ROLAND RAPTURE User Manual

Rapture

User’s Guide

Benutzerhandbuch

Manual del Usuario

Manuel de l’utilisateur

Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement or nondisclosure agreement. The software may be used or copied only in accordance of the terms of the agreement. It is against the law to copy this software on any medium except as specifically allowed in the agreement. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the express written permission of Twelve Tone Systems, Inc.

ACID is a trademark of Sonic Foundry, Inc.

Cakewalk is a registered trademark of Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. Project5 and the Cakewalk logo are trademarks of Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. Other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

Visit Cakewalk on the World Wide Web at www.cakewalk.com.

Die Informationen in diesem Dokument unterliegen Änderungen ohne vorherige Ankündigung und stellen keine Verpflichtung von Seiten von Twelve Tone Systems, Inc dar. Die in diesem Dokument beschriebene Software wird im Rahmen einer Lizenz oder Nichtveröffentlichungsvereinbarung bereit gestellt. Die Software darf nur in Übereinstimmung mit den Vereinbarungsbedingungen verwendet oder kopiert werden. Das Kopieren dieser Software auf ein anderes Medium als im Rahmen der Vereinbarung ausdrücklich zugelassen ist verboten. Ohne ausdrückliche schriftliche Genehmigung von Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. darf kein Teil dieses Dokuments in irgendeiner Form oder auf irgendeine Weise, weder elektronisch noch mechanisch, einschließlich von Fotokopien oder Auszeichnungen, zu irgendeinem Zweck reproduziert oder übertragen werden.

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Besuchen Sie Cakewalk im World Wide Web unter www.cakewalk.com.

La información de este documento está sujeta a cambios sin previo aviso y no representa un compromiso por parte de Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. El software descrito en este documento se facilita bajo un acuerdo de licencia o de no divulgación. El software puede utilizarse o copiarse siguiendo sólo los términos del acuerdo. La copia de este software en cualquier medio es ilegal, exceptuando los casos previstos de forma específica en el acuerdo. Ninguna parte de este documento puede reproducirse ni transmitirse de ninguna forma ni por ningún medio, electrónico o mecánico, incluyendo las fotocopias y la grabación, para cualquier finalidad sin el consentimiento expreso por escrito de Twelve Tone Systems, Inc.

ACID es una marca comercial de Sonic Foundry, Inc.

Cakewalk es una marca comercial registrada de Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. SONAR y el logotipo de Cakewalk son marcas comerciales de Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. Otros nombres de empresas y de productos son marcas comerciales de sus respectivos propietarios.

Visite Cakewalk en la World Wide Web: www.cakewalk.com.

Les informations contenues dans ce document sont sujettes à modification sans préavis et n’impliquent aucun engagement de la part de Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. Le logiciel présenté dans le présent document est fourni dans le cadre d’un accord de licence ou de confidentialité. L’utilisation et la copie de ce logiciel sont régies par les termes dudit contrat. La copie de ce logiciel sur un média autre que celui spécifiquement autorisé par ledit accord constitue une infraction à la loi. La reproduction ou la diffusion d’une partie ou de l’ensemble de ce document est strictement interdite de quelque forme ou par quelque moyen que ce soit, électronique ou mécanique, y compris la photocopie et l’enregistrement, pour des fins autres que celles expressément autorisées par écrit par Twelve Tone Systems, Inc.

ACID est une marque de commerce de Sonic Foundry, Inc.

Cakewalk est une marque déposée de Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. SONAR et le logo Cakewalk sont des marques de commerce de Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. Les autres entreprises et les autres noms de produits sont des marques de commerce de leurs propriétaires respectifs.

Consultez le site web de Cakewalk : www.cakewalk.com.

Table of Contents

English

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Installation for Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Installation for Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Architecture of Rapture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

MIDI Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

2 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Loading Programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Loading Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Combining and Mixing Elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Saving Programs and Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Using Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Using Rapture as a Multi-timbral Instrument . . . . . . . .13

The Modulation Matrix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

The X/Y Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3 The Interface and Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

The Interface’s Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

4 Main Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Programs, Elements and Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

File Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Loading Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Editing Oscillator Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Copying, Unloading, and Resetting Elements . . . . . . 26

Chaining Elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Ring Modulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The DSP Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Using the Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Using the LoFi Module. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Using the Drive Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Using the EQ’s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

The Insert FX Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Delay Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Reverb Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Distortion Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

The Modulators Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Envelope Generators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Low Frequency Oscillators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Keytracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

The Step Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Modulator Copy/Paste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Amplitude Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

The Global Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

The Modulation Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

MIDI Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

The Mixer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Microtuning and Alternative Tunings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Sinc Interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Appendix A: Parameter Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Appendix B: Modulation Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

LICENSE AGREEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Introduction

In This Chapter

Welcome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Installation for Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Installation for Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Architecture of Rapture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

MIDI Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

English

Welcome

Architecture of Rapture

Thank you for purchasing Rapture!

