Novation MiniNova User Manual

ENVIRONMENTAL

Novation A division of Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd. Windsor House, Turnpike Road, Cressex Business Park, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP 12 3FX . United Kingdom

Tel: +44 1494 462246 Fax: +44 1494 459920 e-mail: sales@novationmusic.com Web: http://www.novationmusic.com

Trademarks

The Novation trademark is owned by Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd. All other br and, product and company names and any other registered names or trademarks mentioned in this manual belong to their respective owners.

Disclaimer

Novation has taken all possible steps to ensure that the information given here is both corre ct and complete. I n no event can Novation accept a ny liability or re sponsibility for any loss or damage to the owner of the equipment, any third party, or any equipment which may result from use of this manu al or the equipment which it describes. The information provided in this document may be modiﬁed at any time without prior warning. Speciﬁcations and appearance may differ from those listed and illustrated.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

1. Read these instructions.

2. Keep these instructions.

3. Heed all warnings.

4. Follow all instructions.

5. Clean only with dry cloth.

6. Do not install near any heat sources such as r adiator s, heat register s, stoves, or other apparatus (including ampliﬁers) that produce heat.

7. Do not defeat the safet y purpose of the polarized or grounding-type plug. A p olarized plug has two blad es with one wider than the other. A grounding type plug has t wo blades and a third grounding prong. The wide blade or the third prong are p rovided for your safety. If the provided plug does not ﬁt into your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.

8. Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the apparatus.

9. Only use attachments /accessories speciﬁed by the manufacturer.

10. Use only w ith the ca rt, stand, tripod, bracket, or table speciﬁed by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus. When a cart is used, use caution whe n moving the cart /apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over.

D E C L A RAT IO N

Compliance Information Statement: Declaration of Compliance procedure

Product Identiﬁcation: Novation MiniNova Responsible party: American Music & Sound Address: 4325 Executive Drive Suite 300 Southhaven, MS 3 8672 Telephone: (800) 431-2609

This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the foll owing two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, a nd (2) this device must accept any interference received, including inter ference that may cause undesired operation.

For USA To the User :

1. Do not modify this unit! This product, when installed as indicated in the instructions contained in this manual, meets F CC requirements. Modiﬁcati ons not expressl y approve d by Novation may void your authority, gra nted by the F CC, to use this product.

2. Important: This product satisﬁes FCC regulations when high quality shielded cables are used to connect with other equipment. Fa ilure to use high qua lity shielded c ables or to follow the installation instructions within this manual may cause magnetic interference with applianc es such as radios and televisions and void your FCC authorizati on to use this product in the USA.

3. Note : This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Clas s B digital device, pursu ant to par t 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency ene rgy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio c ommuni cations. However, there is no guarantee that inte rfere nce will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful inter ference to radio or television reception, which c an be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to tr y to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receivi ng antenna.

• Incre ase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

• Connect the equipment into an outl et on a circuit different from that to which the receiver

is connected.

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/ TV technician for help.

For Canada To the User :

This Class B digital apparatus complie s with Canadian I CES- 003

Cet appareil numérique de la cla sse B est conforme à la norme N MB-003 du Canada.

11. Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time.

12. Refer all servicing to qualiﬁed service personnel. Servicing is required when the appar atus has been damaged in any way, such as power-supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the a pparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped. No naked ﬂames, such as lighted candles, should be placed on the apparatus.

WARNING: Excessive sound pressure levels from e arphones and headphones can cause

hearing loss.

WARNING: This equipment must only be connected to USB 1.1 or 2.0 type ports.

FA0743-02

RoHS Notice

Focusrite Audio Engine ering Limited has conformed and this product conforms, where applicable, to the European Union’s Direc tive 2002 /95 /EC on Restrictions of Hazardous Substances ( RoHS ) as well a s the following sec tions of C alifornia law which refer to RoHS, namely sections 25214.10, 25214.10.2, and 58012, Health and Safet y Code; Section 42475.2, Public Resources Code.

CAUTION: The nor mal operation of this product may be affected by a strong electrostatic discharge (ESD). In the event of this happening, simply re set the unit by powering off and on again. Normal operation should return.

Novation is a registered trademark of Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited. MiniN ova is a trademark of Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited.

VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

Audio Units (AU ) is a trademark of A pple, Inc. RTAS is a trademark of Avid, Inc.

CONTENTS

Important Safety Instructions ................................1

Environmental Declaration ...................................1

Introduction ................................................ 3

Key Features: ...............................................3

About this manual ..........................................3

What’s in the box? .......................................... 3

Registering your MiniNova .................................................. 3

Power requirements ....................................................... 3

Hardware Overview ......................................... 4

Top view – controls ........................................................ 4

Rear view – connections ................................................... 5

Getting Started .............................................5

Standalone and computer operation – a foreword ..............................5

Standalone operation – audio and MIDI connections ........... 5

Using headphones ........................................................ 6

A word about Menu Navigation ...............................6

Scrolling through Patches ..................................................6

Searching through Types or Genres. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Using the FAVORITE button to load Patches .................................. 6

Assigning a Patch to a Pad .................................................6

Loading a Patch from a Pad ................................................. 6

Demo Mode .............................................................. 6

Modifying Sounds - using the performance controls ...........6

Parameter Controls ........................................................ 6

Rows 1 and 2 – Tweak and (F X) Tweak controls ............................ 7

Rows 3 to 6 – Fixed Tweak controls ...................................... 7

The Filter knob ............................................................ 7

Using the Pads as performance controls ...................................... 7

The Arpeggiator ...........................................................7

The Vocoder ..............................................................7

Pitch and Mod wheels ..................................................... 7

Octave Shift ..............................................................8

Storing a Patch ........................................................... 8

Updating the MiniNova’s Operating System ................................... 8

Synthesis Tutorial ...........................................8

Synth Menus – Reference section ........................... 12

Top Menu: Audio In ....................................................... 12

Top Menu: Global ........................................................12

Top Menu: Arp ........................................................... 13

Top Menu: Chord .........................................................14

Top Menu: Edit ........................................................... 14

Edit menu - Submenu 1: Tweaks ........................................ 14

Edit menu - Submenu 2: Osc ........................................... 14

Per-Oscillator parameters ............................................14

Common Oscillator parameters .......................................15

Edit menu - Submenu 3: Mixer .......................................... 16

Edit menu - Submenu 4: Filter .......................................... 16

Per-Filter parameters ................................................ 17

Common Filter parameters ...........................................17

Edit menu - Submenu 5: Voice .........................................19

Edit menu - Submenu 6: Env ............................................ 20

Amplitude Envelope .................................................20

What is Legato? .................................................... 21

Common Envelope Parameter ........................................22

Filter Envelope ..................................................... 22

Envelopes 3 to 6 .................................................... 23

Edit menu - Submenu 7: LFO ..........................................24

Edit menu - Submenu 8: ModMatrx ......................................25

Edit menu - Submenu 9: Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

EQ Menu .......................................................... 28

Compressor Menu ..................................................28

Distortion Menu ....................................................29

Delay Menu ........................................................29

Reverb Menu .......................................................29

Chorus Menu ......................................................30

Gator Menu ........................................................30

Edit menu -Submenu 10: VoxTune .......................................31

Edit menu - Submenu 11: Vocoder ......................................32

Top Menu: Dump .........................................................33

Waveform Table ......................................................34

Sync Values Table ....................................................34

LFO Waveforms Table .................................................35

Modulation Matri x Source s Table ......................................35

Modulation Matrix Destinations Table ..................................36

Tweak Parameters Table ..............................................36

Filter Table ...........................................................38

Arp Mode Table ......................................................38

Gator Modes Table ...................................................38

Effects Type Table .................................................... 38

Firmware updates ..........................................39

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing the MiniNova synthesizer. The MiniNova is a power ful compact digital synthesizer equally at home in live performance or a recording environment.

NOTE : The MiniNova is c apable of generating audio with a large dyna mic range, the extremes of which can cause damage to loudspeakers or other components, and also to your hearing!

KEY FEATURES:

• Full polyphony, with up to 18 voices

• Classic analogue synth waveforms

• 36 wavetables

• 14 ﬁlter types

• Built-in digital FX section with compression, panning, EQ, reverb, delay, distor-

tion, chorus and gator effects

• Four assignable rotary controls for immediate access to up to 24 primary sonic parameters

• 8 performance pads for arpeggiator control and adding expression while playing

• 12-band Vocoder with dynamic gooseneck microphone (supplied)

• VocalTune processor

• 37-note velocity-sensitive keyboard

• MIDI input and output

• LCD display

The following features are available in conjunction with the appropriate MiniNova/Novation software (downloadable):

• MiniNova Editor (VST™, AU™, RTAS™ plug-in) for DAW

• Mac/Windows-based librarian software for management of patches

ABOUT THIS MANUAL

We don’t know whether you’ve got years of experience with electronic keyboards, or i f this is your very ﬁrst synth. In all probability, you’re somewhere between the two. So we’ve tried to make this manual as helpful as possible for a ll type s of user, and this inevitably means that more experienced users will want to skip over cer tain parts of it, while relative novices will want to avoid certain parts of it until they’re conﬁdent they ’ve maste red the basics.

However, there are a few general points that are useful to know a bout before you continue reading this manual. We’ve adopted some graphical conventions within the text, which we hope all types of user will ﬁnd helpful in navigating through the information to ﬁnd what they need to know quickly:

Abbreviations, conventions, etc.

As the four rotar y controls in the PERFORM area of the control panel are referred to repeatedly throughout the manual, we’ve abbreviated them to RCn, where n is a number between 1 and 4, referring to the control in question.

Where top panel controls or rear panel connectors are referred to, we’ve used a number thus: [x] to cross-reference to the top panel diagram, and thus: {x} to cross-refer ence to the rear pa nel diagram. (See page 4 and page 5 )

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

The MiniNova has been carefully packed in the factor y and the packaging was designed to withstand rough handling. Should the uni t appear to have been damaged in transit, do not disca rd any of the packing materia l and notify your music dealer.

Save all the packing materi als for future use if you ever need to ship the unit again.

Please check the list below against the contents of the packaging. If any items are missing or damaged, contact the Novation dealer or distributor where you purchased the unit.

• MiniNova synthesizer

• Gooseneck microphone

• DC power supply unit (PSU)

• USB cable

• Software download card and Warranty Registration card

• This manual

Registering your MiniNova

It is important to register your MiniNova on-line using the Software download and warr anty registration card. Apart from validating your manufacturer’s warranty, you will also then be able to download the additional sof tware that you are entitled to as a MiniNova purchaser. The card also contains codes you will need to enter in the on-line forms on our website to download the sof tware , but before you attempt to do this, warra nty registrati on is required.

Power requirements

The MiniNova is shipped with a 9 V DC, 900 mA power supply. The centre pin of the

coaxial connector is the positive (+ve ) side of the supply. The MiniNova can ei ther be powere d by this AC-to-DC ma ins adaptor, or by the US B connection to a computer. To obtain the best possible audio performance from the MiniNova we recommend using the supplied adaptor.

There a re two ver sions of the PSU, your MiniNova will be supplie d with the one appropriate to your country. The PSU comes with detachable adaptors; use the one that ﬁts your country’s AC outl ets. When powering the MiniNova from the mains PSU, please ensure that your local AC supply is within the range of voltages required by the adaptor – i.e., 100

to 240 VAC - BEFORE you plug it into the mains.

We strongly recommend that you only use the supplied PSU. Failure to do so will invalidate your warranty. Power supplies for your Novation product can be purchased form your music dealer if you have lost yours.

If powering the MiniNova via the USB connection you should be aware that although the USB speciﬁcation agreed by the IT industry states that a USB port

should be able to supply 0.5 A at 5 V, some computers - particularly laptops – are

unable to supply this current. Unreliable operation of the synth will result in s uch a case. When powering th e MiniNova from a laptop’s USB port, it is strongly recommended that the laptop is powered from AC mains rather than its interna l batter y.

We’ve used B OLD CAP S to name top panel controls or rear panel connectors. We’ve used LCD dot-matrix text to denote text which appears on the LCD at the beginning of each parameter description and within the parameter tables, but Bold to indicate this tex t within the main manual paragraphs.

Tips

These do what it says on the tin : we include bits of advice, relevant to the topic being discussed that should simplify setting up the MiniNova to do what you want. It’s not m andatory that you follow the m, but generally they should make life easier.

Extra Info

These are additions to the text that will be of interest to the more advanced user and can generally be avoided by the novice. They are intended to provide a clariﬁcation or explanation of a particular area of operation.

Performance Parameter

MiniN ova has a fantastic degree of ﬂexibility in tailoring sounds , as you will see in

the second part of this manual, wh ere each individual parameter available in the

menu sys tem is described. However, to avoid having to navigate m enus during live performance, we have made the most useful and commonly-needed parameters immediately available for adjustment by the four rota ry controls in the PERFORM area of the control panel. We have cle arly indicated these par ameters within the parameter descriptions.

HARDWARE OVERVIEW

45 6

Top view – controls

1. 37-note (3 octaves) keyboard with velocity sensing.

2. PITCH and MOD wheels: The PITCH wheel is mechanically biased to return to the centre position when released.

SELECT/E DIT section

3. Custom 2-row x 8-character LCD dot matrix display for patch selection and menu access. The LCD also incorporates a bargraph meter showing audio input signal level, tempo indication in BP M and other status information.

4. TYPE/GENRE selector: Use this to select a subset of available patches.

5. SORT switch: allows you to order your set of patches by patch number or alphabetically by name.

6. DATA detented rotar y control: Used in patch sel ection, and to alte r parameter values within menus.

7. PAGE I and H buttons: these are used to step forwards and back wards between menu pages.

8. MENU/BACK button : Press to enter menu system; within the menu system, pressing agai n will jump back to the previous menu level. A ‘long’ press (> 1 sec) will exit the menu system entirely.

9. OK button: Used within the menu system for navigation (goes to next menu level), and to conﬁrm data entry.

10. SAVE but ton: Used to save alterations to patches.

11. Patch I and H: dedicated buttons to scroll through the currently available patche s. Pres sing both buttons simultaneously for at lea st one second enters DEMO mode.

PERFORM sec tion

12. Rotary controls: 4 rotary “Tweak” controls for parameter adjustment. The function of each control i s determined by the setting of the PERFORM ROW selector [13]. ( Use of a rotary control in the manual text is indicated by ‘RCn’, where n is the number of the control; e .g., ‘RC1’ refers to rotary control 1).

13. Perform Row selec tor: This 6-way switch determines the functions of the four rotary controls [12]. An LED indicates the currently selected row, and the parameters then available for adjustment are printed on the MiniNova’s top panel. Moving the switch allows you to select any row of the table printed on the panel. The ﬁrst two rows assign the Tweak controls to parameters which have been factor y-selected by the N ovation programming team for each Patch, giving you immediate access to the most useful and striking sonic variations.

14. FI LTE R: this is a large rotary control intended to aid more expressive performanc e when playing live. It always adjusts Filter 1’s cut-off frequency.

PAD section

15. PADS 1 to 8: a set of eight backlit, multicolour, pressure-sensitive pads, which may be used in two prim ary ways – A nimate or Arpeggiate. Additionally,

in conjunction with the FAVOR ITE button [17], they may be used as “Quick

Load” buttons to recall preferred patches.

16. ANI MAT E/A RP EGGIAT E switch: A 2-position switch (spring-loaded to return-to-centre), which assigns the pads [15] to act as Animate controls or Arpeggiator pads.

17. FAVORITE button: used to store and recall preferred patches in conjunction with the eight pads [15].

18. HOLD button: modiﬁes the action of a pad [15] in Animate mode by “locking” it in an “On” state.

ARP section

19. ON: backlit button to switch the Arpeggiator on and off. W hen selected ‘On’, the eight pads [15] enter Arpeggiator mode and the Arpeggiator LED in the Pads section illuminates.

20. LAT CH button: applies the Arpeg giator ef fect to the last note(s) played continuously, until a subsequent key is pressed. LATCH can be pre -selected so that it is effective as soon as the Arpeggiator is enabled.

21. TEMPO control : sets the tempo of the Arpeggiator pattern being played. An adjacent LED blinks to give a v isual indicati on of the tempo, and the actual BPM value is displayed on the LCD.

Misc

22. Dynamic M ic Input : an XLR socket for the connection of the supplied gooseneck microphone, or alternative dynamic microphone (i.e., a mic not requiring phantom power to operate ). The mic can be us ed with the MiniNova’s

vocoder and VocalTune features, or routed to the audio outputs. This input is

overridden when a jack plug is plugged in to EX T IN {8 } on the rear panel.

23. MASTER VOLUME: the level control for the main audio outputs and the headphone output.

24. OC TAVE + and – buttons: these transpose the keyboard up or down one octave each time they are pressed. A ssociated multi-colour LEDs co nﬁrm that a transposition has been applied.

Rear view – connections

25. DC power connector: standard 2.2 mm socket for connecting the external 9 V DC PSU (supplied). See “Power requirements” on page 3.

26. On/off switch: 3-position switch:

POSITION ACTIO N

ext DC Enables external 9 V DC input

OFF Off

USB Enables power via USB port

27. USB port: Type B US B Type 1.1 (2.0-compatible) socket for connectio n to PC or Mac

28. MIDI connectors: standard MIDI In/Out sockets (5-pin DINs)

G E T TI NG S TAR TE D

Standalone and computer operation – a foreword

The MiniNova may b e used as a standal one synthesizer, with or without MIDI connections to/from other sound modules or keyboards. It may also be connected - via its USB port – to a computer (Windows or Mac) running a DAW application. The MiniNova ca n then be controlled entirely from the computer by using the MiniNova Editor plug-in. The MiniNova Librarian is a separate software application, which greatly assists in the organising, saving and rec all of patc hes.

29. Sustain pedal soc ket: 2-pole (mono) ¼” jac k socket for connection of a sustain pedal. Both NO ( Normally Open) and NC (Normally Closed) pedal types are comp atible ; if the pedal is connected when the MiniNova is p owered on, the t ype will be automatically sensed during boot-up (provided your foot is not on the pedal!). See “Parameter: Footswitch conﬁguration” on page 13 for more information.

30. Headphones socket: 3-pole ¼” jack socket for stereo headphones. Phones

volume i s adjusted by the MASTER VOLU ME control [23 ].

31. OUTPUT LEFT and RIGHT: 2 x ¼” jack sockets carrying main stereo output. Outputs are unbalance d, at +5 dBu maxi mum level .

32. EXT I N: ¼” jack socket for external instrument or line level audio inputs. This input override s an XLR connector p lugged i nto the Dynamic Mic Input [22] on the top panel. Input is balanced , and can accept a ma ximum input level of 0 dBu. The sensitivity of the input can be adjusted via the menu system (see “Parameter: Input Gain” on page 12).

33. Kensing ton Lock Port: to secure your synthesizer.

STANDALONE OPERATION – AUDIO AND MIDI CONNECTIONS

The simplest and quickest way of get ting sta rted with the MiniNova is to connect the two rear pa nel jack sockets marked OUTPUT LEFT and RIGHT {31} to the inputs of a stereo ampliﬁer, audio mixer, powered speakers, third-party computer sound card or other means of monitoring the output.

Audio Out

Audio In

USB

MiniNova connected to a computer via USB. USB transmits MIDI to and from the computer

The various ways of connecting the MiniNova to accommodate the various methods of working are covered in the documentation supplied with the MiniNova Editor and M iniNova Libra rian software packages. The Installers for this software, and the related USB drivers may be dow nloaded from http://novationmusic.com/support.

When us ing the MiniNova with the MiniNova Editor, an EDITOR ﬂag is disp layed on the LCD to con ﬁrm the connection. Also note that a USB ﬂag is displayed when M iniNova is connected to a computer via USB, and valid data interchange has been est ablished.

Audio Out

Note: the MiniNova is not a computer MIDI inter face. M IDI can be trans mitted between the MiniNova synth and com puter via the USB connection, but MIDI cannot be transferred b etween the computer and ex ternal equipment via the

MiniN ova’s MIDI DIN ports.

If using the MiniNova with other sound modules, connect MIDI OUT {28} on the MiniNova to MIDI IN on the ﬁrst sound module, and daisy-chain fur ther modules in the usual way. If using the MiniN ova with a master keyboard, connect the controller’s MIDI OUT to MIDI IN on the MiniNova, and ensure that the master keyboard is set to M IDI channel 1 (the MiniNova’s default channel).

Controller Keyboard

MIDI In

MIDI Out

Sound Modules

With the ampliﬁer or mixer off or muted, connect the AC adaptor to the MiniNova {25}, and plug it into the AC mains. Turn the MiniNova on by moving the rear panel switc h {26} to ext DC. After co mpleting its boot sequence, the LCD display will indicate the Patch which has been loaded. If the TYPE/GENRE knob has not been moved since the last power-of f, this will be the last Patch used. If the TYPE/GENRE knob has been moved, the Patch loaded will be the lowest-numbered (or lowest alphabetically-sorted, depending on the setting of the SORT switch) in the selected Type or Genre.

Turn on the mixer/ampliﬁer/powered speakers, and turn up the Master Volume control [23] until you have a healthy sound level from the speakers when you play the keyboard.

Using headphones

Instead of speakers via an ampliﬁer and /or an audio mixer, you may wish to use a pair of stereo headphones. These may be plugged into the rear panel headphone output socket {30}. The main outputs are still active when headphones are plugged in. The MASTER LEVEL control [23] also adjusts headphone level.

NOTE: The MiniNova headphone amp liﬁer is capable of outputting a high signa l level; please take care when setting the volume.

A WORD ABOUT MENU NAVIGATION

The MiniNova has been designed to give the player maximum control over sound character and system operation with the minimum of hassle. The menu system is always entered by pressing the MENU but ton [8 ]. The menu system consists of six individual menus :

Au dio In Global Arp Chord Ed it Dump

Step bet ween the menus with the PAGE I and H buttons [7], and press OK [9 ] to enter the desired menu. Use the PAGE buttons again to access the parameter you wish to change ; use the D ATA control [6] to alter the parameter value.

The menu system can be exited by pressing the MENU/BACK button again; otherwise, it will automatically time-out after a short period, and the screen will revert to display the currently-loaded Patch information.

Scrolling through Patches

Your MiniNova comes pre-loaded with a set of facto ry Patches, which may be auditioned at any time, providing you are not in the menu system. The Patches are arranged as 3 banks (A to C), each with 128 patches ( 000 to 127). Ba nks A and B come pre-loaded with a full set of fac tory Patches, while Bank C contains 128 copies of a n Initial Patch, which you can either overwrite, or use as the basis for creating your own sounds. With the TYPE/GENRE selector [4] set to ALL, either rotate the DATA control [6 ], or use the PATC H I and H buttons [11] to step through the patches . The new sound is loaded as soon as the patch data shows in the display.

Using the FAVORITE button to load Patches

You can assign up to eight of your favourite Patches to the eight Per formance Pads, and then quickly reload them without needing to search through the whole Patch list .

Assigning a Patch to a Pad

With the Patch already loaded, pre ss and hold the FAVORITE button [17], and simultaneously pres s and hold a Pad button. The display will show A ss ig nIn , with a 3 second countdown timer. Af ter 3 seconds, the display changes to Favorite A ss ign e d, and the Patch i s now assigned to that Pad. Note that the Pad turns red to conﬁrm the assignment.

Loading a Patch from a Pad

Press and hold the FAVORITE button; all the Pads will ﬂash blue (unless the currentlyloaded Patch is one that was previously assigned to a Pad, in which c ase, the Pad shows a steady red). W hile they are ﬂashing, press the Pad which has the Patch you want ass igned to it, and that Patch will now be loaded. The LCD will conﬁrm the new Patch by name.

Demo Mode

Press the two PAT CH I and H buttons [11] simultaneously, and the M iniNova will enter Demo Mode. Using any control will cause a bri ef description its function to be dis played on the LCD screen. Note that none of the controls ( except m aster volume) or keyboard are active in Demo Mode.

MODIFYING SOUNDS USING THE PERFORMANCE CONTROLS

The MiniNova is equipped with a set of controls speciﬁcally designed for use in live performanc e. These allow you to modify the sound of the loade d patch in a variety of interesting and sometimes startling ways!

These controls are found in the PERFORM, PADS and ARP areas of the control panel (see items 12 - 21 on page 4 ).

Parameter Controls

While playing li ve, it is of ten desi rable to manually adjust some aspect or other of the sound – i.e., “ tweak” a particular parameter. Although the MiniNova’s des ign allows you to access all the parameters deﬁning a particular sound, it is useful if the most important par ameters that you need while playing live are readily available, on a convenient set of c ontrols. These are the four rotar y controls to the ri ght of the control pa nel, see item 12 on page 4.

