Heckmann Audio Repro-1 100B Operation Manual

Repro-1 SYNTHESIZER

HECKMANN AUDIO GmbH BERLIN – 09.03.17

OPERATION MANUAL

by Heckmann Audio

MODEL 100B
S/N 1 and up

Manual Ref. HA100B

1 INTRODUCTION 3

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...........................................................1-1 INSTALLATION 3

...............................................................1-2 RESOURCES 4

............................................1-3 KNOBS AND SWITCHES 5

...................................................1-4 THE CONTROL BAR 5

.....................................................................1-5 PRESETS 6

2 SYNTH 8

.................................................2-1 VOICE SIGNAL FLOW 8

.........................................................2-2 OSCILLATOR A 10

.........................................................2-3 OSCILLATOR B 11

........................................................2-4 GLIDE & MODE 11

......................................................................2-5 MIXER 12

......................................................................2-6 FILTER 12

....................................................2-7 FILTER ENVELOPE 13

.......................................................2-8 AMP ENVELOPE 14

...........................................................................2-9 LFO 15

................................2-10 MODULATION SIGNAL FLOW 15

........................................2-11 MODULATION SECTION 16

....................................................................2-12 CLOCK 18

...........................2-13 ARP / SEQUENCER (basic access) 18

3 SEQUENCER 20

..........................................................3-1 PATTERN data 20

.................................................3-2 SEQUENCER control 21

.........................................................................3-3 EDIT 22

4 KEYS / PERFORM 23

5 EFFECTS 25

......................................................5-1 JAWS wavefolder 25

.......................................................5-2 LYREBIRD delay 27

......................................5-3 RESQ resonator / equalizer 28

.......................................................5-4 DRENCH reverb 29

.............................................5-5 SONIC CONDITIONER 30

6 TWEAKS 31

..................................................................6-1 JUMPERS 31

..............................................................6-2 SELECTORS 32

7 CONFIGURATION 33

.......................................................7-1 ABOUT MIDI CC 33

.............................................................7-2 MIDI LEARN 34

..............................................................7-3 MIDI TABLE 34

.........................................................7-4 PREFERENCES 35

8 NKS and Preset Tagging 36

1 INTRODUCTION

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1-0 HISTORY

Repro-1 is a faithful component-level model of perhaps the most powerful-sounding

monophonic keyboard ever built. When its 4-year production run started in the early
1980s, polyphonic synthesizers were almost within reach of the average musician. To
be commercially viable, any new monophonic instrument had to be cheap but very
capable. Fat drones, cutting leads, funky basses, quirky sci-fi sound effects – this
synthesizer delivered on all counts.

The circuit design made good use of standard Curtis chips (3340 oscillator, 3320 filter
and 3310 envelope) and the little onboard sequencer was more than just a welcome
extra. Despite its molded plastic panel and the limitations of monophony, it sold
surprisingly well and is generally recognized as an iconic piece of synthesizer history.
Soaring prices guaranteed.

So here’s our plug-in version, Repro-1: All the lovable quirks of this classic synth, but
with a much more capable sequencer, lots of presets, several under-the-hood tweaks,
more modulation options… plus a great collection of cute stomp-box effects.

Enjoy!

- Urs and the team

1-1 INSTALLATION

Go to the Repro-1 web page, download the latest installer for Mac or Windows. Unzip
the compressed file, open the Repro-1 folder and start the installer application.

The only demo restriction is a mild crackling at irregular intervals after about two
minutes of use. The demo is otherwise fully functional. Those crackles disappear after
you have purchased a license and entered the serial number. For more information,
please refer to the ReadMe file included with the installer.

By default, Repro-1 uses the following directories on your hard disk:

Windows

Presets ...\VstPlugins\u-he\Repro-1.data\Presets\Repro-1\
Preferences ...\VstPlugins\u-he\Repro-1.data\Support\ (*.txt files)

Mac OSX | macOS

Presets MacHD/Library/Audio/Presets/u-he/Repro-1/
(User) ~/Library/Audio/Presets/u-he/Repro-1/
Preferences ~/Library/Application Support/u-he/com.u-he.Repro-1... (*.* files)
Resources MacHD/Library/Application Support/u-he/Repro-1/

To uninstall, delete the plugin files and Repro-1.data (PC) or Repro-1 folders (Mac).

1-2 RESOURCES

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u-he online

For downloads, news and support, go to the u-he website
For heated debates about u-he products, go to the u-he forum
For friendship and informal news updates, go to our facebook page
For u-he presets (payware and free), go to u-he preset library
For video tutorials and more, go to our youtube channel

the u-he team

Urs Heckmann (boss code, vision)
Sascha Eversmeier (code, puns)
Jan Storm (framework, more code)
Sebastian Greger (GUI design, 3D stuff)
Rob Clifton-Harvey (interwebz & databases)
William Rodewald (student-life-support code)
Howard Scarr (presets, manuals, necessary grump)
Michael Pettit (videos, marketing, web development)
Viktor Weimer (support, presets, the voice)
Thomas Binek (QA / bug-hunting, presets)
Henna Gramentz (worldly supervision)
Oddvar Manlig (everything else)

…with thanks to Brian Rzycki for maintaining PatchLib

TO NAVIGATE, USE THE HYPERLINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH PAGE

1-3 KNOBS AND SWITCHES

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The knobs respond to vertical click & drag and to mouse wheel movement (no clicks
required). You can fine tune most parameters, most often with a resolution of 0.01,
by holding down SHIFT before clicking on the knob. How switches react depends on a
global preference called Switch Behaviour – see the Configuration chapter.

The name and value of the control currently being edited appears in the data display,
which you will find in the middle of the control bar (see below).

Parameter Locking: To prevent a value from changing when you switch presets, use
the Lock function – right-click on any control and select the last entry in the menu.

1-4 THE CONTROL BAR

u-he Badge: Clicking on u-he opens a popup menu containing links to this user guide,

to our homepage, to our support forum, and to various social networks.

SYNTH, TWEAKS, SEQUENCER, PRESETS: These buttons switch between Repro-1’s
four basic views. To ensure that each new instance will open in the current view,
right-click anywhere within the row of buttons and select set current as default.

MIDI activity: An indicator which flashes whenever MIDI data is being received.

Data Display: Performs several duties: Normally, it shows the name of the preset.

Clicking on the triangles steps through all presets, while clicking in the middle of the
display lets you select any preset from the current folder. While editing, the name and
value is displayed, and the preset name reappears after a few seconds.

UNDO / REDO: To the right of the data display is a pair of buttons you can use to fix
any ‘mistakes’. Although the number of steps in the undo-buffer is limited, you can
even undo a change of preset – so switching presets doesn’t mean losing your work!

SAVE button: Stores the preset in the current folder (see PRESETS below).