Rapture is a wavetable synthesizer with advanced sound manipulation capabilities, well suited for electronicarelated music styles. A comprehensive Modulation Matrix provides expressive control and a unique Step Generator provides an intuitive interface for the creation of rhythmic parameter changes.

Installation for Mac

To install Rapture on a Mac:

1. Insert the Rapture installation CD into your CD drive.

2. Double-click the CD icon that appears on your desktop.

3. Double-click the “Rapture Installer” icon, and follow on-screen instructions.

The installer will give you the option of installing VST, AU, and/or RTAS formats to your system’s plug-in library.

Installation for Windows

To install Rapture on Windows:

1. Insert the Rapture installation CD into your CD drive.

2. The Rapture installer should start automatically. If it does not, go to My Computer and double-click the CD drive icon.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions provided by the installer.

The installer will give you the option of installing DXi, VST and/or RTAS formats to your system.

Rapture is composed of six individual sound generation components, called Elements.

A Rapture Program (stored as a file with a . sion) is defined by the settings of all parameters within all Elements and the Global section. Each Element has a complete engine composed of an Oscillator, a per-voice DSP stage (Bit Reduction, Decimation, Drive and two multi-mode resonant filters), and a set of Modulators (envelope generators, low frequency oscillators and step generators) applied to the main sound generation parameters. The sound generated by the six Elements is mixed and routed to a global DSP stage (three band parametric equalizer and multi-effects section).

The Oscillator is the core of the sound manufacturing process. Each Oscillator is capable of high-quality, high-performance wavetable synthesis. This type of synthesis is an efficient method of creating sustained sounds by looping a minimal amount of audio data. In Rapture, the wavetable is defined by a single-cycle audio file.

During the wave loading procedure, Rapture creates all the sample images required for the Oscillator to play the single cycle across the whole keyboard range without any aliasing distortion. Rapture ships with over two hundred wavetable definition files, which can be expanded.

PROG exten-

MIDI Controllers

To get the most out of Rapture, we recommend using a good MIDI controller. Many programs use the Mod Wheel, Aftertouch, and Velocity to change the sound of the program while the program is playing back.

Getting Started

In This Chapter

Loading Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Loading Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Combining and Mixing Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Saving Programs and Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Using Rapture as a Multi-timbral Instrument . . . . . . . . . . 13

The Modulation Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

The X/Y Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

English

This section provides a brief-but-useful introduction to Rapture’s more significant concepts and most-used functions. More detailed information is included in later chapters of this User’s Guide.

You can also access the online help topics by pressing the F1 key on your Windows keyboard or Command+”?” on your Mac keyboard while the Rapture interface is launched.

You can also load a program by clicking the Program Handling button and choosing Load Program from the popup menu, or by drag and dropping a . Rapture window.

When you load a program, you load all the Elements at once, along with all the associated effects, filters, etc.

PROG file into the

Loading Elements

Loading Programs

A Rapture program is made of up to six Elements. Each Element contains a wavetable oscillator and a chain of effects, filters, envelope generators, step generators, and LFO’s. You can turn each Element off or on in the Mixer section at the bottom of Rapture’s interface. If you want to use Rapture as a six-part multi-timbral synth, you can also set each Element to respond to a different MIDI channel.

To Load a Program

1. Click the program window:

Click here

The Program Browser appears.

2. Navigate to the folder where the desired program is located, and double-click the name of the program. Close the Program Browser after you double-click the program.

Rapture loads the program you double-clicked, and displays the program name in the program window.

Rapture allows you to create and load single element files. An element file stores a single Element’s selected wavetable, modulators, EQ and insert effect settings as a disk file with an . reloaded and recombined to create new programs.

Loading an Element file does not change any settings in the unselected Elements. If you wish to clear settings from all Elements before loading any Element files, initialize the program first by clicking the Program Handling button and choosing Initialize Program from the popup menu.

ELEM extension. Element files can then be

To Load an Element

1. Right-click (Ctrl-click on a Mac) the Element button of the Element that you want to load a sound into (E1, E2, E3, E4, E5 or E6).

2. Select Load Element from the popup menu:

The Load Element dialog appears.

3. Navigate to the folder where the desired Element is located, click the name of the Element, and click the Open button.

Rapture loads the Element you clicked and the Wavetable Display window shows the name of the wave file used by the wavetable oscillator. The graphic represents the singlecycle waveform used by the Oscillator to create a sustained sound.

Name of the selected wave file

Waveform display of the single-cycle wave file

You can also load an Element by selecting any of the files in the Elements folder of the Program browser, or by drag and dropping an .

