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Assigning Controls
It’s fun to tweak effects using knobs an d buttons—VST effec ts are no exception. However, before you st art messing with
the Tweak knob and bu tton, you’ll need to assi gn a function to them . Unlike Torq’s 10 built-in effects, the VST Effect you
choose to use wi ll probably have more than two parameters to pl ay with. You can always adjust these parameters wit hin
the VST Effec t’s editor window. To gain MIDI control, however, you must as sign one of the VST Effec t’s parameter to the
Tweak knob or button (which you can control via M IDI). It’s a two-part process as outl ined below:
1. Load a VST Effect . Its editor window will pop up when loaded.
2. Right-click on the Tweak knob in Torq’s interface. It w ill turn red indicating that it standing by for as signment.
3. Using the mouse, move a control in the V ST Effect’s editor window. This could be a knob, slider, or butto n.
4. When you move the control, Torq will catch i t and assign it to the Tweak knob. Moving the Tweak knob wil l now
operate the assigned VS T parameter.
5. To assign a MIDI control to the Tweak knob, follow the usual procedure of right-clicking then moving your desired
MIDI control.
6. Once complete, the MI DI control will operate the VST paramet er.
7. The same procedure above can be used for as signing a VST parameter to the Tweak button.
Note: When running Torq in fullscreen mode, clicking on the Torq interface will cause Torq to move to the foreground and
your VST Effect to move to the backgroun d, effectively being obscured from v iew. To bring the VST Ef fect back to the front,
click on the Wrench icon in the VST Ef fect slot.
VST Crash Guard
A plug-in works by inserting small bit s of programming code into another program (in this case, you’ll be inserting an ef fect
processing plug-in into Torq). This can be problematic since some VSTs are made with littl e to no extern al testing at all (and
they may not have been tested with Torq specically). Granted, it’s usually the free VST plug- ins found on the web that lack
the testing imposed by other professiona l plug-ins. These dirty plug-ins can be some of the most expe rimental and creative
offerings out there , which is why you may still want to try them.
Obviously, it would be completely unacceptabl e for Torq to crash right in the middle of a gig becaus e of a little VST plug-in.
However, the music must keep playing at all ti mes. For that reason, Torq has been designed w ith VST Crash Guard, which
is a system th at will allow Torq to stay running even if an error should occur in the VST plug-in, causing it t o crash. If this
occurs, Torq will detect the crash and will quickly bypass the offending plug- in to keep the music going. When this happens,
you can either attempt to re-load the plug-in (in hopes that it will reset and become functional agai n) or you can remove
the plug-in and try ano ther. Either way, Torq’s got your back and will keep t he music owing.
VST Preset Management
Just like you can save the built-in Effect Rack, you can also save the settings for a VST plug-in. Some plug-ins will manage
their own presets from within t he GUI. In these cases, you’ll need to consult th e plug-in’s user manual to learn how to use
the presets.
Other VST plug-ins wil l rely on the host application (Torq, in this case) to manage t heir presets. In this case, you’ll need to
use the Preset Manageme nt tools that appear above the plug-in’s GUI.