Use these four knobs in conjunction with the Perform Row Selec tor switch [13]. A n LED will illuminate to show you which of the six banks of available parameters the knobs are assigned to. Note that Rows 3 to 6 always c ontrol the same pa rameters, regardles s of the patch you have loaded – though the actual effect of the control will quite likely sound different! Rows 1 and 2 place the four knobs into “Tweak” mode, where the parameters they control var y with the patch (see below).

The Patch set can be browsed in either bank and numerical order, or alphabetically by name, according the set ting of the SORT switch [5].

Searching through Types or Genres

Apar t from being arranged in 3 banks, the patches are also categorised for you ac cording to the type of sound; this ma kes ﬁnding suitable sounds much ea sier. Eac h patch belongs to both a Genre and a Type; the Genre broadly indicates the musical area for which the patch might be suitable, the Type alternatively arranges the patches by sonic characteristics. Use the TYPE/GENRE control to select the Type or Genre in which you are interested.

Once the Type or Genre has been speciﬁ ed, the patch set can again be browsed either in numerical or alphabetical order.

The Genres and Types are listed below:

TYPES GENRES

All

Vocoder/VocalTune Rock/ Pop

Bass R&B/Hip Hop

Keyboard/Lead Dubstep

Pad/Strings House/Techno

Arp/ Movement D&B/Breaks

Classic Synth

Don’t worry too much at this stage what words like “Resonance” and “Sustain” mean – all these ( and many other) terms are explained in much greater detail further on in the manual. Just tr y to become familiar with the actual sonic effect you hear when you adjust each of the parameters in turn, for di fferent catego ries of patch.

The four knobs used for “t weaking” will almost never be in the correct position relative to the value of the parameter s they control which are stored as par t of the

currently-loaded Patch. For example, in the Patch A0 00 (“BassIsWet DC” ), the value of the Filter Envelope Decay Time parameter is 27. If the Tweak control for this (RC2 in Row 4) is set to – say – 2 o’clock, the knob position implies a completely different value. The LCD display includes two arrows which tell you which way to turn the knob to get the knob position to “match” the stored parameter value. As long as Pot Pickup is set On (in the Global Menu), the knob will have no effect until both arrows are off. If Pot Pickup is Off, turning the knob will immediately alter the pa rameter, which may produce an audible “jump”. Se e page 13 for more information on Pot Pickup.

Vocoder Voc/MFX

Rows 1 and 2 – Tweak and (FX) Tweak controls

With either Rows 1 or 2 selected, the knobs will have a different ef fect dep ending on the patch loaded. This is because the actual assignment of the controls forms part of the Patch. You will ﬁnd that all the factory Patches have some Tweak Controls pre-assigned, but you can change their function or add others if you wish.

NOTE: RC4 is preset to control the level of FX level when Row 2 ((F X) TWEAK) is selected. However, this can be changed in the T WEAK s ubmenu of the EDIT menu.

* You will be ab le to ﬁnd thi s – or any Patch yo u know by nam e – more quickly by set ting SOR T to A-Z

and scrolling through the listed Patches alphabetically.

The best way of understanding the Tweak controls is to load a patch and play with them. Try loading the Patch “Synchromatic 1 P S”, which can be found in the Arp /Movement T YPE*. Select the TWEAK row with the Perform Row Selec tor switch [13]. As you play, adjust each of the four TWEAK controls in turn to hear their ef fect. You will ﬁnd that you can introduce fur ther variations to the sound. Now select the ( FX) TWEAK row; you’ll ﬁnd that the TWEAK controls now do something different and the sound can be modiﬁed in other ways – in this case, by altering the audio effects processing applied to the sound.

Rows 3 to 6 – Fixed Tweak contr ols

The function of the four rotary controls is predeter mined when any of Rows 3 to 6 is selected. The table below lists the functions, and tells you where to look in the User Guide to ﬁnd out m ore information on the parameter controlled in each case.

Full details of the parameters each of the Tweak controls in Rows 3 to 6 are

available at the page number indicated in the table below.

The imp ortant point to grasp here is that the effect of each TWEAK control on the sound is spec iﬁc to the patch. With different patches loaded, the TWEAK controls will alter different sonic characteristics.

Row Group RC1 RC2 RC3 RC4

Parameter More Info? Parameter More Info? Parameter More Info? Parameter More Info?

Filter Resonance

Filter Envelope At tack

Amplitude Envelope Attack

Oscillator Osc1 Vir tual Sync

F1Re s pa ge 17

Flt At t pa ge 22

Am pAtt pa ge 20

O1V Sy n c p age 14

The Filter knob

Adjusting the frequency of the synth’s primar y ﬁlter ( Filter 1) is probably the most commonly-used method of sound modiﬁcation. For this reason, Filter 1 Frequency has its own dedicated control in the form of a large rotary control [14] next to the parameter controls. Ex periment with di fferent types of patch to hear how changing the ﬁlter frequency alters the characteristic of different types of sound.

Using the Pads as performance controls

The eight Pads below the parameter controls have a number of functions on the MiniNova. In this section, we are concerned only with their use as perfor mance controls . To enable the Pads for per formance use, set the AN IM ATE /AR PEGGI ATE switch [16] to A NI MATE .

Like the T WEAK controls, the precise ef fect that each Pad w ill have on the characteristic of the sound is Patch-dependent. Again, the best way of understanding what they can do is to load a Patch and p lay with them. Load the Patch “Cry4Moon DF” - which can be found in the Keyboa rd/ Lead T YPE* - and lightly touch each of the pads in turn while playing norma lly. You’ll ﬁnd that when you touch a pad, something distinctive ha ppens to the sound. Try loading different types of Patch to see what ef fect the Pads have in each. Note that not all Patche s have all ei ght Pads assigned.

Later in the manual, you will discove r how to reassign the Pads to make speciﬁ c parameter changes to any given patch, and that the se assignments remain with the patch for your future use.

* You will be ab le to ﬁnd thi s – or any Patch yo u know by nam e – more quickly by set ting SOR T to A-Z

and scrolling through the listed Patches alphabetically.

Trac kin g

Decay

Osc 1 Density

F1Tra c k pag e 17

FltDec pag e 22

AmpDec pa ge 20

O1Dense pa ge 15

Type

Sustain

Osc 2 Vir tual Sync

F1Ty p e pa ge 17

FltSus page 22

AmpSus page 20

O2VSync pag e 14

The L ATCH button plays the currently selecte d arp sequence repeatedly without the keys being held. LATC H can also be pressed before the Arpeggiator is enabled. When the Arpeggiator is enabled, the MiniNova will immediately play the arp sequence deﬁned by the last set of notes played, and will do so indeﬁnitely. The tempo of the ar p sequence is set by the TEMPO control; you can make the sequence play faster or slower by altering this. See page 13 for further details.

The Vocoder

Your MiniNova comes with a Vocoder section, whic h allows you to create some really great

sounds by combining synth sounds with either a voice or another instrument such as a guitar.

To use the Vocoder, rst connect a microphone (one is supplied with your MiniNova) to the

MIC socket [22] on the top panel. A lternatively, you can plug a guitar or other instrument into the E XT IN socket {8 } on the rear panel ( this will disconnect the mic socket). Nex t, you need to set the audio gain of the mic or instrument. To do this, press MENU [8], select Audio In using the DATA wheel [6] , then pre ss OK [9] . This will open the menu system, and Audio In is the ﬁrst menu displayed . The ﬁrst menu item in the Audio Menu is Input Gain (In pt Gain); ad just the input gain with the D ATA wheel [6] while noting the signal level as displayed at the top of the LCD screen as a horizontal bargraph meter. Ensure that the loudest audio level does not cause the OVER segment to illuminate.

Set the TYPE/GENRE control [4] to VOCODER/VOCALTUNE, and select a patch from the available subset. Now hold one or more keys down and sing into the microphone (or play the instrum ent connected at E XT IN ). You will hear the sound of the synth, modiﬁed by the external audio input. As with a ny other patch, you can alter various parameter s with the FI LTE R and four rotar y encoders in the PERFORM section, or use the Animate functions as described above.

Drive

Amount

Release

Osc 2 Density

F1Damnt pag e 17

F1Env2 p age 17

Am p R el page 21

O2Dense page 15

The Arpeggiator

The MiniNova has a powerful Arpeggiator feature which allows arpeggios of varying compl exity and rhythm to be played and manipulated in real-time. If a single key is pressed, the note will be retriggered by the Arpeggiator. If you play a c hord, the Arpeggiator identiﬁes its notes and plays them individually in sequence (this is termed an arpeggio pattern or ‘arp se quence’); thus if you play a C major triad, the selected notes will be C, E and G.

The MiniNova Arpeggiator is enabled by pre ssing the ARP ON button [19]; its backlight will conﬁrm and the eight Pads will turn red. H olding a note down will repeat the note in the sequence, a nd you will see the Pads’ illumination changing to purple a s the pattern progresses. Initially all enabled beats in the sequenc e are sounded, but if you pres s a Pad, the beat corres ponding to that Pad’s position will now be omitted from the sequence, generating a rhy thmic pattern. The ‘deselected’ Pads will not illuminate. A ‘deselected’ Pad may be re-enabled by tapping it a second time.

Arpeggiator operation in the MiniNova is controlled by the three ARP buttons [19], [20] & [21]: ON, LAT CH and TEMPO. The ON button enable s or disables the Arpeggiator.

As with all the other performance controls, we recommend that there is no substitute for experimentation to get an understanding of how the various controls interact.

Note that two of the factor y Vocoder Patc hes, “Aaah 1” (B073) and “Aaa h 2” (B074),

do not make use of the built-in mi cropho ne. Although these use the M iniNova’s

Vocoder functions, they use xed formants which are stored with the Patches.

Pitch and Mod wheels

The MiniNova is ﬁtted with a standa rd pair of synthesizer control wheels adjac ent to the keyboard, PITCH and MOD ( Modulation ). The PITCH control is spring-loaded and always returns to the centre position.

Moving PITCH will always raise or lower the pitch of the note( s) being played. The range of operation can b e set via the menu system, from a semitone to an octave, in semitone steps.

The MOD whee l’s precise function varies with the Patch loaded; it is used in general to add expression or various elements to a synthesise d sound. A c ommon use is to add vibrato to a sound; another is to control the speed of a “vir tual” rotary speaker.

It is possible to a ssign the MOD wheel to control any p arameter constituting the sound – or a combination of parameters simultaneously. This topic is discussed in more detail elsewhere in the manual. See “Wh at is Legato?” on page 21.

Octave Shift

Time Time

A B

These two backlit buttons [24] transpose the keyboard up or down one octave each time they are pressed, to a maximum of four octaves . The colour displayed by the buttons indicates the number of octaves shi fted: when both LEDs are off (the default state), the lowest note on the keyboard is one octave b elow Mid dle C.

Middle C

SHIFT COLOUR

(no buttons pressed) LEDs off

± 1 octave Red

± 2 octaves Magenta

± 3 octaves Purple

± 4 octaves Blue

Normal keyboard pitch may be reinstated at any time by pressing both Octave buttons together.

Storing a Patch

Novation have worked hard to create a really useful and great-sounding set of factory Patches, and we are sure that many of them will meet your needs without further modiﬁ cation. However, the scope for altering – or creating comp letely new - sounds in the MiniN ova is almost limitless, and when you have done so, you will probably want to save the sounds for future use.

It is possible to store or write your own patches directly into the MiniNova without using the MiniNova Editor and Librarian software applications. Once any of the pa rameters of a Patch have been cha nged, the SAVE ﬂag will illuminate in the LCD, to re mind you that you are no longer working with an unmodiﬁed Patch. To save the modiﬁed Patch:

1. Press the SAVE button [10] , which will display the name that the Patch had when it was ﬁrst loaded.

NOTE: The Memory Protect function is active by default, so you are likely to see the words

Memory Protect ! ﬂash on-screen. It will not be possible to save a modiﬁe d version of the current patch, without turning this option off. See “Parameter: Memory Protection” on page 12.

Memory Protect

Note that the screen will prompt you for a new name for the modiﬁed vers ion (Nam e?), and that the current name will b e offered as a suggestion, with the ﬁrst character ﬂashing . Use the DATA control [ 6] or the PATCH I and H but tons [11] to select a different alphanumeric character.

• Use the PAG E I and H buttons [7] to move to the next character, and continue in this

manner until the new name ha s been entered.

• Press SAVE aga in. You will now be prompted to choose the location where the new Patch is to be saved. The location of the original Patch will be offered as the default; if you choose this , the original patch data will be overwritten. Use the D ATA control [6], or PATCH I and H buttons [11] to select a different loc ation. N ote that Bank C (128 locatio ns) has been lef t empty for you to save your own patches; thi s avoids overwriting any of the original versions.

• Press SAVE aga in, and you will now be p rompted to choose the TYPE Category that will allow MiniNova’s sorting system to retrieve it. Use the DATA control to select the most appropriate one, and press SAVE again.

• You will ﬁnally be prompted to choose the GENRE for ﬁling purposes. Use the DATA control to select the most appropriate, and press SAVE again.

• The scr een will now conﬁr m the new Patch with the message Patch Saved. Note that whichever location is chosen for the new Patch, any Patch data already saved to th at location will be lost.

NOTE: A faster method of managing patches (writing, loading, renaming, reordering etc.) is by using the downloadable MiniNova Librarian. This can be downloaded free of charge from www.novationmusic.com/support.

Updating the MiniNova’s Operating System

OS update ﬁles will be available from time to time at www.novationmusic.com/support in the form of a MIDI SysEx ﬁle. The update proc edure requires the MiniNova to be connected via USB to a computer which has ﬁrst had the necessar y USB drivers installed . Full instructions on performing the update will be supplied with the download.

SYNTHESIS TUTORIAL

This section covers the subject of sound generation in more detail and discusses the various basic features available in the MiniNova’s sound generation and processing blocks.

It is recommended that this chapter is read carefully if analogue sound synthesis is an unfamiliar subject. Users familiar with this subject can skip this chapte r and move on to the next chapter.

To gain an understanding of how a synthes izer generates sound it is helpful to have an appreciation of the components that make up a sound, both music al and non-musical.

The only way that a sound may be detected is by a ir vibrating the eardrum i n a regula r, perio dic manner. The brain interprets these vibrations (very accurately ) into one of an inﬁnite number of different types of sound.

Remar kably, any sound may be described in ter ms of just three properti es, and all sounds always have them. They are:

• Pitch

• Tone

• Volume

What makes one sound different from anothe r is the relative magnitudes of the three properties a s initially present in the sound, and how the properties change over the duration of the sound.

With a musical sy nthesizer, we deliberately set out to have precise control over these three properties a nd, in particular, how they can be changed during the “li fetime” of the sound.

The properti es are of ten given different names: Volume may be refer red to as Amplitude,

Loudness or Level, Pitch as Frequency and Tone as Timbre.

Pitch

As state d, sound is perceived by air vibrating the ear drum. The pitch of the sound is determined by how fast the vibratio ns are. For an adult human, the slowest vibration perce ived as sound is about twent y times a second, w hich the b rain interprets as a bass type sound; th e fastest is many thousands of times a second, w hich the b rain interprets as an high treble type sound.

If the number of pe aks in the t wo waveforms (vibrations) are counted, it will be seen that there are exactly twice as many peaks in Wave B as in Wave A. (Wave B is actually an octave higher in pitch than Wave A). It is the number of vibrations in a given period that determines the p itch of a sound. This is the reason that pitch is sometimes referred to as frequency. It is the number of waveform peaks counted during a given period of time which deﬁnes the pitch, or frequency.

Tone

Musical sounds consist of several different, related pitches occurring simultaneously. The lowest is referred to as the ‘ fundamental’ pitch and c orresponds to the perceived note of the sound. Other pitches making up the sound which are related to the fundamental in simple mathematical r atios are called harmonics. The relative loudness of each h armonic as compared to the loudness of the fundamental determines the overall tone or ‘timbre’ of the sound.

Consider two instruments such as a harpsichord and a piano playing the same note on the keyboard and at equal volume. Despite having the same vo lume and pitch, the instruments still sound distinctly different. This is because the different note-ma king mechanisms of the two instruments generate dif ferent sets of harmonics; the har monics present in a piano sound are different to those found in a harpsichord sound.

Volume

Volume, w hich is of ten referred to as the amplitude or loudness of the sound is determined by how large the vibrations are. Very s imply, listening to a piano fro m a metre away would

sound louder than if it were ﬁfty metres away.

A B

Volume

Harmonic

Sine Wave

Square Wave

Volume

Harmonic

1 2 3 4 5

Volume

Harmonic

1 3 5 7

Triangle Wave

Volume

Harmonic

1 3 5 7

Triangle Wave

Volume

Harmonic

Sine Wave

Sawtooth Wave

Volume

Harmonic

Square Wave

Volume

Harmonic

1 2 3 4 5

Volume

Harmonic

1 3 5 7

Triangle Wave

1 2 3 4 5

Square Wave

Volume

Harmonic

1 2 3 4 5

Volume

Harmonic

1 3 5 7

Triangle Wave

Sawtooth Waves

Volume

Having shown that just three elements may deﬁ ne any sound, these elements now have to be related to a Musical synthesizer. It is logical that a different section of the Synthesizer ‘synthesizes’ (or creates) these different elements.

One sec tion of the synthesizer, the Oscillators, provide raw waveform signals whi ch deﬁne the pitch of the sound along with its raw harmonic content (tone). These signals are then mixed together in a section called the Mixer, and the resulting mixture is then fed into a section called the Filter. This m akes fur ther alterations to the tone of the sound, by removing (ﬁltering) or enhancing cer tain of the harmonics. Lastly, the ﬁltere d signal is fed into the Ampliﬁer, which determines the ﬁnal volume of the sound.

Oscillators Mixer Filter Amplifier

Additional synthesizer sections - LFOs and Envelopes - provide further ways of altering the pitch, tone and volume of a sound by interacting with the Oscillators, Filter and Ampli ﬁer, providing changes in the character of the sound which can evolve over time. Because LFOs’ and Envelopes’ only purpose is to control (modulate) the other synthesizer sections, they are commonly known as ‘modulators’.

These various synthesizer sections will now be covered in more detail.

Volume

Sawtooth Wave

1 2 3 4 5

Harmonic

These are rich in harmonics, and containing both even and odd harmonics of the fundamental frequency. The volume of each is inversely proportional to its position in the harmonic series.

Square / Pulse Waves

Volume

Square Wave

1 2 3 4 5

Harmonic

These only have odd harmonics, which are at the same volume as the odd harmonics in a sawtooth wave. It will b e noticed that the square waveform spends equal amounts of time in its ‘high’ state and its ‘low’ state. This ratio is known as the ‘duty cycle’. A square wave always has a duty cycle of 50% which means it is ‘high’ for half the cycle and ‘ low’ for the other ha lf. In the MiniNova , it is possible to adjust the duty cycle of the basic square waveform to produce a waveform which is more ‘rectangular’ in shape. The se are often known as Pulse waveforms. As the waveform becomes more and more rectangular, more even harmonic s are introduced and the waveform changes its character, becoming more ‘nasal’ sounding.

The width of the pulse waveform (the ‘Pulse Wi dth’) can be altered dynamically by a modulator, which results in the harm onic content of the waveform co nstantly changing. Thi s can give the waveform a very ‘ fat’ quality when the pulse width is altered at a moderate rate.

The Oscillators And Mixer

The Oscillator is really the hear tbeat of the Synthesizer. It generate s an electronic wave (which creates the vibrations when eventu ally fed to a loudspeaker). This Waveform is produced at a controllable musical pitch, initially determined by the note played on the keyboard or contained in a received MIDI note message. The initial distinctive tone or timbre of the waveform is actually determined by the waveform’s shape.

Many years ago, pioneer s of music al synthesis dis covered that just a few distinctive waveforms contained many of the most useful harmonics for mak ing musi cal sounds. The names of these waves reﬂec t their actual shape when viewed on an instrument called an Oscilloscope, and the se are: Sine waves , Square waves, Saw tooth waves, Triangle waves and Noise.

Each waveform shape (exc ept noise) has a speciﬁc set of musically-related harmonics which can be manipulated by further sections of the synthesizer.

The diagrams below show how these waveforms look on an oscilloscope, and illustrate the relative levels of their harmonics. Remember, it is the relative levels of the various harmonics present in a waveform which deter mine the tone of the ﬁnal sound .

Sine Waves

Sine Wave

These possess just a single harmonic. A sine waveform produces the “purest” sound because it only has its single pitch (frequency).

Triangle Waves

Triangle Wave

These contain only odd harmonics. The vo lume of each decre ases as the square of its position in the harmonic series. For example, the 5th harmonic has a volume 1/25th of the volume of the fundamental.

Volume

Harmonic

1 3 5 7

Harmonic

50%

a pulse waveform sounds whether the duty cycle is 40 % or 60%, since the waveform is just “inverted” and the harmonic content is exactly the same.

It does not make any difference to how

40%

10%

60%

Noise Waves

Volume

1 2 3 4 5

These are basically random signals, and have no one fundamental frequency (and therefore no pitch proper ty). A ll frequencies are at the same volume. Because they possess no pitch, noise signals are often useful for creating sound effects and percussion type sounds.

Digital Waveforms

In addition to the traditional types of Oscillator waveforms detailed above, the MiniNova also offers a set of carefully selected, digitally-generated waveforms containing useful harmonic elements normally difﬁcult to produce using traditional Oscillators.

Wavetable s

A “wavetable” is es sentia lly a group of digital waveforms. The MiniNova’s 36 wavetables each contain 9 separate di gital waveforms. The beneﬁt of a wavetable is that consecutive waveforms in the wavetable can be blended. Some of the MiniNova’s wavetables contain waveforms with similar harmonic content, while others contain waveforms with greatly differing harmonic content. Wavetables come ali ve when the ‘wavetable index’ – the position within the wavetable - is mo dulated , resulting in a sound that continually changes character, either smoothly or abruptly.

9 Waves make up a wave table

OSC 1

OSC 3

Volume

Frequency

Cut-off

Frequency

Volume

Frequency

Cut-off

Frequency

Volume

Frequency

Cut-off

Frequency

Cut-off

Frequency

Volume

Frequency

Cut-off

Frequency

Cut-off

Frequency

OSC 1

OSC 1 VOLUME

OSC 2 VOLUME

OSC 3 VOLUME

COMPLEX WAVEFORM MIX OF OSC1, 2 AND 3

MIXER

INPUT TO FILTER

OSC 2

OSC 3

Ring Modulation

A Ring Modulator is a sound generator that takes signals from two of the MiniNova’s oscillators and effectively “multiplies” them together. The MiniN ova has 2 Ring Modulators, one takes Osc 1 and Osc 3 as inputs, and th e other takes Osc 2 and Osc 3. The resulting output depends on the various frequencies and harmonic content present in each of the two oscillator signals , and will consist of a series of sum and difference frequencies as well as the frequencies present in the original signals.

actually be used for some sounds as an additional sound source i f wished. The diagram below shows th e response of a typical low pass ﬁlte r. Frequencies above the cut-off point are reduced in volume.

Cut-off

Frequency

Volume

Frequency

When re sonance is added, frequencies at the cut-off point a re boosted in volum e.

Cut-off

Frequency

The Mixer

To extend the range of sounds that may be produced, t ypica l analogue synthesizers have more than one Oscillator. By using multiple Oscillators to create a sound, it is possible to achieve very interesting harmonic mixes. It is also possible to slightly detune individual Oscillators against each other, which creates a very warm, ‘fat’ sound. The MiniNova’s Mixer a llows mixing of three indep endent O scillators, a separate Noise Oscillator and two Ring Modulator sources.

The Filter

The MiniNova is a subtractive music synthesizer. Subtractive implies that par t of the sound is subtracted somewhere in the synthesis process.

The Oscillator s provide the raw waveforms with plenty of harmonic content and the F ilter section subtracts some of the harmonics in a controlled manner.

14 types of Filter are availabl e on the MiniNova, though these are varieties of three basic ﬁlter types: L ow Pass, Band Pass and High Pass. The type of Filter most commonly found on synthesizers is the Low Pass type. With a Low Pass Filter, a cut-off point (or cut-off frequency ) is chosen and any fr equencies below the point are passed, and frequencies a bove are ﬁltered out. The set ting of the Filter Frequency parameter dictates the point below which frequencies are removed. This process of removing harmonics from the waveforms has the ef fect of changing the sound’s character or timbre. When the Frequency parameter is at maximum, the ﬁlter is completely “open” and no frequencies ar e removed from the raw Oscillator waveforms.

