Trails is a polyphonic touch recorder and gestural controller for Eurorack and MIDI systems, designed around the idea of composing with movement. By recording the motion of your fingers across its multitouch surface, Trails captures melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, and modulation data simultaneously, transforming touch into deeply expressive musical control.

Built as an expansion of Bela's earlier Gliss controller concept, Trails moves beyond single-channel touch recording into a four-channel polyphonic environment where gestures can be layered, transformed, quantised, manipulated in time, and morphed into evolving musical structures.

Each channel generates X and Y control voltage outputs alongside a gate signal, allowing Trails to control Eurorack systems, MIDI hardware, software instruments, or hybrid setups simultaneously. Gestures can remain smooth and continuous for fluid modulation duties, or become stepped and quantised for melodic sequencing and rhythm generation.

Rather than functioning as a conventional sequencer or controller, Trails encourages interaction through touch, movement, and spatial manipulation. Recorded gestures become musical material that can be stretched, rotated, offset, pinched, quantised, phased, slowed down, accelerated, and morphed in both space and time.

Compose With Movement

Trails features four independent channels, each capable of recording gestures up to 40 seconds long.

Every channel outputs: - X position CV - Y position CV - Gate information

These recordings can function as: - Melodic sequences - Rhythmic structures - Continuous modulation - Custom LFOs - Envelope shapes - Performance gestures

Channels can be recorded: - Individually - Simultaneously - In any combination

Signals can move freely between continuous and quantised behaviour at the touch of a button, allowing gestures to become tempo-synchronised melodies and rhythms using preset or user-defined scales.

The Touch Bar can further process gestures through: - Slewing and smoothing - Playback speed manipulation - Euclidean rhythmic divisions

Each X and Y output also offers fully customisable voltage ranges for precise integration with different synthesis and modulation tasks.

Transform Your Gestures

Trails allows recorded gestures to be manipulated spatially while preserving their overall character and shape.

Transformations include: - Rotation - Pinching - Offset shifting

Using the multitouch surface, gestures can be dynamically reshaped into contrapuntal and polyrhythmic relationships across all four channels.

Transformations themselves can also be recorded, effectively allowing gestural control over existing gestures. These recordings are non-destructive and can be undone or erased at any time.

Transformations can be applied: - Globally - Per channel - Across selected channel combinations

Bend Time

Trails also treats gestures as temporal objects that can be manipulated directly within a timeline.

Playback can be: - Nudged forwards or backwards - Repositioned manually via touch - Looped between custom in/out points - Dynamically phased against other channels

The Touch Bar allows real-time control over playback speed for one or multiple channels simultaneously, opening up evolving rhythmic relationships, phasing behaviour, and time-based modulation structures.

Morphing Macros

In addition to gestural recording, Trails includes multiple banks of eight touch-controlled faders for macro-style parameter control.

These fader banks allow: - Simultaneous control of eight parameters - Preset-style value storage - Smooth interpolation between banks - Performance-oriented morphing between parameter states

Banks can be chained together and recalled instantly or smoothly transitioned between using the Touch Bar.

Flexible Breakout Layout

Trails includes a separate breakout module that can be mounted: - On the left side - On the right side - Above the main module

This flexible approach allows users to configure cable placement to better suit individual Eurorack systems and workflow preferences.

An alternative 1U faceplate is also included for the breakout section.

Features

• Polyphonic touch recorder and gestural controller
• Four-channel recording architecture
• Simultaneous melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, and modulation generation
• Gesture recording up to 40 seconds per channel
• CV and MIDI output control
• X/Y CV plus gate output per channel
• Quantisation for melodic and tempo-synchronised operation
• User-definable scales
• Gesture transformations:
• Rotation
• Pinch
• Offset
• Non-destructive transformation recording and undo
• Dynamic playback position and loop manipulation
• Touch-controlled playback speed
• Euclidean clock divisions
• Multiple banks of touch-controlled macro faders
• Smooth interpolation between macro states
• 16 scene memories
• USB MIDI support
• Flexible breakout mounting system

Inputs

• 4 × CV inputs
• Reset and modulation per channel
• 1 × Clock input

Outputs (via breakout)

• 8 × CV outputs
• X/Y outputs per channel
• 4 × Gate outputs
• MIDI TRS output

Interface

• 85 × 85mm multitouch capacitive touchpad with shine-through LEDs
• 10 × 85mm capacitive slider with shine-through LEDs
• 6 illuminated control buttons:
• Record
• Play
• Quantise
• S&H
• Undo/Redo
• Shift
• 4 channel select/mute buttons
• 4-position mode selector
• Rear USB-C port for USB MIDI

Specifications

| Specification | Details | |---|---| | Main Module Size | 22HP / 3U | | Breakout Size | 4HP / 3U or 22HP / 1U | | Gesture Length | Up to 40 seconds per channel | | Scene Storage | 16 scenes |

Included

• Power ribbon cable
• Alternative 1U breakout faceplate
• Mounting screws

4MS 26HP Pod not included

Video: https://youtu.be/GVpvibb5ayk

Product Specs

• Item Number: 41749
• Make: Bela
• Model: Trails
• Condition: Brand New
• Finish: Black
• Categories: keyboards-and-synths ⇒ eurorack
• Function: CV Modulation Envelope Generator Expression LFO Panning Quantizer Sequencer Controller
• Made In: United Kingdom
• MPN: 160409-TRAILS
• Modular Grid: Eurorack ⓘ ＋
• Dimensions*: 22 HP
• Power*: ? mA +12V ? mA -12V ? mA 5V

* User contributed details