Expert Sleepers Silent Way User Manual v1.7.3
Expert Sleepers
Silent Way
v1.7.3
User Manual
Copyright © 2009-2012 Expert Sleepers. All rights reserved.
This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under licence and may be
used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such licence. The content of this manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should
not be construed as a commitment by Expert Sleepers. Expert Sleepers assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE
FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF
CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
Contents
Introduction! 9
Installation! 10
Mac OS X, Audio Unit (AU)! 10
Mac OS X, VST! 10
Windows (VST)! 10
System Requirements! 10
Mac OS X! 10
Windows! 10
Hardware/Cabling Requirements! 11
Registration! 12
Using Silent Way! 13
Using the controls! 13
Knobs! 13
Dropdown menus! 13
Value edit boxes! 13
Name/value display! 13
Silent Way DC! 14
Introduction! 14
Left/Right Channel! 14
Out 0->1! 14
Out -1->1! 14
Multiplier! 15
Input Add! 15
Input Mult! 15
Smooth! 15
Silent Way LFO! 16
Introduction! 16
Speed Controls! 17
Sync Controls! 17
Mix Controls! 18
Asymmetry! 18
Input Mode! 19
Swing! 19
Reset By Note! 20
Silent Way Step LFO! 21
Introduction! 21
In Use! 21
Speed Mode! 22
Editing the Steps/Waveform! 22
Waveform display! 22
Setting the pattern length! 23
Range mode! 23
Interpolation mode! 23
Silent Way Quantizer! 24
Introduction! 24
Loading Calibration Data! 24
In Use! 25
Manual Mode! 25
Calibrated Mode! 25
Using Scales! 26
Smooth! 26
Using the Quantizer with the Step LFO! 26
Using the Quantizer with the Expert Sleepers ES-4! 27
Silent Way Voice Controller! 28
Introduction! 28
Loading the plug-in! 28
VST Output Arrangement! 29
Calibration! 30
Saving and Loading Calibration Data! 30
Output Matrix! 31
Offset! 31
Pitch! 32
Gate! 32
Env 1/2/3! 32
Trigger! 32
Velocity! 32
Smooth! 32
Voltages! 32
Gate Clsd/Open! 32
Trig Off/On! 32
Vel Min/Max! 33
Overrides! 33
Pitch! 33
Gate! 33
Detune! 33
Pitch Bend! 33
Transpose! 33
Detune! 33
Random! 34
LFO Depth/Speed! 34
Envelopes! 34
Simple Env Controls! 34
Full Env Controls! 34
Env Misc! 35
Modes! 36
Note Priority! 36
Retrigger Mode! 36
Polyphonic Mode! 36
Portamento! 38
Trigger! 38
ES-4 Mode! 38
Silent Way Trigger! 40
Introduction! 40
Setup! 40
Voltages! 41
Overrides! 41
Trigger! 41
Envelope! 41
Silent Way CV Input! 42
Introduction! 42
Setup - with VCA! 42
Unipolar/Bipolar Operation! 43
Controls! 43
Setup - with ES-2! 44
Silent Way CV To OSC! 45
Introduction! 45
Setup! 45
Target! 45
Browsing for Targets (OS X only)! 46
OSC Paths! 46
Other Controls! 47
Enable! 47
Threshold! 47
Max Rate! 47
Silent Way CV To MIDI! 48
Introduction! 48
Setup! 49
Selecting the Target! 49
Using inter-application busses! 49
Preparing input CVs! 50
Other Controls! 50
Enable/Channel! 50
Sending MIDI CC messages! 50
Sending MIDI note messages! 50
Silent Way Sync! 52
Introduction! 52
In Use! 52
Typ e! 52
Divisor! 53
1st Delay! 53
Outputs! 53
Swing! 53
Offset! 53
Trigger! 54
ES-4 Mode! 54
Signal Routing! 54
Silent Way AC Encoder! 55
Introduction! 55
In Use! 56
Enable! 56
Input Polarity! 56
Min Out/Max Out! 56
6-channel VST! 56
Silent Way SMUX! 57
Introduction! 57
In Use! 57
Preferences! 59
OSC Base Port! 59
Eye candy! 59
Constant redraw! 59
Floating tooltip! 59
MIDI control! 60
OSC Control! 63
Reference! 63
MIDI & OSC Scripting! 63
Reference! 63
Script locations! 63
Version History! 65
Contact! 69
Acknowledgements! 70
Lua! 70
oscpack! 70
glew! 71
FreeType! 72
FTGL! 72
libpng! 72
zlib! 72
Introduction
Silent Way is a suite of plug-ins designed for use with analogue synthesisers, and especially as part of a modular analogue synthesiser system. The plug-ins produce no sound
themselves, nor do they process sound - rather, they generate signals to be used as control
voltages (CVs), which can be patched into the control inputs of oscillators, filters, VCAs
etc. of an analogue system. Also, with the addition of the CV Input plug-in, it is possible to
bring CVs from the synth into the computer, for recording or processing.