Tip: When you left-click an Element button to view that Element’s settings, you can switch to another Element by pressing 1 through 6 on your computer keyboard (but not the Num Pad).

ELEM file into the Rapture window

Combining and Mixing Elements

If you want to combine different Elements into a new program, simply load up to six Elements and then save a new program. This is valuable if you want to play different timbres at the same time: for example, you could double a lead and a pad.

Here’s the procedure:

To Combine Elements into a New Program

1. Initialize the program to clear all sounds and effects: click the Program Handling button and choose

Initialize Program from the popup menu (click Yes to the All Current Settings Will Be Discharged prompt).

Click the E1 button to display the controls for Element 1.

2. Load an Element into Element 1: right-click (Ctrl-click on a Mac) the E1 button, choose Load Element from the popup menu, navigate to the desired Element, select it and click the Open button.

3. Adjust any effects, filters, etc. for Element 1, and make sure Element 1’s On button is enabled in the Mixer section:

Click to turn Element 1 on or off

Click and drag to adjust Element 1’s pan and volume controls

You can also adjust each Element’s individual pan and volume settings in the Mixer section.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for any additional Elements you want to combine for this program (for Element 2, click button E2 to display the controls for Element 2, load an Element into Element 2, adjust settings for Element 2, and make sure Element 2’s On button is enabled; for Element 3, click button E3, etc.).

5. When you’ve loaded and configured up to six Elements, adjust the program’s master stereo mix in the Master section.

English

Stereo level meter

Master pan and volume controls

These master controls, Pan and Volume, modify the combined signal of all currently active Elements. The level meter gives a visual indication of the Rapture’s stereo output.

Note: If the levels are high and you want a hard limiter applied to this program, enable the Limiter On button in the Master section. The limiter will ensure levels are always kept below digital zero (0 dB), which is very useful for highly resonant or distorted sounds.

6. When the program sounds the way you want it, save the program as described in the next section.

Saving Programs and Elements

Once you’ve configured a Program or an Element the way you want it, you can save it to your Programs or Elements folders. Rapture also allows you to set the program it will automatically load every time a new Rapture instance is inserted.

To Save a Program

1. When the program sounds the way you want it, click the Program Handling button and choose Save

Program or Save Program As from the popup menu.

2. If you chose Save Program, Rapture saves the program under its current name in its current folder.

3. If you chose Save Program As, the Save Program dialog appears: navigate to the folder where you want to save the program, type a name for the program, and click the Save button.

Rapture will automatically add the ‘.prog’ extension to the program, and the program name display will be updated to reflect the program name.

To Save an Element

1. When the Element sounds the way you want it, rightclick (Ctrl-click on a Mac) that Element button and choose Save Element As from the popup menu. This opens the Save Element dialog.

2. Navigate to the folder where you want to save the Element, type a name for the Element, and click the Save button.

To Save the Default Program

1. Load the program that you want Rapture to use when you haven’t chosen a program.

2. Click the Program Handling button and choose Save Default Program from the popup menu.

3. Click Yes when Rapture asks you if this is what you want to do.

Rapture saves the current program as the default program.

Using Effects

Insert FX are available for each individual Element, and a Program can contain both Global and Master FX. Each category of effect (Insert, Global and Master) features the same type of menu and parameter controls.

Here’s the procedure for adding a master effect to your program:

To Apply Master FX to a Program

1. Display the Global page by clicking the Global button.

To Use Rapture as a Multi-timbral Instrument

1. Load the program that you want to use as a multitimbral program.

The Master FX section is located just above the Mixer section.

Click to choose an effect Parameter knobs

2. Choose an effect type by clicking the arrow in the FX window and then choosing an effect from the popup menu that appears.

3. Adjust the effect with the corresponding parameter knobs.

For more information on effects, see “The Insert FX Section” on page 32.

Using Rapture as a Multitimbral Instrument

Each of the six Elements can function as a separate instrument, if you want to use a single instance of Rapture as a six-part multi-timbral instrument.

2. Click the Options button . The Options dialog appears.

3. Check the Set Program As Multi-timbral option, and click OK.

4. Save the program, if you want to change it to a multitimbral program.

When a program is in Multi-timbral mode, the six Elements respond to MIDI channels 1-6, respectively.

The Modulation Matrix

You can use the Modulation Matrix to virtually 'connect' different modulation sources to several parameters. The Modulation Matrix expands the control and performance behavior of a program

To Assign a Modulation Source to a Rapture Parameter (Modulator Destination)

1. Display the Modulation Matrix by clicking the Show/

Hide Modulation Matrix button .

