Cakewalk ReValver User Manual
ReValver
Manual
This manual c overs the handling of Alien Connections ReValver, a Guitar
Valve Amplifier simulator.
The content of this material is copyrighted
Alien Connections. Trademarks are copyrighted to their respective owner.
February 25, 2001
What is ReValver?
ReValver is a software guitar amplifier simulator.
-Why would anyone want to simulate an amplifier?
-Because amplifiers designed for guitars are very special, and have very little in common with ordinary Hi-Fi
amplifiers. Guitar amps distort the signal in a way that is
very pleasing to the ear. ReValver also includes a lot of
effects that are specially designed for guitars.
ReValver is a DirectX plugin and can be used in
DirectX-plugin compatible host applications.
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Constructing a program
How Does ReValver work?
ReValver is a DirectX plugin (a DirectShow filter). It can
be used in any DirectX compatible program, such as
many kinds of multi trackers and waveform editors.
A ReValver program is built from the combination of the
ReValver modules. The modules can be configured in
many different combinations and orders
The signal in ReValver goes from the top to the bottom.
This means that the top-most module gets the input signal
from the host application, and the bottom-most module
delivers the output signal back to the program.
1
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Constructing a program
To place a module in a chain, click the empty area on the
screen, or click between two modules. The module
chooser will enable you to choose any type of module to
place.
1. Some modules can not be used at certain places in the
chain. The modules must come in some sort of sensible
order. They all have different physical properties, and
must be treated that way.
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Loading & Saving programs
Even though you can choose any module, they may not
be compatible with each other. The modules follow certain physical laws; for example:
The following simple rules applies to the order of
modules:
Speakers must appear after a power amp.
Studioeffects must appear after a room, speakers,
preamp, or at the beginning of the chain.
Rooms (room simulation) must appear after speakers
Preampsmust appear after a studio effect or at the
beginning of the chain
Power amps must appear after studio effects or preamps
The following modules do not follow any rules:
Trim pots
Parametric filters
Loading & Saving programs
By clicking ‘Load’ and ‘Store’ preset you can load or
save a configuration. The settings from each module are
saved to disk along with their internal order in the chain.
There is no limit to the number of programs that can be
saved.
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Loading & Saving programs
You can also save the setting of an individual module by
clicking with the mouse and choosing ‘Save settings for
this module’
1
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1. When saving or loading settingsfor the roomsimulator
module, only the reference to the ‘filename.room’ is
stored, not the room-parameters themselves. This means
that if you wish to store a preset/setting on a different
media, you must also include the *.room file. To design
your own room, you must use software compatible with
the format, for example Pristine Sounds.
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Multi trackers
Using ReValver in host applications
Some aspects may be of importance when using ReValver in a 3rd party host application.
Multi trackers
A multi tracker is a host application that can play several
waveforms simultaneously. This implies that you could
have any number of instances of ReValver running at a
time. The s ettings of ReValver on one track will not
interfere with another track.
Input level:
determine the input signal to ReValver. This will affect
the distortion, and it is advised you are careful when
feeding ReValver with a signal.
Monoandstereotracks:
reo input it will deliver a stereo output, and likewise,
given a mono input it will deliver a mono output. However, some sub modules in ReValver are necessarily
mono or stereo in nature. A mono module (such as a
preamp or a poweramp) will merge L+R into a mono
information signal. In such a case you will lose stereo
The “volume-knob” in a multi tracker may
Whenever ReValver is fed a ste-
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