Salt in Alchemy: The Alkali Halide Reaction
Sodium and chlorine in Paraflex Alchemy light an Alkali Halide bond: drive, a snappier attack, and a little level.
The simplest reaction to hear in Paraflex Alchemy is table salt. Put an alkali metal and a halogen in the chamber, raise the Reactor, and the legend should name Alkali Halide.
Alchemy is a VST3 and standalone synthesizer. You load up to six elements. The guide lists every reaction the legend can show. This note is one pair, so you can trust the legend against your ears.
The pair
Alkali metals in the table are lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, and francium. Halogens are fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, astatine, and tennessine. Sodium and chlorine are the textbook pair. The factory list includes Salt Formation (Na+Cl) under Reactions for the same reason.
What you hear, when the bond is active: drive, a snappier attack, and both elements a bit louder. It is not a granular cloud and it is not a noise burst. If you wanted debris, that is a different reaction, or Geiger on the Character bench. Salt is attack and drive.
How the bond gets stronger
The Reactor has to be above zero. At zero every reaction is off, and you still hear the elements, each with its own waveform and its own brightness from position.
- Closer together reacts harder. Orbs that touch react fully. Orbs on opposite sides of the chamber still react, quietly.
- The last bit of distance before they touch is where the reaction comes up fastest.
- The quieter element of a pair holds the reaction back. Scroll one orb down and the bond with it weakens.
- A volume of zero takes that element out of the chemistry entirely. The orb can stay in the chamber.
The legend lists every reaction that is happening, strongest first, with a short line about what it does. If nothing between these elements reacts, the legend says so. Two reactions never stack on the same pair. Sodium and chlorine are Alkali Halide, not also an alloy.
Do not confuse it with the neighbours
| You put in | Legend | What you hear |
|---|---|---|
| Alkali metal and halogen | Alkali Halide | Drive, snappier attack, a little louder |
| Alkaline earth and halogen | Alkaline Earth Halide | Flanger, a small attack lift, a little louder |
| Hydrogen and a halogen | Acid Formation | A low cut that thins the body |
| Two metals | Metal Alloy | Chorus, a few cents of detune, a little louder |
If the sound is flanging, you did not load salt. Check the symbols on the orbs, then the legend. The legend wins.
Pitch, after the reaction is obvious
In Alchemy pitch each element keeps its own pitch. Salt is easy to hear as a designed hit. In Keys pitch the same pair follows the keyboard, and the drive still belongs to the bond. Play a short note so the snappier attack is separate from the room. Then open Envelope. In Elements mode each element keeps the envelope it was given. In Global mode your Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release shape every element. Reactions can still push an attack while Global is on. The legend tells you when that is happening.
Keep exploring
See the tools behind these workflows.