2. In the Source column, click the arrow at the left side of the column to open the Modulation Source menu.

3. Pick a Modulation Source that you want to use to control a Rapture parameter.

4. In the Destination column, click the arrow at the left side of the column to open the Destination menu (a list of Rapture parameters).

5. Click the Rapture parameter that you want to control with the Source you chose in the left column.

English

6. In the Depth column, drag up or down to enter a number that controls how strongly and in which direction the parameter responds to changes in the source (negative numbers produce an inverse relationship).

7. In the Smooth column, drag upward to produce a number that smooths out the response of the Destination to the Source.

The X/Y Pad

This X/Y Pad is used to adjust assigned synth parameter levels by dragging the X/Y crosshair around the pad. Parameter levels rise and fall as you move the crosshair.

The Desaccel field allows you to slow down the response of the cross hair—higher values cause a slower response.

Open the X/Y Pad by clicking the Show/Hide Vector Mixer button .

Cross hair

To Assign Parameters to the X/Y Pad

1. Display the Modulation Matrix by clicking the Show/

Hide Modulation Matrix button .

2. In the Source column, click the arrow at the left side of the column to open the Modulation Source menu.

3. From the Source menu, select X/Y Pad X or X/Y Pad Y.

4. In the Destination column, click the arrow at the left side of the column to open the Modulation Destination menu.

5. From the Destination menu, select any of the available synth parameters.

The X/Y Pad will now control the selected parameters. You can assign as many parameters to the X/Y Pad as space provides in the Modulation Matrix.

The Interface and Controls

In This Chapter

The Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

The Interface’s Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

English

The Interface

The Main Interface

Program name and browser launcher

Oscillator/Editor section

Envelope Generator (EG) and LFO section

Step Generator

EQ section

Insert FX section

Mixer section

The main Rapture interface consists of three areas:

• Program area (top)

In this area we can find the program selector/loader, and the buttons for Program Handling, Options, the Modulation Matrix and the X/Y Pad.

The Modulation Matrix and X/Y Pad are deployable windows. In the Modulation Matrix window, all

Element selection buttons and Global page button

Filter/Drive section

Master output section

modulation assignments for the current preset are defined. The X/Y Pad allows you to control synth parameters .

• Elements area (middle)

This area has an horizontal selector button to choose the Element for editing (1-6), plus all the Element components like the EQ and Step Generator.

• Mixer/Master area (bottom)

This area has the mixer controls for the six elements, as well as master controls to adjust the final stereo mix.

The Global Page

Program name and browser launcher

Global FX 1

Global FX 2

Global Step Generator

Master EQ section

Master FX section

Rapture also has a Global page with settings for Global and master FX. Access the Global page by pressing the Global button next to the Element selection buttons.

English

Global page button

Mixer section

Master output section

The Interface’s Controls

All the functions in Rapture are performed by the following controls:

Horizontal Selectors

The horizontal selectors are always in the header of a section, and are used to choose a ‘page’ for editing in a multiple-page context.

They’re used to select the main component page (Element 1-6, Global), and the Modulator page (Pitch, Cutoff 1 & 2, Resonance 1 & 2, Pan and Amplitude).

To Use Horizontal Selectors

• Direct Clicking or Clicking and Dragging can be used to select each page in the Horizontal Selectors.

• If a horizontal selector is ‘active’, it will receive keystrokes. Number keys can be used to select each page when active.

Knobs

Parameters that are continuously variable and suited for automation are controlled by knobs. The knobs in Rapture can be operated by mouse movements, mouse wheel, keyboard, or MIDI messages.

When a parameter is not active (if the whole section is off, for instance), the knob will become semi-transparent. If a knob is operated when in this status, the parameter will be adjusted. However, there won’t be any change to the resulting sound.

To Use Knobs

• Hovering the mouse over the knob for a moment (without clicking on it) will make a tooltip appear, displaying the currently selected element, the parameter name and the current parameter value.

• Clicking on the knob, then moving the mouse vertically will adjust the parameter value. A tooltip will show the parameter value for current adjustment.

• Double-clicking on the knob will set the parameter to its default value (the ‘natural’ value for each parameter).

• After a knob is clicked (or double-clicked), it becomes ‘active’. When a knob is active, it receives mouse wheel messages and keystrokes.

• The mouse wheel will change the parameter value in ± 5% steps for the active knob. If the Shift key is down while moving the wheel, the knob will move in ± 1% steps, allowing for more precise adjustment. Tooltips will display the parameter value for mouse wheel messages as long as the mouse cursor is over the knob. Knobs won’t generate interpolated values on mouse wheel.

• If a knob is ‘active’, it will receive keystrokes. The following keys can be used to change the parameter value:

Key... Change...