In prac tice, there is a gradual (rather th an a sudden) reduction in the volume of the harmonics above the cut-off point of a Low Pass Filter. How rapidly these harmonic s reduce in volume as frequency increases a bove the cut-off point is determined by the Filter’s slope. The slope is measured in ‘volume units per oct ave’. Since Volume is measured in decibels , this slope is usually quoted as so many decibels per octave (dB /oct) . Typical va lues are 12 dB/oct and 24 dB/oct. The hi gher the number, the g reater the rejection of harmonics above the cut-of f point, and the more pronounced the ﬁltering effect.

A further important parameter of the Filter is its Re sonance. Frequencies at the cut-off point may be increased in volume by the Filter Resonance control. This is useful for emphasizing cert ain harmonics of the sound.

Volume

Frequency

In addition to the traditional Low Pass Filter type, there are also High Pass and B and Pass types. The ty pe of Filter used is selected with the Filter Type parameter.

A High Pa ss Filter is similar to a Low Pass Filter, but works in the “opposite sense”, so that frequencies b elow the cut-off point are removed. Frequencies above the cut-off point a re passed. When the Filter Frequency parameter is set to zero, the ﬁlter is completely open and no frequencies are removed from the raw Oscillator waveforms.

Cut-off

Frequency

Volume

Frequency

When a Band Pass F ilter is used, only a narrow band of frequencies centered around the cut- off point are p assed. Frequencies above and below the band are removed. It is not possible to fully open this type of F ilter, and allow all frequencies to pas s.

Cut-off

Frequency

Volume

Frequency

As Resonance is increased, a whistling-like quality will be introduced to the sound passing through the ﬁlter. When set to very high levels, Resonance actually causes the ﬁlter to self-oscillate whenever a signal is being passed through it. The resulting whistling tone being produced is actually a pure sine wave, the pitch of which depends on the setting of the Frequency control (the ﬁlter’s cut-off point). This re sonance-produced sine wave can

Envelopes And Ampliﬁer

In earlier paragraphs, the synthesis of the pitch a nd the timbre of a sound were described. The nex t part of the Synthesis Tutorial describes how the volume of the sound is controlled. The volume of a note created by a musical instrument often varies greatly ove r the duration

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

ATTACK DECAY RELEASE

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

ATTACK DECAY RELEASE

SUSTAIN

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

ATTACK DECAY

RELEASE

SUSTAIN

SUSTAIN RATE

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

ATTACK DECAY

RELEASE

SUSTAIN

SUSTAIN TIME

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

ATTACK DECAY RELEASE

SUSTAIN

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

PITCH

of the note, according to the t ype of instrument. For example, a note played on a n Organ quickly attains full volume when a key is pressed. It stays at full volume until the key is released, at which point the volume level falls instantly to zero.

VOLUM E

TIME

A Piano note quick ly attains full volume after a key is pre ssed, and gradually falls in volume to zero af ter several seconds, even if the key is held.

VOLUM E

TIME

A String Section emulation only at tains full volume gradually when a key is pressed. It remains at full volume while the key is held down, but once the key is released, the volume falls zero fairly slowly.

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

The MiniNova’s second Envelope Generator ( Env 2) is used to modify the ﬁlter cut-off frequency over the lifetime of a note. In the MiniNova , Envelope Generators 3 to 6 can be used for special purposes, such as modulating the Wavetable index or FX levels.

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

FILTER CUT-OFF

SUSTAIN

ATTACK DECAY RELEASE

TIME

LFOs

Like the E nvelope G enerators, the LFO section of a synthesizer is a Modul ator. Thus instead of being a part of the sound synthesis itself, it is used to change (or modulate) other sections of the synthesizer. For example, an LFO c an be used to alter Oscillator pitch, or Filter cut-off frequency.

Most musical instruments produce sounds that vary over time both in volume and in pitch and timbre. Sometimes these variations can be quite subtle, but still contribute greatly towards characterising the ﬁnal sound.

Where as an Envelope is used to control a one-off modulation during the lifetime of a single note, LFOs modulate by using a repeating cyclic waveform or pattern. As discussed earli er, Oscillators produce a constant waveform which can take the shape of a repeating sine wave, triangle wave etc. LFOs produce waveforms in a similar way, but norma lly at a frequency which is too low to produce a sound that the human ear could perceive. (In fact, LFO stands for Low Frequency Oscillator.) As with an Envelope, the waveforms generated by the LFOs may be fed to other parts of the synthesizer to create th e desired changes over time – or ‘movements’ - to the sound. The MiniNova has three independent LFOs, which m ay be used to m odulate different synthesizer sections and can run at different speeds.

A typical waveshape for an LFO would be a Triangle wave.

In an analogue synthesizer, changes to a sound’s character which occur over the duration of a note are controlled by a section called an Envelope Generator. The MiniN ova has 6 Envelope Generators (called Env 1 to Env 6). Env 1 is always related to an Ampliﬁer, which controls the note’s amplitude – i.e., the volume of the sound - when the note is playe d.

Each envelope generator has four main controls which are used to adjust the shape of the envelope.

Attack Time

Adjusts the time it takes af ter a key is pressed for the volume to climb from zero to full volume . It can be u sed to create a sound with a slow fade-in.

TIME

VOLUM E

SUSTAIN

Decay Time

Adjusts the time it takes for the volume to fall from its initial full volume to the level set by the Susta in control while a key is held down.

Sustain Level

This is unlike the other Envelope controls in that it sets a level rather than a period of tim e. It sets the volume level that the envelope remains at while the key is hel d down, af ter the Decay Time has ex pired.

Release Time

Adjusts the time it takes for the volume to fall from the Sust ain level to zero once the key is relea sed. It c an be used to create sounds that have a “fade-out ” quality.

A typical synthesizer w ill have one or more envelopes . One envelope is always applied to the ampliﬁer to shape the volume of each note played. Additional envelopes can be used to dynamically alter other sections of the synthesizer during the lifetime of each note.

Imagine this very low frequency wave being applied to an Oscillator’s pitch. The result is that the pitch of the Oscillator slowly rises and falls above and below its original pitch. This would si mulate, for example, a violinist moving a ﬁnge r up and down the string of the instrument whilst it is being bowed. This subtle up and down movement of pitch is referred

to as the ‘Vibrato’ effect.

Alternatively, if the same LFO signal were to modulate the Filter cut-off frequency instead of the Oscillator pitch, a familiar wobbling effect known as ‘wah- wah’ would be result. As well as setting up various sections of the synthesizer to be modulated by LFOs, additional Envelopes may also be used as modulators at the same time. Clearly, the more Oscillators, Filters, Envelopes and LFOs there are in a synthesizer, the more powerful it is.

Summary

A synthe sizer can be broken down into ﬁve main sound generating or sound modifying (modulating) blocks.

1. Oscillators that generate waveforms at a various pitches.

2. A Mixer that mixes the outputs from the Oscillators together.

3. Filters that remove certain harmonics, changing the character or timbre of the sound.

4. An Ampliﬁer controlled by an Envelope generator, which alters the volum e of a sound

over time when a note is played.

5. LFOs and Envelopes that can be used to modulate a ny of the above.

Much of the enjoyment to be had with a Synthesizer is with experimenting with the factory preset sounds and creating new ones. There is no substitute for ‘hands on‘ experience. Expe riments with adjusting the MiniNova’s many parameter s will eventually lead to a fuller under standing of how the various c ontrols alter and h elp shape new sounds. Armed with the knowledge in this chapter, and an understanding of what is actually happe ning in the machine when tweaks to the knobs and switches are made, the process of creating new and exciting sounds will become easy - Have fun.

SIMPLIFIED MININOVA BLOCK DIAGRAM

MIXE R

OSCILLATOR 1

ENVELOPES 3 - 6 LFO 1 - 3

ENVELOPE 1

ENVELOPE 2

FX 1

OSCILLATOR 2

OSCILLATOR 3

NOISE

RING MOD 1*3

RING MOD 2*3

FILTER 1 DISTORTION

FILTER 2 DISTORTION

SYNTH MENUS – REFERENCE SECTION

This part of the User Guide gives you a detailed description of every par ameter available for adjustment in the Mini Nova. As previously explained, all adjustments to p atches – other than those made via the controls in the Perform and Pads sec tions of the top panel – are made via the MiniNova’s comprehensive menu structure. The menus also include “System” or setup options, such as patch dumping, keyboard setup, and so on.

The structure is “context-sensitive” – this m eans that you will be offered a range of options which is dependent on what it is you are trying to do.

The menu system is a lways ente red by pressing the MENU button [8]. The menu system consists of six individual menus:

Au dio In Global Arp Chord Ed it Dump

Step bet ween the menus with the PAGE I a nd H buttons [7], and press OK [9] to enter the desired menu. Use the PAGE buttons again to access the parameter you wish to change ; use the D ATA control [6] to alter the parameter value.

NOTE: The Default value s shown for each parameter apply to Initial patche s; other factor y Patche s will have different value s as part of the Patch deﬁnition.

Top Menu: Audio In

Parameter: Input Gain Displayed as: Inp tGain Default value: +20 dB Range of adjustment: -10 dB to +65 dB, O ff This control adjusts gain for the Audio input. The gain is displayed directly in dBs. As the gain is increased, the signal at the input will be seen on the bargraph meter at the top of the LCD display. The ga in should be adjusted so that the meter pe aks two or three segments

below the right-m ost on the loudest passages. The meter also i nclude s an OVER ag; aim

to set your s ignal level so that this never comes on ! Note that if InptGain is set to O ff, the audio input is inoperative.

Vocoder Voc/MFX

FX 2

FILTER 1

FILTER 2

Parameter: Input FX level Displayed as: InputFX Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 – 127 This parameter adjusts the amount of the input signal sent to the F X processor for the currently selected Patch.

AMP OUT

FX 3

FX 4

FX 5

Top Menu: Global

Parameter: Operating System Version Displayed As: OS Ver Displays the ﬁrmware version cur rently installed in your MiniNova . You may need to know this in the event of a technical issue arising, or to check whether a newer version is available from the Novation website.

Parameter: Memory Protection Displayed As: Protect Default value: On Range of adjustment: On, Of f This is a s afety feature, used to prevent accidental erasure of memories and loss of data. When set to On, writing Patches or Global data into memory will be prevented, and a brief warning message ( Memory Protect!) shown on the MiniNova’s display. It is recommended that Protect is left On unless Patches are being edite d for storing in memor y, or a System Exclusive dump from a comp uter is to be received.

Parameter: Local Control On/Off Displayed As: Local Default value: On Range of adjustment: On, Of f This control determine s whether the Mini Nova is to be played from its own keyboard, or to respond to MID I control from an ex ternal device, such as a MIDI sequencer or master keyboard. Set Local to On to use the keyboard, and to Off if you are going to control the synth ex ternally via MIDI or use the MiniNova’s keyboard as a master keyboard. When Off is selected, a LOCAL OFF ﬂag appears in the LC D display.

Vocoder Voc/MFX

A primary use of Local C ontrol O n/O ff is to avoid unwante d MIDI loops through external equipment. When set to Off, the MiniNova’s keyboard and all other controls

still transmit MIDI message s from the M IDI OUT port . If any external equipment is set to re-transmit M IDI back to the MiniNova, then the synth will still oper ate. This will avoid notes sounding twice, a reduction in polyphony or any other unpredictable effects.

Parameter: Assign MID I Channel Displayed As: MIDI Ch Default value: 1 Range of adjustment: 1-16 The MI DI protocol provides 16 channels allowing up to 16 devices to co- exist on a M IDI network, if each is assigned to operate on a di fferent MIDI channel. MIDI Ch lets you set the MiniNova to receive and transmit MIDI data on a particular channel, so that it can interface correctly with external equipment.

Parameter: Master Fine Tuning Displayed As: TuneCent Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -50 to +50 This control adjusts the frequencies of all the Oscillators by the same small amount, allowing you to ﬁne -tune the w hole synth to another instrument if necessary. The increments are cents (1/100 of a se mitone ), and thus setting the value to ±50 tunes the synth to a quarter-tone midway betwe en two semitones . A setting of zero tunes the keyboard with the A above middle C at 440 Hz – i.e., st andard Concert Pitch.

Parameter: Key Transposition Displayed As: Transpse Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -24 to +24 Transpose is a very useful global set ting whi ch “shif ts” the whole keyboard one se mitone at a time up or down. It differs from oscillator tuning in that it modi ﬁes the control data from the keyboard rather than the actual o scillators. Thus setting Transpose to +4 means that you can play with other instruments i n the actual key of E major, but only need to play white notes, as if you were playing in C major.

Parameter: Pot Pickup (Rot ary Per form Cont rol value matching) Displayed As: PotPckup Default value: Off Range of adjustment: On, Of f Operates with the four rotary PERFORM controls and the F ILT ER knob to match the parameter value stored in the Patch to the Tweak control’s position. If PotPckup is set On, the rotary control will have no effect until its level matches that stored in the Patch, thus avoiding sudden changes in parameter value. Also, the display shows -> Pickup until the value is reached. With PotPckup set Off, the parameter value will change as soon as the control is turned.

Parameter: Keyboard Velocity Displayed As: VelCurve Default value: Normal Range of adjustment: Low, Normal, High, Switch, Fixed 4 to 127

Selec ts the MI DI NoteOn Velocit y value which relates the Velocity response of the keys to

the force applied to them as they are played. The values 4 to 127 correspond to the actual Velocit y values. Normal is the default setting, and should be acceptable for most playing styles.

Use Low if playing with heavy touch, and High if you have a lighter touch. Switch is useful for accenting a change in tou ch where a lighter touch will output a velocity value of 90 and a heavier touch will output a value of 127. Try different curves to

suit your individual playing style(s).

Parameter: Footswitch conﬁguration Displayed As: FootSwth Default value: Auto Range of adjustment: Auto, N /Open, N/ Closed A sustain footswitch (pedal) c an be connected to the MiniNova via the S US TAIN pedal socket { 29}. Ascert ain whether your sustain pedal is of the Normally-open or Normallyclosed type, and set this parameter to suit. If you are unsure which it is, connect the footswitch with the MiniNova unpowered, and then powe r it on (without your foot on the pedal!) Provided the default setting of Auto is still selected, the polarity will now be correctly sensed.

Parameter: Clock Source Displayed As: ClkSo urc Default value: Internal Range of adjustment: Internal, USB , MIDI, Auto The MiniNova uses a master MIDI clock in order to set the tempo (rate) of the arpeggiator and to provide a time base for synchronisation to an overall tempo. T his cloc k may be derived internally or provided by an external devic e able to transmit M IDI clock. The ClkSourc set ting dete rmines whether the MiniNova’s tempo -synchronised features (Arpeggiator, Chorus Sync, Delay Sync, G ator Sync , LFO Delay Sync, LFO Rate Sync & Pan Rate Sync) will follow the tempo of a n external MID I clock source or follow the tempo set by the TEMPO knob [21].

• Internal – the MiniNova will synchronise to the internal MIDI clock irrespective of what external MIDI clock sources may be present.

• USB – synchronisation will only be set to the external MIDI clock received via

the USB connection. If no clock is detected, the tempo “ﬂywheels” to the last-known clock rate.

• Midi – synchronisation will only be to an external MIDI clock connected to the MIDI input socket. If no clock is detected, the tempo “ﬂywheels” to the lastknown clock rate.

• Auto – when no external MIDI clock source is present the MiniNova will default to the internal MIDI clock. Tempo (BPM) will be that set by the TEMPO knob. If an external MIDI clock is present the MiniNova will synchronise to it.

When set to any of the ex ternal MIDI clock sources the tempo will be at the MI DI Clock rate recei ved from the external source (e.g., a sequencer). Make sure the external sequencer i s set to transmit MIDI Clock. If unsure of th e procedure, consult the sequencer manual for details.

Most sequencers do not transmit MIDI C lock while they are stopped. Synchronisation of the MiniNova to MIDI Clock will only be possible while the sequencer is actually recording or playing. In the absence of an external clock, the tempo will ﬂywheel and will assume the last known incoming MIDI Clock value.

Parameter: Wheel Illumination Displayed As: WhelLeds Default value: On Range of adjustment: On, Of f The PITCH and MOD wheels [ 2] are internally illuminated; this setting allows them to be turned on or off.

Parameter: MiniN ova Power Save Displayed As: PwrSave Default value: On Range of adjustment: On, Of f, 10 mins This is a n energy-saving option. S etting PwrSave to On will make the MiniNova turn off (saving the cur rent set tings ) when the computer goes into s leep mode. This only applies if it is powered via th e USB connection. If set to 10 mins, the keyboard will turn off after that perio d regardless of how it is powered. In either case, pres sing any key will restore power. If set to Off, the keyboard will remain on.

Top Menu: Arp

Parameter: Arpeggiator Rate Sync Displayed As: ArpSync Default value: 16th. Ran ge of adju stm ent : See Sync Values table “Sync Values Table” on page 34 This parameter effectively determine s the beat of the arp se quence, based on the current tempo. See “Parameter: Clock Source” o n page 13.

Parameter: Arpeggiator Gate Time Displayed As: Arp Gate Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 1 to 127 This parameter sets the ba sic duration of the notes played by the Arpeggiator (though this will be further amended by both the Arp Pttn and Arp Sync settings). The lower the parameter value, the shorter the duration of the note played. At its maximum value , one note in the sequence is imme diately followed by the next without a gap. At the default value of 64, the note duration is exactly half the beat interval (base d on the current tempo), and each note is followed by a rest of e qual length.

Parameter: Arpeggiator Mode Displayed As: Arp Mode Default value: Up Range of adjustment: See Arp M ode table “Arp Mode Table” on page 38 When enabled, the Arpe ggiator will play all notes held down in a sequence which is determined by the Arp Mode paramete r. The third column of the table describes the nature of the sequence in each case.

Parameter: Arpeggiator Oc taves Displayed As: Ar p Octv Default value: 1 Range of adjustment: 1 to 4 This setting adds upper octaves to the arp sequence. If Arp Octv is set to 2, the sequence is played as normal, then immediately played again an octave higher. Higher values of Arp Octv extend this proc ess by adding additional higher octaves. Arp Octv values greater than 1 have the effect of doubling, tripling, etc., the length of the sequence. The additional notes added duplicate the complete original sequence, but octave-shif ted. Thus a four-note sequence played with Arp Octv set to 1, will c onsist of eight notes when Arp

Octv is set to 2.

Parameter: Arpeggiator Pattern Displayed As: Arp Pttn Default value: Arp Edit Range of adjustment: Arp Edit, UN pat 2 to 33 On the MiniNova , Arpeg giator se quences may be use r-conﬁgured to be up to eight notes in length by setting Arp Pttn to Arp Edit . In this setting you can edit the Arp se quence using the eight Pads in A RPEGG IAT E mode. It is only possibl e to modif y an Arp sequence with the Pads when Arp P ttn is set to Arp Edit .

UN pat 2 to 33 are pre-assigned Arp patterns of various lengths ( greater than eight notes) and timings, and are derived from the Ultra Nova. These are not modiﬁ able.

You should spend some time experimenting with different combinations of Arp Mode and Arp Pttn. Some patter ns work better in certain M odes.

Parameter: Arpeggiator Length Displayed As: ArpLen Default value: 8 Range of adjustment: 1 to 8 This parameter is only available when Arp Pttn is set to Arp Edit . This parameter represents the number of steps mak ing up the sequence.

Parameter: Arpeggiator Swing Displayed As: ArpSwing Default value: 50 Range of adjustment: 1 to 100 This parameter is only available when Arp Pttn is set to Arp Edit . If this parameter is set to something other than its default value of 50, some further interesting rhythmic effects can be obtained. Higher values of Swing lengthen the interval between odd and even notes, while the even-to-odd intervals are correspondingly shortened. Lower values have the opposite effect. This is an effect which is easier to experiment with than describe!

Top Menu: Edit

This menu is wher e you can modify the sound of a Patch, or create a new one from ﬁrst principles. The Edit menu is divided further submenus as follows:

Tw ea ks Osc Mixe r Filt er Voice Env LFO ModMatrx Effects V ox Tu ne Vocoder

Edit menu - Submenu 1: Tw e ak s

Parameter: Tweak Number Displayed As: Tw ea k n (where n is 1 to 8 ) Default value: (unassigned) Range of adjustment: See Tweak Parameters table on page 36. Use the PAG E I and H buttons [7] to select which of the eight Tweak controls you wish to conﬁgure, and the DATA control [6] to select the parameter which the selected Tweak control will vary.

Edit menu - Submenu 2 : Osc

With this submenu, it is ﬁr st necessary to select the oscillator whose parameters are to be adjusted. This selection is made with the PAGE I and H buttons [7].

Displayed As: Osc n (where n is 1 to 3) Default value: Osc 1 Range of adjustment: Osc 1 to 3, OscComn The MiniNova has three identica l oscill ators and a noise source; these are the synth’s sound generators.

Top Menu: Chord

The MiniNova’s Chorder is a very useful feature which permits you to play chords containing up to te n notes by pressing a single key. The resulting chord uses the lowest note played as its root; all the other notes in the chord will be above the root.

Parameter: Chord Mode Displayed As: ChrdMode Default value: Off Range of adjustment: On, Of f Turns Chord mode On or Off.

Parameter: Chord Transposition Displayed As: ChrdTrns Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -11 to +11 The transposition control is calibrated in semitone intervals, and the pitch of the chord can be shif ted up to 11 semitones, either up or down.

Parameter: Save Chord Displayed As: SaveChrd To save a chord , ﬁrst set ChrdMode to On and then select this menu option (SaveChrd) . The bot tom line of the display will show OK?; press the OK button [ 9]. The display will change to PlayChrd; you should now play the chord you want to capture; you can play it in any key or inversion you wish. Then press the the OK button. After a short delay, the display will conﬁrm the action by with Chord SAVED!

PlayChrd Chord

SAVED!

Note that the Arpe ggiator precedes the Chorder in the MiniNova’s synth engine. This ha s the consequence that if both the Arp eggiator and Chorder are in use, the entire chord resulting from each key press will be arpeggiate d.

Per-Osc illator parameters

In the following parameter descriptions, the text refers to O scillator 1; however, it applies equally to whichever oscillator is selected. A separate set of pa rameters appli cable to a ll three oscillators is available when the Oscillator submenu is selected to OscComn (see “Common Oscillator parameters” on page 15).

Parameter: Coarse tuning Displayed As: O1Semi Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 This parameter sets the ba sic per-oscillator tuning. Incre menting its value by 1 shifts the pitch of every note on the keyboard up by one semitone for the selected oscillator only, thus setting it to +12 effectively shifts the oscillator tuning up one o ctave. Negative values detune in the same manner. See also “Parameter: Key Transposition” on page 13.

Parameter: Fine tuning Displayed As: O1Cents Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -50 to +50 This parameter lets you make ﬁner adjustments to the tuning. The increments are cents (1/100 of a semitone), and thus setting the value to ±50 tunes the oscillator to a quartertone midway between two semitones.

Parameter: Virtual Oscillator Sync Displayed As: O1V S yn c Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Oscillator Sync is a technique of using an additional “virtual” oscillator to add harmonics to the ﬁrst, by using the vir tual oscillator’s waveform to retrigger that of the ﬁrst. This techni que produces an interesting range of sonic effects . The nature of the resulting sound varies as the parameter value is altered because the virtual oscillator frequency increases as a multiple of the main oscillator frequency as the parameter value increases. When the Vsync value is a multiple of 16, the virtual oscillator frequency is a musical harmonic of the main oscillator frequency. The overall effect is a transposition of th e oscillator that moves up the harmonic series, with values in between multiples of 16 producing more discordant effects.

VSync = 0

VSync = 5

VSync = 16

O1V S yn c can be also adjusted directly from Row 6 of the PERFORM section of

the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC1.

O2VSync can be also adjusted directly from Row 6 of the PERFORM section of

the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC3.

To get the best out of Vsync, try modulating it using an LFO. Alternatively, select Row 6 in the PERFORM section, and vary it while playing with Tweak C ontrol RC1.

Parameter: Oscillator Waveform Displayed As: O1Wave Default value: Sawtooth Range of adjustment: See Waveforms table on page 34. This selects the oscillator’s waveform from a range of 72 options. As well as analogue synth type waveforms like sine, s quare, sawtooth, pulse a nd 9 ratios of sawtooth/pulse mix, there are various digital waveforms and 36 wavetables consisting of nine individual waveforms per wavetable, plus two audio input sources.

Two audio sources are included in the Waveform table; although the MiniNova only has a single audio input (AudInL/M ), AudioInR is included for compatibility with Ultra Nova Patches.

If audio input sources are selected, then any additional oscillator parameters will have no ef fect on th e sound. T he audio input will be used as the source for subsequent manipulation (e.g., ﬁlters, modulation, etc).

