Interruptor NIGHT FLIGHT User Manual

NIGHT FLIGHT

analogue string ensemble

VSTi for Windows

Version 1.0

© by The Interruptor

http://www.interruptor.ch

all rights reserved

Dedicated to my daughter

Table of Contents

1 Introduction.......................................................................4

1.1 What is an analogue string ensemble?............................................4

1.2 Features.....................................................................................5

2 System Requirements.........................................................6

3 License............................................................................. 6

4 Demo Version.................................................................... 6

5 Installation........................................................................ 6

6 General Operation..............................................................7

6.1 Control Back-lighting....................................................................7

6.2 Manual Entry of Values.................................................................7

6.3 Fine Adjustment of a Control.........................................................7

6.4 Midi Learn...................................................................................7

6.5 Signal Flow Diagram.....................................................................8

7 Control Reference............................................................... 9

7.1 Main Panel.................................................................................. 9

7.2 Sub Control Panels.....................................................................10

7.2.1 OSC+SYSTEM Panel..............................................................10

7.2.2 VCA Panel...........................................................................12

7.2.3 ENSEMBLE Panel..................................................................13

7.2.4 LFO+FILTER Panel................................................................15

7.2.5 EQUALIZER Panel.................................................................17

7.2.6 PHASER+DELAY Panel...........................................................18

8 Program History...............................................................19

9 Credits............................................................................ 19

NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual 3

1 Introduction

“Night Flight” is a VSTi plug-in for the Windows platform emulating
a class of keyboards popular in the mid-seventies to early eighties
which were known as string machines or string ensembles.

1.1 What is an analogue string ensemble?

Many moons before the widespread arrival of polyphonic
synthesizers in 1981 nifty engineers at Eminent Orgelbouw B.V. in
the Netherlands discovered that their
Orbitone system, an electronic circuitry
built to affordably mimic the sound of a
Leslie cabinet for home organists, could
be easily modified to create a stunning
new sound yet unheard from an organ.
They introduced it as a feature to their
1972 model “Eminent 310 unique” under
the name “string ensemble”. Honestly
speaking it's sound hardly resembles
anything like a real string ensemble,
which however does not take away
anything from the qualities these unique synthetic timbres have in
their own right. The sound had great appeal with musicians,
particularly after Eminent included a modification of the concept

into a portable keyboard named the
Solina string ensemble which was later
re-branded as Arp String Ensemble for
the US market. At the same time other
companies like Crumar, Logan, Roland,
Oberheim and Korg also released
string machines following the same
architecture combining organ-style
divide-down oscillators with an ensem-

ble effect.
String machines have been widely used in Pop, Rock, Funk, Reggae,
Soul, and Disco music throughout the seventies and up to the early
eighties when they were popular with New Wave acts.

4 NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual

Image 1: Eminent 310 unique

Image 2: Arp/Solina String Ensemble

1.2 Features

“Night Flight” does not use any samples. It is based on an
emulation of the ensemble effect first used by Eminent / Solina
back in 1972 and an organ-like sound generation (octave divider).
You will also find a number of features inspired by other string
machines like the 3 band equalizer from the Crumar Performer or
the Envelope Filter on the very rare ARP String Synthesizer. Besides
the clearly laid out main panel there are 6 sub panels giving access
to a large number of under-the-hood parameters like filter and
amplifier modulations, ADSR, LFO, keyboard split points, equalizer
automation and two additional simultaneous ensemble effects for
even thicker pad sounds. Finally there is an onboard effect section
providing the typical phasing and delay effects which are essential
for some of the best known string machine timbres.

• 3 Oscillators (8 waveforms, pulse width control)

• Up to three simultaneous ensemble effects modelled on the

eminent/solina architecture. Full access to the internal
parameters of the ensemble effects.

• Optional divide-down mode featuring organ style phase-locked
octaves

• 3-Band Equalizer: Each band can be configured and
automated via the LFO

• Filter: 5 modes (LP2, LP4, BP, HP2, HP4), resonance, cutoff
modulation via ADSR envelope, LFO, velocity or keyfollow

• Amplifier section:

- Attack and Release. Decay and Sustain are available as
under-the-hood parameters.

- For each oscillator a simple organ envelope can be selected
as an alternative to the ADSR envelope.

