Performing Orthonotone Polychoral Instrument

Stage setup

1. Serve the project – run any static server from the repo root (npx http-server . is sufficient) and open polychoral-instrument-mvp.html in a Chromium-based browser for best WebAudio timing.
2. Prime Playwright harness (optional) – npm install once, then npm run check to ensure the QA hooks remain healthy before and after your session.
3. Warm the audio graph – click Enable Audio in either the toolbar or System section of the Controls panel. Browsers insist on a user gesture before sound.
4. Set your monitoring level – adjust Master Volume immediately; presets and snapshots respect the level currently set.

Performance quickstart

• Canvas focus – keep the canvas in view (toggle Focus Mode if panels crowd the stage). The hypercube visualization reacts to the same modulation that drives the synth.
• Baseline scene – start from Neutral Lattice or Prismatic Bloom in Quick Scene to align with the sound you want. Custom tweaks always begin from the current selection.
• Check system status – expand the Live State Vectors panel for meters showing axis energy, edge resonance, and face harmonic bloom. Use these readouts to balance the mix while improvising.
• Keep audio alive – if silence returns after inactivity, tap Enable Audio again; the button mirrors the AudioContext state.

Control surface map

State Space

• Quick Scene selector: instant morph targets (Neutral, Drift, Bloom, Pulse).
• Snapshots: name and store mixes for instant recall mid-set.
• Dimension / Morph / Grid / Fidelity sliders: reshape the rendered hyper lattice and corresponding harmonic density.

Timbre Architecture

• Line Thickness, Shell Width, Tetra Density: sculpt the visual-acoustic shell; thicker values emphasize lower resonances.
• Color Shift & Glitch Intensity: paint spectral hue and sprinkle jittered overtones.

Rotation Velocities

• Six sliders (XY…ZW) drive base angular speed in radians/sec. Pair them with gestures for evolving drones versus rhythmic pulses.

System Suite

• Master Volume controls output gain post-fader.
• Enable Audio toggles the synth graph.
• Symmetry Snap recenters rotation for crystalline chords.
• Reset State returns sliders to defaults while leaving audio on.
• Freeze Rotation halts motion for sustained pads.
• MIDI Bridge connects controllers, enabling external modulation.
• Tempo Sync buttons follow external MIDI clock or rephase the internal clock.

Gestural choreography

• Pointer drags: default drags modulate XY/YZ/XZ; hold Shift for XW/YW, Alt for XZ/ZW, Ctrl / ⌘ for fine isoclinic blends.
• Touchscreens: second finger emulates Shift, third finger unlocks Alt; no hardware keyboard required.
• Motion input (beta): enable via Gesture panel for accelerometer blending; calibrate neutral tilt before performing.
• Focus Mode & Hide Panels: reclaim screen real estate mid-performance without losing panel state.

Scene design and snapshots

1. Choose or sculpt a starting scene via Quick Scene.
2. Dial lattice parameters (Dimension/Morph/Grid/Fidelity) to set harmonic density.
3. Shape timbre with Shell/Line/Tetra and Color/Glitch controls.
4. Balance rotation speeds so Status panel meters pulse in complementary patterns (e.g., pair XY with XZ for shimmering fifths).
5. Store the state: enter a descriptive name and click Save Snapshot; it appears in the snapshot list for one-click recall.
6. Annotate experiments – log notable parameter sets in audio-upgrade-turn2-core-dsp.md or related plan docs so future performers can reproduce them.

Tempo and groove engine

• Clock Division & Rhythm Pattern choose internal sequencer grids (Quarter, Eighth, Triplet, Sixteenth; Drive Pulse, Syncopated Lift, Euclidean Five, Ambient Bloom, Custom Sculpt).
• Groove Swing introduces humanized delay; values above 0.3 create loping polyrhythms.
• Pattern Sculptor appears when Custom Sculpt is selected—paint per-step intensities, use Euclidise for evenly spaced hits, Humanise for slight randomness, or Clear to reset.
• MIDI Clock Follow syncs modulation to external gear; monitor Tempo Sync and Clock Phase in the Status panel to verify lock.

Recording and sharing takes

1. Screen capture – use system-level screen/audio recorder (e.g., QuickTime, OBS) to capture both visuals and sound; ensure desktop audio is routed from the browser.
2. Snapshot setlists – before recording, queue snapshots in performance order for rapid transitions.
3. Document presets – after recording, export slider values by copying the QA report (Status → QA Diagnostics → Copy Report) to archive performance settings.
4. Share context – attach relevant plan doc links or commit hashes when distributing audio/video so collaborators can align with the build you used.

Troubleshooting cues

• No sound after enabling: confirm Master Volume > 0 and the Status panel shows AudioContext "Running". Reload the page if the context gets stuck in "Suspended".
• Gestures feel unresponsive: check if Freeze Rotation is active, or if axis sliders are pegged at zero. Recenter with Reset State.
• Panel clutter: toggle Hide Panels then reopen only what you need; Focus Mode hides panels but keeps toggles docked.
• MIDI not detected: ensure browser permissions allow MIDI, press Connect MIDI again, and verify device appears in the dropdown.

Reference atlas

• Instrument surface: polychoral-instrument-mvp.html – main performance canvas, panels, and synth wiring.
• Render & audio theory: hypercube_core_webgl_system.md, audio-synthesis-master-plan.md, audio-upgrade-turn2-core-dsp.md.
• Roadmaps: mvp-roadmap.md, development-expansion-plan.md, interface-responsiveness-plan.md.
• QA harness: check-instrument.js for Playwright-driven regression playback.