HQ button: The global High Quality option shouldn’t be necessary for anything but

extreme FM sounds. Circuit-level modeling requires lots of CPU anyway, and doubling
the CPU usage should be carefully considered – let your ear be the judge!

zZz button: Activating the global Sleepy option reduces CPU consumption whenever
Repro-1 isn’t playing any notes. Note that Sleepy can cause artifacts not present in the
original hardware – again, let your ear be the judge.

MASTER TUNE: Tunes the preset within a range of +/– 12 semitones. For fine tuning,
hold down a SHIFT key on your computer keyboard while adjusting.

OUTPUT: Final volume control, after the amplifier and all effects.

Configuration button: Click on the cogwheel icon to access the configuration pages,

which contain MIDI control options and various global settings.

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1-5 PRESETS

In the control bar, click on the PRESETS button…

Categorized folders appear on the left, presets within those folders appear in the
middle, and any information about the current preset appears on the right. If you
can’t see any folders, Local is probably closed – click on it to open the lists.
Immediately after loading a preset, you can step through the others using your
computer’s cursor keys.

To start programming a new sound from scratch, open the ‘00 User’ folder and load
the -- INIT -- preset. Please remember to give it a different name while saving. If you
happen to overwrite -- INIT -- by mistake, there’s another in ‘1981 historic’…

1981 Historic: Named after the year the original synth appeared, this folder contains
20 presets meticulously copied from patch sheets in the printed manual.

MIDI Programs

As well as the categorized factory presets, ‘Local’ also contains a special folder called
‘MIDI Programs’, which is initially empty. When the first instance of Repro-1 starts, all
presets in that folder will be loaded into memory. These presets (up to 128) are
selected directly via MIDI Program Change messages. As they are accessed in
alphabetical order, it’s probably best to put a number at the beginning of the name
e.g. ‘000 rest-of-name’ to ‘127 rest-of-name’. But that’s not all…

‘MIDI Programs’ can contain up to 127 sub-folders, each holding up to 128 presets.
The sub-folders are switched via MIDI Bank Select messages (CC#0). Send Bank Select
first, then Program Change. ‘MIDI Programs’ is bank 0, sub-folders are addressed in
alphabetical order, starting with bank 1.

Important: ‘MIDI Program’ presets cannot be added, removed or renamed on the fly –
any changes to that directory will only take affect after you have restarted the host.

Save your creations

Of course you will want to save your sounds. The best place is ‘00 User’, which was

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created for this purpose. Please make sure that the folder where you want to store
your preset is already selected (if not, please select it first). Then click on the SAVE
button in the Control Bar, give your preset a suitable name and enter any other details
you would like to appear in the INFORMATION area of the browser.

On loading, if Repro-1 sees a preset called simply default in the root folder (‘Local’), it
replaces the regular demo sound. Try this: Go into ‘00 User’, load --INIT--, open the
Local folder and save it under the name ‘default’, then restart Repro-1. To revert to the
regular demo sound, simply delete ‘default.h2p’ and restart Repro-1.

Right-clicking the [SAVE] button opens a menu with a choice of preset formats. The
native option is the basic plug-in format of your platform (.fxp for VST and AAX,
.aupreset for Audio Units). The h2p option is our standard cross-platform format
(editable text), while h2p extended includes extra information. Lastly, nksf enables
Native Instruments’ NKS format – see the final chapter.

Note: the following switches are global per instance i.e. their states aren’t saved with
each preset: HQ, zZz, BYPASS FX, arpeggio LATCH, sequencer ON KEY / ALWAYS.

The context menu

Refresh: Whenever the list needs refreshing (always necessary after folders or presets
have been added or moved using Explorer / Finder), right-click in the folder list and
select the first entry from the context menu. Note: Clicking on any folder name will
also refresh the list.

Create new folder: Creates a new folder within the currently selected one.

Reveal in Finder / Open in Explorer: Repro-1’s browser is mainly for loading presets

and is otherwise fairly limited. This function opens a system window for the current
folder so you can use regular OS file functions instead. Always Refresh after changing
the contents of preset folders!

On open expand to: The submenu contains options which govern how deeply the
browser will open subdirectories whenever the GUI is opened (or the Refresh function
is used). The branch containing the current preset will always be visible.

Favourite or Junk? Right-clicking on a preset opens a context menu in which you can
set the status to ‘Favourite’ or ‘Junk’. Junked files disappear immediately, but can be
made visible again by selecting ‘show Junk’ from the same context menu.

Multiple selection, drag & drop

Files can be moved between folders via drag & drop. Use the SHIFT etc. keys on your
computer keyboard to highlight the files you want to manipulate, click and drag them
from the files area and drop them onto the target folder. To deselect, either click on
any unselected preset or choose deselect from the file context menu. The context menu
also contains a select all function.

2 SYNTH

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2-0 OVERVIEW

This section explains the various modules available on Repro-1’s SYNTH panel. If you
don’t see this panel, click on the SYNTH button at the top left of Repro-1’s window.

The PRESETS browser is described in the previous chapter, while the TWEAKS page
and SEQUENCER functions are described in separate chapters later in this guide.

Due to its relatively simple architecture, you can operate Repro-1 without having to
think about its structure. However, if you want to make the most of the available
options, it’s best to understand how signals are routed between those modules…

2-1 VOICE SIGNAL FLOW

On the next page is a flow diagram showing the audio signal paths as well as some
keyboard control paths – you might like to print it out for future reference. A similar
diagram of modulation signal paths appears later in this chapter.

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2-2 OSCILLATOR A

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FREQUENCY knob: Adjusts pitch within a two-octave range (+/– 12 semitones).

FINE TUNING trimmer between FREQUENCY and OCTAVE: Adjusts pitch within a 40

cent range (+/– 20 cents). Its main purpose is to adjust the rate of beating between
the two oscillators when they are tuned almost in unison.

OCTAVE rotary switch: Transposes oscillator pitch over a four-octave range.

SAWTOOTH SHAPE switch: The UP position activates the standard brassy waveform

containing all harmonics (odd as well as even).

PULSE SHAPE switch: The ‘up’ position enables a waveform with a harmonic content
that depends on the PULSE WIDTH setting but sounds generally more hollow than the
sawtooth. If neither SHAPE is switched on, OSCILLATOR A is silent. If both SHAPEs
are active, the mixture normally has a lower volume than each single shape due to the
phase relationship between the saw and pulse. To remedy this effect, set the P5 option
(see Oscillator Tweaks on page 31).

PULSE WIDTH knob: Adjusts the harmonic content of the pulse wave by setting its
“duty cycle”. The range is from 0% to 100%. Double-click on the knob for a 50% pulse
(a clean square wave which only contains odd-integer harmonics).