When the external input is selected as an oscillator source it is really being selected in place of that oscillator and fed through the synth’s signal path from this point. To hear the audio input when selected as an oscillator source, a note must be played on the keyboard.

It is possible to create a MI DI gate ef fect on vocals using audio inputs as the source.

Parameter: Pulse Width/ Wave Table Index Displayed As: O1PW/Idx Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to 63 This control has two functions, depending on the waveform selected by O1W ave. With pulse waveforms , it varie s the pulse width of the oscillator output. This basic ef fect ca n most ea sily be heard by adjusting this para meter with O1Wave set to PW; you will note how the harmonic content va ries and at high set tings the sound becomes quite thin and metallic. A pulse wave is essentially an asymmetric square wave; when set to zero, the waveform is a normal square wave. (See page 9.) This parameter has a dif ferent function if the oscillator waveform is set to be one of the 36 Wave Tables (see O1Wave above). Each Wave Table consists of nine related waveforms , and the setting of O1PW/ Idx determines which is in use . The total parameter value range of 128 is divided into 9 (approximately) equal segments of 14 value units, so setting the value to anything between

-64 and -50 will generate the ﬁrst of the 9 wavefor ms, -49 to -35 the second, and so on. See also the Wave Table Interpolation parameter (O1W TIn t), which can be used to introduce fur ther variation in the way wavetables are used.

Parameter: Hardness Displayed As: O1Ha rd Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The Hardness parameter modiﬁ es the harmonic content of the waveform, reducing the level of the upper harmonics as the value i s decreased. Its effect is akin to that of a lowpass ﬁlter, but operates at oscillator level. You will note it h as no effect on a sine waveform, as this is the one waveform with no harmonics.

Parameter: Density Displayed As: O1Dense Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The density parameter effectively adds copies of the oscillator waveform to itself. Up to eight additional virtual oscillators are used for this, depending on the value of the parameter. This produce s a “thic ker” sound at low to medium values, but if the virtual oscillators are detuned slightly (see O1Dns Dtn be low), a more interesting ef fect is obtained.

O1Dense can be also adjusted directly from Row 6 of the PERFORM section

of the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC2.

O2Dense can be also adjusted directly from Row 6 of the PERFORM section

of the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC4.

Parameter: Densit y Detuning Displayed As: O1DnsDtn Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter should be used in conjunction with the Density control. It detunes the virtual density oscillators, and you will notice not only a thicker sound, but the effect of beating as well.

The Density and Density Detune parameters can be used to “thicken” the

sound, and simulate the ef fect of ad ding additional Voices. T he Uniso n and Unison Detune parameters in the Voice Menu can be used to create a ver y

similar effect, but using Dens ity and Density Detune have the advantage of not needing

to use additional Voices, w hich are nite in number.

Parameter: Pitch Wheel Range Displayed As: O1PtchWh Default value: +12 Range of adjustment: -12 to +12 The pitch wheel c an vary the oscillator pitc h by up to an oct ave, up or down. The units are in semitones, so with a value of +12, moving the pitchwheel up increases the pitch of the notes being played by one octave, and moving it down takes them down an octave. Setti ng the par ameter to a negative value has the effect of reversing the operating sense of the pitch wheel. You will ﬁnd that many of the factory patches have this pa rameter set to +2, allowing a pitch wheel range of ±1 tone. It is worth noting that (like all pe r-oscillator parameters) the value can be set independently for each oscillator.

Parameter: Wave Table Interpolation Displayed As: O1WTInt Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets how smooth the tr ansition is between adjacent waveforms in the same wavetable. A value of 127 will create a very smooth transition , with the adjacent waveforms blending together. With a value of zero the transitions will be abrupt and obvious. With a high 01W Int value set, it is possible to retain a mix of ad jacent waveforms if the modulation value remains ﬁxed. When modulating the wavetable I ndex (via LFO, etc.), the wavetable interpolation parameter sets how smooth (or not!) the transition is.

Common Oscillator parameters

The remaining parameters in the Oscillator Menu are common to all 3 oscillators . They are available when Oscillator Number is set to OscComn.

Parameter: Vibrato Depth Displayed As: ModVib Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Adding vibrato to an oscillator modulates (or varies ) the pitch of the note cyclically, adding a “wobble” to the tone. This parameter determines the vibrato depth , and hence how obvious the “wobble” is . The mod wheel is used to apply vibrato, with the ModVib parameter value representing the maximum depth of vibrato that can be obtained with the mod whe el in its fully ‘up’ position. On the MiniNova, VibMod and MVibRate are common parameters that affect all oscillators a nd do not require the use of the LFO section.

Parameter: Vibrato Rate Displayed As: MVibRate Default value: 65 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets the rate (or frequency ) of the vibrato from very slow (value =0) to very fast (value=127).

Parameter: Oscillator Drift Displayed As: OscDrift Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 When the three oscillators are set to the same tuning, their waveforms are perfectly synchronised. Old ana logue synthesizers were unable to stay perfectly in tune, and Oscillator Dri ft ‘emulates’ this imperfection by applying a controlled amount of detuning so that the oscillators are slightly out of tune with each other. This ad ds a “fuller” character to the sound.

Parameter: Oscillator Phase Displayed As: OscPhase Default value: 0deg Range of adjustment: Free, 0 deg to 357deg This adjusts the point in th e waveform at which the oscillators start, and is adjustable in 3 degree increm ents over one whole waveform cycle (360º). The effect of this is to add a slight “click” or “edge” to the start of the note, a s the instantaneous output voltage when the key is pressed is not zero. S etting the parameter to 90deg or 269deg produces the most obvious ef fect. With the parameter set to 0deg, the oscillators always start precisely in step. I f Free is set, the phase relationship of the waveforms is unrelated to when a key is pressed.

Parameter: Single Fixed Note Displayed As: FixNote Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, C #-2 to G8 Some sounds need not be chromatically-depende nt. Examples would be certain percussion sounds (e.g., bass drums ), and sound effects, such as a laser gun. It i s possible to assign a ﬁxed note to a patch, such that playing any key on the keyboard generates th e same sound. The pitch on which the sound is based may be any semitone note in a range of over ten octaves. With the parameter set Off, the keyboard behave s as normal. With it set to any othe r value, every key plays the sound at the pitch corre sponding to the value.

Parameter: Nois e Source Type Displayed As: N ois eTy p Default value: White Range of adjustment: White, High, Band, HiBand In addition to the three mai n oscillators, the MiniN ova also has a noise generator. White noise is deﬁned as a signal with “equ al power at a ll frequ encies”, and is a familiar “hissing” sound. Restricting the bandwidth of the noise generator alters the characteristic of the “hiss”, and the other three options for this para meter apply such ﬁltering. Note that the noise generator has its own input to the mixer, and in order to hear it in isolation , its input will need to be turned up and the oscillator inputs turned down. (See “Parameter: Noise S ource Level” on page 16.)

Edit menu - Submenu 3 : Mixe r

The outputs of the three oscillator s and the noise source are passed to a simple audio mixer, where their individual contributions to the overall sound output can be adjusted. Most of the factor y Patches use either two, or all three oscillators, but with their outputs summed in various combinations of levels. A total of 6 inputs and t wo FX sends are available for adjustment.

As with any other audio mixer, don’t be tempted to turn all the inp uts up. The mixer should be used to balance sounds. I f multip le sourc es are in use, then each input

setting should be about halfway – a bout 64 or so, and the more inputs you are using, the more c areful you need to be. If you get this wrong, you risk internal signal clipping, which will sound extremely unpleasant.

Parameter: Oscillator 1 Level Displayed As: O1Level Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets the amount of Oscillator 1’s signal pre sent in the overall sound.

Parameter: Oscillator 2 Level Displayed As: O2Level Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets the initial amount of Oscillator 2’s signal present in the overall sound .

Parameter: Oscillator 3 Level Displayed As: O3Level Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets the initial amount of Oscillator 3’s signal present in the overall sound .

Parameter: Ring Modulator Level (Oscs. 1 * 3) Displayed As: RM1*3Lvl Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 In its simplest form, a Ring Modulator is a processing block with two inputs and one output , which effectively “multiplies” the two input signals together. Depending on the relative frequencies a nd harmonic content of the two inputs , the resulting output will contain a serie s of sum and difference frequencies as well a s the fund amentals. The M iniNova has two Ring Modulators; both use Oscillator 3 as one input, one combines this with Oscillator 1, the other w ith Oscillator 2. T he Ring Modulator outputs are available as two additional inputs to the mixer, controlled by RM1*3Lvl and R M2*3Lvl. The parameter controlled by RM1*3 Lvl sets the amount of the Osc. 1 * 3 Ring Modulator output present in the overall sound.

Try the following settings to get a good idea of what a Ring Modulator sounds like. In the Mixer Menu, turn dow n the levels of Oscs 1, 2 & 3 and turn up RM1* 3Lvl.

Then go to the Oscillator Menu. Set Osc3 to an interval of + 5, +7 or +12 semito nes above Osc1 and the sound will be harmonically pleasing. Changing the pitch of Osc 1 to other semitone values creates discordant, but intere sting sounds. O1 Cent s can be varied to introduce a ‘beating’ effect.

Parameter: Ring Modulator Level (Oscs. 2 * 3) Displayed As: RM2*3Lvl Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The par ameter controlled by RM2*3Lvl sets the amount of the Osc. 2 * 3 Ring Modulator output present in the overall sound .

Parameter: Noi se Sourc e Level Displayed As: NoiseLvl Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets the amount of Noise present in the overall sound.

Parameter: Pre-FX level send Displayed As: PreFXLvl Default value: 0 dB Range of adjustment: -12 dB to +18 dB The sum med mixe r inputs are routed through the FX block (even if no effects are active) at a level determined by PreF XLvl. This control should be adjusted with care to avoid overloading the FX processing.

Parameter: Post-FX level send Displayed As: PostFXLv Default value: 0 dB Range of adjustment: -12 dB to +18 dB This parameter adjusts the level returned from the output of the F X processor. Thus both PreFXLvl and PostFXLv will alter the signal level even when all FX slots in the FX bl ock are bypassed.

PreFXLvl and PostFXLvl are critical controls and incorrect adjustment can produce clipping in the F X processing section and elsewhere. It is always a good

idea to set up the FX parameters you think you need ﬁrst (see “What is Legato?” on page 21), and then increase these two parameters c arefully until you get the amount of FX you’re after.

Edit menu - Submenu 4 : Filt er

With this submenu, it is ﬁr st necessary to select the ﬁlter whose parameters are to be adjusted.

Displayed As: Filt er n (where n is 1 or 2) Default value: Filter 1 Range of adjustment: Filter 1, Filter 2, FiltrCmn The MiniNova has two identical ﬁlter sections, which modify the harmonic content of the oscillators’ outputs. They can be thought of as elaborate tone controls, with the additional ability of being dynamically controllable by other parts of the synth. A total of 8 parameters per ﬁlter are available for adjustm ent. Note that some parameters are common to both ﬁlters (found in the FiltrCmn submenu). It is possible to use the two ﬁlter blocks together, placing them in various series/parallel conﬁgurations, by adjustment of the common parameter FRouting.

Per-Filter parameters

Filter 1 is used as the example in the descriptions which follow, but the two are identical in operation, except where indicated.

Parameter: Filter frequency Displayed As: F1Fre q Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets the frequency at which the ﬁlter type selected by F1Type operates. In the case of hi-pass or low-pass ﬁ lters, it is the “cut-off” frequency; for band-pass ﬁlters, it is the “c entre” frequency. Sweeping the ﬁlter manually will impose a “hard-to-soft” characteristic on almost any sound.

Parameter: Drive Amount Displayed As: F1DA mn t Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

The ﬁlter section includes a dedicated drive (or distortion) generator; this parameter adjusts the degree of distortion treatment appli ed to the signal. Th e basic ‘ type’ of drive added is set by F1D Typ e (see below) . The drive is added pre the ﬁlter (but see below ).

F1DA mn t can be also adjusted directly from Row 3 of the PERFORM section

of the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC4.

If Filter Frequency Link is set On (see FreqLink below), F2Freq assumes a different function: Parameter: Filter 2 frequenc y offse t Displayed As: Fq1<>Fq 2 Default value: +63 Range of adjustment: -64 to +63

See “Parameter: Filter Frequency Link” on page 19 for more information.

Parameter: Filter resonance Displayed As: F1Re s Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter adds gain to the signal in a narrow band of frequencies around the frequency set by F1Freq. It can accentuate the swept-ﬁlter effect considerably. Increasing the resonance parameter is very good for enhancing modulation of the cut-off frequency, creating a very e dgy sound. Increasing Resonance also ac centuates the action of the Filter Frequency parameter, so th at as the F ILT ER knob [14] is moved, a more pronounced effect is obtained.

F1Re s can be also adjusted directly fro m Row 3 of the PERFORM section of the

control panel with Tweak Control RC1.

If Filter Resonance Link is set On (see ResLink page 19), the values of ﬁlter resonance for Filters 1 and 2 becom e equal and are varied by either control. Parameter: Filter 1 & 2 resonance Displayed As: F1&F2Res Default value: not applicable Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

Filter Drive is always added before the ﬁlter, and therefo re the ﬁlter frequency affects the amount of drive you hear. If you want to ﬁlter your sound before it is treated by the drive processor, try settings similar to the following:

PARAMET ER IN MENU VALUE

FRouting FiltrCmn Series

FBalance FiltrCmn 63

F1DA mnt Filter 1 0

F2DAmnt Filter 2 As required

Parameter: Dr ive Type Displayed As: F1D Ty p e Default value: Diode

Range of adjustment: Diode, Valve, Clipper, XOver, Rectif y, BitsDown, RateDown

The dri ve processor for each ﬁlter is located immediately before the ﬁlter section itself. The type of drive (or distortion) generate d can be selected with the F1DTyp e parameter.

Parameter: Filter Q Normalisation Displayed As: F1QNorm Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter alters the bandwidth of the p eak created by the resonance control F1Res . The value of F1Re s has to be set to something other than zero for this par ameter to have any effect. This feature enables the Filter section to emulate many of the ﬁ lter responses found on various classic analogue and digital synths.

Cut-off Frequency

Parameter: Filter control by Envelope 2 Displayed As: F1Env2 Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The ﬁlter’s action may be triggered by Envelope Generator 2. Envelope 2’s own menu provides comprehensive control over precisely how this shape of the envelope is derived, see “Filter Envelope” on page 22. F1Env2 lets you control the “depth” a nd “direc tion” of this ex ternal control; the higher the value, the greater the range of frequencies over which the ﬁlter will sweep. Positive and negative values make the ﬁ lter sweep in opposite directions, but the audible result of this will be further modiﬁed by the ﬁlter t ype in use.

F1Env2 can be also adjusted directly from Row 4 of the PERFORM section of

the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC 4.

Parameter: Filter tracking Displayed As: F1Tr ac k Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The pitch of the note p layed can be made to alter the cut-off fre quency of the ﬁlter. At the maxi mum value (127), this frequency moves in semitone steps with the notes played on the keyboard – i.e., the ﬁlter tracks the pitch changes in a 1:1 ratio (e.g., when playing two notes an octave apart, the ﬁlter c ut off frequency will also change by one octave ). At minimum setting (value 0), the ﬁlter fre quency remains c onstant, whatever note( s) are played on the keyboard.

F1Tr ac k can be also adjusted directly from Row 3 of the PERFORM section of

the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC2.

Parameter: Filter type Displayed As: F1Ty p e Default value: LP24 Range of adjustment: See Filter Table on page 38 The MiniNova ﬁlter secti ons offer 14 differe nt types of ﬁlter: four hi-pass and four lowpass (with dif ferent slopes ), and 6 ba nd-pass ﬁlters of variou s types . Each ﬁlter type differentiates between frequency bands in a different way, rejecting some frequencies and passing other s, and thus each imposes a subtly dif ferent c haracter on the sound.

F1Ty p e can be also ad justed directly from Row 3 of the PERFORM section of

the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC3.

Low Resonance, Low Q Normalization

High Resonance, Low Q Normalization

High Resonance, High Q Normalization

Common Filter parameters

With Filter number set to FiltrCmn, the displayed parameters in the Filter Menu are commo n to both ﬁlters.

Parameter: Filter balance Displayed As: FBalance Default value: -64 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 MiniN ova’s two ﬁlter sections may be used simultaneously, but conﬁgured in different ways (see FRouting below). Low-pass and band-pass ﬁlters could be combined in parallel to create speec h-like sounds (see page 19). For conﬁgurations using both ﬁlters, F Balance lets you mix the outputs of the two ﬁlter sections togethe r in whatever combination you want. The minimum parameter value of -64 represents maximum output from Filter 1 and no output from Filter 2, and the maximum value of + 63 represents maxi mum output from Filter 2 and no output from Filter 1. With a value of 0, the outputs of the two ﬁlter sections are mixed in equal proportion.

Parameter: Filter Routing Displayed As: FRouting Default value: Parallel Range of adjustment: Bypass, Single, Series, Par allel, Paral2, Drum MiniN ova provides ﬁve possible combinations of the two ﬁlter blocks, plus bypass. Single mode uses Filter 1 only, the other modes interconnect the two ﬁlter sections in various ways.

NOISE

2*3

1*3

OSC 3

OSC 2

OSC 1

OSC 2

OSC 3

NOISE

2*3

1*3

FILTER 1

OSC 1

OSC 2

OSC 3

Bypass - No ﬁliters in circuit

NOISE

2*3

1*3

FILTER

BALANCE

EFFECTS

FILTER

BALANCE

EFFECTS

FILTER 1

FILTER 2

FILTER

BALANCE

EFFECTS

Parallel - Filter sections are dri ven with the same input signal, and their output mix is

adjusted by the Filter Balance parameter.

FILTER 2

OSC 1

FILTER 1

NOISE

2*3

1*3

OSC 3

OSC 2

FILTER 2

FILTER

BALANCE

EFFECTS

Parallel 2As Parallel Mode, but Filter 1 is driven by Osc 3 and Noise source,

remaining sources feed Filter 2.

Single - Filter 1 only

OSC 1

FILTER 1

NOISE

2*3

1*3

OSC 3

OSC 2

FILTER 2

FILTER

BALANCE

EFFECTS

Series - Filter 1 feeds Filter 2, but output is still derived from Filter Balance c ontrol

OSC 1

FILTER 1

NOISE

2*3

1*3

OSC 3

OSC 2

FILTER 2

FILTER

BALANCE

EFFECTS

Drum - As Parallel Mode 2, but Filter 1’s output is added to F ilter 2’s input signals.

Note that Paral2 and Drum modes dif fer in an important respect from the others in that the Filter 1 and Filter 2 are fed from different sources. T his allows the noise source and Osc 3 to be ﬁltered in a dif ferent way from Oscillators 1 and 2 and the Ring Modulator O utputs , an important requirement when creating certain percussive sounds.

Two examples of Filter routings…

Frequency

Volume

Filter 1 Filter 2

…a Notch Filter:

F1Ty p e: LP F2Type: HP F1Rou ting: Parallel

Filter 1 Filter 2

Volume

Frequency

…a wideband bandpas s ﬁlter

F1Ty p e: HP F2Type: LP F1Rou ting: Series

Filter 1 Filter 2

Volume

Frequency

Parameter: Filter Frequency Link Displayed As: Fre qLink Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off or On Setti ng FreqLink to On creates a relationship between the frequencies of the two Filter sections, and re-assigns the function of F2Freq for Filter 2 from Frequency to Frequency Offset (see F1Freq , above). Filter 2’s offset is relative to Filter 1’s frequency.

Filter 1 Filter 2

Volume

Parameter: Resonanc e Link Displayed As: ResLink Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off or On Setti ng ResLink to On applies the same Resonance parameter va lue to both F ilter 1 and Filter 2. The Filter Resonance control (F1Re s) affects both ﬁlters, regardless of which ﬁlter is currently selected for adjustment.

Edit menu - Submenu 5 : Voice

The MiniNova is a multi-voice, polyphonic synthesizer, which basic ally means you can play chords on the keyboard, and every note you hold down will sound. Each note is ter med a ‘voice’, and the MiniNova’s DSP engine is sufﬁciently powerful to ensure that you will always run out of ﬁngers before you run out of voices! However, if you are controlling the MiniNova fro m a MIDI s equencer, it is theoretically possible to run out (there are a maxi mum of 18 voice s internally). Although this is likely to happen only rarely, users may occasionally observe this phenomenon, which is termed ‘voice stealing’.

The alternative to polyphonic voicing is mono. With mono voicing, only one note sounds at a time; pressing a second key while holding the ﬁrst down will cancel the ﬁ rst and play the second – and so on. T he last note played is always the only one that you hear. All the early synths were mono, and if you are trying to emulate a 1970s analogue synth, you may wish to set the voicing to mono as the mode imposes a cer tain restriction on playing style that will add to authenticity.

In addition to selecting p olyphonic or mono voicing, the Voice menu also lets you set the

portamento and other related voicing parameters.

Parameter: Unison Voices Displayed As: Unis on Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, 2, 3, 4 Unison can be used to “thicken” the sound by assigning additional voices (up to 4 in total) for each note. Be aware that the “reservoir” of voices is ﬁnite and with multiple voices assigned, polyphony is accordingly reduced. With 4 voices per note, a four-note chord approaches the MiniNova’s li mit, and if further notes are added to the chord , “voice stealing” is implemented and the initial note(s ) played may be cancelled.

Frequency

An increase in Filter 1’s frequency will also increase Filter 2’s frequency

Filter 1 Filter 2

Volume

Frequency

An increase in Filter 2's frequency will decrease Filter 1's frequency

Filter 1 Filter 2

Volume

Frequency

A decrease in Filter 2's frequency will increase Filter 1's frequency

If the limitation on polyphony imp osed by Unison Voices is restrictive, a similar

effect can be obtained by using multiple oscillators and adjusting their Density

and Detune parameters. In fact, most of the factory p atches use Density and

Detune rather than Unison to achieve their thickening effect.

Parameter: Unison Detune Displayed As: U niD Tu n e Default value: 25 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

Unison Detune applies only when Unison Voices is set to something other than Off. The par ameter determines how much each voic e is detuned relative to the others; you w ill be able to hear a dif ference in the sound of the same note with different numbers of voices even if Unison Detune is set to zero, but the sound gets more interesting as it is increased in value.

Changing the settings of Unison Voices or Unison Detune while holding a

note down has no effect on the sound. The new settings will only be ef fective

when a fresh note is played.

Parameter: Portamento Time Displayed As: Po r tTim e Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, 1 to 127 With Portamento active , notes played sequentially glide from one to the next, rather than immediately jumping to the desired note pitch. The synth remembers the last note played and the glide will start from that note even after the key has been released. The PortTime is the duration of the glide, and a value of 115 equates to approximately 1 second. Portamento is primarily intended for use in a mono Mode (see PortMode below), where it is par ticularly effective. It can also be used in a Poly mode, but its operation can be unpredictable, particularly when chords are played. Note that PreGlide must be set to zero in order for Portamento to be operative.

Parameter: Portamento Mode Displayed As: PortMode Default value: Expo Range of adjustment: Expo o r Linear This sets the ‘sha pe’ of the Portamento and PreGlide (see following page) transitions from one note to the next. In Linear mode, the glide alters the pitch evenly between the previous note and that being played. In Expo mode, the pitch changes more rapidly at ﬁrst, and then approaches the ‘target’ note more slowly, i.e., exponentially.

KEY "ON" KEY "ON"

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

ATTA CK DECAY RELEASE

SUSTAIN

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

PITCH

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "ON"

PITCH

TIME

Portamento Time

PortMode = Linear

Portamento Time

PortMode = Expo

The ADSR envelope can be most easily visua lised by conside ring the a mplitude (volume) of a note over time. The envelope describing the “ lifetime” of a note can be split into four distinct phases, and adjustments are provided for each of th ese:

• Attack – the time it takes for the note to increase from zero (e.g., when the key is pressed) to its maximum level. A long attack time produces a “fade-in” effect.

• Decay – the time it takes for the note to drop in level from the maximum value reached at the end of the attack phase to a new level, deﬁned by the Sustain parameter.

• Sustain – this is an amplitude value, and represents the volume of the note after the initial attack and decay phases – i.e., while holding the key down. Setting a low value of Sustain can give a very short, percussive effect (providing the attack and decay times are short).

• Release – This is the time it t akes for the note’s volume to drop back to zero after the key is release d. A high value of Release will cause the sound to remain audible (though diminishing in volume ) after the key is rele ased. Although the above discusses ADSR in terms of volume, note that the MiniNova is equipped with six separate envelope generators, allowing control of other synth blocks as well as a mplitude – e.g., ﬁ lters, oscillators, etc. Note that envelope generators 1 and 2 are dedicated to Amplitude and Filter control respectively, and are referred to as Amp Env and Fltr Env. A total of 16 parameters per envelope is available for adjustment.