• 1 LFO routable to pitch (vibrato), Filter cutoff or equalizer
automation. Optional note sync.

• Selectable keyboard split points for bass and string footages

• Effects section:

- phaser (two models) + delay/echo

- configurable effect routing

NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual 5

2 System Requirements

• WINXP, VISTA, WIN7, WIN8

• A host software (DAW) capable of running VST plug-ins

• This plug-in runs natively on 32bit systems. If you have a

64bit system, it is likely that your DAW provides support for
32 bit plug-ins via a so called “bridge”. If this is not the case
you might consider acquiring a third party bridge instead.

3 License

• By acquiring the full version you are granted the right to use
this software on all of your computers for as long as you want.

• You are not allowed to sell the software to someone else ­neither on it's own nor as part of a package with other goods
or services.

4 Demo Version

• Please install and test the demo version on your system before
buying the full version.

• Demo limitation: A short moment of silence is inserted once
every 30 seconds. Otherwise the demo version has the
complete functionality of the full version.

5 Installation

• Copy the dll file from the download archive to your VST folder

• Restart your host software (DAW)

• Load the plug-in

Note: In case of problems please read the following. Upon starting
the plug-in for the first time a number of files are automatically
extracted to your VST folder. On Windows versions from VISTA
onwards by default plug-ins are not allowed to write files to your
hard drive. This will typically cause an error message from your
DAW reporting missing files. You can fix this issue by changing the
write permissions for your VST folder as follows:

• Use Windows Explorer to browse to your VST Plugins folder.

6 NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual

• Right-click the folder – 'Properties'

• Choose 'Security' tab.

• Click 'Edit' button (You may need to click a UAC prompt).

• Select user name "Users".

• Tick options Allow 'Write' and 'Modify'.

• To finish Select 'OK' to close the two dialog boxes.

6 General Operation

6.1 Control Back-lighting

• You can easily see if a control currently has an influence on
the sound. Back-lighting is switched on only if this is the case.

6.2 Manual Entry of Values

• Below each knob/slider the parameter value is displayed as a
number. Instead of moving the control with the mouse you can
manually enter the value via your PC keyboard by clicking on
the number, writing the value and then pressing the ENTER
key.

6.3 Fine Adjustment of a Control

• Press the CTRL key while moving any control with the mouse if
you need to make fine adjustments

6.4 Midi Learn

• Each control can be automated via MIDI controllers.

• To assign a new/different MIDI controller right-click on a

control then choose "Learn" from the pop-up menu and tweak
the hardware controller you want to assign. Alternatively
choose "Unlearn" or "Edit.." to assign a controller from a list.

6.5 Signal Flow Diagram

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7 Control Reference

7.1 Main Panel

OSCILLATORS

• enable/disable each oscillator

• set the volume of each oscillator

VCA

• set the main volume

• adjust the attack and release phase of the

volume envelope

ENSEMBLE

• enable/disable the ensemble effect

• set stereo width of the ensemble effect

LFO

• RATE: speed of the Low Frequency

Oscillator

• VIBRATO: sets the amount of pitch

modulation

• DELAY: provides a slow build-up of the

vibrato effect after a note is pressed

EQUALIZER

• Allows to quickly adjust the low, mid and

high frequencies. See the equalizer panel
if you want to automate the equalizer via
the LFO or adjust the center frequencies
and bandwidths.

PHASER

• enable/disable the phaser effect

DELAY

• enable/disable the delay/echo effect

NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual 9

7.2 Sub Control Panels

• Press any of the sub control panel buttons to access a sub
control panel

• Press the KEYBOARD button to return to the on-screen key­board

7.2.1 OSC+SYSTEM Panel

OCT Click the OCT button to transpose the pitch of

an oscillator by one octave. Click the button
repeatedly to reach a number of different
octaves. “OCT+0” is the default setting where
the three oscillators are spaced by one octave
from each other.

ADSR / ORGN You can select the loudness envelope shape for

each Oscillator:

• ADSR: The oscillator loudness is following

an ADSR envelope defined by the Attack
and Release parameters on the main
panel and the Decay and Sustain
parameters on the VCA sub panel.

• ORGN: The oscillator is switched on and

off immediately when pressing and
releasing a key like on an organ.

