S1gns Of L1fe Stellarizer v1.0 [WiN-MAC]

• Product: Stellarizer
• Developer: S1gns Of L1fe
• Version: 1.0
• Format: VST3
• Requirements: Windows 10 or later, macOS 11 or later
• Source: s1gnsofl1fe.gumroad.com/l/stellarizer

Stellarizer is a performance-to-pattern MIDI sequencer plug-in from S1gns Of L1fe Audio. It records a single monophonic MIDI take, analyzing timing, contour, velocity, note length, and sustain, then generates a field of related patterns through Near, Far, and Deep Space discovery ranges. Six Shape controls reshape contour, density, and structure. Scale Lock keeps generated material in key automatically. The plug-in outputs MIDI only, routing into eight pattern slots that switch immediately, on the next beat, or on the next bar inside a compatible DAW.

Key Takeaway

Stellarizer starts from a phrase you play, not a grid you program, then generates a field of related MIDI patterns that keep the original performance’s timing and contour. Capture is monophonic in this 0.9.0 beta, so chord-based performances and polyphonic input aren’t recorded yet.

Five Signals From One Take

Stellarizer starts recording the moment a performer plays into it, capturing a monophonic MIDI phrase in Free, synced, fixed-length, or custom-length mode. The engine reads timing, contour, velocity, note length, and sustain from that single take rather than asking for a pre-built pattern. Fixed-length and custom-length capture gate the take to a set duration, which speeds up round-tripping short ideas but removes the option to let a phrase run past a boundary the performer didn’t plan for.

Capture is monophonic in version 0.9.0, so a chord struck into the plug-in isn’t recorded as a chord. A single melodic line — a bassline, a lead phrase, an arpeggiated idea played one note at a time — is the material the analysis engine is built around. Producers working from a keyboard sketch or a hardware sequencer feeding single notes get a direct match; producers who think in block chords need to arpeggiate or split voicings before they capture.

Near, Far, and Deep Space

Inside the Pattern Playground, three discovery ranges — Near, Far, and Deep Space — generate new patterns at increasing distance from the captured phrase. Near keeps timing and contour close to the source; Deep Space widens the departure until the new pattern shares little beyond its key and general shape. Six Shape controls sit alongside the ranges, adjusting contour, density, structure, and the pattern’s rhythmic relationship to the original take.

Rerolling regenerates a slot inside the same discovery range without touching the captured source; pinning locks a chosen pattern while the rest of the field keeps generating around it. Deep Space patterns trade fidelity to the original take for distance, so a producer chasing a specific rhythmic echo of the source performance gets more mileage from Near and the Shape controls than from the far end of the range.

Scale Lock, Octave Shift

Scale Lock constrains every generated pattern to the active key and scale automatically, so patterns coming out of Far or Deep Space discovery stay harmonically usable without a manual quantize pass afterward. Octave shifting moves a pattern up or down instantly, letting a bassline idea become a lead line in the same slot without recapturing the performance.

The constraint runs in one direction: Scale Lock keeps output diatonic to the selected scale, and a producer looking for chromatic passing tones or out-of-key tension in the generated material has to turn it off and accept unlocked pitches instead. Producers working strictly inside a key — modal ambient pads, diatonic basslines, scale-locked arpeggios — get the most direct benefit; producers chasing dissonance are working against the feature rather than with it.

Eight Slots, Three Switch Timings

Eight pattern slots hold different generated ideas at once, and each slot switches in on one of three timings: immediately, on the next beat, or on the next bar. Every capture and every pattern worth keeping can be stored in the Recordings atlas, which holds performances and discoveries separately from the eight live slots for later recall.

Switch timing is limited to those three options — there’s no custom quantize point between beat and bar, so a producer building a pattern change on an off-grid subdivision has to time the switch by ear instead of setting a value. The eight-slot ceiling suits performers auditioning a handful of variations live; producers who want to hold dozens of generated ideas in view at once will lean on the Recordings atlas rather than the slot bank itself.

MIDI Out, No Audio Engine

Stellarizer outputs MIDI, not audio, so every pattern it generates needs a software instrument or external hardware synth downstream to actually make sound. It follows the host’s tempo, transport, time signature, and playback position, which keeps generated patterns locked to a session rather than running on an internal clock. Finished patterns export as MIDI files or drag directly into the DAW timeline once a producer settles on one.

Getting MIDI out of a plug-in and into an instrument requires a host capable of routing plug-in-generated MIDI, and the setup steps for that routing differ by DAW — a producer moving between hosts should expect to reconfigure the signal path each time rather than reuse one routing recipe everywhere. That variability makes Stellarizer a better fit for producers already comfortable patching MIDI between tracks than for someone who wants a drop-in instrument that makes sound on its own.

When the Phrase Turns Polyphonic

Stellarizer’s analysis engine is built around one voice at a time — timing, contour, velocity, note length, and sustain all read from a single monophonic line. The developer has confirmed polyphonic capture is planned for a future update, alongside MIDI file import, but neither ships in version 0.9.0.

FAQs