With this submenu, it is ﬁr st necessary to select the envelope whose parameters are to be adjusted:

Parameter: Pre-Glide Displayed As: PreGlide Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -12 to +12

PreGlide takes priorit y over Portamento, though it does use the PortTime parameter to set its duration. PreGlide is calibrated in semitone s, and each note played will actually begin a on a chromatically-related note up to an octave above (value = +12) or below (value = -12) the note corresponding to the key presse d, and glide towards the ‘ta rget’ note. This differs from Portamento in that, e.g., t wo notes played in sequence will each have their own PreGlide, related to the notes played, and there will be no glide ‘between’ the notes.

Although the use of Porta mento is not recommended in Poly mode s when playing more than one note at a time, thi s restriction does not apply to PreGlide, which can be very effective with full chords.

Parameter: Polyphony Mode Displayed As: Po ly Mo d e Default value: Poly1 Range of adjustment: Mono, MonoAG, Poly1, Poly2, Mono2

As the names imply, three of the possible mode s are mono and two are polyphonic.

1. Mono – this is standard monophonic mode; only one note sounds at a time, and the “last played” rule applies.

2. MonoAG – AG stands for Auto-Glide. This is an alternative mono mode, which differs from M ono in the way Portamento and Pre-Glide work. In Mono mode, Portamento and PreGlide apply both if notes are played separ ately, or in a legato style (when one note is played when another is already held down ). In MonoAG mode, Portamento and Pre-Glide only work if the keys are played in a legato style; playing notes separately produces no glide effect.

3. Poly1 – in this polyphonic mode successively playing the same note(s) uses separate voices and the notes are therefore ‘stacked’, so the sound gets louder as more notes are played. The effect will only be evident on patche s with a long amplitude release time.

4. Poly2 – in this alternative mode, successi vely playing the same note(s) uses the original voices, so the volume increase inherent in Poly1 mode is avoided.

5. Mono 2 – this differs from Mono in the way the Attack phases of the Envelopes are triggered . In Mono mode, when playing Legato st yle, the envelopes are only triggered once, by the initial key press. In Mono 2 mode, every key press will retrigger all the Envelopes.

Edit menu - Submenu 6 : Env

The MiniNova provides a great deal of ﬂexibility in the use of envelopes in sound creation, based on the familiar ADSR concept.

Displayed As: xxx Env or Env n (see range below) Default value: Amp Env Range of adjustment: Amp Env, Fltr Env, Env 3, E nv 4, Env 5, Env 6

Amplitude Envelope

The following pa rameters apply only to the Amplitude Envelope, and will be available if Env n (above) is set to Amp Env.

Parameter: Amplitude Attack Time Displayed As: AmpAtt Default value: 2 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets the note’s attack time. With a value of 0 the note is at its maximum level immediate ly the key is pressed; with a value of 127, the note takes over 20 seconds to reach i ts maximum level. At the mid-setting (64 ), the time is approx. 250 ms (provided Amplitude Attack Slope (AmpAtS lp) has a value of zero).

AmpAtt can be also adjusted directly from Row 5 of the PERFORM section of

the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC1.

Parameter: Amplitude Decay Time Displayed As: AmpDec Default value: 90 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets the notes’ decay time. Decay time only has meaning if AmpSus (see below) is set to less than 127, as the Decay phase will be inaudible if the sustain level is the sam e as the level reached during the attack phase. At the mid-setting (64), the time is approx. 150 ms (provided AmpDcSlp has a value of 127).

AmpDec can be also adjusted directly from Row 5 of the PERFORM section of

the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC2.

Parameter: Amplitude Sustain Level Displayed As: AmpSus Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The value of the Sustain parameter sets the volume of the note after the completion of the decay phase. Setting a low value will obviously have the effect of emphasising the start of the note ; setting it to zero will render the note silent after the decay phase has elaps ed.

AmpSus can be also adjusted directly from Row 5 of the PERFORM section of

the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC3.

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

SUSTAIN

ATTA CK DECAY RELEASE

Parameter: Amplitude Release Time

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

ATTA CK DECAY RELEASE

SUSTAIN

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

Displayed As: A mp R el Default value: 40 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Many sounds acquire some of their character from the notes remaining audible af ter the key is rele ased; this “hanging” or “ fade- out” ef fect, with the note gently dying away naturally (as wi th many real instruments ) can be very effective. A setting of 64 gives a Release Time of approx. 360 ms. The MiniNova has a maximum release time of over 20 seconds (with AmpRel set to 127), but shorter times will probably b e more useful! Note that the relationship between the parameter value and Release Time is not linear.

A mp R el can be also adjusted directly from Row 5 of the PERFORM section of

the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC 4.

Note that when playing polyphonically with sounds having long release times, it is

possible for ‘Voice Stealing’ to occur. This means that some notes still sounding (in

their Release p hase) might suddenly cut off when other notes are played. This is

more likely to happen when multiple Voices are in use.

See “Parameter: Unison Voices” on page 19 for more information on this topic.

Parameter: Amplitude Velocity Displayed As: AmpVeloc Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63

AmpVeloc does not modify the shape of the ADSR amplitude envelope in any way, but adds

touch sensitivity to overall volume, so that with positive parameter values, th e harder you

play the keys, the louder will be the sound. With A mpVeloc set to zero, the volume is the

same regardless of how the keys are played. The relatio nship between th e velocity at whic h a note is played and volume is determined by the value. Note that negative values have the inverse effect.

What is Legato?

As state d above, the musical term Legato means “smoothly”. A Legato

keyboard style is one where at least two notes overlap. This means that as you play the melody, you keep the previous (or an earlier) note sounding as you play another note. Once that note is sounding, you then release the ear lier note.

Legato style playing is re levant to some of the MiniNova’s sonic possibilities. In the case of Amplitude Multi-Trigger, for example, it is important to appreciate that the envelope will re-trigger if any ‘gap’ is left between notes.

Parameter: Amplitude Attack Slope Displayed As: AmpAtSlp Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter controls the “shape” of the at tack characteristic. W ith a value of 0, the volume i ncreases linearly during the attack pha se – that is to s ay, increases by equal amounts in equal time intervals. A non-linear attack characteristic may be selected as an alternative, where the volume increases more rapidly at ﬁrst. The diagram below illu strates this.

Parameter: Amplitude Decay Slope Displayed As: AmpDcSlp Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter applies the same functio n as Amplitude Attack Slope to the Decay phase of the envelope. With a value of 0, the volume drops linearly from the m aximum value to that deﬁne d by the Sustain par ameter, but setting Decay Slope to a higher value will cause the volume to reduce more rapidly initially. The diagram below illustrates this:

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

For the most “natural” playing style, try setting A mplitude Velocity to about +40.

Parameter: Amplitude Envelope Repeat Displayed As: AmpRept Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, 1 to 126, KeyOff By using Amplitude Repeat, it is possib le to repeat the Attack and Decay phases of the envelope before the Sustain phase is initiated. This can produce an interesting “stuttering” effect at the sta rt of the note if the At tack and D ecay times are set a ppropriately. The value of the Repeat parameter (from 1 to 126) is the actual number of repeats, so that if you set it to, e.g., 3, you will hear a total of four at tack /decay p hases of the envelope – the ini tial one, plus three repeats. If set to Off there are not repeats. The max imum set ting of KeyOff generates an inﬁnite number of repeats.

Parameter: Amplitude Touch Trigger Displayed As: A mpT Tr ig Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, T1ReTrig….T8ReTrig You will have noticed that the MiniNova’s eight Performance Pads are touch-sensitive . The Pads can be used in real time to provide creative control over the sound, which is especially useful when playing live.

Amplitude Touch Trigger assigns any of the Pads to act as a re-trigger button – as soon as the assignment is made, the Pad illuminates. When the Pad is touched, the ampli tude envelope is re-triggered. After making the assi gnment , in order to use the feature it is necessary to put the Pads into Anim ate mode ( see “Using the Pads as performance controls” on page 7) .

Parameter: Amplitude Multi-trigger Displayed As: AmpMTrig Default value: Re-Trig Range of adjustment: Legato, Re-Trig When this parameter is set to Re-Trig, each note played will trigger its full ADSR amplitude envelope, even if other keys are held dow n. In Legato mode, only the ﬁrst key to be pressed will produce a note with the full envelope, all subsequ ent notes w ill omit the attack and dec ay phase s, and sound only from the start of the S ustain phase. “ Legato” literally means “smoothly”, and this mode aids this style of playing.

It is important to appreciate that for the Leg ato mode to be operative, mono voicing must be selected – it will not work with polyphonic voicing. See “Edit menu - Submenu 5: Voice” on page 19.

VOLUM E

SUSTAIN

ATTA CK DECAY RELEASE

TIME

Parameter: Ampli tude Attack Track Displayed As: AmpAtTk Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 This parameter relates a note’s attack time to its p osition on the keyboard. When Amplitude Attac k Track has a positive va lue, the attack ti me of a note decreases the higher up the keyboard it is played. Converse ly, lower notes have a longer attack time. This aids in simulating the ef fect of a real stringed instrument ( such as a g rand piano), where the mas s of the strings on the lower notes have a slower response time when struck. When a negative value is applied, the relationships are reversed.

Parameter: Ampli tude Dec ay Track Displayed As: AmpDecTk Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 This parameter works in exactly the same way as Attack Track, except that it is the Decay time of a note that becomes dependent on its position on the keyboard.

Parameter: Amplitude Sustain Rate Displayed As: AmpSusRt Default value: Flat Range of adjustment: -64 to -1, Flat, +1 to + 63 With this parameter set to Flat , the volume during the Sustain phase of the envelope remains const ant. Additiona l variations to a note’s character can be obtained by causing the note to become louder or quieter while the key is held. A positive value of Sustain Rate will cause th e volume to increase during the Sustain phase, and it will continue to do so until maximum level is reached. The pa rameter controls the rate at w hich the note increases volume, and the higher the value, the faster the rate of increase. Any Relea se time set will act as normal when the key is released, whether or not the maximum volume h as been reached . If a negative value is set, the volume during the Sustain phase drops , and if the key is not released, the note will eventually become inaudible.

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

ATTA CK DECAY RELEASE

SUSTAIN

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

ATTA CK DECAY RELEASE

SUSTAIN

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

ATTA CK DECAY RELEASE

SUSTAIN

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

ATTA CK DECAY

RELEASE

SUSTAIN

SUSTAIN RATE

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

ATTA CK DECAY RELEASE

SUSTAIN

TIME

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

SUSTAIN

VOLUM E

ATTA CK DECAY

TIME

RATE

SUSTAIN

RELEASE

Lower values (positive or negative) of Amplitude Sustain Rate are generally more useful.

Parameter: Amplitude Sustain Time Displayed As: AmpSusTm Default value: KeyOff Range of adjustment: 0 to 126, KeyOf f This parameter sets the duration of the Sustain phase. With a value of KeyOff, the note will remain audible continuously until the key is released (unl ess a negative value of Sustain Rate has been applied to reduc e its volume). Any other value of Sustain Time will cut the note off automatically after a pre-determined time if the key is still h eld down. Release Time still applies if the key is released sooner. A value of 126 sets the Sustain time to approx. 10 seconds, while values around 60 set it to about 1 second.

Parameter: Amplitude Level Track Displayed As: AmpLvlTk Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 This parameter works in a similar way to the other “ track ing” par ameters Attack Track and Decay Track, but it is the volume of the note which is changed , according to the interval between it and the Level Track Note (see below). With a positive value, notes higher than the Track Note get progressively louder the fur ther from the Track Note they are, and viceversa . With a negative value, notes higher than the Track N ote get progressively quieter the fur ther from the Track Note they are, and again, vice-versa. Note that this volume modiﬁ cation is applied to all pha ses of the amplitude envelope equally; it is the overall volume of the note which changes with A mp Level Track. The ef fect should be use d sparingly; low values have a better effect .

Note that although Amplitude Level Track a ppears to operate in a very similar manner to Amplitude Attack Track and Amplitude Decay Track, o nly

KEY "ON" KEY "OFF"

VOLUM E

ATTA CK DECAY

TIME

SUSTAIN TIME

SUSTAIN

RELEASE

Amplitude Level Track uses a user-deﬁnable note as the reference (set by Level

Trac k No te ), above which, for positive values , notes get louder, and below which they get

softer. With negative values, the inverse relationship will apply.

Common Envelope Parameter

Parameter: Level Trac k Note Displayed As: LvlTkNte Default value: C3 Range of adjustment: C-2 to G8 This parameter is common to all the envelopes. This sets the reference note used for a ll Level Track parameters, including Amp Level Track. When active, this parameter inc reases the volume for notes above the chosen Track Note, and reduces it for notes below it. C 3 , the default value, is Middle C on the keyboard ; this is th e C one octave above the lowest note on the keyboard (also C ), prov iding no O CTAVE buttons [24] are selected.

Filter Envelope

The following pa rameters apply only to the Filter Envelope, and will be available i f Env n (page 20) is set to Fltr Env.

The 16 parameters available for adjustment with the Filter Envelope close ly match those for the Amplitude Envelope. Whereas the Amplitude Envelope is concerned with modifying the sound’s amplitude, the Filter Envelope gives you “dynamic” ﬁltering, by establishing a relationship between the ﬁlter section a nd ADSR Filter Envelope, resulting in the ﬁlter frequency being varied by the shape of the envelope.

In order to hear the effect of any of the Filter Envelope par ameters, you will ﬁrst need to go to the Filter Menus and set up som e ﬁltering. Then s et F1Env 2 or F2Env2 to a n initia l value of approx. + 30 and ensure that the ﬁlter is not fully open

– i.e., set F1Freq to mid-range.

Parameter: Filter Attack Time Displayed As: FltAtt Default value: 2 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

This parameter sets how the ﬁlter sec tion acts during the note’s Attack phase. The higher the value, the longer it takes for the ﬁlter to reac t during this phase.

FltAtt can be also adjusted directly from Row 4 of the PERFORM section

of the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC1.

Parameter: Filter Decay T ime Displayed As: FltDec Default value: 75 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets how the ﬁlter sec tion acts during the note’s Decay phase. Again, the higher the parameter value, the longer the period for which ﬁltering is applied.

FltDec can be also adjusted directly from Row 4 of the PERFORM section

of the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC2.

Parameter: Filter Sustain Level Displayed As: FltSus Default value: 35 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The fre quency of the ﬁlter ( cut-of f or centre, depending on ﬁlter type) “settles” at a value set by the Filter Sus tain Level. Thus, once the Attack and Decay stages of the envelope are com pleted, the harmonic content that will be most evident in the sound will be determined by this parameter. Remember that if the ﬁlter frequency parameter (as set in the Filter Menu ) is set at a too low or too high a value, the envelope’s effect will be limited.

FltSus can be also adjusted directly from Row 4 of the PERFORM section

of the control panel with Tweak C ontrol RC3.

Parameter: Filte r Release T ime Displayed As: Flt R el Default value: 45 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

As Filter Release is increased in value, the note undergoes increasingly more ﬁlter action once the key is released.

Note that the Amplitude Release time (adjusted in the Amplitude Envelope submenu) must be set suf ﬁciently high to produce an audible “fade-out” b efore the effect of ﬁltering on the “tail” of the note is evident.

Parameter: Filter Velocity Displayed As: FltVeloc Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 As Amplitude Velocity adds touch sensitivity to volume, so Filter Velocity can be set to make ﬁlter action touch sensitive. With positive par ameter va lues, the harder you play the keys, the greater will be the effect of the ﬁlter. With Filter Velocity set to zero, the sound’s characteristics are the same regardless of how the keys are played. Note that negative values have the inve rse effect.

Parameter: Filter Repeat Displayed As: FltRept Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, 1-126, KeyOf f When Filter Repeat is set to a va lue other than Of f, the Attack and De cay phases of the envelope are rep eated before the Su stain phase is initiated. This has a similar effect to Amplitude Repeat and use of either or both repeat parameter s can create some quite striking sounds.

Parameter: Filter Touch Trigger Displayed As: FltT Trig Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, T1ReTrig…T8ReTrig, T1Triggr…T8Triggr, T1Enable…T8Enable Unlike Amplitude Touch Trigger, Filter Touch Trigger has three options per Pad control: Trigger, Re-trigger and Enable. However, as with Amplitude Touch Trigger, it is nece ssary to enable the AN IMATE mode for the Pad s to be operative (see “Using the Pads as performance controls” on page 7).

1. Re-Trigger – acts in a similar way to Amplitude Re-Trigger, except that it is the

ﬁlter ac tion whi ch is re-triggered by touching the selected Pad. The note plays as norma l when the key is pressed, pre ssing the Pad re-triggers the entire envelope.

2. Trigger - in this mode, the envelope-triggered ﬁlter action is not initiated by pres sing a key, and the note will initially sound with no envelope acting on the ﬁlter. Pressing the Pad (while the key is pres sed) will trigger the ﬁlter envelope.

3. Enable – in this mode, the envelope-triggered ﬁlter action is initiated by the keyboard, but only while the Pad is being pressed. Thus you can very easily ﬂip between the sound with and without the action of the envelope on the ﬁlter.

Parameter: Filter Multi-trigger Displayed As: Flt M Trig Default value: Re-Trig Range of adjustment: Re-Trig or Legato This operates in a very similar way to Amplitude Multi-trigger. When set to Re -Trig , each note played will trigger its full ADSR enve lope, even if other keys are held down. With the envelope applied to the ﬁlter section, this means that the effec t of any envelopetriggered ﬁltering will be heard on every note. When set to Legato, only the ﬁrst key to be pressed will produce a note with the full envelope and thus produce any ﬁltering effect. All subsequent notes will lack any dyna mic ﬁltering. Remember that for the Legato mode to be operative, mono voicing must be selected – it will not work with polyphonic voicing. See “Edit m enu - Submenu 5: Voic e” on page 19.

phase of the envelope. Thi s does, of course , only occur if the Amplitude Sustain Time is longer than the Filter Sustain Time, otherwise the note will stop sounding altogether before the ﬁlte r has cut off.

Parameter: Filte r Level Track Displayed As: FltLvlTk Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 This parameter works in a similar way to the other “ track ing” par ameters, but it is the depth with which the envelope is applied to the ﬁ lter which alters, in relation to the interval between the note played and the Level Track Note (se e below). With a po sitive va lue, the envelope-triggered ﬁltering effect becomes progressively more pronounced for notes higher than the Tr ack Not e the further from the Track N ote they are, and vice-versa. With a negative value, notes higher than the Track Note undergo progressively less ﬁltering the further from the Trac k No te they are, and again, vice-versa.

Parameter: Level Trac k Note Displayed As: LvlTkNte Default value: C3 Range of adjustment: C-2 to G8 This parameter is common to all the envelopes. See “Parameter: Amplitude Level Track” on page 22.

See “What is Legato? ” on page 21 for more det ails about Legato style.

Parameter: Filte r Attack S lope Displayed As: FltAtSlp Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter controls the “shape” of the at tack characteristic as a pplied to the ﬁlters. With a value of zero, any ﬁltering effect appli ed to the Attack phase incre ases linearly – that is to say, increa ses by equal amounts in equa l time inte rvals . A non-linear attack characteristic may be selected as an alternative, where the ﬁlter effect increases more rapidly at ﬁrst.

Parameter: Filte r Decay Slope Displayed As: FltDcSlp Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This corresponds to Filter Attack Slope in th e same manner that Amplitude Decay Slope corresponds to Amplitude Attack Slope. Thus the linearity of the reaction of th e ﬁlter section during the D ecay pha se of the envelope can be varied, from linear to a more exponential slope, where any ﬁlter effect is more pronounced during the ﬁrst part of the Decay phase.

Parameter: Filte r Attack Trac k Displayed As: FltAtTk Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 Like Amp litude Attack Track , this parameter relates a note’s attack time to its position on the keyboard. W hen Filte r Attack Trac k has a positive value, the ﬁltering effect during the Attack phase of a note is shortened as you go up the keyboard. Conversely, lower notes have their attack time increased. When a negative value is applied, the relationships are reversed.

Parameter: Filte r Decay Track Displayed As: FltDecTk Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 This parameter works in exactly the same way as Attack Track, except that it is the ﬁlter effect during the Decay phase of a note that bec omes dependent on its keyboard position.

Parameter: Filte r Sustain Rate Displayed As: FltSusRt Default value: Flat Range of adjustment: -64 to -1, Flat, 1 to 6 3 With a value of Flat , ﬁlter frequency remains constant during the Sustain phase of the note. If Filter Sus tain Rate is given a positive value, the ﬁlter frequency continues to increase during the Sus tain phase, thus the character of the note continues altering audibly for longer. With low values of Filter Sustain Rate, th e change is slow, and increases in rapidity as the value is increased. With negative values, the ﬁlter frequency decre ases during the Sustain phase. See “Parameter: Amplitude Sustain Rate” on page 21 for a n illustration.

Parameter: Filte r Sustain Time Displayed As: FltSusTm Default value: KeyOff Range of adjustment: 0 – 126, KeyOff This parameter also applies to the Sustain phase, a nd sets how l ong any envelopetriggered ﬁltering remains active. When set to KeyOff, the ﬁltering remains applied continuously until the key is relea sed. Any l ower value of Sustain Time will cause the ﬁltering effect to suddenly stop before the note ends, and you will be left with release

Envelopes 3 to 6

In addition to dedicated A mplitude and Filter envelopes, the MiniNova is equipped with four further assignable envelopes, Envelopes 3 to 6. T hese envelopes have virtually the same set of parameter s as the Amplitude and Filter envelop es, but they can be assigned at will to control many other synth functions, including most oscill ator parameters , ﬁlters, EQ and panning among others. T hese parameter s will be available if Env n (page 20) is set to Env 3 to Env 6 .

The assignment of Envelopes 3 to 6 to other synth pa rameters is per formed in the Modulation Matrix (ModMatrx) Menu (see “What is Legato?” on p age 21 for full details). In order to audition their effects, you must ﬁrst open the ModMatrx Menu and set a Mod S lot Sourc e to Env3 and the Destination to a paramete r of your choice (e.g., Global Oscillator Pitch – 0123P tch).

The arrangement of parameters for Envelopes 3 to 6 is identical, and the arrange ment closely follows that of Envelopes 1 and 2 (Amplitude and Filters). Although denoted as Envelope 3, the pa rameter summar ies below apply equally to Envelope s 4, 5 & 6, so are not repeated.

The actual function of Envelopes 3 to 6 will obviously depend on what they are routed to control in the Modulation Matrix Menu. However, the derivation of the envelope parameters themselves follow those already described for the Amplitude and Filter envelopes, with the exception of the D elay parameter (e.g., E3Delay), whose function is described below.

Parameter: Envelope 3 Attack Time Displayed As: E3Att Default value: 10 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

Parameter: Envelope 3 Dec ay Time Displayed As: E3Dec Default value: 70 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

Parameter: Envelope 3 Sustain Level Displayed As: E3Sus Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

Parameter: Envelope 3 Relea se Time Displayed As: E3Rel Default value: 40 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

Parameter: Envelope 3 Delay Displayed As: E3Delay Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

This parameter delays the start of the entire envelope. When a key is pressed, its note sounds normally, with Enve lopes 1 and 2 acting a s they are program med. But any further modulation ef fects triggered by Envelopes 3 to 6 will be delayed by a time set by the Delay parameter. The ma ximum value of 127 represents a delay of 10 seconds, while a value of about 60~70 represents a delay of approximately 1 second.

Parameter: Envelope 3 Repeat Displayed As: E3Rept Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, 1 to 126, KeyOff

Parameter: Envelope 3 Touch Trigge r Displayed As: E3TTrig Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, T1ReTrig…T8ReTrig, T1Triggr…T8Triggr,

T1Enable…T8Enable

Parameter: Envelope 3 Multi-trigger Displayed As: E3MTrig Default value: Re-Trig Range of adjustment: Re-Trig or Legato

Parameter: Envelope 3 Attack Slope Displayed As: E3AtSlp Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

Parameter: Envelope 3 Dec ay Slope Displayed As: E3DcSlp Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

Parameter: Envelope 3 Attack Track Displayed As: E3AtTk Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

With this submenu, it is ﬁr st necessary to select the LFO whose parameters are to be adjusted:

Displayed As: LFO n (where n is 1 to 3) Default value: LFO 1 Range of adjustment: LFO 1, LFO 2, LFO 3

A total of 12 parameters per LFO is available for adjustment . Because the three LFOs are identical, only the functions of LFO1 are describe d.

