Appearance
Widget Nodes
Widgets create interactive UI elements in the Panel. They are the visual controls that let you interact with your patch. You place them in the graph like any other node, connect their outputs to the parameters you want to control, and they automatically appear in the Panel view.
Controls
Slider (Vertical)
A vertical fader for controlling continuous values. Drag up and down to change the value.
Output: Float (Data). The current slider position.
Slider (Horizontal)
Same as the vertical slider, but oriented horizontally.
Output: Float (Data)
Knob
A rotary control. Drag up/down or in a circular motion to change the value.
Output: Float (Data)
XY Pad
A two-dimensional control surface. Move your finger or cursor on the pad to control two parameters at once (for example, filter cutoff on X and resonance on Y).
Outputs: X value (Float), Y value (Float)
Button
A momentary push button. Fires an event each time you press it. The event lasts only for the moment you click. Use it to trigger one-shot events like drum hits or resets.
Output: Event (Data)
Toggle
An on/off switch. Click to toggle between true and false. Stays in its current state until you click again.
Output: Bool (Data). True when on, false when off.
ComboBox
A dropdown menu for choosing between options. Click to open the list, then select an option.
Output: Int (Data). The index of the selected option (starting from 0).
RadioGroup
A group of mutually exclusive buttons. Only one can be active at a time. Use it when you have a small number of clear choices (e.g., waveform selection).
Output: Int (Data). The index of the selected option.
Display
Text
Displays or edits a text string. Can receive text from other nodes to show dynamic information.
Input/Output: String (Data)
Image
Displays an image file. Load PNG, JPG, or other common image formats.
Shapes
Decorative elements for building custom control surface layouts. Use them to create backgrounds, separators, and visual structure in your Panel. All shapes support fill color customization and can be resized freely.
| Widget | Preview |
|---|---|
| Square |  |
| Rectangle |  |
| Circle |  |
| Triangle |  |
| Hexagon |  |
| Line |  |
| Arc |  |
| Polygon/Shadow |  |
MIDI Drag Exporter
Drag MIDI clips out of MNodes into your DAW or file system. Connect a MIDI file source (from Pattern To MIDI File) and drag the widget to export the clip.
Appearance Changer
The Appearance Changer lets you modify the visual properties of other widgets in real-time during playback. This is powerful for creating dynamic UIs that respond to your patch.
How it works
- Add an Appearance Changer node
- Connect its Out pin to the Appearance input pin of any widget
- Once connected, the Appearance Changer automatically detects all the visual properties available on that widget and populates a dropdown with them
- Select the property you want to change (e.g., "fillColour", "textSize", "visible")
- Connect a value to the Appearance Changer's Value input to drive the change
What you can change
Every widget that has an Appearance input pin supports these common properties:
| Property | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| visible | Bool | Show or hide the widget |
| fillColour | Color (#hex) | Fill/background color |
| trackColour | Color (#hex) | Track/rail color (sliders, knobs) |
| textColour | Color (#hex) | Text color |
| textSize | Float (8-48) | Font size |
| showValue | Bool | Show or hide the numeric value display |
| suffix | Text | Unit label suffix (Hz, %, dB, etc.) |
| cornerRadius | Float (0-100) | Corner rounding |
| borderWidth | Float (0-100) | Border thickness |
Individual widget types may have additional specific properties.
Example: Making a knob change color based on its value
- Add a Knob widget
- Add an Appearance Changer node
- Connect the Appearance Changer's Out to the Knob's Appearance input
- Select "fillColour" as the property
- Connect a color value or text hex value to the Appearance Changer's Value input
- The knob's fill color will change in real-time as the value changes
Connecting multiple Appearance Changers
You can connect multiple Appearance Changers to the same widget to control different properties simultaneously. Each one handles a single property.
Common Widget Properties
All control widgets (Slider, Knob, Toggle, Button, ComboBox, RadioGroup, XY Pad) support:
- Min / Max / Default values
- Step size for discrete snapping
- Prefix / Suffix for display units (e.g., "Hz", "%", "dB")
- Color customization via the Inspector
- Expose to DAW for automation (see Automation)
- Appearance input pin for dynamic visual changes
TIP
The Sampler, Sample View, and Keyboard widgets are documented in Generators & Samplers since they are primarily sound sources and instruments.