Notes: At extreme values, the signal gets so thin that it becomes inaudible (DC, direct
current). The PULSE WIDTH knob has no effect on the sawtooth.

SYNC switch: Hard synchronization forces the waveform of OSC A to reset whenever
OSC B hits zero. The frequency of OSC A generally needs to be higher than OSC B for
this to work properly. Experiment: Intermediate FREQUENCY values can produce
unusual timbres at the next lower harmonic of OSC B.

2-3 OSCILLATOR B

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OSC B is basically the same as OSC A – without SYNC but with the following extras:

TRIANGLE SHAPE switch: This waveform is bipolar, so it doesn’t add any DC to the
modulation when used as an LFO. As an audio signal, the triangle has very little bite,
but can be used to boost the fundamental frequency. The triangle is also good for
driving the wavefolder effect (see EFFECTS chapter).

NORM | LO FREQ switch: Extends the range of oscillator B down to sub-audio
frequencies suitable for use as an LFO. Note that the FREQUENCY range is 4 times
greater than in NORM mode.

KYBD | OFF switch: Switching this to OFF disables keyboard follow, resulting in a
constant pitch independent of the played note.

2-4 GLIDE & MODE

Also known as ‘portamento’, glide is the slurring of pitch between consecutive notes.

RATE knob: How long it takes to move from one note to the next. At zero, pitch

changes are instantaneous, while they are very slow at values above 50.

AUTO switch: In the NORM position, all notes will glide. In the AUTO position, this
only happens when a new key is hit while the previous one is still being held (legato).

RETRIG switch: In the NORM position, legato playing does not retrigger envelopes. In
the RETRIG position, the envelopes are retriggered with each new note.

REPEAT switch: Retriggers the envelopes at the rate of either the LFO or the Clock,

depending on the state of the LFO|KEY|CLOCK switch. Like in the hardware and in

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DRONE mode, notes repeat without you having to hold down a key…

DRONE switch: Keeps the AMP ENVELOPE sustaining indefinitely.

2-5 MIXER

OSC A and OSC B knobs: The output levels of each oscillator.

FEEDB | NOISE knob and switch: With the switch in the NOISE position, the knob

sets the output level of the noise generator (an unpitched audio source useful for wind
and percussion effects etc.). With the switch in the FEEDB (feedback) position, the
knob governs the amount of signal fed from behind the amplifier back into the MIXER
(this can be used for e.g. bass boost).

2-6 FILTER

CUTOFF knob: Sets the cutoff frequency for the 24 db/octave (4-pole) lowpass filter,

which works a bit like a tone control. The “Cutoff” point is the frequency below which
all components of a signal are allowed to pass, while most of the higher frequency
components are suppressed.

RESONANCE knob: Determines the amount of feedback within the filter circuit. The
higher the resonance, the more the cutoff point will be accentuated. Somewhere
above 60 the filter starts to self-oscillate – it becomes a sine-wave oscillator with pitch
determined by the cutoff. Note that adding Resonance tends to lower the volume, in
which case you should compensate by e.g. turning up the main OUTPUT.

ENVELOPE AMOUNT knob: Adjusts the amount of cutoff modulation from the filter

envelope (see below).

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KEYBOARD AMOUNT knob: The amount of cutoff modulation from the keyboard –
the higher the note, the higher the cutoff. Set to precisely 75.00, cutoff follows notes
almost perfectly.

2-7 FILTER ENVELOPE

The filter envelope generator applies a contour to the cutoff frequency:

The envelopes are started whenever a note is played, and as long as the key is held
down, the envelope proceeds through the ATTACK and DECAY stages. It then remains
at the SUSTAIN level until the key is released, after which it drops to zero at a rate set
by the RELEASE knob.

Note: The RELEASE stage is initiated as soon as all keys are released. If this happens
during the ATTACK or DECAY, there is no SUSTAIN stage.

AT TACK knob: Varies the time for the envelope to rise from zero to maximum, within
a range of 2 milliseconds to more than 6 seconds.

DECAY knob: Varies the time for the envelope to fall from maximum to the SUSTAIN

level, also within a range of 2 milliseconds to more than 6 seconds.

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SUSTAIN knob: The “hold” level, from zero to maximum. An interesting detail: while
being adjusted, SUSTAIN always decays to the new level – the longer the DECAY, the
longer it takes to reach the new SUSTAIN setting.

RELEASE knob: The time it takes for the envelope to fall from the current level
(usually SUSTAIN) down to zero after the key is released. The range is 2 milliseconds
to more than 6 seconds.

2-8 AMP ENVELOPE

The AMP ENVELOPE controls shape the envelope applied to volume, pre-effects.

Volume Cur ve trimmer: In the original hardware, the VOLUME knob actually controls
the amount of amp envelope modulating the final VCA. It also affects the curvature of
the envelope – not by design, but as a side-effect of how it works.

As Repro-1’s equivalent OUTPUT knob comes after all effects, the only feasible way to
implement this quirk is as an independent control (the unlabelled “trimmer” between
DECAY and SUSTAIN).

Here is how the attack and decay stages appear when Volume Curve is set to zero and

100. Note the punchy s-curve and shorter decay at minimum Volume Curve:

with trimmer set to minimum with trimmer set to maximum

2-9 LFO

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Two of the modulation sources – the filter envelope generator and oscillator B – are
described above. The third source is the Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO):

CLOCK | RATE switch: When set to CLOCK, the LFO follows the Clock setting (see
Clock / Sequencer on page 21). The RATE option here allows LFO speed to be freely
adjustable via the RATE knob…

RATE knob: Adjusts LFO speed within a range of about 0.1Hz to 30Hz.

SHAPE switches: The same options as in OSC B except that the LFO’s pulse width is

fixed at 50%. Remember that you can add the shapes here e.g. SAW + SQUARE.

2-10 MODULATION SIGNAL FLOW

Repro-1 offers three modulation sources which can be mixed and routed through two
different paths to five modulation targets:

2-11 MODULATION SECTION

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This panel is the one most likely to confuse beginners. After a few hours practice,
however, it should become second nature – especially if you repeat this mantra!

“3 sources via 2 paths to 5 destinations”

MOD FIL ENV, MOD OSC B and MOD LFO knobs: The amount of modulation mixed
into the WHEEL or DIRECT paths. The depth of modulation routed into the WHEEL
path is controlled by the modulation wheel (MIDI CC#01).

WHEEL | DIRECT switches: These route each of the 3 sources into one of two busses:
the so-called WHEEL or DIRECT paths.

OSC A FREQ, OSC A PW, OSC B FREQ, OSC B PW, and FILTER switches: The vertical
row of switches select either the WHEEL or DIRECT path for each destination.

