 'pitch, descending' and use the Initial program of rolling 16 notes with all KEY SELECT set to k1 and STEP TYPE to Nrm (also decrease gate to somewhere 60%), BlueARP will behave like this:
1. When just one key is pressed it plays 16th's of that key (bass line)
2. When 2 keys pressed, the higher one becomes k1 (cause our sorting is pitch desc.)
The only difference with the video is probably that if you want sustained notes (not just 16ths), I don't see the way to do this in BlueARP, will require adding some new params. But on that video the melody has just 16ths, you can get exactly the same with BlueARP.

So when you hold one key and for short time press and release the second key, you get the same result. I tried to play it live - it works with realtime quantization in BlueARP, but requires some practice (although even when you mistake, your note is still in the grid, which doesn't sound bad). For the piano roll, it works just fine.

Ah, thanks for the tip! I’ll give that a try.

I think making arpeggio melodies in this style is super easy. You basically just need to focus on the top melody and the bass notes, and that’s it. It’s more of a technique for the piano roll rather than playing live.

Edit:
What you could maybe do in BlueArp is use the Input Filter. Anything outside the Input Filter gets currently ignored. But what if you could set it so that everything filtered out by the Input Filter is sent exclusively to the Output Filter, which would then suppress the arp? That way, we’d basically get the same behavior I’m showing in the video. The only thing left would be to make the Arp Reset configurable, so that when the arp notes start passing through again, it resets from the beginning.

It’s not a must-have, but like I said, it would be a nice and very useful feature.

[graywolf2004]

BlueARP outputs notes the same as way as Logic's Arpeggiator, as far as I can tell, so it should work the same way.

Do you mind to check my video, where I compare exactly that: Arp from Logic Pro and BlueArp. I watched the YouTube video and did the same, but only Logics Arp gets recorded while BlueArp just creates an empty midi region. Nothing inside...

This was a bug, thanks for posting. Took me a while to figure out, it didn't send proper timestamps with the midi events so Logic placed them all in the beginning. Fixed in v2.8.4. This was a MIDI-FX specific thing, VST versions didn't have this problem

[graywolf2004]

BlueARP update v2.8.4
https://omg-instruments.com/wp/?page_id=46
This was mostly a DM update, but few changes for the plugin as well. Most important, I fixed recording BlueARP output in Logic.
Change log:
1. Some fixes for the chord detection, mostly about input quantize, input chord should be quantized just
the same way as the input keys
2. Some refinements to restart on key + quantize tolerance, to avoid gaps in playing chords, especially in guitar mode
3. Some fixes for stuck notes in THRU mode
4. New latch mode 'sustain', works exactly like a sustain pedal. Mostly for the plugin, where sustain pedal is
an assignable controller by default (at least in FL), so you can apply sustain to certain BlueARP instances
5. BugFix: recording midi output from BlueARP in Logic Pro
6. Bugfix: auval pass on OSX (added some internal branches for auval so it passes all the tests).

[bferst]

Hey, searched through this thread and didn't see this requested before, would you consider adding a sync "off" and run the arp in milliseconds? Would work better for my (not music related) sound design where tempo isn't important. The ableton arpeggiator can be used as reference, you can have the rate synced to tempo similar to bluearp (1/4, 1/32, etc) or in milliseconds. Thank you, let me know if this is possible or if I can clarify! Bluearp is really awesome, I'm glad I found it!

[tonycore]

What bferst said, and the ability to run it really, really slowly...

[graywolf2004]

Edit:
What you could maybe do in BlueArp is use the Input Filter. Anything outside the Input Filter gets currently ignored. But what if you could set it so that everything filtered out by the Input Filter is sent exclusively to the Output Filter, which would then suppress the arp? That way, we’d basically get the same behavior I’m showing in the video. The only thing left would be to make the Arp Reset configurable, so that when the arp notes start passing through again, it resets from the beginning.

It’s not a must-have, but like I said, it would be a nice and very useful feature.

This is actually a good idea to check. There's a param 'input range mode' - truncate and pass thru. Pass thru will pass the notes to the output filter, but without suspending the arp. The idea is to add a new option like 'pass thru + suspend', which will also suspend the arp. I will check how it works musically

[graywolf2004]

Hey, searched through this thread and didn't see this requested before, would you consider adding a sync "off" and run the arp in milliseconds? Would work better for my (not music related) sound design where tempo isn't important. The ableton arpeggiator can be used as reference, you can have the rate synced to tempo similar to bluearp (1/4, 1/32, etc) or in milliseconds. Thank you, let me know if this is possible or if I can clarify! Bluearp is really awesome, I'm glad I found it!

