Settings
Every tab in the OSC-1 Settings window, including audio, visualizers, MIDI, OSC, shortcuts, triggers, and the shape library.
Open Settings from the header or press Cmd/Ctrl+K. The window opens to Audio, while the other tabs collect app-wide choices that are separate from the left Sources panel and right Properties panel.
Appearance
Scope background sets the screen behind the beam on the XY display: BLACK (the default), GRAPHITE, NAVY, AUTO — a dark shade of the beam color that follows it, including while the hue cycles — or PAPER, white with the trace drawn in black ink. It is saved with your preferences, applies to every preset, and fills the whole frame of recordings and rendered video, including the bands around the display in 9:16 and 1:1. Background Opacity in Beam Properties still fades it.
Animated canvas border and Plexus background are off by default. Enable either decoration here; your choices also apply in Laser and Viz. They do not change the signal or exported artwork.
Audio
The Audio tab uses the same three-step source flow as Audio Visualizers: current-source summary → CHANGE chooser → one focused source screen.
- Current Source — source name, connection state, format, sample rate, live L/R meters, stereo correlation, mute, speaker volume, and CHANGE.
- Source chooser — offers TAB / SYSTEM AUDIO, DEMO TRACK, MICROPHONE, AUDIO FILE, and VIRTUAL AUDIO DEVICE. CANCEL returns without changing the source.
- Source screen — shows only the controls needed for the selected source. BACK returns to the chooser.
- Share Tab Audio — opens the Chrome or Edge share dialog for browser music; no virtual audio device is needed.
- Demo Track — loads the built-in test tones, demos, shapes, and oscilloscope music.
See Audio Sources for the complete workflows.
Visualizers
The Visualizers tab controls the monitoring strip around the main XY display.
| Control | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Performance Mode / Analysis | Disables or restores the auxiliary visualizers so the main display gets more of the available performance. |
| FRAME RATE | MAX, 60 or 30: caps how often the XY display redraws, to lighten CPU and GPU load. Trails last the same time at any setting, and the display's HZ readout shows the capped rate. |
| Startup Mode | Starts in Oscilloscope, Creator, Performance, or the last mode you used. |
| XY Sweep | Shows or hides the sweep monitor. |
| XY Scope | Shows or hides the secondary XY scope. |
| VU Meter | Shows or hides the level meter. Choose L/R, Laser, Phos, Red, Amber, Cyan, or White from the VU color menu. |
| Timeline | Shows or hides the time-position monitor. |
| Spectrum | Shows or hides the frequency display. |
| Waveform | Shows or hides the waveform display. |
| Dynamic Color | Makes the sweep and spectrum follow the oscilloscope beam color. |
High-sample-rate oscilloscope music produces the most detailed drawings. The explanation at the bottom of this tab shows why 96 kHz or 192 kHz material can look smoother than standard-rate audio.
MIDI
- Show MIDI Learn Buttons displays the small M buttons beside controls that can be mapped. Each M button learns a MIDI control or an OSC message.
- Virtual Keyboard shows or hides the on-screen piano without stopping the synth.
- Connected Devices lists every MIDI input the browser can see. If MIDI is unavailable, OSC-1 shows a browser-support message instead.
- MIDI LEARN — START MIDI LEARN closes Settings and outlines every M button so you can map several controls in a row; DONE or Esc finishes.
- LEARNED MAPPINGS lists each MIDI and OSC mapping with a remove button, plus CLEAR ALL (asks in place first), Export and Import.
- Program Change chooses which MIDI channel can switch scope presets: All channels (default), Channel 1–Channel 16, or Off. Program 0 selects the first scope preset. See Program Change.
To map one control, click the M button beside it, then move the desired hardware knob or button. See Hardware Control for the full workflow.
OSC
- OSC Bridge — BRIDGE PORT (default
8765) and CONNECT connect OSC-1 to your OSC bridge. The line under them reads Listening on ws://localhost:8765. once the bridge answers, or says why OSC cannot reach OSC-1 yet. It is the same bridge and port the laser tools and Audio Visualizers use. - Laser Blackout lists the two OSC addresses that black out or stop the laser output,
/beamtracer/laser/blackoutand/beamtracer/laser/stop, and says whether the bridge is connected so they can arrive. See OSC blackout. - Last message shows the most recent OSC address and values the bridge delivered, so you can check your sender.
- MIDI LEARN is the same panel as in the MIDI tab: START MIDI LEARN maps OSC messages as well as MIDI controls, and LEARNED MAPPINGS is the same list. An OSC row shows its range, such as AUTO 0–1; click it to type a range.
- TouchOSC and TouchDesigner setup explains where your software should send (the computer running the OSC bridge, on the port the bridge receives on) and how the range is set.
See Hardware Control for connection and mapping guidance.
Shortcuts
Open Settings → SHORTCUTS, or press Ctrl/Cmd+/, for this in-app reference. It includes project saving, active transport and display keys, edit history, canvas navigation, and the synth note map. Laser controls appear while a laser transport is available. It also includes Show Startup Hints Again if you want to replay the guided tips. The same keys are listed in Keyboard Shortcuts.
Trigger
The Trigger tab provides quick switches for:
- XY Trigger — locks the display to an X/Y threshold crossing.
- Audio Trigger — locks to an audio-amplitude crossing.
Use the Docs link in this tab for the complete Triggering guide.
Library
The Library tab shows the built-in primitives and any shapes you saved. The totals at the top separate primitives, SVGs, and user shapes.
Saved shapes appear in the Step Sequencer shape selector. To add one, load an SVG in the SVG / Icons panel and choose Save to Library.
Keep a small performance library of simple, recognizable shapes. They switch and morph more cleanly than very dense SVGs.