Hi-Hat

A fully synthesized metallic hi-hat. A trigger fires a fast, percussive hit built from six detuned square oscillators and bright noise — no samples, just classic 808-style cymbal shimmer you can shape on the fly.

How it works

There's no separate closed and open voice — one engine does both. Decay sets the length of the envelope: short snaps out a tight closed hat, long lets it ring into an open one. Six mutually inharmonic square oscillators give the metallic clang, noise adds air, and the Tone filter decides how dark and broad or bright and tizzy the result sits.

Controls

• Tone — brightness and character. Turn it down for a fuller, broader hat; turn it up to lift the filter and lean into a thin, sizzly band.
• Decay — the tail length, from a clipped closed hat (~20 ms) up to a long open one (~1 s). This is the knob you ride to flip between closed and open hits.

Inputs & outputs

• Trig — a rising edge fires the hit; patch a clock, gate, or sequencer trigger here.
• Out — the mono hi-hat signal.

Tips

• For real closed/open interplay, run two instances at different Decay lengths and send each step's trigger to the short or long copy as the groove needs.
• Ride Decay live to flip a single instance between tight ticks and open rings — great for fills and breakdowns.
• Push Tone up for a thin, sizzly band that cuts through a dense mix; ease it down when the hat wants more body.