Parameter: LFO 1 Rate Displayed As: L1Ra te Default value: 68 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

Rate is the LFO’s frequency. A value of zero s tops the LFO, and most musical effects are likely to use values in the 40~70 range, though higher or lower values may be appropriate for certain sound effects.

When the LFO Rate is set to zero, the LFO is “stopped”, but will still apply a n offset to the parameter it is modulating of a magnitude dependent on where it

stopped in its cycle.

LFO RATE = X LFO RATE = 0

Parameter: Envelope 3 Dec ay Track Displayed As: E3DecTk Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63

Parameter: Envelope 3 Sustain Rate Displayed As: E3SusRt Default value: Flat Range of adjustment: -64 to -1, Flat, +1 to + 63

Parameter: Envelope 3 Sustain time Displayed As: E3SusTm Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 126, KeyOf f

Parameter: Envelope 3 Level Trac k Displayed As: E3LvlTk Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63

Edit menu - Submenu 7: LFO

The MiniNova has three separate Low Frequency Oscillators (LFOs). These are designated LFO1, 2 and 3, a re identical in terms of features, and can be used freely to modif y many other sy nth para meters , such as oscillator pitch or level, ﬁlters, panning, etc.

The assignment of LFOs 1 to 3 to other synth parameters is performed in the M odulation Matrix Menu (see “What is Legato?” on page 21 for full details ). In order to audi tion their effects, you should ﬁrst open the Modulation Matrix Menu and set a Modulation Slot’s Source to Lfo1+/- or Lfo1+* and th e Destination to a pa rameter of your choice. Note also that the Depth control on this menu determines the amount of LFO modulation applied to the Des tination parameter, and increasing this value will have a different effect depe nding on what the Destination pa rameter is, but can generally be ta ken to mean “more effect”. The inte rpretation of negative values of Depth will al so depend on the chosen Destination parameter.

OFFSET

Parameter: LFO 1 Rate Sync Displayed As: L1Sy nc Default value: Off Range of adjustment: See Sync Values Table on page 34. This control allows the frequency of the LFO to b e synchronised to an internal/externa l MIDI clock. When set to Off, the LFOs run at a frequency set by th e L1Ra te parameter. At all other settings L1R at e becomes inoperative, and the LFO rate is determined by L1S yn c, which in turn is derived from the MIDI clock. When using internal MI DI clock, the rate can be set using the TEMPO control [21].

Parameter: LFO 1 Waveform Displayed As: L1Wave Default value: Sine Range of adjustment: See LFO Waveform Table on page 34.

The MiniNova’s LFOs are able to generate not only the familiar sine , sawtooth, tria ngle and square waveform s for modulation purposes, but are a lso able to produce a wide range of preset sequences of various lengths and random waveforms. A common use of an LFO is to modulate the main oscillator(s), and with many of the sequenced waveforms, setting the Depth parameter in the M odulation Matr ix Menu to either 30 or 36 (see t able) will ensure that the resulting oscillator pitches will be musically associated in some way.

Parameter: LFO 1 Phase Displayed As: L1Phase Default value: Free Range of adjustment: Free, 0 deg -357deg This control is only active if L1K Sy nc (same menu) is set On. It determines the start point of the LFO waveform when the key is pressed. A complete waveform has 360º, and the control’s increments are in 3º steps. Thus a half-way setting (180deg) will cause the modulating waveform to start at half-way through its cycle.

KEY "ON"

PHASE = 0

KEY "ON"

PHASE = 90

KEY "ON"

PHASE = 180

*Selecting Lfo1+ as the sour ce makes th e LFO var y the contr olled pa rameter i n a positiv e sense

(i.e., increasing) only. Selecting it as Lfo1+/ - varies i t in both a positive and a negative s ense.

Parameter: LFO 1 Slew Displayed As: L1Slew Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, 1 to 127 Slew has the effect of modifying the shape of the LFO waveform. Shar p edges become less sharp as Slew is increased. The effect of this can be easily o bserved by selecting Squar e as the LFO waveform and setting the rate fairly low so that the output when a key is pres sed alternates between just two tones. Increasing the value of Slew will cause the transition between the two tones to become a “glide” rather than a sharp change. This is cause d by the ver tical edges of the square LFO wavefor m being slewed.

Note that Slew has an effect on all LFO waveforms, including sine. The effect of LFO Slew differs somewhat with differe nt LFO waveforms. A s Slew is increased,

the time taken to reach maximum amp litude is increa sed, and can ultimately result in it never being achieved at all, though the setting at which this point is reached will vary with waveform.

SQUARE WAVE NO SLEW

SMALL SLEW VALUE

LARGE SLEW VALUE

Parameter: LFO 1 One-Shot Displayed As: L1On eSh t Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off or On As its name suggests, setting this parameter to On causes the LFO to generate just a single cycle of its waveform. Note that a full waveform cycle is a lways generated regardless of the setting of LFO Phase; if LFO Phase is set to 90°, the one-shot waveform will start at the 90° point, execute a full cycle, and end at 90°.

Parameter: LFO 1 Delay Displayed As: L1Delay Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 LFO Delay is a time parameter whose function is determine d by L1InOut (see below).

Parameter: LFO 1 Delay Sync Displayed As: L1DS ync Default value: Off Range of adjustment: See Sync Values Table at page 34. When this parameter is set to Off, the LFO delay is controlled by the Delay parameter (L1De lay). At all other settings L1Delay becomes inoperative, and the LFO delay is derived from the internal/ex ternal MIDI clock.

Parameter: LFO 1 Key Sync On/Off Displayed As: L1KS ync Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off or On Each LFO runs continuously, ‘in the background’. If the Key Sync setting is Off, there is no way of predicting where the waveform will be when a key is pres sed. Consecutive pres ses of a key will inevitably produce varying results. Setting Key Sync to On re-starts the LFO at the sam e point on the waveform every time a key is pre ssed. The actual point is set by the Phase parameter (L1Phas e).

KEY SYNC = OFF

NOTE 1

NOTE 2

KEY SYNC = ON

NOTE 1

NOTE 2

Parameter: LFO 1 Common Sync Displayed As: L1Co mm Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off or On When LFOs are in use for pitch modulation (their most c ommon application), Common Sync is only applicable to polyphonic voices. It ensures that the phase of the LFO waveform is synchronised for every note being played. When to set Off, there is no such synchronisation, and playing a second note while one is already pressed will result in an unsynchronised sound a s the modulations will be out of time.

COMMON SYNC = OFF

COMMON SYNC = ON

Parameter: LFO 1 Fade In/Fade Out Displayed As: L1I nO u t Default value: FadeIn Range of adjustment: FadeIn, FadeOut, GateIn, GateOut

The function of the four pos sible settings of L1InOut are as follows:

1. FadeIn - the LFO’s modulation is gradually increased over the time period set by the Delay parameter (L1D el ay ).

2. GateIn – the onset of the LFO’s modulation is delayed by the time period set by L1D el ay parameter, and then starts immediately at full level.

3. FadeOut – the LFO’s modulation is gradually decrea sed over the time period set by the L1D elay parameter, leaving the note with no LFO modulation.

4. GateOut – the note is fully modulated by th e LFO for th e time period set by the L1D el ay. At this time, the modulation stops abruptly.

Parameter: LFO 1 Delay Trigger Displayed As: L1 DTr ig Default value: Legato Range of adjustment: Legato or Re-Trig This parameter works in conjunction with the Fade /Gate parameters set by L1InOut. In Re -Trig mode, every note played has its own delay time, as set by L1Delay (or MIDI clock if L1D sy nc is active). In Legato mode, it is only the ﬁrst note of a legato-style passage which trigger s the delay – i.e., second and subsequent notes do not re-trigger the Delay function. For the Legato setting of Delay Trigger to be operative, mono voicing mu st be selected – it will not work with polyphonic voicing. See “Edit menu - Subme nu 5: Voice” on page 19.

See “What is Legato? ” on page 21 for more det ails about Legato style.

Edit menu - Submenu 8 : ModMatrx

The heart of a ver satile synthesizer lies i n the ability to interconnect the various controllers, sound generators and processing blocks such that one is controlling – or “modulating” another, in as many ways as poss ible. MiniNova provides tremendous ﬂexibility of control routing, and there is a dedicated menu for this, the Modulation Matrix M enu (ModMatrx).

NOTE 1

NOTE 2

NOTE 1

NOTE 2

Set LFO C ommon Sync to On for an emulation of early analogue polyphonic synths.

NUMBER 20

NUMBER 1

SOURCE 1

SOURCE 2

TOUCH SELECT

DESTINATION

DEPTH

The menu may be visualised as a system for connecting controlling sources to a speciﬁc area of the synth. Each such connection assignment is terme d a slot, and there are 20 suc h slots, accessed by ModSlt (see below) . Each slot deﬁnes how one or two control source s are routed to a controlled pa rameter. The routing possibilities availa ble in each of the 20 slots are identical, and the control description below is applicable to all of them.

patch is b eing use d, set Source2 to.

The Modulation Matrix is both variable and additive. What do we mean by a ‘variable’ and ‘additive’ matrix?

By ‘variable’, we mean that it is not just the routing of a controlling source to a controlled parameter which is deﬁned in each slot, but also the “m agnitude” of the control. Thus the ‘amount’ of control – or control ‘range’ – used is up to you.

By ‘additive’ we mean that a par ameter may be varie d by more than one source, if wished. Each slot allows for two sources to be routed to a parameter, and their ef fects are multiplied together. This means that if either of them is at zero, there will be no modulation. However, there is no reason why you can’t have furth er slots routing these or other sources to the same parameter. In this case, the control signals from dif ferent slots “add” to produce the over all effect.

MOD SLOT NO 1

MOD SLOT NO 2

MOD SLOT NO 1

MOD SLOT NO 2

SOURCE 1: LFO

SOURCE 2: MOD WHEE L

SOURCE 1: LFO

SOURCE 2: MOD WHEE L

SOURCE 1: LFO

SOURCE 2:

SOURCE 1: MOD WHEE L

SOURCE 2:

SOURCE 1: LFO

SOURCE 2:

SOURCE 1: MOD WHEE L

SOURCE 2:

You need to be careful when setting up patches like this to ensure that the combined effect of all the controllers acting simultaneously still creates the sound that you want.

In addition, the Modulation Matrix Menu lets you assign the Pads as additional controllers, so long as the Anim ate mode is enabled (see “Using the Pads as performance controls” on page 7).

With this submenu, it is ﬁr st necessary to select the Modulation Sl ot whose parameters are to be adjusted:

Displayed As: ModSltn (wh ere n is 1 to 20 ) Default value: ModSlt1 Range of adjustment: ModSlt1…ModSlt20 The Modulation Matrix has 20 ‘slots’ (‘mo d slots’ ), each deﬁning a routing assignm ent of one (or two) sources to a de stination. All the slots have the same selection of sources and destinations and any or all can be used. The same source can control multiple destinations, and one destination can be controlled by multiple sources.

Because the 20 Modulation Slots are identical, only the functions of Slot 1 are de scribed.

Parameter: First Source Displayed As: Source 1 Default value: Direct Range of adjustment: See Modulation Matrix Sources Table on page 35. This selects a control source (modulator), which will be routed to the de stination set by Destin. Setting both So urc e1 and Source2 to Direct means no modulation is deﬁned.

Parameter: Second Source Displayed As: Source 2 Default value: Direct Range of adjustment: See Modulation Matrix Sources Table on page 35. This selects a second control source for the chosen destination. If only one source per

Parameter: Touch controller enable Displayed As: TouchSel Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Touch1….Touch 8 The eight AN IMAT E Pads c an be programme d as touch controllers, so that they initiate a change to a parameter value (deﬁned by Destin, see below) when pressed. Note that Animate mode mus t be enabled for the Pads to be active. AN IM ATE pads will illuminate purple if a controller has been assigned. See “Using the Pads as per formance controls” on page 7 for more details regarding using the Pads. Note that when both a Pad and other sources ( Source1 and/or Source2) are assigned in the same slot, the Pad acts a s a switch for the othe r source s, whose effect will only be heard when the Pad is pressed.

Note that the Pads can also be directly assigned to trigger any of the six envelopes in som e way (AMPTTrig, FltTTrig, E3Ttrig….E6TTrg). When set to

trigger an envelope, there is no nee d to set up an assignment between the envelope and the touch trigger in a mod s lot. Of course, if you want to re-use the same pad to do something else at the s ame time, go ahead and use it in a mod slot too!

Parameter: Destination Displayed As: Destin Default value: O123Ptch Range of adjustment: See Mod Matrix Destination Table on page 36. This sets which MiniNova parameter is to be controlle d by the selected source (or sources ) in the current matrix conﬁguration. The range of possibilities comprises:

• Param eters that directly affect the sound:

• four parameters per oscillator

• global pitch (0123P tch)

• the six mixer inputs from the oscill ators, noise source and ring modulators, plus

the mixer output l evel

• per-ﬁlter drive amount, frequency and resonance, plus ﬁlter balance

• 34 assorted F X parameters including chorus, delay, EQ etc.

• 3 Vocoder parameters

• Vocal tuning pitch shift

• Param eters that can also act as modulating sources (thus pe rmitting recursive

modulation):

• LFO 1 to 3 rate

• the Dec ay phase s of the Amplitude Envelope ( Env1Dec) and Filter Envelope

(Env2Dec)

Parameter: Depth Displayed As: Depth Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 The Depth control sets the level of the control being applied to the Destination – i.e., the parameter being modulated. If both Source1 and Source2 are active in the current slot ,

Depth controls their combined effect.

Depth effectively deﬁnes th e “amount” by which the controlled pa rameter

varies when under modulation control. Think of it as the “rang e” of control. It

also determines the “sense” or polarity of the control – positive Depth will increase the value of the controlled parameter and negative Depth will decrease it, for the sam e control input. N ote that having deﬁned source and destination in a patch, no modulation will occur until the Depth control is set to something other than zero.

With both sources set to Direc t and Tou chSel set to Off, the Depth control

becomes a “manual” modulation control which will always affect whichever

parameter is set as the Destination.

Edit menu - Submenu 9 : Effects

The MiniNova comes equipped with a comprehensive set of DSP-based effects proce ssors , which can be applied to both the synth sound and any audio applied to th e MiniN ova’s audio inputs.

The FX section comprises ﬁve processing slots, each of which may be “ loaded” with an FX processor from a pool of devices that includes panning, equalis ation, c ompression, delay, chorus, distortion, reverb and gator effects. In addition to the slots, control s are also provided for global FX parameters like panning, F X level, F X feedback, etc.

The FX controls are acce ssed from the Effects submenu. This provides six options: PanRoute and FXSlot1 to FXSlot5. PanRoute provides selection of p anning and slot conﬁguration. Entering FXSlot1 to FXSlot5 allows you to choose the FX device and its associated parameters for each of the ﬁve slots.

The following pa rameters apply only to the PanRoute option:

Parameter: Pan Position

Displayed As: PanPosn Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 This is the main manual pan control a nd positions the dry (pr e-FX ) synth sound/ Input audio in the stereo image between th e left and right outputs. Negative values of PanPosn move the sound to the left and positive values to the right. N ote that some FX (e.g., reverb, chorus) are inherently stereo, and thes e are added post-panning. Thus if you are using a sound that uses F X such as these, PanPosn will appea r to not entirely loc alise the sound fully left or right at its ex treme settings.

Parameter: Pan Rate Displayed As: Pan Rat e Default value: 40 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Automatic panning is also possible, and the Pan section has a dedicated sinewave L FO which c ontrols this. Th e PanRate parameter controls the LFO frequency, and thus how rapidly the sound moves between left and right and back again. With a value of 40, the sound takes approx. 3 seconds to complete a full cycle, and the range of control allows extremely slow or extremely fast panning.

FXRouting = 3

INPUT

SLOT

FEEDBACK

FXRouting = 4

INPUT

SLOT

FEEDBACK

FXRouting = 5

INPUT

SLOT

FEEDBACK

SLOT

DRY/WET

OUTPUT

DRY/WET

OUTPUT

DRY/WET

For the most effective results with Pan Rate, ensure that PanPosn is set 0 (i.e., centre panning)

Parameter: Pan Sync Displayed As: PanSync Default value: Off Range of adjustment: See Sync Values Table at page 34. Auto-p anning rate may be synchroni sed to the internal or external MID I clock, using a wi de variety of tempos.

Parameter: Pan Depth Displayed As: PanDepth Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This control determine s the amount of image shift applied by the auto-panner. At its maxi mum value of 127, the auto-panner will pan the sound both fully left and fully right; lower values will pan less extremely, with th e sound remaining more centrally located. The auto-panner is effe ctively off when the parameter value is zero ( but the “manual” pan parameter PanPosn is still operative).

Parameter: FX Slot Routing Displayed As: FXRouting Default value: 1 Range of adjustment: 0 to 7 This parameter lets you conﬁgure the interconnection of the F X slots. The ﬁve slots may be interconnected in serial, in parallel, or in various combinations of serial and parallel.

FXRouting = 0

INPUT

FEEDBACK

(DISABLED)

SLOT

DRY/WET

OUTPUT

FXRouting = 6

INPUT

FEEDBACK

SLOT

DRY/WET

OUTPUT

FXRouting = 7

INPUT

FEEDBACK

SLOT

DRY/WET

OUTPUT

Parameter: Effect feedback Displayed As: FXFedback Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter controls how much signal is fed back to the input of the effects chain from its output. The F X Slot from which the feedback is derived varies with the FX Routing conﬁguration in use – see diagrams above. However, with all routing conﬁgurations, the feedback is added back into the chain at FX Slot 1. Note that not all conﬁgurations employ feedback.

FX Slot s

Each of the FX slot options (accessed fro m the initial Effects submenu) are identical, and may be loaded with one of the various FX proces sors available. The parameter descriptions following refer to the ﬁrst FX slot; operation of the other four are identical.

FXRouting = 1

INPUT

SLOT

FEEDBACK

FXRouting = 2

INPUT

SLOT

FEEDBACK

SLOT

DRY/WET

OUTPUT

DRY/WET

OUTPUT

The FX types can be categ orised in various ways: some are time-based (chorus, delay), others are static (EQ , distor tion). Some should be used as an FX send/

return loop (implying a parallel connection), others as an insert (implying a serial connection). Depending on the synth sound itself and the actual effects being used, some conﬁgurations will clearly work better than othe rs. When using multiple effects, try a few different interconnections to see which works best.

Parameter: FX1 Type Displayed As: FX1 Type Default value: Bypass Range of adjustment: See Effects Types Table on page 38. The table shows the “pool” of FX devices avail able. As DSP capacity is ﬁ nite, each device in the list may only be loaded into one slot, and onc e it has been loaded, it will no longer appear in the lis t of available proc essors for the oth er slots . You will see that multip les of most of the FX devices are provided, to allow the most creative use of the FX .

Parameter: Effect Amount Displayed As: FX1 A mnt Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The pre cise function of this parameter dep ends on which FX device is loaded into the slot. See the table below for a summary.

FX TY PE ADJUSTED PARAMETER

Compressor Level

EQ Level

Distortion Amount or bit/sample rate reduction

Delay Send and Return levels

Chorus Level

Reverb Send and Retur n levels

Gator Level

The remaining parameters available for adjustment in the F XS LOTn submenu are determined by which effects device has been loaded into the slot. A slot which has no FX device loaded has no further menu options available.

Each F X device has its own menu; these are de scribed in turn below. All references to FX1 may be taken as being equally applicable to the other four FX slots.

EQ Menu

The equ aliser is a three-band ‘swept’ type, with cut/boost and frequency controls for each band. T he LF and HF sections are sec ond-order (slope of 12 dB/octave ) shelving ﬁlter s, and the M F section is a bell-response ﬁlter.

Note that FX1 A mnt parameter should be set to 127 for the full range of cut or boost (±12 dB) to be available. Lower set tings of F X1 Amnt will result less cut or boost being applied at the minimum or maximum values of the EQ Level parameters

Parameter: LF Cut/Boost Displayed As: EQBasLvl Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 This parameter controls the LF response of the equaliser; a va lue of 0 gives a ﬂat response in the LF region, p ositive values will give a rise in the LF response – i.e., more bass , and negative values will have the opposite effect. The range of adjustment is ±12 dB (with FX1 Amnt set to 127 ).

Parameter: MF Cut/Boost Displayed As: EQ M id Lvl Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 This parameter controls the MF response of the equaliser; a value of 0 gives a ﬂat res ponse in the MF region, positive values will give a rise in the MF response – i.e., more midfrequencies ( the voic e region of the audio spectr um), and negative values will accordingly reduce the MF response. The range of adjustment is ±12 dB (with FX1 Amnt set to 127).

as you adjust EQMidLvl, and this control will have a proportionately decreasing effect on frequencies above and below the centre frequency. The range of adjustment is from 440 Hz (value = 0 ) to 2.2 kHz ( value = 127 ). The default value of 64 corresponds to approximately 1.2 kHz.

Parameter: HF Fre quency Displayed As: EQTrbFre Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Decre asing the value of E QTrb Fre decreases the frequency above which EQ TrbLvl is effective, so in general, EQTr bLv l will have more ef fect on the sound the lower the value of EQTr bFr e. Increasing the value of EQ TrbF re will raise the frequency above which the cut/ boost c ontrol is effective, with a value of 127 corres ponding to about 4.4 kHz. A value of 0 corre sponds to about 650 Hz and the default va lue of 64 to about 2 kHz.

Compressor Menu

Two compressor devices are available. Their facilities are identical; the example below illustrates Compressor 1.

The compressors can be used to reduce the dynamic range of the synth sound (or the external audio input), which gives the ef fect of “ thicke ning” the sound and /or giving it more “punch” or impact. They are par ticularly effective on sounds with a strong percussive content.

Parameter: Compression Ratio Displayed As: C1Ra tio Default value: 1.0 Range of adjustment: 1.0 to 13.7 (0.1 steps ) With the minimum value of 1.0 set, the compressor has no effect as 1.0 means that every change in input level results in an equa l change in output level. The parameter sets the degree to which sounds which are louder than the level set by the Threshold level parameter get re duced in volume. I f the Ratio is set to 2.0, a change in input level results in a change in output level of only half the magnitude, thus the overall dynamic range of the signal is reduc ed. The higher the setting of Compressio n Ratio, the more compression is applied to those parts of the sound which are above the Threshold level.

Parameter: Threshold Level Displayed As: C1Thrsh Default value: -16 Range of adjustment: -60 to 0 Threshold deﬁnes the signa l level at which compressor action starts . Signals below the threshold ( i.e. the quieter parts of the sound ) are unaltered, but signa ls exceeding the threshold ( the louder sections) are reduced in level - in the ratio set with C1Ratio resulting in an overall reduction of the dynamic range of the sound. Note that the value of the parameter approxim ately represents the actual analogue signal level – i.e., the number of dBs below the ma ximum digital clip level of 0 dB.

Note that any alteration in volume resulting from compressor action has nothing to

do with how the output level of the synth is set. Whether you are using the

MiniN ova’s MASTER VOLUME control or an Expression pedal to control your overall volume, any compression in the FX section is applie d ‘before’ these volume control methods, and thus will remain constant.

Parameter: HF Cut/Boost Displayed As: E QTr b Lvl Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 This parameter controls the HF response of the equaliser; a value of 0 gives a ﬂat response in the HF re gion, positive values will give a rise in the HF response – i.e., more treble, and negative values less treble. The range of adjustme nt is ±12 dB (with FX1 A mnt set to 127).

Parameter: LF Frequency Displayed As: EQBasFre Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The equ aliser is a “swept” type, which means that in addition to being able to increase or decre ase the tr eble, mid or bass , you can also control the frequency band over which the Cut/Boost controls are ef fective – i.e., just what is meant by “bass”, “mid” and “treble”. This gives you much more accurate control over the frequency response. Increasing the value of EQBasFre increases the frequency below which EQBasLvl is effec tive, so in general, EQBasLvl will have more effect on the sound the higher the va lue of EQBasFre. Decre asing the value of EQBasFre will lower the frequency below which the cut/boost control is effe ctive with a value of 0 corresponding to approx. 140 Hz . The maximum value of 127 cor responds to about 880 Hz and the default value of 64 to about 500 Hz.

Parameter: MF Fre quency Displayed As: EQ MidFr e Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Incre asing the value of this parameter inc reases the “centre” frequency of the MF response. The centre frequency is the one that gets the maximum amount of cut or boost

Parameter: Attack Time Displayed As: C1Attack Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The Attack Time parameter determines how fast the compressor applies gain reduction to a signa l exceeding the threshold. With pe rcussive sounds - such as struck drums or plucke d bass - it may be desirable to compres s the main envelope of the sound while retaining the distinctive front e dge or “attack pha se” of the sound. A low va lue gives a fast attack time, and compression will be applied to the front edge of the signal. High values give slow response times, and percussive leading edges will not be compressed, to give a “punchier” sound. The range of attack times availa ble is from 0.1 ms to 100 ms.