Note: In the original hardware the signal at each PW input gets inverted – when the
modulating signal goes up, the pulse width goes down. We decided to keep this quirk,
so if you want to compensate for deep modulation by adjusting PULSE WIDTH, you
need to compensate in what seems to be the wrong direction!

Modulation Section – Practical Examples

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LFO vibrato via modulation wheel

Load the -INIT- preset and turn OSC B down to minimum in the MIXER
section. Turn MOD LFO amount in the modulation section up to about
20% and switch its output to the WHEEL bus. In the TO column, select
WH (wheel) as modulation input for OSC A FREQ (the uppermost
switch). In the LFO panel, adjust the RATE knob to about 75.

We now have vibrato via mod wheel – try it. Lets add something else...

Sync sweep

Switch oscillator A SYNC on. Push the mod wheel – vibrato has become
oddly shallow because oscillator A is “trying” to adopt the same pitch as
oscillator B. In the TO column, select WH (wheel) as input for OSC B
FREQ (the central switch). Vibrato is now back to normal.

Turn MOD FIL ENV amount up to maximum. The MOD FILE ENV output
is set to the DIRECT bus, which is what we want here. Now switch OSC
A FREQ source to DIR (direct). Turn the filter envelope SUSTAIN level
down to minimum and increase the DECAY until the sweep effect
sounds good.

LFO pulse width modulation (PWM)

Click on the data display and reload -INIT-. In the MIXER section, turn
OSC B down to minimum. In oscillator A, switch the sawtooth off and
the pulse on. Turn MOD LFO amount up to maximum. Its output is
already set to the DIRECT bus – in the TO column, select DIR as
modulation input for OSC A PW (the second switch from the top)…

Filter-FM

Turn MOD OSC B up to maximum and route it to WHEEL. In the TO
column, select WH as modulation input for FILTER (the bottom switch).
In the FILTER section, turn CUTOFF down to about 50. Push your
modulation wheel and experiment with all the controls in oscillator B.

2-12 CLOCK

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So that the LFO, arpeggiator and sequencer can be synchronized, we need a ‘clock’…

This little panel contains a single rotary switch which sets the clock speed relative to
host tempo, plus an indicator. All values are expressed as 4/4 bar divisions from 8/1
(slowest) to 1/64 (fastest).

The trip options are triplets (3 in the space of 2) and the dot options are dotted (2 in
the space of 3 i.e. 50% longer than normal):

The order of values may appear strange at first (e.g. 1/4 then 1/8 dot then 1/4 trip),
but you can rest assured that they have been sorted according to length.

2-13 ARP / SEQUENCER (basic access)

An arpeggiator plays back all held notes, one after the other.

LFO | KEY | CLOCK switch: This switch selects which signal will be used to drive the

arpeggiator, sequencer and REPEAT function. In the CLOCK position they are all

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synchronized to host tempo via the CLOCK parameter (see the previous page), while
in the LFO position they are synchronized to the LFO. With the KEY option, the
sequence is played back one note per key-press (see Design decisions below).

UP | OFF | UP/DOWN switch: Activates the arpeggiator, either upwards only or
upwards followed by downwards.

LATCH switch: The LATCH function in the original hardware (mis)used the sequencer
memory. Repro-1 has a dedicated LATCH switch instead – try this:

While you are playing an arpeggio, slide the LATCH switch up. Take your hands off
the keys and try adding some more notes. It will soon become apparent that these notes

are temporary – they disappear as soon as you release them, while the latched notes

continue.

Note: The SEQUENCER part of this panel contains just enough elements to let you
record and play back sequences without switching pages. For the complete story,
please read the next chapter.

Design decisions

In the original hardware, the arpeggiator/ sequencer
rate is permanently tied to the LFO, with the option
of using an external trigger signal to advance the
arp/sequencer instead. As we don't expect users to
feed an external trigger into Repro-1 just for the
sake of authenticity, we decided to add a host-synced
CLOCK and use MIDI NoteOn messages for the ‘step
through’ option.

Interesting quirk: The arpeggiator will not repeatedly trigger a single held note – you
have to play at least two notes for arpeggiation to start!

3 SEQUENCER

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3-0 INTRODUCTION

The sequencer in the original hardware may have been a minor stroke of genius, but
these days we can expect something a bit more comfortable: Repro-1’s sequencer lets
you step-record two patterns of up to 32 notes each (they are saved with the preset):

How to record: In the SEQUENCER sub-panel, select a pattern (1, 2, or 1+2) and
slide REC/PLAY up to the REC position. Play some notes, inserting pauses by clicking
on the REST button. The pattern can be as short as you like, even a single note –
simply switch from RECORD to PLAY whenever you’re finished.

How a sequence plays back is governed by the Clock settings (see the next page).
Playing any note other than the specified ROOT transposes the pattern up or down.

Host buffer size: Repro-1’s sequencer works best with a buffer size of at least 128
samples (most DAWs set larger buffer sizes by default). This doesn't mean it won't
work with smaller buffers, but we did experience one or two glitches in certain hosts.

3-1 PATTERN data

A sequence consists of two patterns containing up to 32 steps each.

STEPS selectors: These specify the length of each sequence i.e. the number of steps to
play before returning to step 1. Alternatively, click on one of the indices (1 to 32).

TYPE cells: Either click on a cell or use the mouse wheel to cycle between regular note
(a filled circle), tied note (an arc) or pause (a faint ‘X’). Perhaps unusually, a tied note
extends its gate to the next note, not from the previous one.

NOTE cells: Semitone offsets from -36 (3 octaves down) to +36 (3 octaves up).

VEL cells: MIDI velocity data, from 1 to 127 (the default is 90). While the sequencer is

running, this data is used instead of any other velocity source (e.g. from notes played
on your keyboard).

ROOT selectors: These define NOTE ‘0’ – the note set here will play the sequence at

the same pitch as it was recorded. A lower ROOT actually transposes the sequence

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upwards, which is counterintuitive but logical.

Note: By default, the Root is automatically set to the first recorded note. This can be
switched off – see the Sequencer Root Note option in the Preferences page.

3-2 SEQUENCER control

This panel is the same as the one on the SYNTH page, but without the arpeggiator:

LFO | KEY | CLOCK switch: Selects which signal will be used to drive the arpeggiator
and sequencer. In the CLOCK position they are both synchronized to host tempo,
while in the LFO position they are synchronized to the LFO. With the KEY option, the
sequence is played back one note per key-press.

ON KEY | ALWAYS switch: The ALWAYS option causes the sequence to continue
playing even if all keys are released (simulating a hold pedal). ON KEY stops the
sequence as soon as all keys are released, restarting it when a new key is pressed.
Please note that this switch is global per instance of the plug-in: the status doesn’t
change, even when you load a different preset.