Left, Right arrow ± 0.1%

Up, Down arrow ± 1%

Home Minimum

End Maximum

Tooltips will display the parameter value for mouse wheel messages as long as the mouse cursor is over the knob. Knobs won’t generate interpolated values on keystrokes.

Buttons

Buttons are used to turn on/off a component.

• The Up/Down selectors are controlled in the same way as the knobs: clicking on it and moving the mouse vertically. However, adjusting an Up/Down selector won’t result in interpolated values. A tooltip will show the parameter value for current adjustment.

• Like the knobs, after an Up/Down selector is clicked, it becomes active. The font color will change to orange when in that status.

• When a text selector is active, it can receive mouse wheel messages and keystrokes.

• Since many parameters represented by Up/Down selectors have broad ranges, and at the same time they require precise adjustments, the following modifiers can be used to achieve different speed/ resolution changes while using the mouse:

Modifier... Change...

Shift Small steps

(small parameter movements, increased resolution)

English

Clicking on a button will turn the component on/off, and the button image will reflect the status.

Up/Down selectors

Parameters with numerical values, not suitable for automation are controlled via Up/Down selectors. An example of this type of parameters is the Low and High Keyboard Note for any Element, in the Oscillator control display.

Control (Command on a Mac)

• The range and step size for each parameter is shown in the ‘Parameter Ranges’ table. See “Appendix A: Parameter Reference” on page 51.

Big steps (big parameter changes, reduced resolution)

• If an Up/Down selector is active, it will receive keystrokes. The following keys can be used to change the parameter value:

Key... Parameter Value...

When a Text Selector is clicked, it becomes active. The font color will change to orange when in that status. When a text selector is active, it can receive mouse wheel messages and keystrokes. The following keys can be used to change the parameter value:

Up/Down Arrows Next/Previous parameter value.

Standard Steps.

Page Up/Down Step forward/backward 10 steps

Text Selectors

The text selectors are used to choose a value for parameters that have multiple options, non-numerical. An example of this kind of parameter is the Insert FX Type.

A text selector will advance to next/previous value when the display text is left/right clicked (left click/Control+click on a Mac).

Key... Change...

Up/Down Arrows Next/Previous parameter value

Page Up/Down Step forward/backward 10 steps

Tip: Many text selector values can also be accessed via a menu. Click the gray triangle to the left or right of a text selector to view available options in a popup menu.

Envelope, Step Generator, LFO Waveform and Key Tracking controls

The Modulators section includes special controls to set the Envelope Generators, Step Generator, the LFO Waveforms and the Keyboard Tracking. For precise details on how to operate those controls, see “The Modulators Section” on page 36.

Main Functions

In This Chapter

Programs, Elements and Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Loading Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Copying, Unloading, and Resetting Elements . . . . . . . . . 26

The DSP Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Using the EQ’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

The Insert FX Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

The Modulators Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

The Modulation Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

MIDI Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

The Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Microtuning and Alternative Tunings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Sinc Interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

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The following sections describe the advanced functionality of Rapture and other details not covered in the introductory topics.

Programs, Elements and Audio Files

As described in the Getting Started chapter, a Rapture program has six Elements at its disposal, making for sophisticated sound programming potential. A program consists of the settings for these six elements, including references to the wavetables used by all oscillators, and all global settings.

File Organization

After installation, the following folders will be created inside the Rapture folder:

Multisamples\ Multisamples folder

All factory wavetables, multisample definitions and sample collections.

Programs\ Programs folder

All factory presets/programs. Rapture will point to this folder on Save…Program.

Programs\Elements\ Elements folder

All factory elements. Rapture will point to this folder on Save…Element.

Sample Pool\ Sample Pool folder

Project/Demo song specific samples.

File/Folder... Stores...

Documentation\ Documentation folder

Release Notes, User Manual and Registration information.

Lfo Waveforms\ Lfo Waveforms folder

All factory LFO waveforms. Userdefined waverforms can be stored here as well.

MIDI\ MIDI folder

All MIDI Learn data.

Tunings\ Tunings folder

All microtuning and alternate tuning files.

Program Files

Program files (.prog) can be anywhere in the disk or network. The ‘Programs\’ folder was created for organizational purposes, but the user can save a program anywhere.

Program files are not required for the Song Persistence to work. A copy of the program file is saved as persistence, and it’s reloaded on song reload.

This means each song will include a ‘snapshot’ of the used programs in the moment the song was last saved. This allows you to preserve old songs and their settings even if factory programs are updated in the future.

Elements

Rapture can save and load individual Elements to file. The idea here is making an ‘Element Set’, capable of serving as ‘quick construction kit’ for new programs. An element file contains all settings for an element, including the wavetable and oscillator parameters, with all modulators and DSP settings applied.

