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Keyboard & mouse shortcuts

The gestures and shortcuts that apply everywhere in Aconite. As a head start: drag a knob to change it, double-click to reset it, and hold Shift or Cmd while dragging for fine control.


These gestures apply to every knob and slider in the interface: filter Cutoff, envelope times, LFO rates, FX mix levels, and all others.

GestureWhat it does
Click + drag up / downChange the value. Drag up to increase, down to decrease.
Shift + dragFine control. Moves the value in smaller increments for precise adjustments.
Cmd + drag (macOS) / Ctrl + drag (Windows)Fine control, same as Shift.
Double-clickReset to the default value.
Scroll wheelNudge the value up or down.
Right-clickOpen the context menu: Modulate, MIDI Learn, reset, and copy/paste options (see below).

Right-clicking any knob opens a menu with several options:

OptionWhat it does
Modulate ▸Lists all routes currently targeting this knob (each with its depth and a remove button) above an Add modulation ▸ submenu of every available source (LFOs, envelopes, velocity, macros, MIDI CC…). Pick a source to add a new route.
MIDI LearnArms MIDI learn for this parameter. Move a hardware knob or fader; Aconite catches the first CC and binds it.
Forget MIDI mappingRemoves the hardware CC assignment from this parameter (appears only when a mapping exists).
Set value…Opens a text entry to type an exact value.
Reset to defaultResets to the default value, same as double-clicking.
Copy valueCopies the current value to the clipboard.
Paste valuePastes a copied value onto this knob.

After adding a modulation route via the right-click menu, a small coloured dot appears on the knob to show it is modulated. A live arc on the knob animates in real time to show where modulation is currently pushing the value.

To set the route’s depth or add a Via transform, open the Master Matrix grid in the modulation section.

See Modulation matrix for a full guide to routing.


A one-octave on-screen keyboard runs along the bottom of the plugin window.

ActionWhat it does
Click a keyPlay that note.
Click and holdSustain the note until you release.
Drag horizontally while heldSlide to adjacent notes (useful for testing filter sweeps continuously).

The keyboard is a convenience for quick testing without a connected controller. It does not transmit velocity: notes play at a fixed medium velocity.


Some panels can be collapsed to save screen space or detached from the main window.

ActionWhat it does
Click the panel header arrowCollapse or expand that panel.
Double-click the panel headerPop the panel out into a floating window.
Close the floating windowRe-docks the panel in its original position.

The modulation section, FX rack, and keyboard panels all support this behavior.


These apply anywhere in the Aconite window:

ShortcutWhat it does
PANIC (header button)Instantly silences everything: stops all notes, kills stuck voices across both scenes, clears held / mono / arp state, and flushes reverb and delay tails. The emergency stop for a runaway patch or stuck note.
< / > arrows (preset browser)Step backward / forward through the preset bank.
Click preset nameOpen the preset menu for direct selection from Factory or User banks.

ActionWhat it does
Right-click a knob → MIDI LearnArm learn mode; move a hardware control to bind it.
Right-click a knob → Forget MIDI mappingRemove the hardware binding from that parameter.
MIDI button (header)Open the MIDI map manager: a table of all CC→parameter bindings plus 8 learnable CC matrix source slots. Edit, reassign, or clear mappings from one place.

Once learned, hardware controls use soft takeover: the parameter does not jump when you grab the hardware control. It starts following only once the incoming value sweeps past the current parameter value, so there are no sudden jumps.

MIDI mappings are per-machine and are never saved into preset files. They persist across sessions for the same machine and instance.


On compound knobs (the concentric ring controls in the oscillator and modulation sections), each ring responds independently to all the gestures above. Right-click the ring you want to modulate or learn; Aconite identifies which ring the cursor is over and opens the correct menu for that parameter.