I'm not quite clear with this use case, can you explain what will be a 'tick' for the arp then? Now it is samplePos / beat position from the host. When I set sync to 'off' as you propose, how arp will know when it needs to advance to the next step?

[bferst]

Hey, searched through this thread and didn't see this requested before, would you consider adding a sync "off" and run the arp in milliseconds? Would work better for my (not music related) sound design where tempo isn't important. The ableton arpeggiator can be used as reference, you can have the rate synced to tempo similar to bluearp (1/4, 1/32, etc) or in milliseconds. Thank you, let me know if this is possible or if I can clarify! Bluearp is really awesome, I'm glad I found it!

I'm not quite clear with this use case, can you explain what will be a 'tick' for the arp then? Now it is samplePos / beat position from the host. When I set sync to 'off' as you propose, how arp will know when it needs to advance to the next step?

Of course, yea the tick would be milliseconds! I'm a sound designer for games, film, ads, etc. and this would be useful for a couple different things, the main one being (and what I've been using bluearp for recently) has been sort of "level up" sounds. In these, an actual tempo doesn't matter, and I'll experiment with moving the speed up and down to find the correct timing. Adjust the projects tempo to find the correct "tick speed" would of course affect all sounds in the project, which isn't ideal. Whereas, just adjusting the miliseconds in bluearp, would allow me finer control (not locked to tempo like 1/4 etc) and allow me to use different speeds per project (of course I understand that I can use 1/32 in one and 1/64 in another, but I want non-tempo locked control). Take a look at ableton's arpeggiator to see it in action, you can either do subdivisions by tempo or miliseconds.

[Username Peter Pan]

Every version higher than Blue arp 2.3.9 legacy doesn't work in nuendo 4.3 and windows xp 32 or w7 64 bits.

[aquilyzer]

This is actually a good idea to check. There's a param 'input range mode' - truncate and pass thru. Pass thru will pass the notes to the output filter, but without suspending the arp. The idea is to add a new option like 'pass thru + suspend', which will also suspend the arp. I will check how it works musically

Sounds great, I’m excited!

[hamlen]

I love BlueARP and have used it for years, but it lacks one critical feature that I long for every time I use it: delay compensation.

The problem: Arps generated by BlueARP usually sound slightly late (not quite on the beat) because most sounds have a non-zero attack time. Sending note-on precisely on the beat therefore causes the notes to sound at peak amplitude around 50ms after the beat.

The fix: I wish BlueARP had a "delay compensation" setting that allowed users to enter a time t expressed in milliseconds. Whenever the host DAW requests a buffer that starts at time s, BlueARP would instead generate a buffer consistent with start time s+t. This will cause it to send each note t ms early.

This would help users make BlueARP's arps sound so much tighter and cleaner. Thank you for considering my suggestion!

--Kevin

[RobinB]

I have issues with BlueArp and it changing parameters automatically, I'm on mac Sequoia and using ableton live 12. If I'm in keyselect for example when I press k2 it selects k3, and other things like that for example for chains when I press a setting then it selects other options automatically. Any idea of what that could be? I recorded a video

[audiojunkie]

BlueARP update v2.8.3
https://omg-instruments.com/wp/?page_id=46

It is a bugfix release, no major changes or new features. I was mostly polishing BlueARP DM and some bugs I found are relevant for both plugin and the hardware.
Changelog:
--- BlueARP v2.8.3 / 23-Nov-2025 (patch format ver = 20) ---
1. BugFix: When you set the input quantize to "none" the chain variations no longer work
2. BugFix: for example you have Chain1/Var1 triggered by Gsus2 chord, when you hold Gsus2, switch to other chain and
then back to Chain1, it doesn't trigger Var1
3. Stuck notes for MIDI Thru dummy program with steps=0 (simple thru) and latch on, when pressding the same note
twice, it gets stuck, at least with Roland SC88 which seems to treat double notes and separate sounds.
4. BugFix: 'restart chain on switch' param didn't work in versions 2.8.0 and 2.8.1
5. Input range filter added for the 'arp, fixed' operation mode

Also important: updated user manual, enhanced the Guitar and Drum mode descriptions, added description for the Fixed arp mode. Direct link to the manual:
https://www.omg-instruments.com/bluearp ... 283_EN.pdf

Amazing, thank you very much. I hope 2026 is the year BlueArp goes Linux

Oh! That would be awesome! Yes Please!!