Tip: Elements stored in the default Elements folder can be loaded directly via the Program Browser. Launch the Porgram Browser and navigate to the Elements folder to make your selection. Loading an Element in this way will not affect the other Elements within the program.

Audio Files

Rapture specializes in using single-cycle audio files to define wavetables, driving the Oscillator for wavetable synthesis. However, Rapture allows a variety of other audio file types to be loaded as well. Unlike Program files, audio

SFZ, .WAV, .AIF, .AIFF, .OGG) are not included in the

files (. Song Persistence. Therefore, songs will be affected by any changes to the original audio source.

Additionally, the samples are external standard wave files which can be edited using a standard wave editor. Consequently, this warning is here: if a multisample definition file is edited, and/or a sample file is edited, the old song might sound different after reloading it if it happens to use the edited files.

Samples

If a sample defined inside an .sfz definition file is missing, Rapture will try to load it from the original location on Program/Song reload.

If that wave file isn’t in the original location, Rapture will try to find it in the Sample Pool folder. This simplifies exchanging sample files between users.

Rapture will report every sample it can’t find after above attempts fail.

Loading Samples

You can load single samples (Wave or AIFF files), or multisamples, (SFZ files) which already contain key mapping and velocity switching assignments. You can load samples in any bit depth and sample rate, in mono or stereo, in looped or unlooped format. Wave and AIFF files can be loaded directly, or as a sample inside an SFZ definition file.

Samples can be of any bit depth (8 to 32-bit), any samplerate, and either mono or stereo. Each sample in a multisample can be a standard PCM Windows wave file (. an Apple audio format (. standard, high-quality, open and royalty-free ogg-vorbis

OGG). Those files can also be loaded directly into

format (. an Element.

Alternatively, it is possible to open multisample definition files (.sfz) or individual samples by drag and dropping them into Rapture window. The sample will be loaded into the selected element.

Tip: If a multisample or individual sample (even samples inside a multisample) is loaded more than once, across multiple elements, or multiple instances of Rapture, the sample will exist in memory only once. The size indicated for the second and subsequent instances will be zero, which boosts memory efficiency.

Loading a sample or multisample does not clear the effects that may be patched into Rapture at the time of loading. If you want to clear all effects first, initialize the program by clicking the Program Handling button and choosing Initialize Program from the popup menu.

A multisample consists of a group of samples, their key mapping, and velocity switching. If you want to change key mapping and/or velocity switching, you can edit each multisample’s .sfz file, which is found in the multisample folder along with the multisamples. You can use Notepad to edit a .sfz file. The .sfz format is explained at http://www.rgcaudio.com/sfzformat.htm.

AIFF) or a compressed file in the

WAV),

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Note: Rapture can read .sfz files in Unicode (little or big endian), UTF-8 and ANSI. Inside unicode/utf files, any character set can be used in the definition of folder and filenames. It is possible to install Rapture in a unicodenamed folder.

To Load a Wavetable or Sample

1. Click the Wavetable Display window to open the Load Multisample dialog, and navigate to the folder where the desired wavetable or sample is located.

Wavetable Display window

Waveform

Note: Rapture streams samples from RAM, so only samples under a minute in length are suitable for loading, depending on the amount of RAM in your computer. Playback of a stereo sample will use more

CPU than a mono sample, but less CPU than two mono samples.

2. Click the name of the wavetable or sample, and click the Open button.

• Drag a wave file from the Windows Explorer or the MacOS Finder to Rapture’s Oscillator section.

Tip: You can navigate forwards and backwards through wave files in the current wave directory without opening a browse dialog by left-clicking or right-clicking (Ctrl-click on a Mac) the waveform in the Wavetable Display window.

Editing Oscillator Controls

Once the wavetable is loaded into the Element, you can adjust a number of mapping, tuning, and performance parameter. The following controls are located in the Oscillator section:

Control... Does This... Value Type...

Lo/Hi Key Changes the range of notes that the element will play. Note Number

Lo/Hi Vel Changes the velocity range that the element will play. Velocity Value

Bend Up/Down Changes the pitch bend range. Semitones

Sust/Sost Changes whether the element responds to MIDI Sustain data (cc # 64), or

MIDI Sostenuto (cc # 66).

Transpose Changes the pitch (keyboard mapping is unaffected). Semitones

Tune Adjusts the pitch in one-cent increments, up or down. Cents

Keytrack Changes the pitch variation for each note, in cents. Cents per Key

Off/On

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Phase Adjusts the initial phase of the waveform, from 0 to 360 degrees, when a

MIDI Note On event arrives.

It is possible to create complex sound textures by combining waveforms in two oscillators with different starting phases.

