Arrhenius plugin interface, showing the reaction-coordinate field, the TEMPERATURE dial, the KINETICS / CATALYSIS / THERMAL parameter groups, and the FROZEN / LIQUID / BOILING classification

Live · event density

14%FROZEN · 2 hits / bar

Temperature 0.30

k̂ measured 0.6 / s

This is the plugin's interface. The mechanism behind it: temperature climbs from frozen cyan to boiling ember, more attempts clear the barrier, and event density rises. The same rate law, k = A·exp(−E_a/T), ships in Arrhenius. For the full derivation, read the reaction-kinetics note.

From a frozen loop to a full reconstruction.

01 · frozen

Skeletal

At low temperature only the hardest transients clear the barrier. A drum loop is two kick hits a bar.

02 · catalyze

Melt by band

Catalyst lowers the barrier per frequency; Affinity picks the end. Hats shimmer through the ice, or bass tunnels under it.

03 · ignite

Cascade

Exotherm feeds reaction heat back in. A rare first success seeds an avalanche, then cools when the input stops feeding it.

04 · boiling

Reconstructed

Sweep temperature up and the loop rebuilds energy-first, kick to snare to hats to ghosts, as high-energy collisions clear.

FROZENLIQUIDBOILING

What Arrhenius does differently.

It owns "how often," not "how much."

Compressors answer how much; Boltzmann answers which note. Arrhenius controls the stochastic temporal density of audio events, the third axis, by literal rate law: k = A·exp(−E_a/T).

Temperature has a sensitivity zone.

One octave of temperature moves event density by orders of magnitude, so the knob has a narrow throw where the signal transforms from skeletal to full. That zone is the product.

The randomness grooves.

Collision keys success to the signal's own per-band energy. Loud hits hop a barrier that quiet ones cannot. Kinetic control, not a threshold, so the gate fires with the music.

It heats itself.

Exotherm makes successful reactions raise the temperature, which breeds more reactions: induction periods, ignition cascades, and Newtonian cooling. The fuel is your signal, not an internal reservoir.

Hear it reconstruct.

Real captures

Each demo pairs the same source dry and processed. Toggle between takes to hear the temperature gate reconstruct the density.

Bassline

Saw-square bass line.

0:00

Dry bassline.

Drums · loop 1

Kick and snare loop.

0:00

Dry drum loop.

Drums · loop 15

Busy breakbeat.

0:00

Dry breakbeat.

Noisy saw

Noisy saw lead.

0:00

Dry saw lead.

What is in the box.

Kinetics engine

The rate law P = exp(−E_a/T) as stochastic gating across 8 Linkwitz-Riley bands. Temperature, Barrier, Rate; a synced or free attempt clock; Collision keys success to per-band signal energy.

Catalysis & thermal

Catalyst lowers the barrier per band, Affinity selects the end. Exotherm feeds reaction heat back for induction, ignition, and cooling; Inertia sets the thermal time constant.

Output & visualization

Floor, React, Width, Mix, auto Makeup, In/Out, fixed safety limiter. Live reaction-coordinate ridge and an interactive ln k vs 1/T Arrhenius plot with measured k̂.

Formats

macOS 11+ VST3, AU, Standalone. Windows 10+ VST3, Standalone. Apple Silicon and Intel native. 0-sample latency.