Parameter: Release Time Displayed As: C1 Rel Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter should be adjusted in conjunction with the Hold Time parameter (see C1Hold below) . Release Time determines the time period over which the gain reduction is removed (resulting in no compression) after the completion of the Hold Time. Low values give a shor t Release Time, high values a long one. The ra nge of release times available is from 25 ms to 1 second.

Parameter: Hold Time Displayed As: C1Hold Default value: 32 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Hold Time determines for how long any gain reduction applied to a signal exceeding the Threshold Level remains applied after the signal level drops below the Threshold Level.

At the end of the Hold Time, the amount of gain reduction is reduced over the Release Time. Low values give a short Hold Time, high values a l ong one. T he range of hold tim es available is from 2.5 ms to 500 ms.

the maximum value of 127 equating to approx. 700 ms. I f Delay Time is varied (eithe r manually or via modulation), while a note is being played, pitch shifting will result. S ee also Delay Slew.

Compressor times are of particular importance with repetitive, rhy thmic sounds. For example, setting too short a Hold Time may result in audible “pumping” of

background noise between notes, which ca n be quite unpleas ant. Hold, Release and Att ack Times are usually best adjusted in conjunction with one another, by ear, to obtain an optimum effect with the particular sound you are us ing.

Parameter: Auto Gain Displayed As: C1Gain Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 A consequence of compression is that the ove rall volume of the sound may be reduced. The MiniNova’s compressors automatically “make up” for this loss of level, and ensure that the level of the compresse d signal remains as near as possible to that of the input. Auto Gain provides additional gain, which may be useful in situations where heavy compression is used .

Distortion Menu

Distortion is usually regarded as something undesira ble, and although we all take great pains most of the time to avoid it, there are circumstanc es when adding some carefullycontrolled distortion gives you exactly the sound you’re after.

Distortion arises when a signa l is passed through a non-linear channel of some kind , the non-linearity producing alterations to the waveform which we hear as distortion. The nature of the circuitry exhibiting the non-linearity dictates the precise nature of the distortion. The MiniNova’s distortion algorithms are able to simulate various types of non-linear circuitry, with results ranging from a slight thickening of the sound to something really quite nasty.

Care should be taken when s electing different Distorti on Types, as the same

setting of the F X1 Am nt parameter will produce ver y different volumes depending

on the Distortion Typ e in use.

The MiniNova has two distortion effect devices . These may be loaded into any two FX slots. Their facilities are identical; the example below illustrates Distortion 1.

Parameter: Delay Sync Displayed As: Dly1Syn c Default value: Off Range of adjustment: See Sy nc Valu es Table on page 34. Delay time may synchronised to the internal or external MIDI clock, using a wide variety of tempo dividers/multipliers to produce delays from about 5 ms to 1 second.

Be aware that the total delay time available is ﬁnite. Using large tempo divisions at a very s low tempo rate may exceed the delay time li mit.

Parameter: Delay Feedback Displayed As: Dly1Fbck Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The output of the delay processor is connected back to the input, at a reduced level; Dly1Fbck sets the level. Thi s results in multiple echoes, as the delayed signal is further repeated. With Dly1Fbck set to zero, no delayed signal at all is fed back, so only a single echo results. As you increase the value, you will hear more echoes for eac h note, though they still die away in volume. Setting the control in the centre of its range (64) results in about 5 or 6 audible echoes ; at the ma ximum setting, the repetitions will still be audible after a minute or more.

Parameter: Delay L eft-R ight Ratio Displayed As: Dly1L/R Default value: 1/1 Range of adjustment: 1/1, 4/3, 3/4, 3/2, 2/3, 2/1,1/2, 3/1, 1/3, 4/1, 1/4,

1/OFF, OFF/1 The value of this parameter is a ratio, and determines how each delayed note is distributed between the lef t and right outputs. Setting Dly 1L/R to the default 1/1 value places all echoe s centra lly in the stereo image. With other values, the larger number represents the delay time, and an echo will be produced at this time in o ne channel only, depending whether the larger number is to the left of the slash or the right. I t will be ac companied by

a faster echo in the other cha nnel, at a time dened by the ratio of the two numbers. Values

with OFF to one side of the slash result in all the echoes being in one channel only.

Parameter: Distortion Type Displayed As: Di st1Ty p Default value: Diode

Range of adjustment: Diode, Valve, Clipper, XOver, Rectify, BitsDown , RateDown

(see below)

• Diode - Simulation of analogue circuitry producing distortion where the waveform is progressively “squared-off” as the amount of distortion is increased.

• Valve - Simulation of analogue circuitry producing distortion similar to Diode, but at extreme settings alte rnate half-cycle s of the waveform are inverted.

• Clipper - Simulation of a digi tal overload.

• XOver - Simulation of the crossover distortion generated by bi-polar analogue

circuitry, e.g., ampliﬁer output stages.

• Rectify - All negative-going half-cycles are inverted, simulating the effect of rectiﬁcation.

• BitsDown - Reproduces the “grainy” quality associate d with lowe r bit rates, as found in older digital devices.

• RateDown - Gives the effec t of reduc ed deﬁnition and HF loss, similar to the use of a low sample rate.

Parameter: Distortion Compensation Displayed As: Di st1Ty p Default value: 100 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Distortion C ompensation only has an effect on Diode and Valve distortion types. Increasing compensation reduces the harshness of the distortion effect.

Delay Menu

The Delay FX processor produces one or more repetitions of the note played. Although the two are intimately related in an acoustic sense, delay should not be confu sed with reverb in terms of an effect. Think of delay simply as “Echo”.

The MiniNova has two delay proces sors. T heir facilities are identical ; the example below illustrates Delay 1.

Parameter: Delay T ime Displayed As: Dly1Tim e Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets the ba sic delay time. With Dly1Sync (see below ) set to Off, the note played will be rep eated after a ﬁxed time. Higher values corre spond to a longer delay, with

The PanPosn parameter (the ﬁrst para meter in the PanRoute submenu) sets the overall stereo placement of both the initial note and its delayed repetitions, and

takes precedence. This means , for example, that if you select 1/OFF as the L/ R Ratio, so that all the echoes are on the left , these echoes will gradually diminish if you set a positive value of PanPosn, which pans the signal to the right. When PanPosn is at +63 (fully right), you will hear no echoes at all. However, all of this only applies to FX Slot 1, when FXRouting is set to 1! With othe r FX Slots and/or slot conﬁgurations, you may ﬁnd that the panning works slightly differently.

Parameter: Delay Stereo Image Width Displayed As: Dly1Widt Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The Delay Stereo Image Width parameter is only really relevant to settings of De lay Left- Right Rat io which result in the echoe s being split across the stereo image. With its default value of 127, any stereo placement of delayed signals will b e fully left and fully right. Decre asing the value of D ly1Wd th reduces the width of the stereo im age and pa nned echoe s are at an intermediate position between centre and fully left o r right.

Parameter: Delay S lew Rate Displayed As: Dly1Slew Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, 1 to 127 Delay Slew Rate only has an effect on the sound when the Delay T ime is being modulated. Modulating delay time produces pitch-shifting. With DSP-generated delays, very fast changes of delay time are possible, but these may produce unwelcome effects, including digital glitching and clicks. Delay Slew Rate effectively slows the applied modulation down, so that any such glitches resulting from trying to change the delay time too rapidly may be avoided. T he default value of Off corresp onds to the maximum rate of change, and the delay time will attempt to follow any modulation accurately. Higher values will produce a smoother effect.

Reverb Menu

The Reverb algorithms ad d the effect of an acoustic space to a sound. Unlike delay, reverberation is created by generating a dense set of delayed signals, typically with different phase relationships and equalisations applied to re-create what happens to sound in a real acoustic space.

The MiniNova has two rever b processors. Their facilities are identical ; the example below illustrates Reverb 1.

Parameter: Reverb Type Displayed As: Rvb1Type Default value: LrgHall Range of adjustment: Chamber, Small Room, Large Room, Small H all, Large Hall, Great H all MiniNova provides six different reverb algorithms, designed to simulate the reﬂections which occur in rooms and halls of various sizes.

Parameter: Reverb Decay Displayed As: Rvb1Dec Default value: 90 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The Reve rb Decay parameter sets the b asic reverb time of the selected spac e. It can b e thought of as setting the size of the room.

Gator Menu

The built-in Gator is a very powerful Novation effect . In essence, it is similar to a Noise Gate, tr iggered by a repeating pattern derived from the internal or external MIDI clock. This breaks a note up rhy thmically. One of six patterns is available by setting the Gator Mode parameter; the base patterns have 16 steps, but by combining these in various ways, the Gator Mode setting produces longer, more complex patterns.

The Gator is compatible with Patche s prepared on the Novation UltraNova. The

Ultra Nova allows the user to freely c reate and edit 32-ste p patterns, including

deﬁnition of per-step volume, and to save these patterns as part of a Patch. As Ultra Nova Patches are fully compatible with the MiniNova, these Gator patterns will be replayed correctly if they are imported into a MiniN ova.

Chorus Menu

Chorus is an effect produced by mixing a continuously delayed version of the signal with the original. T he characteristic swirling effect is produced by the Chorus processor’s own LFO making ver y small changes in the delays. The changing delay also produces the effect of multiple voices, some of which are pitch-shifted; this adds to the effect.

The Chorus processor can also be conﬁgured as a Phaser, where varying phase shift is applied to the signal in speciﬁc frequency bands, and the result remixed with the original signal. The familiar ‘swishing’ effect is the result.

The MiniNova has four Chorus proc essors. Their facilities are identical; the example below illustrates Chorus 1. Note that although the parameter s are named ‘Chor us’, they are a ll effective in both Chorus and Phaser modes.

Parameter: Ch oru s Typ e Displayed As: C h1Ty pe Default value: Chorus Range of adjustment: Phaser or Chorus Conﬁgures the FX proc essor as either a C horus or Phaser.

Parameter: Chorus Speed Displayed As: Ch1Rate Default value: 20 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The Chorus Rate parameter controls the frequency of the Chorus processor’s dedicated LFO. Lower values give a lower frequency, and hence a sound whose characteri stic changes more gr adually. A slow rate is generally more effective.

Parameter: Chorus Sync Displayed As: Ch1S ync Default value: Off Range of adjustment: See Sy nc Valu es Table on page 34. Chorus Rate may synchronised to the internal or external M IDI clock, using a wide va riety of tempos.

Parameter: Chorus Feedback Displayed As: Ch1Fbck Default value: 10 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 The Chorus processor has its own feedback path between output and input, and a certain amount of feedback will us ually need to be app lied to get an effective sound. Higher values will generally be needed when Phaser mode is selected. Negative values of Feedback mean that the signal being fed back is phase- reversed.

Parameter: Chorus Depth Displayed As: Ch1Depth Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The Depth par ameter determines the amount of LFO modulation applied to the Chorus delay time, and thus the over all depth of the effect. A value of zero produces no effect.

Parameter: Chorus Delay Displayed As: Ch1Delay Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Chorus D elay is the actual delay that is used to gene rate the chorus /phaser effect. Dynamically altering this parameter will produce some interesting effects, though the difference in sound between different static settings is not marked, unless Chorus

Feedback is at a high value. The overall effect of Chorus Delay is more pronounced in Phaser mode.

Modulating Chorus Delay with an LFO gives a much richer, dual chorus effect.

Gator patterns in the MiniNova may be edited “of f-line” using MiniNova Editor

software.

Note that for the Gator to have its full effect, the FX Amount set ting for the Slot

into which it is loaded needs to be at maximum - 127. In addition to this, the

FX Rout ing conﬁguration will also have a bearing on its audibility.

Parameter: Gator On/Of f Displayed As: GtOn/Off Default value: On Range of adjustment: Off or On This switches the Gator ef fect on or off.

Parameter: Gator Latch Displayed As: GtLatch Default value: On Range of adjustment: Off or On With the Latch Of f, a note sounds only while its key is pressed. With L atch On, pressing a key will cause the note, modiﬁed by its G ator pattern, to sound continuously. It is canc elled by setting GtLatch to Off again.

Parameter: Gator Rate Sync Displayed As: GtRSync Default value: 8th Range of adjustment: See Sy nc Valu es Table on page 34. The clo ck driving the Gator’s trigger is derived from the MiniNova’s maste r tempo clock and the BPM may be adju sted by the ARP TEMPO control [21]. Gator Rate may synchronised to the internal or ex ternal MIDI clock, using a wide variety of tempos.

Parameter: Gator Key Sync Displayed As: GtKSync Default value: On Range of adjustment: Off or On When Key Sync is On, eve ry time you press a key, the Gator pattern re starts at its beginning. With Key Sync Off, the pattern continues independently in the background.

Parameter: Gator Edge Slew Displayed As: Gt Slew Default value: 16 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Gator Edge Slew controls the rise time of the triggering clock. This in turn controls how fast the gate opens and closes and thu s whether the note ha s a sharp at tack or a slight ‘fade-in” and “ fade-out”. Higher values of GtSlew lengthen the rise time, and thus slow down the gate response.

Parameter: Gator Hold Displayed As: Gt Hold Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The Gator Hold parameter controls how long the Noise Gate is open for onc e it has been triggered, and thus the duration of the note he ard. Note that this parameter is independent of the clock tempo or Gator Rate Sync parameter, and that the note durati on set by GtHold is constant, w hatever speed the pattern is running at.

Parameter: Gator Left-Right Delay Displayed As: GtL/RDel Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 To enhance the effect of sequenced patterns further, the Gator includes a dedicated delay proce ssor. When set to zero, the notes in the pattern are centrally located in the stereo image. With positive values, the notes are panned hard left and a delayed repetition of the note is panned hard right. The value of the para meter controls the delay time. With negative values, a pre-echo results (an echo which prece des the note). Th e stereo imaging is the same, with the timed pattern note itself on the left and the pre-echo on the right.

Parameter: Gator Mode Displayed As: GtMode Default value: Mono16 Range of adjustment: see Gator Modes Table on page 38. The Mode parameter allows you to select one of 6 methods of combining the two sets of 16-step Groups, {A} and {B}. Three of the modes are mono, and three are stereo, in which notes in Set {A} are routed to the Left output and those in Set {B} to the Right output.

mono 16

top line

bottom line

mono Alt 1

mono Alt 2

1 2 3 5 764 8 9 10 12 14 15 161311

top line

bottom line

top line

bottom line

1 2 3 5 764 8 9 10 12 14 15 161311

Stereo 16

Left Channel

Right Channel

Bottom Line

Stereo Alt 1

Left Channel

bottom line

Right Channel

bottom line

Stereo Alt 2

Left Channel

bottom line

Right Channel

bottom line

Top Line

top line

1 2 3 5 764 8 9 10 12 14 15 161311

The main FX Pan parameters in the ﬁrst submenu of the Effects menu will override the stereo Gator Modes. The stereo modes will only operate as described if the main FX Pan controls are set centrally.

Edit menu -Submenu 10 : V o xTu n e

Try working out all the notes that make up a simple melody and play them all at

once as a chord. Then, if you sing the melody, VocalTune will snap your vocal only

to those notes.

Parameter: VocalTune Key Displayed As: VT Key Default value: C Range of adjustment: C to B (standard 12-note scale ) Sets the key in which Vocal Tune operates (with VT Mo de set to ScalCorr and V T Scale not set to Played ).

Parameter: VocalTune Speed Displayed As: VT Speed Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

Sets the time for Vocal Tune to adjust the pitch of the incoming audio to the tar get pitch. A

value is 0 is slow and 12 7 is fast.

Parameter: VocalTune Routing Displayed As: VTInsert Default value: PreFX Range of adjustment: PreFilt, PostFilt, PreFX

This parameter controls the routing of the Vocal Tune output within the synth.

• PreFilt – Pre F ilter; inserts the pitch-shifted audio ( before the ﬁlter) into the same

mixer audio channel as the Oscillator. The vocal signa l will the refore only be heard when a key is pressed (or when a MIDI Note On command is received).

• PostFilt – Post Filter; inserts the pitch-shif ted audio (after the ﬁlter) into the same mixer audio channel as the Oscillator. The vocal signa l will still only occur when a key is pres sed (or actioned via a MIDI Note On command ).

• PreFX – Inserts the pitch-shifted audio dire ctly into the FX stage of the MiniNova . With this setting, there is no need to press a key to hear the vocal.

Parameter: VocalTune Output Level Displayed As: VT Level Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

VT Level sets the output level of the pitch-shifted audio.

Parameter: VocalTune Vibrato Level Displayed As: VibAmont Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -12 to +12 The VocalTune feature incorporates a vibrato effect, which adds additional authenticity to the pitch-shifted audio. VibAmont sets the amount of vibrato applie d to the pitch-shif ted audio.

Parameter: VocalTune Mode Displayed As: VT Mod e Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off, ScalCorr, KBCtrl, Pitch

VocalTune is a powerful MiniNova feature, which lets you alter the pitch of a signal at the

Audio /Mic Input ( e.g., your voice through the MiniNova’s mic). There are three methods of

providing the musical scale that VocalTune uses as a reference when changing the pitch of

the audio signal.

• ScalCorr - Scale Correction. A ﬁxe d scale is selected with the VT Scal e parameter (below), and a key with VT Key. This set ting will set the pitch of the Mi c input to match that scale.

• KBCtrl – Keyb oard Control. The keyboard sets the guide pitch based on the last note(s) played. If you play a chord, the audio input will assume the pitch of the neare st note in the chord.

• Pitch – Pitch Shift. Adds a ﬁxed amount of pitch shif t to the inc oming audio. The amount of shift is set using the PtchShft parameter. Additional real-time pitch shifting can be controlle d using the Pitch Wheel (range being set using the BendShft parameter).

Parameter: VocalTune Scale Displayed As: VT Scale Default value: Played Range of adjustment: Played, Chrmatic, Major, RelMinor, HarMinor, MelMinor When in S cale Correction mode ( with VT Mode set to ScalCorr) you can select the scale that Vocal Tune uses as a reference. If VT Sc ale is set to Played, the Voca lTune will reference the notes in the chord that has been played most recently.

The more notes in the last chord, the more notes Voc alTune has to snap to. A

three-note triad doesn’t give gre at results.

Parameter: VocalTune Vibrato Level Via MOD W heel Displayed As: VibM odWl Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -12 to +12 In addition to VibAmont, you have the ability to alter the amount of vibrato applie d to the pitch-shifted audio in real-ti me, using the MOD W heel. VibModWl sets the range that can be applied.

Parameter: VocalTune Vibrato Rate Displayed As: VibR ate Default value: 80 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 The rate (speed) of the vibrato applied to both VibAmont and VibModWl.

Parameter: VocalTune Pitch Shift Displayed As: PtchShft Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -24 to +24 VocalTune applies both xed a nd dynamic pitch shifting. PtchShft sets the amount of ﬁxed pitch shif t that will be appli ed to the incoming audio signal. This will be in addition to

any pitch shift applied a s a result of VocalTune being used to alter the pitch of an incoming

audio signal in real time ( e.g., V TMode settings of ScalCorr and KBCntl). PtchShft intervals are in semitones.

Parameter: VocalTune Pitch Wheel Range Displayed As: BendShft Default value: 12 Range of adjustment: -24 to +24 BendShft sets the range of additional pitch shift available from use of the Pitch Wheel. Bend Shift intervals are also in semitones. VT Modes Scal Corr and KBCntl apply additional correction prior to the Bend Shift stage.

Parameter: VocalTune Gate Threshold Displayed As: GateThr Default value: -50 Range of adjustment: -96 to 0

The input channel of the VocalTune feature includes a Noise Gate to help reject unwanted

microphone noise. Set GateT hr to suit the incoming audio source. Values are in dBs .

Parameter: Modulator Level Displayed As: M od ul Lvl Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 ModulLvl adjusts the level of the mic rophone (or other external input) that is mixed with

the Vocod er output signal .

Parameter: VocalTune Gate Release Time Displayed As: GateRel Default value: 64 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter sets how long the gate remains open after the signal level ha s dropped below the value set by Gat eThr. The default value of 64 should sufﬁce for ma ny purposes, but longer or shorter times may be more suitable for certain t ypes of material.

Edit menu - Submenu 11: Vocoder

A Vocoder is a device which analyzes selected frequencies present in an audio signal

(called a Modulator) and superimposes these frequencies onto another sound (called the Carrier). It does this by feeding the Modulator signal into a ba nk of band pass ﬁlters. Each of these ﬁlters (12 of them in the MiniNova) covers a particular band in the audio spectrum, and the ﬁlter bank thus “splits” the audio signal into 12 separate frequency bands. The result of this arrangement is that the spectral content – i.e. the “character” of the audio signal is “imposed” upon the synth sound, and what you hear is a synth sound simulating the audio input ( typic ally a vocal).

The ﬁnal character of the vo coded sound will d epend greatly on the harmonics present in the synth sound used as the C arrier. Patches very rich in harmonics (for example using Sawtooth Waves) w ill generally gi ve the best results.

Typically, the Modulator signal used by a Vocoder would be a human voice speaking or

singing into a microphone. This creates the distinctive robotic or ‘talky’ like sounds which have recently returned to popularity and are now being used in lots of current music genres. Bear in mind however, that the Modulator signal need not be restricted to huma n speech. Other types of Modulator signa l can be used (for example, an electric guitar or drums ) and can often give quite unexpected and interesting results.

The mos t common way of using the Vocoder is with the dynamic gooseneck mic supplied

with the MiniNova (or any other dyna mic mic ) plugged into the top panel XL R socket [ 22]. Alternatively, the Modulator signals may be from an instrument or other source connected to the EX T IN socket {32}, located on the rear panel, but remember that a jack plug connected at this input will override the top pa nel XLR input. The Modulator input to the

Vocoder is always mono.

The pitch of the ﬁnal vocoded sound will depend on the note s that the Carrier (the cur rently selected Patch ) is playing. Notes can either be playe d on the MiniNova’s keyboard or recei ved via MIDI from an exter nal keyboard or sequencer. Both Carrier and M odulator

signals must be p resent s imulta neousl y for the Vocoder effect to work , so notes must be played while the M odulator signal is present. The Vocoder is enabled by selecting a Patch

of Type VOCODER/MIC FX with the TYPE/GENRE knob [4], and controlled from the VOCODE R submenu.

Submenu: Vocoder

Parameter: Vocoder On/Off Displayed As: On/Off Default value: Off Range of adjustment: On or Of f

Enables/disables the Vocoder function.

Parameter: Vocoder Level Displayed As: VocodLvl Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

Characteristic Vocoder sounds are obtained by blending the Vocoder output with one

or other of the two source signals. M iniNova lets you mix the output of the vocoder with

either the Modulator signal or the C arrier signal , or both. VocodLvl adjusts the l evel of the Vocoder output in this mix.

MiniNova

127 127 127

0 0 0

VocoderModulator Carrier

Parameter: Vocoder Width Displayed As: VocWidth Default value: 127 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127

The outputs of each Vocoder  lter band are routed to the Left and Right channels

alternately to produce a ste reo image with good depth. D ecreasing the value of Width will progress ively route all the ﬁlter outputs to both outputs, so with Width set to zero, the

Vocoder output will be in mono and centrally located in the stereo image.

Parameter: Vocoder Mode Displayed As: VocMode Default value: Normal Range of adjustment: Normal, AllM ax The Normal setting produces standard vocoder operation. The modulator signal (usually the microphone input) is analysed to produce driving levels for the vocoder carrier synthe sis bands. Use this mode if you want the t ypical ‘talk ing robot’ type of sound.

If Voc Mode is set to AllMax, no analysis is performed. All the carrier synthesisis bands are set to a high level and this allows the vocoder to be used as a powerful multi-ﬁlter effect. Used in conjuction with the other vocoder parameters, in particular Resonate, VocShift and VocSpred (see below), effects ranging from subtle stereo comb ﬁltering and pha sing to strange bell like textures can be found. Exper iment !

Parameter: Vocoder Freeze Mode Displayed As: VocFreez Default value: Off Range of adjustment: Off or On With VocFreez set to Off, nor mal voco der operation is available. In this mode, the modulator input (normally the mic) will be constantly analysed by the vocoder.

If VocFreez is set to On, the current levels of the vocoder modulator analysis ﬁlters will be frozen, and stored. (Imagine taking a single frame from a ﬁlm as an analogy. ) This can be used to ‘capture’ the mic signal. Factory Patches ‘Aaah1’ (B073) and ‘Aaah2’ (B074) use this freeze mode . Note that the frozen formant is stored as part of the Patch dat a.