For most of the Silent Way plug-ins to work, the audio interface between the computer
and the synth needs to be “DC coupled” i.e. capable of maintaining a DC voltage at its
outputs. Many interfaces include high-pass filters on the outputs which makes this impossible. Refer to the Expert Sleepers website for up-to-date information on compatible devices and cabling recommendations.
However, please see Silent Way AC Encoder below for information on how Silent Way
may be used with almost any audio interface, even if not DC coupled.
There are currently twelve plug-ins in the Silent Way suite - Silent Way DC, Silent Way
LFO, Silent Way Step LFO, Silent Way Quantizer, Silent Way Trigger, Silent Way CV Input,
Silent Way CV To OSC, Silent Way CV To MIDI, Silent Way SMUX, Silent Way AC Encoder, Silent Way Sync and Silent Way Voice Controller. These are described in more detail
below.
All plug-ins also feature
•
full MIDI and OSC control.
•
MIDI/OSC scriptability.
•
sample-accurate handling of MIDI note messages.
Installation
Mac OS X, Audio Unit (AU)
The plug-in files have the extension “.component”.
Simply copy the files to the folder:
Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components
Mac OS X, VST
The plug-in files have the extension “.vst”.
Simply copy the files to the folder:
Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST
Windows (VST)
The plug-in files have the extension “.dll”.
Simply copy the files to your VST plug-ins folder.
System Requirements
Mac OS X
Silent Way requires at least Mac OS X version 10.4.11.
The plug-ins are Universal Binaries and so will work on PowerPC or Intel Macs.
The Audio Unit version will work in any Audio Unit host.
The VST version requires a “VST 2.4” compatible host.
1
Windows
Silent Way has been developed and tested with Windows XP SP2. It may work with other
versions of Windows (Vista included) but this is by no means guaranteed.
The plug-in requires a “VST 2.4” compatible host.
1
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
Hardware/Cabling Requirements
For most of the Silent Way plug-ins to work, the audio interface between the computer
and the synth needs to be “DC coupled” i.e. capable of maintaining a DC voltage at its
outputs. Refer to this page on the Expert Sleepers website for up-to-date information on
compatible devices.
The exceptions to this are Silent Way CV Input, which has no special requirements and
should work with any audio interface, Silent Way CV To OSC, which in general only handles signals within the computer itself, and Silent Way AC Encoder, which is specifically
designed to remove the need for DC coupled interfaces.
In most cases special cables are recommended when using a DC coupled audio interface as
a source of CVs. Most audio interfaces have balanced outputs (on TRS ('stereo') jacks or
XLRs), while synth CV inputs are unbalanced (usually on TS ('mono') jacks or minijacks).
If you use a regular stereo or mono jack lead, you'll be shorting out one of the balanced
output signals (usually the R (ring) to the S (shield)). While this probably wouldn't be a
problem for normal audio use, when outputting the sustained voltages that are useful as
CVs you risk damaging the interface hardware.
The usual recommendation is to make up special cables with a TRS jack at one end and a
TS jack at the other, connecting T->T (tip to tip) and S->S (shield to shield) while leaving
the R (ring) floating i.e. unconnected.
An alternative is to wire a TRS jack to two TS jacks, connecting one T->T/S->S and the
other R->T/S->S. This then gives you two copies of the output CV, one of them inverted,
which is particularly useful from LFOs. Note that this cable configuration is identical to
that of a regular "Y" audio insert lead.
Registration
The downloadable version of Silent Way stops working after 15 minutes every time you
use it. To stop this happening, you need to buy a registration.
You can buy a registration key online using a credit card or PayPal from the Expert Sleepers Licence Manager application. See here for more information. Note that you need at
least version 1.0.15 of the Licence Manager.
The e-commerce side of things is handled by eSellerate. If you have any security concerns,
have a look at their website which is pretty informative.