Quality Defines how the wavetable rendering quality.

"Standard" should be used when no exposed pitch sweeps are performed with that oscillator. "High" will perform a high-order partial-level interpolation, allowing huge pitch sweeps without audible aliasing.

Multi Turns the currently loaded wavetable into multiple oscillators (voices),

spread across the stereo field at even distributions and with different detuning levels.

Note that the detuning level is regulated by the Detune control.

Ring Mod Changes the oscillator into TWO oscillators which ring modulate each

other. For more information, see “Ring Modulation” on page 27.

Note that the detune level between both oscillators is regulated by the Detune control.

Detune Applied to the most-detuned oscillators when in Multi or Ring Mod mode;

the middle oscillators are interpolated from that value. The Detune range is one semitone, or 100 cents.

Porta Time Forces pitch glide when polyphony is set to 0 (monophonic/legato mode).

Value ranges from 0 to 10 seconds.

Degrees

Std/Hi

Off, 3v, 5v, 7v, 9v

On/Off

Cents

Seconds

Polyphony Sets the polyphony for the element. Setting Polyphony to 1 puts that

Element in monophonic mode, setting it to 0 puts that Element in monophonic and legato mode.

Notes

Layers Shows what sample layer is currently playing. Rapture defines a Layer as

Tip: The Multi and Ring Mod controls are suitable for much higher detuning factors, if extreme effects are wanted. Further detuning is available via the Modulation Matrix.

Copying, Unloading, and Resetting Elements

If you right-click (Control-click on a Mac) an Element button (E1 through E6), a popup context menu appears, which contains the following commands:

• Unload Element—removes the multisample from the multisample window without removing parameter settings.

• Reset Element—removes the multisample from the multisample window and removes all parameter settings.

• Copy Element—places all information from current Element, including multisample assignments and all parameter settings, on the clipboard.

• Paste Element—pastes copied Element data from the clipboard to the current Element: to paste, right-click (Control-click on a Mac) the Element button of the Element that you want to paste to, and select Paste Element from the popup menu.

the playback for one sample, either mono or stereo.

• Paste Element Fx—pastes only Insert Fx settings from a copied Element to the current Element.

Remember, only one Element can be selected and edited at a time. Read on for details about the remaining Element context menu items.

Chaining Elements

Sometimes a program requires two different wavetables to be processed with their own LoFi, Filter and Drive settings, but with the same EQ and effects applied to both.

The result of that operation is the same as mixing the two elements and then applying the EQ and effects on the mix. However, the CPU usage in the latter is much lower, since only one set of effects is operational.

Rapture allows you to ‘chain’ the output of one element into the effects of the next, for the first five elements. Chain to Next Element is in the last section of the Element context menu. Re-select this menu item to unchain the elements.

This field is display only, 0 to INF.

Ring Modulation

“Modulation” in this sense means that an aspect of the audio signal is being modified in an explicit way using digital signal processing. Ring Modulation is a process in which two audio signals are used to create a new signal containing the sum and differences of those frequencies. These frequencies will typically be non-harmonic, resulting in rather disharmonic, bell-like sounds.

Mathematically, the resulting frequency is the sum and the difference of the input frequencies, or the 'sidebands' where the upper sidebands are the sums and the lower sidebands are the differences. Use Rapture’s Detune parameter in either the Oscillator section or the Modulation Matrix (destination Detune), to control the modulation amount.

Rapture offers the Ring Modulate Previous Elements option in the Element context menu. When this menu item is checked, the current Element will ring-modulate the output of all previous elements.

The DSP Section

Click to change the order of DSP processes

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Using the Filters

The DSP section provides two multimode filters. This is useful for filter effects, such as combining low-pass and high-pass frequency filters or using two separate bandpass filters. Rapture’s filters provide a wide selection of filter types, which you choose from the dropdown menu:

Choose filter types here

The DSP section of Rapture contains Filter, Drive and LoFi parameters. Independent controls are provided for two Filters, the LoFi module, and the Drive module. The order of these processes can be altered, thereby modifying the signal path and the resulting sound.

To Reorder the DSP Chain

• Click on the signal path above the controls to cycle through the available reordering options or to Bypass the section entirely. Left-click or right-click (Ctrl-click on a Mac) on the signal path to iterate forwards or backwards respectively.

The dropdown menu has the following choices:

Filter... Description...

LP1P Low Pass, One-Pole filter (6dB/octave roll-off). Allows passing all frequencies below the specified by

the Cutoff knob. Above that frequency, there’s a 6dB/octave roll-off, very gentle.

This filter doesn’t feature resonance.