REC | OFF | PLAY switch: Primes the sequencer for recording. Recording commences
when you play the next note and stops when you switch to OFF or play. Recording
also stops automatically when step 32 has been reached (if the next selector is set to
1+2, it will only stop at step 32 of pattern 2).

1+2 | 2 | 1 switch: Selects the pattern(s) to be recorded or played back.

REST button: During recording, this inserts a pause at the current step.

3-3 EDIT

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 22

This panel gives you some tools with which you can manipulate the pattern data…

PRESET selectors: Click to open a menu containing pattern Copy and Save functions,
as well as any sequencer patterns Repro-1 finds in the following location:

Win ...\VstPlugins\u-he\Repro-1.data\Support\Modules\Pattern
Mac MacHD/Library/Application Support/u-he/Repro-1/Modules/Pattern

ROTATE buttons: This pair of buttons shifts the active portion of the sequence to the
left or right. If, after listening for a while, step 1 doesn’t seem to be the ‘first note’, you
can use the Rotate buttons to fix that problem. Tip: Create new variations by rotating
parts of existing sequences.

COPY and PASTE buttons: Clipboard functions for each pattern. Note that you can
copy from one preset and paste into another.

CLEAR buttons: Deletes all data in the pattern and sets the current step to the start.

3-4 A FEW TRICKS

Start a sequence that contains ties as well as rests, then go to the SYNTH page and try
performing with your sequence using only the MODE switches:

Switching on RETRIGGER transforms ties into regular notes.

Switching on REPEAT effectively removes rests. It doesn’t use the pitch data, however,
but repeats the pitch of the note immediately preceding the rest.

Switching on DRONE will lengthen the notes if amplifier Sustain is turned up, or the
Decay time is longer than the Release time. Experiment!

4 KEYS / PERFORM

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 23

The pair of vertical buttons on the bottom left toggle between the EFFECTS and KEYS:

4-0 KEYS

Between those buttons and the keyboard are a few typical ‘left-hand controls’…

PB RANGE selectors: You can choose pitchbend ranges separately for each direction
(down and up). The options are 0 through 24 (2 octaves in semitone steps) then 3 or
4 octaves (36 or 48 semitones only).

BYPASS FX switch: Below PB RANGE is an effects bypass button you should find
useful for comparing the treated and untreated sound. Please note that BYPASS FX is
truly global: the status doesn’t change, even when you load a different preset.

PITCH and MODW: The two on-screen wheels mirror incoming MIDI data, but you
can also move them with the mouse.

Keyboard: Most of the panel is taken up by a 3-octave touchplate-style keyboard (the
same range as the original synth) you can click on to fire off notes. Double-click on a
key to sustain it until you click on another.

A note to users of 3-octave MIDI keyboards: You might have to transpose your
keyboard down an octave to match the range of Repro-1’s touchplate.

4-1 PERFORM

To the right of the touch keyboard is a little modulation matrix you can use to extend
Repro-1’s modulation capabilities. To select a source, click on the label immediately
below each target selector. (Where it says VELOCITY and AFTERTOUCH in the above
image). Note that the list of sources includes the Wavefolder’s own envelope.

Right-clicking on a target selector opens a menu where you can choose a destination
for that modulation source. Note that effect parameters only appear in the menu if the
corresponding effect is currently active.

Drag & Drop is a comfortable alternative (though not for effect parameters, which
aren’t visible in KEYS view). Left-click on the target selector, drag the crosshair onto
any valid knob and release the mouse button.

See the next page for a list of all modulation sources and targets in Repro-1.

Modulation Sources

Oscillator B

Frequency **

Mod Wheel

Oscillator B

Frequency **
Fine Tune

Pulse Width

Mod Wheel
Pitch Wheel

Breath
Expression
LFO

Modulation

LFO Amount
Osc B Amount
Filter Env Amount

Mod Wheel
Pitch Wheel

Breath
Expression
LFO
Clock Phase
Trigger
Gate

Mixer

Osc A
Osc B
Noise/Feedback

Mod Wheel
Pitch Wheel

Breath
Expression
LFO
Clock Phase
Trigger
Gate
Key Follow 1
Key Follow 2 (doesn’t include pitchbend)
Velocity
Aftertouch

Filter

Cutoff
Resonance
Keyboard Amount
Envelope Amount

Mod Wheel
Pitch Wheel

Breath
Expression
LFO
Clock Phase
Trigger
Gate
Key Follow 1
Key Follow 2 (doesn’t include pitchbend)
Velocity
Aftertouch
Wavefolder AR
Filter Envelope
Amp Envelope

Jaws

Folds
Bias
Fold Mod Depth

Mod Wheel
Pitch Wheel

Breath
Expression
LFO
Clock Phase
Trigger
Gate
Key Follow 1
Key Follow 2 (doesn’t include pitchbend)
Velocity
Aftertouch
Wavefolder AR
Filter Envelope
Amp Envelope

Lyrebird

Delay Time

Modulation Targets

Lyrebird

Delay Time
Regeneration
Mix

Lyrebird

Delay Time
Regeneration
Mix

LFO

Frequency (only
works when LFO is
in RATE mode)

ResQ

Bass Frequency
Bass Gain (EQ)
Bass Vol (Res)

MIDI *

Glide
Master Tune

ResQ

Bass Frequency
Bass Gain (EQ)
Bass Vol (Res)
Mid Frequency
Mid Gain (EQ)
Mid Vol (Res)
High Frequency

Filter Envelope

Attack
Decay
Sustain

ResQ

Bass Frequency
Bass Gain (EQ)
Bass Vol (Res)
Mid Frequency
Mid Gain (EQ)
Mid Vol (Res)
High Frequency
High Gain (EQ)
High Vol (Res)
Q/Resonance

Filter Envelope

Attack
Decay
Sustain
Release

Drench

Pre-Delay

Amplitude Envelope

Attack
Decay
Sustain

Drench

Pre-Delay
Decay
Ton e
Dry/Wet Mix

Amplitude Envelope

Attack
Decay
Sustain
Release

Oscillator A

Frequency **
Fine Tune

Pulse Width

Sonic Conditioner

Gain
Stereo Width
Transient

* There is a good technical reason for the MIDI label (which perhaps should read ‘Tuning’)

** Restricted to the FREQUENCY range, also for technical reasons

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 24

5 EFFECTS

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 25

5-0 INTRODUCTION

The buttons on the far left of the lower panel toggle between the keyboard and the
effects. Click on the EFFECTS button for this view:

BYPASS FX

This is an effects bypass button you should find useful for comparing the treated and
untreated sound. Please note that BYPASS FX is truly global: the status doesn’t
change, even when you load a different preset.

FX Chain

The block on the left is used for activating and ordering effects. The signal flows from
the top of the block to bottom. Click to enable/disable effects, click and drag up or
down to change the order. Tip: Placing LYREBIRD above JAWS can get… interesting!