Your registration key allows you to install Silent Way on up to 3 different computers (useful if for example you have a desktop computer in the studio and a laptop for live use).
You need an internet connection to activate the software, though not necessarily on the
computer on which you want to use it.
Using Silent Way
Using the controls
Knobs
Basic use of the knobs is to click on them and drag the mouse up and down.
However you can obtain different results by holding keys as follows:
•
Shift : Values change more slowly as you move the mouse.
•
Command1 (Mac OS X)/Alt (Windows) : The knob assumes its default position.
•
Option2 (Mac OS X)/Control (Windows): The knob assumes integer values only.
Dropdown menus
Clicking on the menu displays the list of options. Move the mouse over
the desired option and release the mouse to select it.
Value edit boxes
These boxes (below each knob and slider) let you enter parameter values directly. Clicking
on the value highlights it in green - you can then type the desired value using the keyboard. Press enter to finish and accept the new value.
While you’re typing the value, the box goes red to indicate that the value you see has not
yet been accepted.
Name/value display
As you move the mouse around the interface, the name
and current value of the control currently under the
mouse is displayed in the top right of the window. This
area also provides tool-tips for buttons.
1
The ‘Command’ key is also known as the ‘Apple’ key - the one next to the spacebar.
2
The ‘Option’ (alt) key is the one between the Control (ctrl) key and the Command (cmd) key.
Silent Way DC
Introduction
Silent Way DC is a simple plug-in that generates constant output signals. It is intended to
be used in conjunction with parameter automation (via MIDI or directly by the host application) to generate varying signals. For example, you could use it as an LFO where you
draw out the LFO waveform in your host’s parameter automation GUI.
It operates as a stereo or mono plug-in. In stereo mode, the two channels are independent
and have identical controls. In mono mode, the ‘Right Channel’ controls are not used.
NB in Logic, if you’re not passing a signal through the plug-in, you need to load it on an
instrument channel via the ‘AU Instruments’ menu.
Left/Right Channel
There are six knobs per channel.
Out 0->1
Sets the output level between zero and one. This is most useful for generating positiveonly voltages for e.g. gates.
Out -1->1
Sets the output level between minus one and one. This is useful for generating the full
range of negative and positive voltages for controlling e.g. oscillator pitch.
If both ‘Out 0->1’ and ‘Out -1->1’ are used, the output is simply the sum of the two settings.
Multiplier
Scales the values set by the two ‘Out’ knobs. This can be useful if you’ve set up a pattern
you like automating the Out knobs and you just want to scale the overall output level.
Input Add
Sets the level of the input to the plug-in that is added in to the output signal.
Input Mult
Sets the amount by which the input signal is used to multiply the output signal. At a setting of zero, the output is unaffected by the input. At a setting of one, the output is exactly
the normal output multiplied by the input signal.
Smooth
Applies one of two forms of smoothing to the output signal. This can be useful when the
very sudden changes in level that are possible in the digital domain cause clicks and pops
in your analogue gear.
Positive values apply slew rate limiting i.e. a limit is placed on how fast the output signal
can change. Signals changing slower than this rate are unaffected.
Negative values apply a simple low-pass filter to the signal. This has some affect on all
signals, whether they’re changing slowly or not.
In both cases, the values are given in milliseconds (ms). The time set is the time taken for a
full range voltage swing from -1.0 to +1.0.
Silent Way LFO
Introduction
Silent Way LFO, as its name suggests, is intended as a low frequency oscillator, performing
the same functions as LFOs in any other synth e.g. vibrato, filter cut-off modulation, autopan effects etc.
It operates as a stereo or mono plug-in. In stereo mode, the two channels are independent
(except in ‘Quadrature’ mode - see below) and have identical controls. In mono mode, the
‘Right Channel’ controls are not used.
Any input signal to the plug-in is combined into its outputs, according to the setting of the
Input Mode control (see below). It is therefore easy, for example, to apply an LFO to the
pitch CV output of the Voice Controller plug-in by simply inserting the LFO plug-in on the
same channel as (and after) the Voice Controller. However an input signal is not required,
and the LFO will quite happily do its job without any input connection.
NB in Logic, if you’re not passing a signal through the plug-in, you need to load it on an
instrument channel via the ‘AU Instruments’ menu.
Speed Controls
Two controls set the basic frequency of the LFO - the
large ‘Speed’ knob on the left and the ‘Multiplier’ dropdown beside it.