HP1P High Pass, One-Pole filter (6dB/octave roll-off). Allows passing all frequencies above the specified by

the Cutoff knob. Below that frequency, there’s a 6dB/octave roll-off, very gentle.

This filter doesn’t feature resonance.

BP1P Band Pass composed of two One-Pole LP and HP filters in series (6dB/octave roll-off). Allows

passing all frequencies in the neigborhood of the specified by the Cutoff knob. Above and below that frequency, there’s a 6dB/octave roll-off, very gentle.

BR1P Band Rejection composed of two One-Pole HP and LP filters in series (6dB/octave roll-off). Allows

AP1P All Pass, One-Pole filter.

LP2P Low Pass, Two-Pole filter (12dB/octave roll-off).

passing all frequencies except the ones in the neigborhood of the specified by the Cutoff knob. Surrounding that frequency, there’s a 6dB/octave roll-off, very gentle.

This filter doesn’t feature resonance.

This filter is used to introduce sub-sample delay times.

This is useful when phase aligning samples between different elements.

This is a very subtle effect.

This filter allows passing all frequencies below the specified by the Cutoff knob. Above that frequency, there’s a 12dB/octave roll-off in amplitude.

This filter features resonance, which is a boost of the frequencies surrounding the cutoff frequency.

Resonance can dramatically increase the loudness. Please make sure you have the main Limiter turned on when editing programs with high resonance.

HP2P High Pass, Two-Pole filter (12dB/octave roll-off).

This filter allows passing all frequencies above the specified by the Cutoff knob. Below that frequency, there’s a 12dB/octave roll-off in amplitude.

This filter features resonance, which is a boost of the frequencies surrounding the cutoff frequency.

Resonance can dramatically increase the loudness. Please make sure you have the main Limiter turned on when editing programs with high resonance.

BP2P Band Pass, Two-Pole filter (12dB/octave roll-off).

This filter allows passing all frequencies around the specified by the Cutoff knob. Below and above that frequency, there’s a 12dB/octave roll-off in amplitude.

This filter features resonance, which is a boost of the frequencies surrounding the cutoff frequency.

High resonance settings on a band pass filter result in a narrow output bandwidth. For most sounds, this is percieved as a reduced loudness. However, if the incoming sound frequency matches the filter cutoff, a dramatically high loudness is expected. Please make sure you have the main Limiter turned on when editing programs with high resonance.

BR2P Band Rejection, Two-Pole filter (12dB/octave roll-off).

This filter allows passing all frequencies except the ones around the specified by the Cutoff knob. Surrounding that frequency, there’s a 12dB/octave roll-off in amplitude.

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PK2P Peak Filter. This filter will reinforce the Cutoff frequency by 6dB, and the surrounding frequencies with

a slope of 12dB/octave.

The width of the peak is adjusted with the Resonance knob.

LP4P Low Pass, Four-Pole filter (24dB/octave roll-off).

This filter allows passing all frequencies below the specified by the Cutoff knob. Above that frequency, there’s a 24dB/octave roll-off in amplitude.

This filter features resonance, which is a boost of the frequencies surrounding the cutoff frequency.

Resonance can dramatically increase the loudness. Please make sure you have the main Limiter turned on when editing programs with high resonance.

HP4P High Pass, Four–Pole filter (24dB/octave roll-off).

This filter allows passing all frequencies above the specified by the Cutoff knob. Below that frequency, there’s a 24dB/octave roll-off in amplitude.

This filter features resonance, which is a boost of the frequencies surrounding the cutoff frequency.

Resonance can dramatically increase the loudness. Please make sure you have the main Limiter turned on when editing programs with high resonance.

LP6P Low Pass, Six-Pole filter (36dB/octave roll-off).

This filter allows passing all frequencies below the specified by the Cutoff knob. Above that frequency, there’s a 36dB/octave roll-off in amplitude.

This filter features resonance, which is a boost of the frequencies surrounding the cutoff frequency.

Resonance can dramatically increase the loudness. Please make sure you have the main Limiter turned on when editing programs with high resonance.

HP6P High Pass, Six–Pole filter (36dB/octave roll-off).

This filter allows passing all frequencies above the specified by the Cutoff knob. Below that frequency, there’s a 36dB /octave roll-off in amplitude.

This filter features resonance, which is a boost of the frequencies surrounding the cutoff frequency.

Resonance can dramatically increase the loudness. Please make sure you have the main Limiter turned on when editing programs with high resonance.

PINK Multiple Knee filter, composed of multiple Low Pass, One-Pole filters.

This is a static filter, generally used to create pink noise. When applied to sample material it has the effect of creating a slight darkening on the tone, without affecting the sound character at all.

COMB Comb filter.

A comb filter creates several frequency ‘notches’, which color the sound in a particular way.

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