Parameter: Vocoder Shift Displayed As: VocShift Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 The Voc Shift parameter changes how the vocoder modulator analysis ﬁlter band frequencies a re mapped to the carrier synthesis band frequencies. It offsets the whole of the analysis bands by the s ame amount relative to the synthesis bands. A positive value shifts the carrier bands up the frequency spectrum, whereas negative values shif ts them downwards.

Parameter: Carrier Level Displayed As: C ar ri Lvl Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Carri Lvl adjusts the level of the Carrier signal (the currently selected synth Patch) in the

Vocoder output mix.

Parameter: Vocoder Spread Displayed As: VocSpred Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: -64 to + 63 VocSpred further modiﬁes how the vocoder modulator analysis ﬁlter band frequencies are map ped to the carrier synthesis band frequencies. It increases or decreases the range of frequencies involved (think of ‘stretching’ and ‘shrinking’). Positive values of VocSpred stret ch how the fr equencies are mapp ed, negative values have the opposite effect.

Parameter: Vocoder Sibilance Type Displayed As: Si bTyp e Default value: HighPass Range of adjustment: HighPass or Noise In the default setting of HighPass, sibilance is extracted from the Modulator signal (i.e. the vocalist’s natural voice) by ﬁltering. This set ting will allow some of the Modulator signal to be heard. If you want to add some sibilance to the vocoded vocals, but the per former’s voice just isn’t that sibilant naturally, you can arti ﬁcially simulate sibilance by selecting Noise as Sibilance Type. This will add a small level of noise to the Modulator si gnal and the vocoder will treat the ad ditional HF content in the same manner as it would natural sibilance.

Parameter: Vocoder Sibilance Level Displayed As: SibLevel Default value: 40 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 This parameter determines the am ount sibilance that will be present in the ﬁnal vocoded

signal, and can make the Vocoder emphasise the explosive ‘S’ and ‘T’ sounds found in speech. Sibilance can be added to give the Vocoder to give a more distinctive sound and

to make vocoded vocals more intelligible.

Parameter: Vocod er Noise G ate Threshold Displayed As: GateThr Default value: -96 Range of adjustment: -96 to 0 The Modulator signal (from the mi cropho ne or exte rnal audio input ) has a noise gate in the signal path to reject unwanted low level signals. GateThr sets the threshold of the gate.

This is a valuable feature when using the Vocoder in live perform ance as it will help prevent Vocoder action being trig gered by extraneous sounds picked up by the microphone. The

calib ration is approximately in dBs below internal clip level (0 dB ).

Parameter: Vocod er Noise G ate Release Time Displayed As: GateRel Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 GateRel sets the release time of the Noise Gate; that is, how long the Gate stays open after the Modul ator signal level drops below the level set by GateThr (i.e., how long the mic remains live after you stop singing).

Both Voc Shift and VocSpred drastically alter the tonal output of the vocoder. Changing them widely from their default values may have a detrimental effect on

the intelligibility of the vocoder output, but they are very useful creative tools. Note that both are also m od slot de stinations in the Modulation Matrix. Great ‘moving’ vocoder sounds can be achieved by using these destinations.

Parameter: Vocoder Resonance Displayed As: Resonate Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Resonate sets the amount of resonance that the vocoder synthesis ﬁlter bands have. More resonance gives a ringing sound to the vocoder output. Less resonance gives a drier sound.

Parameter: Vocoder Decay Displayed As: VocDecay Default value: 0 Range of adjustment: 0 to 127 Controls how long the analysis bands take to close once their threshold has been exceeded. Short decay times aid intelligibility of the vocoder. Longer release times are useful for more creative vocoder effects.

Top Menu: Dump

The ﬁnal menu is where you transfer Patch and other data between the MiniNova and a MIDI-enabled device (hardware or software) that can store MIDI SysEx data.

Parameter: Dump Current Patch Displayed As: DmpCrPch On pressing the OK button while DmpCr Pch OK? is displayed, the currently-loaded Patch (i.e., all the current synth Patch parameters ) will be transmitted via both the US B and MIDI OUT por ts. You can alternatively press MENU/BACK if you decide not to go ahead with the dump.

Parameter: Set Bank Displayed As: Set Bank Use the D ATA knob to select Bank A, B or C ; on pres sing OK, you will be asked to conﬁrm whether you want to go ahead and dump the Patch data for all patches in the currentlyselected bank.

Parameter: Set Patch to dump Displayed As: SetPatch This option lets you dump any Patch in the M iniNova – not necessarily the currently-loaded one. The name of the Patch to dump is displayed on the second row of the LCD. Use the DATA knob to select the Patch to dump by name, then use the PAGE H but ton to sele ct the next menu option:

Parameter: Dump S elected Patch Displayed As: DumpPtch Press OK to dump th e Patch selected by SetPatch.

Parameter: Dump All Patches Displayed As: D um p All Pressing OK while this screen is displaye d will dum p all 384 Patches (128 x 3 banks). This dump will not includ e the MiniNova’s Global settings (see below ).

Parameter: Dump G lobal set tings Displayed As: Du mpGlo bal This function is the complement to Dump All; the current G lobal settings (i.e., audio levels, transposition settings, etc.) will be dumped as a separ ate write procedure.

Waveform Table

DISPLAY FORM

Sine

Triangle

Sawtooth

Saw9:1PW

Saw8:2PW

Saw7:3PW

Saw6:4PW

Saw5:5PW

Saw4:6PW

Saw3:7PW

Saw2:8PW

Saw1:9PW

Square

BassCamp

Bass_FM

EP_Dull

EP_Bell

Clav

DoubReed

Retro

StrnMch1

StrnMch2

Organ_1

Organ_2

EvilOrg

HiStuff

Bell_FM1

Bell_FM2

DigBell1

DigBell2

DigBell3

DigBell4

DigiPad

Wtable 1

Wtable ....

Wtable36

AudioInL/M

AudioInR

Sine

Triangle

Sawtooth

Sawtooth Pulse Width 9:1 Ratio

Sawtooth Pulse Width 8:2 Ratio

Sawtooth Pulse Width 7:3 Ratio

Sawtooth Pulse Width 6:4 Ratio

Sawtooth Pulse Width 5:5 Ratio

Sawtooth Pulse Width 4:6 Ratio

Sawtooth Pulse Width 3:7 Ratio

Sawtooth Pulse Width 2:8 Ratio

Sawtooth Pulse Width 1:9 Ratio

Pulse Width

Square

Camp Bass

Frequency Modulated Bass

Dull Electric Piano

Bell Electric Piano

Clavinova

Double Reed

Retro

String Machine 1

String Machine 2

Organ 1

Organ 2

Evil Organ

High Stuff

Frequency Modulated Bell 1

Frequency Modulated Bell 2

Digital Bell 1

Digital Bell 2

Digital Bell 3

Digital Bell 4

Digital Pad

Wavetable 1

Wavetable ....

Wavetable 36

Left Audio Input (or Gooseneck Microphone)

Right Audio input

Sync Values Table

DISPLAY DETAI LS CHORUS SYNC

32nd T

32nd

16th T

16th

8th T

16th D

8th

4th T

8th D

4th

1 + 1/3

4th D

2nd

2 + 2/3

3 Beats

4 Beats

5 + 1/3

6 Beats

8 Beats

10 + 2/3

12 Beats

13 + 1/3

16 Beats

18 Beats

18 + 2/3

20 Beats

21 + 1/3

24 Beats

28 Beats

30 Beats

32 Beats

36 Beats

42 Beats

48 Beats

64 Beats

48 cycles per 1 bar

32 cycles per 1 bar

24 cycles per 1 bar

16 cycles per 1 bar

12 cycles per 1 bar

8 cycles per 3 beats / 32 cycles per 3 bars

8 cycles per 1 bar

6 cycles per 1 bar

4 cycles per 3 beats / 16 cycles per 3 bars

4 cycles per 1 bar

3 cycles per 1 bar

2 cycles per 3 beats / 8 cycles per 3 bars

2 cycles per 1 bar

3 cycles per 2 bars

1 cycle per 3 beats / 4 cycles per 3 bars

1 cycles per 1 bar

3 cycles per 2 bars

1 cycle per 6 beats / 2 cycles per 3 bars

1 cycle per 2 bars

3 cycles per 4 bars

1 cycle per 12 beats /1 cycle per 3 bars

3 cycles per 10 bars

1 cycle per 4 bars

1 cycle per 18 beats /2 cycles per 9 bars

3 cycles per 8 bars

1 cycle per 5 bars

3 cycles per 16 bars

1 cycle per 6 bars

1 cycle per 7 bars

2 cycles per 15 bars

1 cycle per 8 bars

1 cycle per 9 bars

2 cycles per 21 bars

1 cycle per 12 bars

1 cycle per 16 bars

LFO RATE SYNC

LFO DELAY SYNC

PAN SYNC

ARP SYNC

GATOR SYNC

FX DELAY SYNC

a a

LFO Waveforms Table

DI SPL AY WAVEFORM E XTR A INFO

Sine

Triangle

Sawtooth

Square

Rand S/H

Time S/H

PianoEnv

Seq 1

Seq 2

Seq 3

Seq 4

Seq 5

Seq 6

Seq 7

Altern 1

Altern 2

Altern 3

Altern 4

Altern 5

Altern 6

Altern 7

Altern 8

Chromat

Major

Major 7

Mino r 7

MinA rp 1

MinA rp 2

Diminish

DecMinor

Mino r3rd

Pedal

4ths

4th s x12

1625 Maj

162 5 Min

2 511

Traditional LFO shapes

Jumps to random va lues every cycle of the LFO

Jumps to min and ma x value each held for a random amount of time

A curved sawtooth shape

These are sequences that jump to different values, holding each for a six teenth of the LFO cyc le rate.

These are sequences that jump between a minimum and a maxi mum value, each value held for a var ying inte rval of time.

These are “melodic” sequences of various kinds. When modulating oscillator pitch, to obtain chromatic results, set Modul ation Depth to either ±30 or ±36.

Modulation Matrix Sources Table

DISPLAY SOU RCE COMMENTS

Direct

ModWheel

AftTouch

Express

Velocity

Keyboard

Lfo 1+

Lfo 1+/-

Lfo2+

Lfo2+/-

Lfo 3 +

Lfo 3 +/-

Env1Amp Env2Filt Env3 - Env6

AudInEnv

* Note tha t the MiniN ova keyboa rd does no t send Afte rtouch d ata, but t he synth en gine will c orrect ly

respo nd to any Aftertouch d ata rece ived via M IDI (vi a DIN or US B).

Mod Wheel Mod Whe el is the controller.

Aftertouch Modulation is proportional to the

Expression pedal An external foot pedal provides

Key velocity M odulation is proprtional to hard

Key position Modulation is propor tional to key

LFO 1 ‘+’ = LFO inc reases value of

LFO 2

LFO 3

Envelopes 1 to 6 All six envelopes are triggered

Audio Input Envelope

No modulation source selected.

pressure applied to a key while it is held down. ( Monophonic aftertouch).*

the control.

the key is played.

position.

controlled parameter i n a positi ve sense only. ‘+/-‘ = LF O increases and decreases value of controlled parameter equally.

by a keypress, and any/all may be used to vary parameter s over time. Note that Env1 and Env 2 are “ha rd-wir ed” to control Amplitude and Filter parameter s, but are still available to co ntrol other parameters.

Output of Envelope Follower in Mic/Audio Input signal path.

Modulation Matrix Destinations Table

DISPLAY DE STINATION COMME NTS

Oscillators:

O123Ptch

O1Pitch

O2Pitch

O3Pitch

O1V sy n c

O2Vsync

O3Vsync

O1PW/Idx

O2PW/Idx

O3PW/Idx

O1Ha rd

O2Hard

O3Hard

O1Level

O2Level

O3Level

NoiseLvl

RM1*3Lvl

RM2*3Lvl

F1DA mn t

F2DAmnt

F1Fre q

F2Freq

F1Re s

F2Res

FBalance

L1Ra te

L2Rate

L3Rate

Env1Dec

Env2Dec

FX1A mnt

FX2Amnt

FX3Amnt

FX4Amnt

FX5Amnt

FXFedbac

FXWetLvl

Ch1Rate

Ch1Depth

Ch1Delay

Ch1Fback

Ch2Rate

Ch2Depth

Ch2Delay

Ch2Fback

Ch3Rate

Global oscillator pitch All Oscillators: Pitch Transpose

Per-oscillator pitch Oscillator 1: Pitch Transpose

Oscillator 2: Pitch Transpose

Oscillator 3: Pitch Transpose

Per-oscillator Variable Sync Oscillator 1: Virtual Sync

Oscillator 2: Virtual Sync

Oscillator 3: Virtual Sync

Per-oscillator pulse width/ Wave Table Index

Per-oscillator hardness Oscillator 1: Hardness

Mixers:

Mixer input levels Mixer: Oscillator 1 Level

Filters :

Pre-ﬁlter distortion, perﬁlter

Filter 2: Distortion Amount

Per-ﬁlter frequency Filter 1: Frequency

Per-ﬁlter resonance Filter 1: Resonance

Filter 1/Filter 2 balance Filter Balance

LFOs:

Per-LFO frequency LFO 1: Rate

Envelopes:

Envelope Decay Time Envelope 1 (Amp): Decay Time

FX:

Chorus parameters Chorus 1: Rate

Oscillator 1: Pulsewidth / Wavetable Index

Oscillator 2: Pulsewidth / Wavetable Index

Oscillator 3: Pulsewidth / Wavetable Index

Oscillator 2: Hardness

Oscillator 3: Hardness

Mixer: Oscillator 2 Level

Mixer: Oscillator 3 Level

Mixer: Noise Level

Mixer: Ring Mod 1*3 Level

Mixer: Ring Mod 2*3 Level

Filter 1: Distortion Amount

Filter 2: Frequency

Filter 2: Resonance

LFO 2: R ate

LFO 3: Rate

Envelope 2 (Filter): Decay Time

FX1: FX Amount

FX2: FX Amount

FX3: FX Amount

FX4: F X Amount

FX5: F X Amount

FX: FX Feedback

FX: Wet Level

Chorus 1: Depth

Chorus 1: Delay

Chorus 1: Feedback

Chorus 2: Rate

Chorus 2: Depth

Chorus 2: Delay

Chorus 2: Feedback

Chorus 3: Rate

Ch3Depth

Ch3Delay

Ch3Fback

Ch4Rate

Ch4Depth

Ch4Delay

Ch4Fback

Dly1Tim e

Dly1Fba k

Dly 2 Tim e

Dly2Fbak

EQBasLvl

EQBasFrq

EQ M id Lvl

EQ MidFr q

E QTr b Lvl

EQTrbFrq

PanPosn

VocShift

VocSpred

VocRes

PreFXLvl

Pit S hif t

Delay parameters Delay 1: Delay Time

EQ settings EQ: Bass Level

Pan Position Pan: Pa n Position

Vocoder Shift

Vocoder Spread

Vocoder Resonance

Pre FX Level Mixer output level

Pitch Shift Controls dynamic pitch shifting in

Chorus 3: Depth

Chorus 3: Delay

Chorus 3: Feedback

Chorus 4: Rate

Chorus 4: Depth

Chorus 4: Delay

Chorus 4: Feedback

Delay 1: Feedback

Delay 2: Delay Time

Delay 2: Feedback

EQ: Ba ss Frequency

EQ: Mi d Level

EQ: Mi d Freque ncy

EQ: Treble Level

EQ: Treble Frequency

Vocal Tuning processor

Tweak Parameters Table

DISPLAY AREA DETAIL

----

Po r tTim e

FXWetLvl

PstFXLvl

PanPosn

UniDetune

O1WTInt

O1Pw/Idx

O1V S yn c

O1Ha rd

O1Dense

O1DnsDtn

O1Semi

O1Cents

O2WTInt

O2Pw/Idx

O2Vsync

O2Hard

O2Dense

O2DnsDtn

O2Semi

O2Cents

Oscillators:

Oscillator 1 parameters Oscillator 1: Wavetable Interpolation

Oscillator 2 parameters Oscillator 2: Wavetable Interpolation

Voice: Portamento Time

FX: Wet Level

Mixer: Post FX Level

FX: Pan Position

Voice: Unison Detune

Oscillator 1: Pulsewidth / Wavetable Index

Oscillator 1: Vir tual Sync

Oscillator 1: Hardness

Oscillator 1: Density

Oscillator 1: Density Detune

Oscillator 1: Semitone Transpose

Oscillator 1: Cents Transpose

Oscillator 2: Pulsewidth / Wavetable Index

Oscillator 2: Virtual Sync

Oscillator 2: Hardness

Oscillator 2: Density

Oscillator 2: Density Detune

Oscillator 2: Semitone Transpose

Oscillator 2: Cents Transpose

Tweak Parameters Table - Continued

O3WTInt

O3Pw/Idx

O3Vsync

O3Hard

O3Dense

O3DnsDtn

O3Semi

O3Cents

O1Level

O2Level

O3Level

RM1*3Lvl

RM2*3Lvl

NoiseLvl

Fbalance

F1Fre q

F1Re s

F1DA mn t

F1Tr ac k

F2Freq

F2Res

F2DAmnt

F2Trac k

F1Env2

F2Env2

AmpAtt

AmpDec

AmpSus

A mp R el

FltAtt

FltDec

FltSus

Flt R el

E3Delay

E3Att

E3Dec

E3Sus

E3Rel

L1Ra te

L1RS ync

L1Slew

L2Rate

L2RSync

L2Slew

L3Rate

L3RSync

L3Slew

Oscillator 3 parameters Oscillator 3: Wavetable Interpolation

Mixer:

Filters :

Envelope 1:

Envelope 2:

Envelope 3:

LFOs:

Oscillator 3: Pulsewidth / Wavetable Index

Oscillator 3: Virtual Sync

Oscillator 3: Hardness

Oscillator 3: Density

Oscillator 3: Density Detune

Oscillator 3: Semitone Transpose

Oscillator 3: Cents Transpose

Mixer: Oscillator 1 Level

Mixer: Oscillator 2 Level

Mixer: Oscillator 3 Level

Mixer: Ring Mod 1*3 Level

Mixer: Ring Mod 2*3 Level

Mixer: Noise Level

Filter Balance

Filter 1: Frequency

Filter 1: Resonance

Filter 1: Distortion Amount

Filter 1: Keyboard Tracking

Filter 2: Frequency

Filter 2: Resonance

Filter 2: Distortion Amount

Filter 2: Keyboard Tracking

Filter 1: Envelope 2 A mount

Filter 2: Envelope 2 Amount

Envelope 1 (Amp ): Attack Time

Envelope 1 (Amp ): Decay Time

Envelope 1 (Amp): Sustain Level

Envelope 1 (Amp): Release Time

Envelope 2 (Filter): At tack Time

Envelope 2 (Filter): Decay Time

Envelope 2 (Filter): Su stain Level

Envelope 2 (Filter): Release Time

Envelope 3: Delay

Envelope 3: Att ack Time

Envelope 3: Decay Time

Envelope 3: Sustain Level

Envelope 3: Release Time

LFO 1: Rate

LFO 1: Sync Rate

LFO 1: Slew Amount

LFO 2: R ate

LFO 2: Sync Rate

LFO 2: S lew Amount

LFO 3: Rate

LFO 3: Sync Rate

LFO 3: Slew Amount

FX1A mnt

FX2Amnt

FX3Amnt

FX4Amnt

FX5Amnt

FXFedbck

D st1 Lvl

Dst2Lvl

Dly1Tim e

Dly1Syn c

Dly1Fbck

Dly1Slew

Dly 2 Tim e

Dly2Sync

Dly2Fbck

Dly2Slew

Ch1Rate

Ch1Fbck

Ch1Depth

Ch1Delay

Ch2Rate

Ch2Fbck

Ch2Depth

Ch2Delay

Ch3Rate

Ch3Fbck

Ch3Depth

Ch3Delay

Ch4Rate

Ch4Fbck

Ch4Depth

Ch4Delay

Gt Slew

GtDecay

GtL/RDel

A rp G Tim e

ArpSwing

M1Depth

M...Depth

M20Depth

FX:

FX1: FX Amount

FX2: FX Amount

FX3: FX Amount

FX4: F X Amount

FX5: F X Amount

FX: FX Feedback

Distortion Distortion: Distortion 1 Level

Distortion: Distortion 1 Level

Delay parameters Delay 1: Delay Time

Delay 1: Delay Sync Time

Delay 1: Feedback

Delay 1: Slew Amount

Delay 2: Delay Time

Delay 2: Delay Sync Time

Delay 2: Feedback

Delay 2 : Slew Amount

Chorus parameters Chorus 1: Rate

Chorus 1: Feedback

Chorus 1: Depth

Chorus 1: Delay

Chorus 2: Rate

Chorus 2: Feedback

Chorus 2: Depth

Chorus 2: Delay

Chorus 3: Rate

Chorus 3: Feedback

Chorus 3: Depth

Chorus 3: Delay

Chorus 4: Rate

Chorus 4: Feedback

Chorus 4: Depth

Chorus 4: Delay

Gator parameters Gator: Slew A mount

Gator: Decay Time

Gator: Left/Right Delay Time

Arpeggiator parameters Arpeggiator: Gate Time

Arpeggiator: Swing

Modulation Depth:

Modul ation Matrix: Slot 1 Depth

Modulation Matrix: Slot ... Depth

Modul ation Matrix: Slot 20 Depth

Filter Table

❚ ❚ ❚ ❚

❚❚ ❚❚

DIS PLAYE D AS DESCRIPTION

LP6NoRes

LP12

LP18

LP24

BP6/\6

BP12/\12

BP6/\12

BP12/\6

BP6/\18

BP18/\6

HP6NoRes

HP12

HP18

HP24

Lo-pass, 6 dB/oct, no resonance

Lo-pass, 12 dB/oct

Lo-pass, 18 dB/oct

Lo-pass, 24 dB/oct

Symmetric Band-pass, 6 dB/oct

Symmetric Band-pass, 12 dB/oct

Asymmetric Band-pass, 6 dB/oct (hi-pass), 12 dB/oct (lo-pass)

Asymmetric Band-pass, 12 dB/oct (hi-pass), 6 dB/oct (lo-pass)

Asymmetric Band-pass, 6 dB/oct (hi-pass), 18 dB/oct (lo-pass)

Asymmetric Band-pass, 18 dB/oct (hi-pass), 6 dB/oct (lo-pass)

Hi-pass, 6 dB/oct, no resonance

Hi-pass, 12 dB/oct

Hi-pass, 18 dB/oct

Hi-pass, 24 dB/oct

Arp Mode Table

DIS PLAYE D AS DE SCRIPTI ON COMME NTS

Down

Chord

UpDown

UpDown2

Random

Played

Ascending Sequence begins with lowest note played

Descending Sequence begins with highest note played

“Polyphonic” mode All keys held are played simultaneously as a chord

Ascend/descend Sequence alternates

As UpDown, but lowest and highest notes are played twice

Random The keys held are played in a continuously-varying random

Key order Sequence comprises notes in the order in which they are

sequence

played

Gator Modes Table

DISPLAY MODE DESCRIPTION

Mo no16

MonoAlt1

MonoAlt2

Stereo16

Ste rAlt1

Ste rAlt2

16-note mono 16-note mono sequence: {A}

32-note mono 32-note mono sequence: {AB}

2 x 32-note mono 2 x 16-note sequences, each repeated: {AABB}

16-note stereo 2 x 16-note sequences simultaneously, {A} L, {B} R

16-note stereo 2 x 16-note sequences simultaneously: {A} L, {B} R, {A} R, {B} L

16-note stereo As SterAlt1, but each sequence pair is repeated

Effects Type Table

DI SPL AY EFFECT COMMENTS

By pass

Compres1 Compres2

Disto rt1 Disto rt2

Delay1 Delay2

Reverb1 Reverb2

Chorus1 Chorus2 Chorus3 Chorus4

Gator

- No effects enabled

Equalisation 3-band sweep EQ

Compression Compressor with variable threshold and

ratio, and variable ADSR

Overdrive Adds distortion effects

Delay line (Echo) Single and multiple echos

Reverberation Hall and room simulation

Chorus & Phasing Time-domain effects

Gator 8-level, 32-step sequencer

❚❚❚ ❚ ❚

❚ ❚❚❚

❚ ❚ ❚ ❚

❚❚ ❚❚

FIRMWARE UPDATES

It is possible to install ﬁ rmware updates into the MiniNova. To check whether updates are available and to ﬁnd out how to perform this operation, visit the N ovation website (www.novationmusic.com/support).

Novation MiniNova User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual