Lodo has four broad instrument types: MIDI, sampler, synth, and plugin.
Instrument types
MIDI
Sequences external applications, hardware, and MIDI destinations.
Sampler
Loads samples for playback, looping, reversing, ping-pong playback, and slicing.
Synth
Provides internal synthesis engines for pitched, percussive, physical modelling, and noise-based sounds.
Plugin
Hosts external VST or AU instruments and sequences them from the pattern grid.
How tracks share an instrument
The Track Grid's Instrument field assigns a note event to an instrument number. Several tracks can use the same number, which is useful when you want separate note lines to play one instrument. See Track Grid for the note fields.
Samplers and internal synths
Lodo gives each playback track its own native audio controller. A sampler or internal synth plays one main note on that track at a time. Put the notes of a sustained chord on separate tracks and set their note events to the same instrument number; those tracks can then sound together while keeping independent note lines. For example, three tracks playing MIDI notes 60, 64, and 67 at the same step make a C-major voicing on one shared native instrument slot. Change one track's notes later to move just that voice.
A sampler retrigger can briefly fade the outgoing sample voice under the new note. That short transition smooths the change; the outgoing sample is only a brief tail.
Hosted plugins
Each loaded plugin instrument slot has its own plugin instance. Tracks assigned to the same slot feed MIDI note events into that instance, so the plugin's own mono/poly setting and voice limit determine how many notes it can sound together. See Plugins and Synths for shared plugin controls and voicings.
MIDI instruments
MIDI tracks send notes to their configured destination. The receiving instrument decides whether those notes can sound together. See MIDI Instruments for destination and channel routing.
Shared devices
Internal instruments include an FX panel and four sends. These are shared between instruments and provide a consistent place for basic sound shaping.
The modulation device is still in active development and will be documented once its behaviour is stable.