Cognate Polymath Manual

Bypass

• Type: Toggle in the centre of the top bar

Toggles the whole effect in and out. When bypassed, your dry signal passes through untouched.

Sub

• Range: -40 to 0 dB
• Default: -12 dB
• Special: -40 = "Off"

Sets the level of the sub-octave voice — a smooth, solid octave-down that adds weight and support beneath your dry bass, or stands alone as a synth-like voice. Unlike an analogue octaver it never glitches and it's fully polyphonic, so chords and double-stops hold together.

Turn it fully left to "Off" to mute the voice entirely.

Oct

• Range: -40 to 0 dB
• Default: -12 dB
• Special: -40 = "Off"

Sets the level of the octave-up voice — a bright, clean octave that turns your bass into a lead instrument or a guitar. Blend it in for bite and presence, or push it for a full register shift.

Turn it fully left to "Off" to mute the voice.

Oct 2

• Range: -40 to 0 dB
• Default: -12 dB
• Special: -40 = "Off"

Sets the level of the two-octaves-up voice, for when you need to reach the very highest notes. On its own it's piercing; blended with the other voices it adds shimmer and air to the top of your sound.

Turn it fully left to "Off" to mute the voice.

Shift

• Range: -40 to 0 dB
• Default: -12 dB
• Special: -40 = "Off"

Sets the level of the freely-transposable Shift voice — the most versatile of the four. Its pitch is set by the Interval control, so this single voice can be a down-tuner, a detuned chorus, or a harmoniser depending on where you tune it.

Turn it fully left to "Off" to mute the voice.

Interval

• Range: -12 to 24
• Default: 19
• Special: 0 = "Detune"
• Special: 12 = "Detune"
• Special: 24 = "Detune"

Sets the pitch of the Shift voice in semitones, relative to the note you play — anywhere from an octave down to two octaves up. This is what gives the Shift voice its many personalities:

• Below 0 — tuned down. A down-tuner that's distinct from the Sub voice; pair it with Mix at 100% for clean alternate tunings.
• At 0, 12 or 24 (exact octaves) — the voice sits on the same pitch as another voice, where it becomes a subtle detuned chorus, widening and thickening the sound without muddying your low end.
• Above 0 — tuned up to a transposed voice (Mix 100%) or a harmony (Mix around 50%). Try 16 (a major 10th) or 19 (an octave-and-a-fifth) for instant harmonies.

Mix

• Range: 0 to 1
• Default: 0.65

Blends all four pitch-shifted voices against your dry signal.

• Around the middle, you get a classic octaver-style combination — dry note plus shifted voices.
• Fully up (100%), only the pitch-shifted voices are heard, which is what you want for down-tuning or transposing your whole part to a new key.

Tone

• Range: -1 to 1
• Default: 0

A tilt EQ applied to the pitch-shifted voices, leaving your dry signal alone. Turn left for a darker, warmer voice; turn right for a brighter, crisper, glassier sound. Centre is flat.

Attack

• Range: -1 to 1
• Default: 0

Shapes the attack of the pitch-shifted voices — a control unique to Polymath. Centre leaves the natural attack intact.

• Turn left for slow, swelling fade-ins: soft, ambient, volume-swell textures that bloom in behind your playing.
• Turn right through soft pick-style attacks and sidechain-gated pulses all the way to tight, percussive transients that cut even harder than the dry signal.

Quality

• Options: Eco, Medium, High

Balances CPU usage against clarity and smoothness. Pick the mode that fits what you're playing:

• Eco — lowest CPU, fastest attack, with a crunchier character. Best when you're feeding Polymath into a distortion or amp block, or want the most immediate, percussive response.
• Medium — the everyday sweet spot. Clean and smooth with low beating, good for most playing.
• High — highest CPU, the smoothest attack and the most clarity on chords and solos. Reach for it when you're playing chords or lead lines and want maximum refinement.

Timbre

• Range: 0 to 100 %
• Default: 0 %

Keeps your instrument's own tone on the shifted voices. An ordinary pitch shifter moves everything up or down together, including the body resonances that make your bass sound like your bass, and that's where the classic organ- or synth-like colour of a shifted voice comes from. Timbre holds those resonances where they belong, so the Oct, Oct 2 and Shift voices sound like your own instrument playing higher or lower.

• At 0 you get the classic pitch-shift colour, exactly as earlier versions of Polymath sounded. It's still the one to reach for when you want organ and synth tones, and at 0 Timbre is switched off and uses no extra CPU.
• Turn it up towards 100 % for a more natural, realistic voice. It's especially convincing on the octave-up voices and on Shift harmonies, where the second voice reads as the same instrument rather than an effect.

The Sub voice isn't affected: it keeps its own fat, distinct character.