DERIVA Manual

Core flow

DERIVA is built around Fragments, Remnants, and the Archive. A Fragment is generated, shaped by the Engines, and then Offered. If it is Preserved, it becomes a Remnant. If it is Lost, the search continues.

1. FractureCreates a new hidden Engine state and visible tags.
2. Active FragmentProcesses incoming audio through the generated state.
3. OfferSubmits the Fragment to The Keeper.
4. Preserved or LostSaves a Remnant to the Archive or discards the Fragment.

The current unsaved Fragment is stored in the DAW project for that specific DERIVA instance. It is not part of the persistent Archive until it is Preserved.

The Keeper

The Keeper starts from a 50/50 Preserved/Lost chance. Repeated Lost results make a future Preserved result more likely, and repeated Preserved results make a future Lost result more likely. The bias is subtle and capped, so the process never becomes fully predictable.

Engines

Erosion

Saturation, tone damage, drive, and destructive colour.

Scatter

Granular clouds, octave fragments, texture, and suspended motion.

Veil

Creative filtering, resonant movement, and spectral colour.

Mirror

Ambient shimmer, reverse bloom, and wide reverb. In supported hosts, Mirror can use sidechain input to duck the wet tail while ambience keeps feeding.

Controls

• Left-clickMute or unmute an Engine.
• Right-clickSolo an Engine. Multiple Engines can be soloed at once.
• DragChange the processing order of Engine blocks.
• ORDER LOCKKeep the current Engine order during Fracture.
• MUTE LOCKKeep muted Engines muted after Fracture.
• MixControl the global dry/wet amount. Some Remnant states can limit maximum Mix.
• DELTARemove the dry track and play only DERIVA's effect contribution.

Tags

Each Engine receives a level tag calculated from its generated parameters and Mix. Tags describe effective sound strength, not just raw parameter values.

Null · Trace · Low · Medium · High · Extreme · Void · Singularity

Archive and Vessels

Preserved Fragments become Remnants. Remnants can be selected, renamed, favourited, deleted, and recalled. Search filters by name; tags filter by Engine level; Vessels filter by user category without changing the sound.

All

Every Remnant in the Archive.

Fav

Remnants marked as favourites.

Field

Maps Remnants by density and intensity.

Stars

Groups similar Remnants into constellations.

Compass

Organises Remnants by dominant Engine character.

Line

Shows memory connections created through Morph.

Morph

Morph appears after selecting a Remnant. When enabled, Fracture creates a 50/50 hybrid between the selected Remnant and a new generated Fragment. This active hybrid state is called Flowing. Offering a Flowing result can create a Morphed Remnant.

Merged, Morphed, Scarred, and Extinct states describe how a Remnant was created or affected by risk over time.

Statistics and milestones

The Archive includes local statistics for creative orientation: Archive size, favourites, average Mix, active Remnant, most common Vessel, dominant Engine, Fractures, Offers, Preserved results, Lost results, and milestones. These statistics are local to the user's DERIVA data.

License, storage, and offline use

• ActivationDERIVA is locked until a license key is activated.
• License accessThe customer portal is used to access and manage the license.
• InternetUsed for activation, validation, update checks, and external links.
• Offline useCan continue during the plugin's offline grace period after validation.
• StorageRemnants are stored locally and with DAW sessions.
• ReinstallationRemoving and re-adding the plugin should not erase the persistent Archive.

Updates

DERIVA compares the installed version with the current public version published by Brama Audio. The current public version is 1.0.0. Public installers are available from DERIVA Downloads.

Installation notes

• Before installingClose the DAW before installing or updating.
• macOSInstalls AU and VST3.
• WindowsInstalls VST3 and requires WebView2 Runtime.
• After updatingRescan plugins in the DAW if DERIVA does not appear immediately.