5-1 JAWS wavefolder

Hardware wavefolders have already become quite popular in larger modular systems,
especially amongst West Coast fans. A special kind of waveshaper, the wavefolder
literally folds the waveform back on itself multiple times by mapping the signal onto a
multi-toothed curve (see the image on the next page). When applied to a decaying
signal, wave-folding can sound similar to FM.

With its set of novel features, however, JAWS has no real world counterpart: Firstly, it

includes an envelope to modulate the number of folds and an LFO to modulate the

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 26

bias out-of-phase per audio channel (which results in a unique stereo effect). Secondly,
JAWS can serve as a simple distortion unit by setting TEETH (the number of available
folds) to zero. Here is a typical wavefolder setting:

6 TEETH, about 25% FOLDS (the solid line) with some positive BIAS (shifted to the right)

FOLDS knob: How much of the wavefolder curve is being used. This is effectively an
input volume control, so setting FOLDS and F-MOD both to zero will result in silence.

TEETH rotary switch: Sets the total number of folds in the wavefolder. Zero here
means simple distortion, while 2 to 6 deliver more typical wavefolder effects.

BIAS knob: If B-MOD is OFF, this knob shifts the part of the wavefolder curve being
used. If B-MOD is either MIN, MED or MAX, it adjusts the depth of modulation from
the wavefolder’s own LFO – in opposite directions for each stereo channel, hence the
stereo effect. Note that the stereo effect is not monosum-compatible, and that extreme
BIAS settings can result in silence anyway, especially if FOLDS is set relatively low.

B-MOD switch: Bias modulation LFO rate. Setting this to OFF disables the LFO.

F-MOD knob: The depth of folds modulation from the wavefolder’s own envelope…

A and R knobs: Attack and Release times for the wavefolder envelope.

TRIGGER switch: Determines how the envelope reacts, with the following 3 options:

ASR stands for attack-sustain-release – the envelope proceeds through the attack stage
and stays at maximum as long as a note is held, after which it releases. AR is a
one-shot attack-release envelope with no sustain. Finally, the LFO option is similar to
AR but is triggered by Repro-1’s main LFO instead of the gate.

Tip: In general, wavefolders deliver more interesting effects when applied to relatively
simple waveforms e.g. a pure triangle from oscillator B, a sine wave from the filter
when self-resonating, or any other mellow sound.

Note: The sound of the Wavefolder is sensitive to minuscule differences in signal level
and phase between the various sample rates. If you notice that your JAWS-based
preset sounds very different when you switch sample rates, try adjusting the FOLDS
settings to compensate, then save as “name-of-preset (96k)” or similar.

5-2 LYREBIRD delay

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 27

Lyrebird models an analogue (bucket brigade type) delay, capable of unsynchronized
effects anywhere between flanging (i.e. modulated, very short delays) and 2 seconds,
or host-tempo-relative delays between 1/16 and 8/1. In either mode, the delay time
can be continuously fine-tuned.

Sync (upper selector): Chorus/Short, Unsync/Long, Sync 1/16 or Sync 1/4. The first
two options are absolute times, not relative to host tempo. As the name implies, the

Chorus/Short option sounds especially rich with plenty of modulation (see below).
Unsync/Long is usually the best choice for larger spaces and non-rhythmic effects.

Flavour (lower selector): Three different tonal characteristics for the decaying effect
(Clean, Bright or Dark). Try them all out and compare results.

MODE switch: Affects the ratio between delays in the left and right channels: Echo has
equal delay times in both channels (so the effect is monophonic unless modulated).
Pingpong alternates evenly between the left and right channels, Swing creates triplets
and Groove does dotted times.

MODULATION switch: Time modulation LFO rate. Switching to OFF disables the LFO.

TIME knob: Scales the Delay Sync value. For the synchronized delays this is literally a

1 to 8 multiplier, while for unsynchronized delays the range is much wider. Tip: Try
turning REGEN up and modulating TIME – the pitch glides very smoothly, just like a
real analogue or tape delay unit.

MIX knob: The volume ratio between unprocessed and processed signal.

REGEN knob: Regeneration determines how much of the processed signal is fed back

into Lyrebird’s input. At maximum, the feedback lasts longer than you will ever need!

5-3 RESQ resonator / equalizer

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 28

Depending on the status of the MODE switch, RESQ is either a semi-parametric EQ
with two shelving filters surrounding a midrange band, or a triple bandpass resonator:

The FREQUENCY knobs adjust the cutoff for each band. The bands can seriously
overlap or swap positions, so those labels shouldn’t be taken too literally. The ranges
of the knobs are approximately as follows:

LOW = 45 Hz to 3 kHz
MID = 55 Hz to 9 kHz
HIGH = 130 Hz to 10 kHz

GAIN knobs (EQ mode): Centre-zero controls for cutting or boosting the level of each
band by up to 18dB. In EQ mode, LOW and HIGH are shelving filters (as indicated by
the labels).

VOLUME knobs (RES mode): The amplitudes of three resonant bandpass filters. The
knobs are not centre-zero in RES mode, but positive only.

Q (quality) / RES (resonance) knob: The Q-factor of a filter band characterizes its
width relative to its cutoff frequency. In EQ mode, Q only applies to the MID band.

5-4 DRENCH reverb

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 29

A typical lush plate reverb, but with pre-delay.

DRY/WET knob: The amount of reverb as a percentage of the total output.

PRE DELAY knob: A single delay before the reverberation appears. This is especially

useful for retaining the presence of the dry signal while simulating larger spaces.

DECAY knob: The length of the reverb tail. At the maximum setting, it can take
several minutes for the decay to reach silence!

TONE knob: A tilt filter, from very dark at -100 to very bright at +100. Simulates the
softness / hardness of surfaces. Note: At those extremes, the wet signal almost (but
not quite) disappears.

5-5 SONIC CONDITIONER

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 30

Is the signal too loud or too soft? Is the stereo too extreme? Is your bass sequence too
clicky, or does it lack punch? Then you should try the SONIC CONDITIONER…

On the top right is a load indicator which gets brighter as the signal is saturated.

GAIN knob: Bipolar control for the output level. Settings above zero (the centre) will
saturate the signal – a useful effect in its own right. You can compensate for high
GAIN by turning Repro-1’s main OUTPUT level down.

TRANSIENT knob: Bipolar control over the percussive elements within a signal. Try
setting negative values to reduce clicks or positive values to add punch.

WIDTH knob: A stereo spread control. Especially useful for keeping delay or bias­modulated wavefolder effects more focussed in the centre of the stereo field.

