Skip to content

The Clerk

The Clerk is a browser-based utility for updating Atrium's firmware, modifying its settings, and loading & saving patches! It works on any Chromium browser (eg. Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, etc).

Visit the Clerk at https://atrium.whimsicalraps.com/clerk

The Clerk hosts its own documentation on its dedicated site, so we won't repeat that here, but perhaps its helpful to note that we can use it to manage:

  • spectre's filtering
  • touchplate sensitivity
  • lighting brightness
  • loading & saving patches
  • firmware updates

Offline Access

The Clerk is a humble worker, operating as a static website served from a single folder on our server. Besides fetching the latest firmware on-demand, it has absolutely no dependencies or dynamic content; this means we can simply save the website in full and use it as an offline utility.

Simply load the Clerk in your Chromium browser (while online) and Save Page As..., which will download two files to your chosen location: Clerk.html and a Clerk_files folder. Just keep them both in the same location and open Clerk.html whenever you need offline access to its functionality.

If you save a firmware's .dfu file from Atrium's firmware repository, you can also use Clerk to update while offline using its Update from file workflow.

Troubleshooting

MacOS

If Atrium is not successfully populating as a device once you've clicked Clerk's connect button, ensure that you have allowed Atrium to connect to your Mac via the system pop-up:

If Atrium is not successfully populating as a DFU device once you've clicked Update to latest or Update from file, it's likely because MacOS has denied Atrium's DFU mode from registering as an 'allowed' device. Ensure that you have additionally allowed Atrium to connect to your Mac via the second system pop-up:

Once you Allow the device, you will need to click Update to latest again to actually select it (DFU in FS Mode) from the pop-up.

If at any point you accidentally pressed Don't Allow, simply reconnect Atrium via USB and MacOS should prompt for your approval again.

Windows

If Atrium is not successfully populating as a DFU device once you've clicked Update to latest or Update from file, it's likely because Windows does not already have a generic WinUSB driver installed for Atrium's DFU mode. In this case, manual assignment is necessary:

  • Download Zadig and run the program
  • If Atrium is not yet in DFU mode, then please connect to it via Clerk and click Update to latest (or Update, if updating from a file) to put it into DFU mode
  • Once Atrium is in DFU mode, it should populate in Zadig's Device dropdown as DFU in FS Mode
    • Don't see it? Click Options > List All Devices
  • With the DFU in FS Mode device selected in Zadig, ensure that the destination driver is WinUSB (v6.1.7600.16385)
  • Once the above is verified, click the Install Driver button in Zadig:

  • Zadig will now install the driver, which may take some time. When it's completed, it will alert you that "The driver was installed successfully" and you'll see that the WinUSB driver was assigned to the DFU device:

  • Back at the Clerk, click Update from latest (or Update, if updating from a file) again and you should be able to select the DFU in FS Mode device from the pop-up
    • It might also populate as DFU in FS Mode - Paired
  • Once the update is complete, feel free to close Zadig – you should not follow this workflow for future updates, as Windows now has a driver assigned to Atrium's DFU mode!

Firmware Changelog

Though this is a Player's Manual and not an Operator's Handbook, it does seem useful to capture a summary of Atrium's version-to-version changes.

v1.0 → v.1.1

new
  • The Clerk: A one-stop shop for firmware updates, settings modifications, and patch saving & loading.
  • spectre filtering: The presence of time artifacts in the analog bucket brigade device signal chain has been softened. Two flavors: normal (this is the filter-adjusted configuration, which is the new default) and grit (the original v1.0 settings, with some time whine).
  • controllable lighting brightness: Either reducing intensity (dim) or adding more contrast (bright).
  • controllable touch sensitivity: Three modes of responsiveness: normal, sensitive, and hyper.
improved

general

  • the recently-recalled cluster will pulse while holding chord
  • better lighting information consistency
  • UI generally runs at higher refresh rates

MIDI

  • clear learned MIDI destinations
  • map MIDI CC’s to touchplates: voicing, phase, spectrum, and stretch
  • MIDI sustain pedal CC 64 now implemented to sustain voices
  • MIDI learn now uses the gesture LED strip to display the current CC value
  • clear+midi clears all MIDI notes (on-board "panic")

spectre

  • time has been reshaped to provide higher accuracy at fast times
fixed

general

  • load + clear now more resilient and no longer requires double-execution to leave high-intensity patches
  • loading saved patches is now more reliable
  • clock: clear + tempo clears tap-tempo
  • scale editor: longer sequences accurately displayed and stepped-through

gestures

  • gestures now follow changes to tempo
  • when recording a gesture, starting another gesture recorder will now stop the previous (and start its playback) for fast overdub-style workflows with multiple recorders
  • step now quantizes to clock pulses, creating more of a sample+hold effect
  • recording long gestures no longer slow down runtime

MIDI

  • Atrium maps incoming note velocity more smoothly
  • clock out via TRS MIDI now working
  • MIDI "panic" (CC 123): all notes off
  • MIDI learn settings now saved in patches
  • MIDI SysEx messages are correctly ignored (could cause bogus notes previously)
  • when MIDI devices are connected to the controller (USB-A) port, latency is dramatically improved, and no longer slows down the core modulation loop
  • USB devices that enumerate a serial port along with MIDI now expose the MIDI signals (eg. monome iii grids and arcs)
  • MIDI support for Elektron Digitone and Digitakt Mk1 connected to controller port