XY Pad Logo

Expressive plugin control with a familiar face for REAPER

XY Pad is an open-source controller that lets you map your plugin parameters to either axis of a cursor-driven pad.

You control the horizontal. You control the vertical.

Plugins with performative XY interfaces are incredibly powerful. They encourage a kind of tactile interaction that's hard to replicate with knobs or sliders. This provides an opportunity to intuitively explore a plugin's full potential for generating different and interesting sounds.

Typically, DAW automation works in isolated lanes, each tied to a single parameter of a plugin. Setting up anything that goes beyond that can be tedious and frustrating.

XY pad solves this by making it easy to map multiple parameters from any plugin to a single, expressive interface. You can build up complex, layered systems and still control them all with simple, intuitive movement.

Setup and control should be effortless and transparent. The fewer clicks and steps it takes to map something, the less it interferes with the actual sound design process or disrupts creative flow.

Repeating loop of cursor moving around XY Pad

Keep it simple. Or don't.

A global XY pad for your entire session

Repeating loop of cursor moving around XY Pad
  • XY Pad's settings are per-project, saved in the project itself
  • The pad will reload itself as you select different project tabs
  • Customize pad colors, grid lines & cursor to match your project and aesthetic

Built for discovery, improvisation, and performance

Repeating loop of mapping a plugin in XY Pad
  • Map and modulate any parameter from any plugin
  • Turn any static patch into a living, moving sound
  • Turns every plugin into a performance instrument

Demo: Harnessing Arcane Energy

Next Demo: Controlling Magic Flames

White noise is generated in Phase Plant with filters and fx mapped to XY Pad. This patch then runs through a chain with lots of pitch and frequency shifting mapped to XY Pad to add tonality and movement. Paper tearing chain is processed (de-noised, distorted, filtered, etc) with several parameters mapped. Tonstrum TRAVELER's Manual knob is mapped for natural movement and control.

Source Sounds:

  • White noise
  • Paper tearing

Plugins Mapped with XY Pad:

TRAVELER by Tonsturm Shimmer by ValhallaDSP Phase Plant by Kilohearts MFreqShift by MeldaProduction Chroma by Xynth Audio Vitamin by Waves WORMHOLE by Zynaptiq ReaPitch by Cockos

Additional Plugins Used:

ReaGate by Cockos Wave Shifter by Minimal Audio ReaEQ by Cockos OTT by Xfer Records Raum by Native Instruments Denoiser Classic by Bertom Audio Parallel Particles by Waves Pro MB by FabFilter FilterFreak by SoundToys Evolution by INA GRM
View complete XY Pad demonstration playlist on YouTube →