The Speed knob sets the LFO frequency in Hz (cycles
per second). The Multiplier drop-down lets you choose
a number by which the frequency is multiplied. The options are 0.1, 1, 10 and 100. So for example if the Speed
knobs is set to 5Hz and the Multiplier is set to 100, the
actual frequency of the LFO will be 500Hz.
Sync Controls
The other large knob, labelled ‘Beats’, and the
controls above the Multiplier drop-down together provide another way to specify the LFO
frequency, based on the tempo of the song as
specified by the plug-in’s host application.
There are five options for the ‘Sync’ drop-down:
•
Free - The frequency is set by the Speed
knob, as previously described.
•
Tempo - The frequency is set by the ‘Beats’
knob, the ‘Divisor’ drop-down and the ‘Triplet’ button.
•
Transport - As Tempo, but additionally the phase of the LFO is locked to the host
transport (so e.g. the start of the LFO cycle is locked to the start of the bar). The
‘Phase’ knob lets you set a constant offset for the LFO cycle as against the transport
cycle that it’s locked to.
•
Quadrature - The LFO is locked to the other LFO, but with a phase offset determined
by the Phase knob. For possible applications of this mode, see for example the
Doepfer A-143-9 module (here).
Note that the effect of the ‘Phase’ knob is not reflected in the graphical waveform
display (see below).
•
Start/Stop - In this mode the LFO is no longer really an LFO. Its output is controlled
by whether the host’s transport is playing or stopped. The actual levels generated are
set as if the start/stop signal were a very slow square wave i.e. you should set a nonzero value for the ‘Square’ mix control (see below).
In Tempo and Transport modes, the Divisor sets the base unit for the sync calculation e.g.
‘1/4’ indicates quarter notes. If the Triplet button is pressed, the Divisor is converted to its
triplet equivalent. The Beats setting then multiplies the length of the note set by the divisor. So for example if the Divisor is 1/8 and the Beats is 3.0, the cycle length of the LFO
will be three eighth notes. If the Divisor is 1/1 and the Beats is 4.0, the cycle length will be
four bars.
Note that while the Beats control only takes integer values when adjusted with the knob it
is perfectly happy to be set to arbitrary non-integer values e.g. by typing in a value in the
text field, or by setting a value via parameter automation/MIDI/OSC.
Mix Controls
The top row of smaller knobs controls
the amount of various waveforms that
are combined to create the output LFO
signal. Note that the effective output
waveform is displayed graphically in
the area to the right of the knobs.
Sine, Triangle, Saw and Square are common waveforms and behave as you’d expect.
The pulse width of the Square waveform is controllable via the ‘PW’ control.
The ‘Random’ knob introduces random variations into the output signal. A new
random level is generated once per LFO cycle. (This behaviour is typical of
hardware ‘sample+hold’ circuits in combination with a noise input.)
The ‘Noise’ knob introduces white noise into the output.
The ‘Offset’ control applies a constant offset to the output waveform. In terms of
the graphical waveform display, you’ll see that this knob simply moves the
whole waveform up and down. A typical use for this would be if you wanted to
generate a clock signal, rather than an LFO signal per se, and the connected
equipment expected the clock signal to range from 0V to a maximum voltage,
rather than varying between negative and positive voltages (as is typical for a
regular LFO).
The ‘Smooth’ control has the same effect as that in the DC plug-in (see above).
Asymmetry
The ‘Asym’ (short for ‘asymmetry’) control effectively moves the centre point of
the waveform forwards and backwards in time. It is somewhat like applying a
pulse width variation to a square wave, but applies equally to all the waveforms.
Its effect is easy to understand if you turn the knob and watch the waveform in
the graphical display.
Input Mode
The ‘Input Mode’ drop-down controls how the plug-in’s inputs are combined with the LFO signal. The options are:
•
Add - the LFO signal is added to the input signal. A typical use for
this would be to modulate an incoming pitch CV.
•
Multiply - the LFO signal is multiplied with the input signal. If for example the input
signal is an envelope CV, this gives the effect of the LFO depth being modulated by
the envelope. A common use for this would be to achieve a vibrato that fades up after
the start of each note.
•
Combine - effectively the first two options added together. In the example of the input signal being an envelope, this gives you the basic envelope shape plus LFO
modulation, but the LFO is only heard when the envelope is non-zero.
Swing
The ‘Swing’ controls adjust the timing of the LFO in a manner similar to
the swing options found in many sequencer applications.