10 NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual

ADSR ORGN

WAVE Select one out of 8 wave shapes for each

oscillator (Sine, Sine2, Saw, Saw2, Tri, Tri2,
Pulse, Noise).
Saw2 is modeled after the string ensemble
waveform of the Eminent 310.

PW Sets the pulse width for the pulse wave shape

DIVIDE-DOWN
MODE

By clicking repeatedly you can toggle through
the options OFF, 8'+4' ONLY and FULL.

• Enable the option FULL to phase-lock all

octaves played on the keyboard. This
corresponds to the classic divide-down
organ-style sound generation used on
string machines.

• By selecting the option 8'+4' ONLY you

can exclude the bass oscillator from the
phase-locking

Background: This plug-in emulates the classic
organ sound generation by synchronizing the
three oscillators to a master oscillator. In some
situations this method might cause undesired
clicks at the note start. You are more likely to
observe this if your sound has several of the
following characteristics:

- very low frequencies

- short attack phase

- no low pass filtering enabled
Generally speaking the option FULL should be
chosen for string / pad type sounds, particularly
if you want to play full chords including octaves.
For bass lines or lead / melody playing the
option OFF is suitable.

KEYBOARD
ZONES

Night Flight provides two keyboard zones:

• BASS: By moving the inner knob of the

NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual 11

dual concentric pot you can define the
highest key to which the bass oscillator
will respond.

• 8' + 4': Use the outer ring of the dual

concentric pot to define the lowest key to
which the 8' and the 4' will respond.

EFFECT
STRUCTURE

• Enable this button to let the bass

oscillator bypass the ensemble effect and
route it through the filter. This way you
get a clear and punchy bass to
complement your string section.

7.2.2 VCA Panel

DECAY +
SUSTAIN

These two controls complement the ATACK and
RELEASE controls on the main panel to give you
a full ADSR envelope.

VELOCITY Controls the impact of key velocity on the

loudness of all oscillators.

12 NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual

7.2.3 ENSEMBLE Panel

In order to make full use of the parameters on this panel you need
to understand how a string ensemble effect works. The following
paragraph aims to provide you with the necessary know-how to
successfully tweak your own string timbre. Be careful with these
settings since there tends to be a thin line between a rich ensemble
and something completely unimpressive.

• The Eminent/Solina type string ensemble effect is a variation
of the classic chorus effect.

• A typical characteristic of a real string ensemble is that the
individual musicians are never completely in tune even when
playing the same note. This can be simulated by means of
modulated delay lines. By varying the delay time of a delay
line the pitch of the notes played is also affected. You might
know this phenomenon if you ever owned an old tape deck or
record player with an
unstable playback
speed.

• There are three delay
lines. The delay time
of each is modulated
at the same time by
two sine-shaped low
frequency oscillators.

• The trick is that there
are actually only two
of these sine oscil­lators for all three
delay lines. In order
to create a different
modulation signal for
each delay line two
phase shifted sine
waves are deducted from each oscillator with an offset of 120
respectively 240 degrees from the original signal. The three
modulation signals from each oscillator are thus equal in
shape but their phasings are evenly distributed around the
360 degrees of the full circle. This results in a very

NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual 13

Image 3: Eminent 310 ensemble effect

harmonious chorus effect without the dreaded beating that
can be heard on simple chorus units.

• Nightflight contains three of the ensemble effects described
above. This allows to create wide stereo pads that are still
very dense. Also you can create extra rich ensemble timbres
by connecting two ensemble effects in series. As an alternative
the exact stereo output configuration of the Eminent 310 (see
Image 3) can also be selected.

DRY/WET Sets the mix of the ensemble sound vs. the

original signal.

DEPTH Overall modulation amount. Set this to zero and

the delay lines will not be modulated at all

RATE 1 Rate of sine oscillator 1

DEPTH 2 Modulation amount of sine oscillator 2. This will

only have an effect if the overall modulation
amount “DEPTH” is higher than zero

RATE 2 Rate of sine oscillator 2

14 NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual

Image 4: Nightflight Ensemble Architecture

SYMMETRY This will skew the phase angles of the

modulation signals resulting in an irregularly
moving chorus effect. Set the control to zero to
get the original angles of 0, 120, 240 degrees.
This control will affect ensembles A, A' and B at
the same time.