6 TWEAKS

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 31

6-0 OVERVIEW

Apart from being unashamed eye-candy, the TWEAKS page is there to let you change
the fundamental behaviour of individual modules. In the current version there are 5
user-adjustable jumpers (mini circuit connectors) and 5 module tweak selectors:

Although the knobs and switches do actually work, the labeling has been kept simple
(or even cryptic) on purpose, in keeping with the ‘circuit board’ theme…

The TWEAKS page is meant to be eye-candy!

6-1 JUMPERS

LFO inversion: In the N (normal) position the LFO is a rising sawtooth, just like the

audio oscillators, while in the INV position it is a falling sawtooth. The new option is
arguably more useful than the original.

LFO DC offset: With the jumper in the DC position, both the square and saw waves
are positive-only (unipolar). The NO DC option makes them both bipolar. Note that
the LFO triangle wave is always bipolar, whatever the position of the jumper.

OSC2 saw inversion: With the jumper in the INV position, the sawtooth wave is
inverted i.e. it becomes a regular sawtooth instead of the original ramp wave.

Note priority: This jumper sets how Repro-1 reacts when you play more than one

note at a time. LOW plays the lowest note (like the original hardware as well as other

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 32

USA-designs), HIGH plays the highest note (EMS and most Japanese synths), LAST
plays the most recent note (modern, typical of digitally controlled synths).

Key Tracking Source: With this jumper in the KEY+PB position, cutoff also tracks the
pitch bender (PB).

6-2 SELECTORS

Apart from the jumpers, the TWEAK page includes 5 selectors – one for each oscillator,
one for the filter, and one for each envelope. Use these to change fundamental
characteristics that would have been “overkill” on the main SYNTH page. Here’s what
we have so far:

Oscillator tweaks

Both ‘P’ options are warmer than the standard Ideal. The most obvious difference
between P1 and P5 is that the P5 pulse is inverted (that’s why P5 is much louder than
P1 if you use Saw and Pulse simultaneously). A less obvious difference is that OSC A
in P1 mode always retains some of the fundamental frequency when SYNC is on.

A disadvantage of P5 is that self-PWM of oscillator B simply doesn't work. You already
guessed that ‘P5’ was named after a closely related polyphonic synthesizer, right?

Finally, only available in OSC B: the Bottom option emphasizes the TRIANGLE shape.

Filter tweaks

Crispy, Rounded or Driven: The first two options accurately model the filters in the
hardware synths we bought especially for Repro-1 analysis. Most obviously, the cutoff
in Rounded is a few semitones lower than it is in Crispy, and there are also significant
differences in the behaviour of the resonance. The Driven model is the result of
balancing internal filter parameters in search of a novel 3320 flavour – we like it!

Envelope tweaks

Normal: Regular old ADSR.

High Sustain: Models an interesting fault (or is it a quirk?) in some versions of the

original hardware: the end of the ATTACK doesn’t quite reach SUSTAIN levels above
about 85 – the envelope simply jumps up the last 15%.

One Shot: The gate is ignored, the Decay stage continues until it reaches the sustain
level, which is immediately followed by Release. This type of envelope is particularly
suitable for percussion sounds, fly-by effects etc..

Piano 1/2: These two modes were implemented according to a rather geeky article in
the magazine Electronics and Music Maker (affectionately known as E&MM) all about
the CEM 3310 envelope chip. In both Piano modes the Attack and Decay stages are
the same as in One Shot mode. However, if the key is lifted during the Release stage
there is an extra (true) release, which is longer in Piano 1 than in Piano 2 mode.

Tip: As the Attack and Decay stages are always completed, you can make an envelope
appear to hold for a while before it releases.

7 CONFIGURATION

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 33

7-0 GENERAL

Clicking on the cogwheel icon at the top right of Repro-1’s window opens the global
configuration pages. This is where you can adjust e.g. window size and brightness, or
connect Repro-1 parameters to MIDI controls:

You can make one particular page (e.g. PREFERENCES) open whenever you click on
the configuration button: Right-click anywhere within this row of buttons and select
set current as default.

7-1 ABOUT MIDI CC

CC, which officially stands for Control Change (not Continuous Controller) these days,
is a multi-purpose message format used for editing and performing presets.

Note that CC isn’t the only kind of MIDI performance data – for instance, there are
different messages for note on/off (including velocity), pitch bend and two kinds of
aftertouch.

Although the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) was kind enough to leave most
of the 128 CC numbers undefined, a few of them were given specific meanings that
are also recognized by Repro-1:

01 = modulation wheel
02 = breath controller
11 = expression pedal
64 = sustain pedal

You don’t actually need a physical breath controller or expression pedal to make use of
control change messages – those names are just convention. You can use anything that
can send a definable CC e.g. a couple of knobs on your MIDI keyboard, or a controller
lane in your sequencer application.

Later MMA revisions even included a bunch of esoteric CC definitions such as ‘Celeste
Detune Depth‘, probably at the request of a home organ manufacturer or two. We can
safely ignore all those definitions. However, although most CC are general purpose,
it’s best to avoid using controllers 120 through 127 as these are reserved for channel
mode messages (e.g. Local Control On/Off).

For the official CC list, go to:
www.midi.org/specifications/item/table-3-control-change-messages-data-bytes-2

(Please contact us if that link becomes obsolete)

7-2 MIDI LEARN

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 34

The MIDI LEARN page is where you can connect MIDI CC (see above) to almost any
Repro-1 parameters. The CC data can be generated by e.g. knobs or sliders on your
hardware controller, or by a track in your sequencer.

Click on the cogwheel then select MIDI LEARN. All learnable elements appear as
selectable outlines. Controls that are already connected appear filled, while the
outline of the control waiting to be MIDI-learned is highlighted in white.

Try it: Click on the Cutoff knob (it gets highlighted) and send Repro-1 some MIDI CC
data (i.e. move a knob or slider on your MIDI controller). Switch to the MIDI TABLE
page to check that the new connection has appeared in the list, then exit via the [X]
button. If you don’t want to keep this new assignment, a double-click on the control
will remove it again.

You can access all parameters without closing MIDI LEARN: Simply switch between
the SYNTH, TWEAKS and SEQUENCER pages, or between the KEYS and EFFECTS.

7-3 MIDI TABLE

To open an editable list of all current MIDI CC assignments, click on the cogwheel
button and select MIDI TABLE.

Parameter: The first field displays/selects one of Repro-1’s parameters, sorted into
sub-menus according to module. Click on the ‘ADD’ button at the bottom left and
experiment with this field, then delete the assignment again by clicking on the small
[X] to the right of the line you just created.

Channel / Controller: The next two fields are for the MIDI channel and CC number.
Repro-1 is channel-sensitive – you can map up to 16 channels for a total of… well,
more than enough assignments for Repro-1.

Mode: Specifies the range and/or resolution of values.