Essentially, every other sixteenth or eighth note is pushed back slightly,
changing the feel of a straight pattern to the ‘dum de dum de dum’ feel
of a triplet pattern. Of course, the LFO is not dealing in discrete notes, so
in the LFO’s case the effect is more that the time within pairs of sixteenth (or eighth) notes
is warped. But the effect is the same.
There’s a video on the Expert Sleepers YouTube channel which might make this clearer.
A particularly important application of swing is when the LFO is actually generating a
clock signal, for example to sync an external sequencer to the computer. Then applying
swing in the LFO can give you the swing effect on your externally sequenced pattern,
which is not something that’s usually otherwise possible. Again, check the Expert Sleepers
website for an example of this being applied to a TB-303 bassline.
Swing has two controls. The knob sets the amount of swing, in percent. 50% means no
swing (the middle sixteenth note is 50% of the way between the neighbouring notes, as
normal). Higher values of swing make the middle note later; lower values make it earlier.
At 100%, the middle note is right on top of the following note.
The dropdown menu to the right of the knob chooses between sixteenth and eighth note
swing.
NB The swing effect only applies when the host’s transport is playing.
Reset By Note
The ‘Reset’ button, when enabled, causes the LFO to retrigger (i.e. start
from the beginning of its waveform) whenever the plug-in receives a MIDI
note-on message. This is useful when you effectively want to use the LFO
as a complex and looping envelope generator, instead of a traditional free-running LFO.
The ‘Phase’ button sets the point in the waveform that the LFO jumps to when reset by a
MIDI note.
Silent Way Step LFO
Introduction
Silent Way Step LFO is a combination step sequencer and LFO generator. It shares many of
the features of the LFO plug-in, but rather than generating waveforms based on simple
sine, triangle etc. waves it generates a waveform that the user draws in the GUI. When the
waveform is interpreted as a series of discrete values, rather than as a continuous waveform, then the output is that of a traditional analogue step sequencer. The Quantizer plugin can be used to constrain the output values to musical notes.
It operates as a stereo or mono plug-in. In stereo mode, the two channels are independent
(except in ‘Quadrature’ mode - see above) and have identical controls. In mono mode, the
‘Right Channel’ controls are not used.
Any input signal to the plug-in is combined into its outputs, according to the setting of the
Input Mode control (see above). It is therefore easy, for example, to apply an LFO to the
pitch CV output of the Voice Controller plug-in by simply inserting the Step LFO plug-in
on the same channel as (and after) the Voice Controller. However an input signal is not required, and the Step LFO will quite happily do its job without any input connection.
NB in Logic, if you’re not passing a signal through the plug-in, you need to load it on an
instrument channel via the ‘AU Instruments’ menu.
In Use
The Speed, Sync, Swing, Input Mode, Asymmetry, Phase, Offset and Smooth controls are
all the same as for the LFO plug-in. Please refer to the documentation of that plug-in above
before reading on. The ‘Multiplier’ knob is very much like one of the mix controls in the
LFO plug-in - it simply scales the whole waveform up & down (and can invert it too).
Speed Mode
The ‘Speed Mode’ dropdown menu sets how the LFO speed (as set by the
various speed/sync controls) is interpreted for the Step LFO. The options
are ‘Cycle’ and ‘Step’.
When set to ‘Cycle’ the speed means the same as for the basic LFO plug-in - i.e. it defines
the time taken for one full cycle of the pattern.
When set to ‘Step’ the speed defines the time taken for one step of the pattern.
Which you use will largely depend on how you want the plug-in to react when you
change the pattern length (see below). If the Speed Mode is set to Cycle, changing the
number of steps will result in a different number of steps looping round in the same time.
If the Speed Mode is set to Step, changing the number of steps will result in the pattern
taking a longer or shorter time to loop, while the time taken on each step remains constant.
Typically you would select Cycle when using the plug-in as an LFO and Step when using
it as a step sequencer, but the choice is entirely yours.
Editing the Steps/Waveform
Waveform display
The right
hand side of
the GUI is
where you set
up the waveform that the
LFO will output.
It is divided
horizontally
into a number of steps, each one of which can be set to a value of your choosing. Note that
every fourth and every third dividing line is coloured differently, to aid in setting up patterns in standard time signatures.
Simply click and drag the mouse to set values. You can set a number of steps in a single
gesture. As with knobs, holding shift while dragging allows for much finer control over
the value set; also holding Command (Mac OS X)/Alt (Windows) resets the value to zero.
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