CLIP Use this control to clip the sine waves generated

by the two modulation oscillators. The more you
clip the more the signals will resemble a
rectangle. A value of zero creates no clipping.
This control will affect ensembles A, A' and B at
the same time.

DUAL Enables / Disables ensemble B

TWIN STEREO ON: Ensembles A and A' are both enabled and

panned to the left and to the right. Ensemble A'
receives the same three modulation signals as
ensemble A but they are inverted. This results
in a wide and dense stereo effect.
OFF: This corresponds to the stereo
configuration of the Eminent 310: Ensemble A'
is disabled. The outputs of the three delay lines
of ensemble A are used to create a stereo effect
as displayed in image 3.

7.2.4 LFO+FILTER Panel

LFO

NOTE SYNC Enable this function to reset the main LFO and

the phaser LFO each time a note is played.

PHASE Sets the start phase to which the LFOs are

reset.

NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual 15

SMART If you enable this function the LFOs are only

reset if a short time has passed since the last
note was released. This way you can play a
melody line or a chords progression while the
LFOs keep on running. The LFOs will be reset
again as soon as you start playing the next
melody line / chord progression.

FILTER

TYPE Selects the filter type or disables the Filter:

Lowpass 2, Lowpass 4, Bandpass, Highpass 2,
Highpass 4, OFF

SETUP Use this control to define the filter

characteristics:

• FRQ: By moving the inner knob of the

dual concentric pot you can set the filter
cutoff frequency.

• RES: Use the outer ring of the dual

concentric pot to set the filter resonance.

KEY FOLLOW If set to a value higher than zero the filter cutoff

frequency will follow the notes played: High
notes will be played with the filter set to a
higher cutoff frequency than low notes

MODULATION The filter cutoff frequency can be either

modulated by the LFO or by the ADSR envelope

• LFO: By moving the inner knob of the

dual concentric pot you can set the
amount of LFO modulation

• ADSR: Use the outer ring of the dual

concentric pot to set the amount of
modulation by the Filter envelope.

ATTACK
DECAY
SUSTAIN
RELEASE

Use these parameters to define the filter
envelope.

VELOCITY Controls the impact of key velocity on the filter

cutoff frequency.

16 NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual

7.2.5 EQUALIZER Panel

The controls on this panel complement the Equalizer on the main
panel. You can set the center frequency and bandwidth of each band.
Additionally each band can be modulated by the LFO in two different
ways.

FILTER

• FRQ: By moving the inner knob of the

dual concentric pot you can set the center
frequency

• Q: Use the outer ring of the dual

concentric pot to set the bandwidth.

MODULATION

• FRQ: By moving the inner knob of the

dual concentric pot you can define the
amount of LFO modulation applied to the
center frequency

• GAIN: Use the outer ring of the dual

concentric pot to set the amount of LFO
modulation applied to the filter gain.

NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual 17

7.2.6 PHASER+DELAY Panel

PHASER

RATE Sets the modulation rate of the phaser's

sweeping LFO.
Note: The phaser has it's own LFO with it's own
rate. But the LFO synchronizing options found
on the “LFO+FILTER Panel” do also work for the
phaser LFO (Note Sync, Phase, Smart Mode)

LO FRQ Lowest Frequency reached while sweeping

HI FRQ Highest Frequency reached while sweeping

FEEDB Phaser feedback

VINTAGE Enable this button to get a phaser sound which

is close to a small stone phaser pedal

STEREO A stereo phasing effect is generated by delaying

the sweeping oscillator of one channel

DELAY

DRY/WET Sets the amount of delay effect added to the

dry signal

PAN Allows to pan the dry signal to one side and the

delay effect to the other.

TIME Defines the delay time

FEEDBACK Higher values at this control will create more

repetitions

HP High pass filter in the delay feedback loop

LP Low pass filter in the delay feedback loop

18 NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual

8 Program History

• v.1.0 - March 2013
initial release

9 Credits

• Built with Synthedit by Jeff Mc Clintock

http://www.synthedit.com

• Third Party modules were used by David Haupt, Dan Worrall,
Attilla Füstös

• GUI controls were created using Knobman

http://www.g200kg.com/en/software/knobman.html

• The executable was packed using UPX

http://upx.sourceforge.net

NIGHT FLIGHT VSTi - User Manual 19