Overview
Metamorph helps you turn a loop into a finished arrangement. You give it a reference track you like; it works out how that track is built — sections, energy and when the main elements come in and out — and then guides you through building your own, in time with your DAW.
Metamorph never changes your audio. It passes it straight through and only listens.
Install & activate
See Install and Activate on the Support page. Load Metamorph on your master channel so it hears the whole track.
Quick start
- Load Metamorph on the master.
- Drag a reference file (WAV, AIFF, FLAC, OGG or MP3) onto the plugin, or click Load reference.
- Wait a few seconds while it finds the tempo, bar 1 and the sections.
- Check the map. Fix any section edges that look wrong.
- Press play in your DAW and open Checklist or You vs reference.
Map view
The map is the reference track laid out bar by bar:
- Sections — the coloured blocks along the top: intro, build, drop, breakdown, outro.
- Energy curve — how loud and busy the track is in each bar. Drops sit high, breakdowns dip.
- Element lanes — five lanes showing when the main parts of the track are playing and when they drop out.
How sections are found: when the kick and sub drop out, that's a breakdown; when the highs keep rising, that's a build; when the kick and sub come back with a jump in energy, that's a drop. Everything is snapped to the bar grid.
The third card on the map shows your checklist progress, with a shortcut to open it.
Editing sections
- Move an edge — drag the border between two sections.
- Split a section in two, or merge it with its neighbour.
- Retype — change a section's type, e.g. intro → build.
- Snap — choose 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 bars. House and techno usually live on 8 and 16.
Your edits update the checklist and Up next straight away.
Lining up with your track
If your project doesn't start where the reference does — for example you've left 4 empty bars at the start — set Reference bar 1 at my bar N. Everything shifts so the map lines up with your DAW's bar numbers.
You vs reference
Press play and Metamorph draws your track's energy over the reference's, live, following your DAW's playhead. You'll see:
- Now — advice for the section you're in, e.g. “energy is below the reference here — bring the hats in”.
- Per-section verdicts — how each section you've played compares to the reference.
- Up next — see below.
Checklist
The checklist turns the reference into to-dos for each section, such as:
- Elements coming in or out at the start of a section, and mid-section on a 4-bar grid
- Energy lifts and drops
- A riser before each drop
- Section lengths
- Where the loudest part of the track is
Click an item to tick it. The list follows your playhead so the current section is always on top.
Up next
A countdown in bars to the next change, with what to do when you get there — for example “4 bars to Drop: kick and bass back in”. It appears in the Checklist and You vs reference tabs.
Saving
The analysis, your section edits and your ticked checklist items are all saved inside your DAW project. Nothing extra to manage.
Tips
- Pick a reference in the same style and roughly the same tempo as your track.
- Use a full-quality file (WAV or a high-bitrate MP3) — clean audio means cleaner detection.
- Fix bar 1 before anything else; every other section depends on it.
- You don't have to copy the reference. Use the map as scaffolding, then break the rules on purpose.
Troubleshooting
The sections are in the wrong place
Check bar 1 first. If the tempo is off, the reference may have tempo changes or a long beatless intro — try a different reference, or correct the edges by hand.
The live view doesn't move
Make sure your DAW is playing (not just the pattern preview) and that Metamorph is on the master, not on a muted channel.
The plugin doesn't show up
See My DAW can't find the plugin.
Still stuck? Contact support.