Normal ...................... full range, continuous

Integer ....................... full range, whole numbers only

Fine ........................... 0.01 steps between the integers closest to the current value

Type: Specifies the type of hardware (by far the most common is Continuous 7-bit).

Encoder 127 .............. unipolar encoder

Encoder 64 ................ bipolar encoder

Continuous 7-bit ........ 7-bit MIDI CC (normal resolution, very common)

Continuous 14-bit ...... 14-bit MIDI CC (high resolution, less common)

Removing assignments: As mentioned above, the small [x] to the right of each line
removes that assignment. You can remove all assignments at once by clicking on the
[Delete All] button at the bottom of the window.

7-4 PREFERENCES

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 35

Click on the cogwheel icon, then select PREFERENCES for the following options:

Mouse Wheel Raster: If your mouse wheel is rastered (it clicks as you roll the wheel),
set this option ‘on’ so that each little click increments the value in ‘sensible’ steps.

Switch behaviour: You can usually change the status of linear switches by clicking on
the target position. In addition, the drag option lets you drag switches up/down while
toggle lets you click anywhere on 2-way switches. The iterate option is like toggle
except that it also applies to 3 and 4-way switches, with the downside that clicking on
the target position no longer works. Irrespective of this setting, switches respond to
rolling the mouse wheel just like the knobs – no clicks required!

Default Size: The GUI size for each new instance of the plug-in.

Default Skin: This option will only appear if Repro-1 finds at least one alternative

skin when it loads. Change this to set the global default.

Gamma: Specifies the overall brightness of the Repro-1 window.

Text Antialiasing: Turns the smoothing of labels and values on or off. Usually left on!

Base Latency: Only disable this if you are sure that your audio system – hardware

and software – uses buffers that are a multiple of 16 samples. Otherwise you should
leave it at the default ‘16 samples’. This setting only takes effect when the host allows
e.g. on playback, after switching sample rates, or after reloading Repro-1.

ABOUT THE REPRO-1 BUFFERS

Repro-1 processes audio in chunks of n x 16 samples. This block processing
method significantly reduces the CPU load and memory usage of all our plug-ins.

If the number of samples to be processed is e.g. 41, Repro-1 processes the first 32
and keeps the remaining 9 in a small buffer (16 samples is large enough). Those
9 samples are then processed at the start of the next call… and so on.

The extra buffer is only necessary if either the host or audio driver processes
‘unusual’ buffer sizes. If your host application processes buffers of e.g. 64, 128,
256 or 512 samples (these are all multiples of 16), try setting Base Latency to off
so that Repro-1 can process latency-free.

HQ default: Set whether HQ should be on for each new instance of the plug-in.

MIDI Control Slew: Adjusts the amount of ‘smoothing’ for Pitch Bend, Modulation

Wheel, Breath, Expression and Aftertouch. While set to Off, Repro-1 responds more
quickly to modulation wheel (for instance), but can become too grainy. The Fast
setting is a good compromise between fast response and smoothness.

Sequencer Root Note: The default auto option here sets the pattern’s Root to the first
note you record. If you prefer setting the Root Note manually, select that option.

Sleepy default: Set whether Sleepy should be on for each new instance of the plug-in.

8 NKS and Preset Tagging

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 36

8-0 INTRODUCTION

Repro-1 supports NKS extensions so it can be integrated into the Native Instruments
Komplete Kontrol software or Maschine environments. Repro-1’s factory presets are

optionally installed as tagged .nksf files. User presets can be tagged before saving, or
.h2p files can even be batch-converted within Repro-1. A few pages of performance
controls mapped to common parameters are automatically generated and saved
together with each .nksf preset.

IMPORTANT: Presets saved in NKS format will not appear in Repro-1’s browser!

Although the Repro-1 browser doesn’t include search-by-tag functions yet, tags can be
set already: Right-click on Repro-1’s [SAVE] button and select Tag this patch.

CATEGORY describes a preset by analogy to musical instrument types or classic synth
sound genres. Each category has its own list of suitable subcategories. Categories are
different from the Typ e tags in Komplete Kontrol / Maschine – we wanted to keep
them as synthesizer-specific as possible. However, when presets are converted to NKS,
Repro-1 automatically maps the Categories to the closest corresponding Type.

The FEATURE tags offer a more technical classification. CHARACTER tags are pairs of
opposites from which you can choose just one.

Note: In Komplete Kontrol / Maschine, untagged presets only appear in Synth Misc.

Saving in NKS format

As mentioned on page 6, right-clicking the [SAVE] button offers you a choice of preset
formats. While the options native, h2p and h2p extended allow Repro-1 to save presets
into the currently selected preset directory, choosing the nksf option means that
presets will be saved in the preset location used by NI Komplete Kontrol or Maschine
(that’s why they don’t appear in the Repro-1 browser).

Batch conversion

First, set the desired target format: Right-click the [SAVE] button and choose e.g. nksf.

INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS-PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 37

If you have tagged a lot of presets, you can select them in Repro-1’s preset browser:
Use cmd+click (Mac) / alt+click (Windows) to select several presets at once. Then
right-click any of the selected presets and choose convert to nksf. A text message
appears telling you how many presets were converted and how to update the
Komplete Kontrol database.

8-1 NKS Troubleshooting

Repro-1 doesn't appear in Komplete Kontrol / Maschine

Firstly, make sure you have Komplete Kontrol Software V1.5+ or Maschine V2.4 – the
minimum requirements for our implementation of NKS.

Under Windows, Komplete Kontrol must register the location of Repro-1’s VST file:
Open the Komplete Kontrol preferences, go to Locations and add the directory that
contains Repro-1(x64).dll or Repro-1.dll (as specified while installing Repro-1). Hit
Rescan and check whether Repro-1 appears.

If the NKS preset folder is empty you will need to reinstall Repro-1 with the correct
VST path and the NKS-option checked. Here are the preset folder locations:

Mac: Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/u-he/Repro-1/NKS/Repro-1/
Win: …\Vstplugins\Repro-1.data\NKS\Repro-1\

Or perhaps the XML-File is missing from this path:

Mac: Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Native Instruments/

Service Center/u-he-Repro-1.xml
Win: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Native Instruments\

Service Center\u-he-Repro-1.xml

A re-install with the NKS-option checked should also resolve this issue.

Error message “Could not load plug-in (plug-in not found)”

Repro-1's VST file isn’t in the directory specified by the Komplete Kontrol preference.
Reason: Either Repro-1 wasn't installed as a VST at all, or it wasn’t installed with the
correct path. Note that the VST path is fixed in OSX but is user-definable in Windows:

Mac: Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/u-he/
Win: <User VST Folder>/ (path for the VST plug-in used during installation)

If the VST plug-in isn’t in this directory you will need to reinstall Repro-1 with the VST
option checked and the correct VST path.