Roland V-SYNTH User Manual

Book

Beyond the Reality

The

Book

Beyond the Reality

The

WE DESIGN THE FUTURE

Copyright © 2003 ROLAND CORPORATION
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
without the written permission of ROLAND CORPORATION.

Visit us online at www.roland.co.jp

www.v-synth.com

All specifications and apperarances are subject to change.

All trademarks are the property of their respective companies.

Printed in Japan March 2003 RAM-3700 C-3 MI-NK

The Book

—Beyond the Reality—

Time Trip Pad

➝ Performance Control

Assignable Control

➝ Performance Control

p.33

Bender/
Moduration lever

➝ Performance Control

p.33

Patch Palette

➝ The Simplest of Patches

p.8

p.33

The Arpeggiator

D Beam

➝ Performance Control

p.33

p.31

The OSC1/OSC

The COS

Next-Generation Synthesis for Unlimite

Next-Generation Synthesis for Unlimite

2 Sections p.12

The TVA Section

p.17

p.22

The Effect Section

p.23

Inside the V-Synth - A Tutorial

5

First Steps 6

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Trying out the Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The Two Basic Approaches to Programming . . . . . . . . . . 7

Alternative Methods of Setting Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The Simplest of Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Basic Sound Parameters 12

The OSC1/OSC2 Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The Mod Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

The COSM Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

The TVA Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

The Effect Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Advanced Sound Programming 24

Sampling and Encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Effective Use of Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Getting More out of a Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Advanced Performance 31

The Arpeggiator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Performance Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

The Matrix - Assigning Destinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Backing Up your Data 36

Appendices 39

Sound Designers’ Comment 40

Howard Scarr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Stephane Pigeon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Patch List 42

Waveform List 44

Specifications 46

Other Tips 48

Index 51

d Sonic Control.

d Sonic Control.

Understanding Sound 1

Randomly moving controls on the panel or changing parameters in the menus is not the best method of arriving at musically useful sounds. Before attempting to create
new sounds on your V-Synth, you should be aware of some fundamental audio principles and how these apply to synthesizers in general. The concepts and examples
in this section have been kept relatively basic for readers with little or no previous experience of synthesizers.

What is Sound?

Throughout our lives we are constantly surrounded by sounds of all kinds.
Physically, sound waves are contractions and expansions in the air, rapid changes
in air pressure which cause our ear-drums to vibrate (like a microphone capsule)
and send corresponding signals to the brain. The physical attributes of a sound
wave determine how it is perceived, and the three elements we can all recognize
are pitch, brightness and volume (loudness).

Pitch

The pitch of a note depends upon how rapidly the wave repeats itself. A more
scientific and general term for pitch is frequency, measured in Hertz (Hz). 1Hz
is defined as 1 cycle (repetition) per second.
Higher frequency notes have higher pitch. Doubling or halving the frequency of
a note shifts the pitch up or down an octave - the most harmonic interval of all.
For example, the note A4 (middle A) has a standard frequency of 440 Hz, so
A5 is 880 Hz and A3 is 220 Hz.

Brightness

The brightness of a wave is generally
determined by how complex it is. The less
smooth the waveform, the brighter it
sounds. If you compare a piano waveform
with a sinewave using an oscilloscope, it is
easy to see why the piano note sounds
brighter than the sine wave.

Volume

The volume of a sound is determined by its amplitude, which is basically the
absolute difference between peaks and troughs in the wave i.e. its height in the
diagram below. Louder sounds have higher amplitude, and softer sounds have
lower amplitude.

Manipulating Partials

A mathematician called Fourier once proved that any sound at all, from a dog
barking to the complete works of Rachmaninov, can be described as a time­variant mixture of many sine waves known as partials or overtones. A very
large number of sinewave oscillators, each with independent control of
frequency and amplitude would be necessary to emulate even a dog barking.
That is why this additive synthesis is much less common than subtractive
synthesis - selectively removing partials from complex waveforms.
Nevertheless, viewing a complex waveform as the sum of its component partials
is useful to understand how subtractive synthesizers work. The typical sawtooth
and square waves in any subtractive synthesizer consist of a fundamental (the
basic frequency) plus integer multiples of this frequency (2x, 3x ... and so on).
Such integer multiples are called harmonic partials, while the non-integer
multiples particularly prominent in drums or natural (non-instrumental) sounds
are called inharmonic partials.

Filters

The more high-frequency partials there are in a sound, the brighter it will be.
Removing some of the higher partials from bright waveforms using a Low Pass
Filter will make the sound mellower, and this is the basic method used in
subtractive synthesis. Many subtractive synthesizers have an optional High Pass
filter to remove lower partials and/or a Band Pass filter to remove high and low
partials at the same time, leaving those in the middle unaffected. Whatever types
of filter are used, all subtractive synthesizers need waveforms with a rich
assortment of partials so that sounds can be modified in interesting ways.

Before being sent through the filter, additional partials can be created using
several methods of interaction between oscillators e.g. synchronisation (Sync),
Ring Modulation (RM) or Frequency Modulation (FM), as well as various
distortion techniques.

time

time

time

1 Hz sound wave

time

A5

(=880 Hz)

A4

(=440 Hz)

A3

(=220 Hz)

1 second

Partials

Sawtooth wave Square wave

time time

Partials

Fundamental

2nd partial

3rd partial

4th partial

5th partial

6th partial

Fundamental

2nd partial

3rd partial

4th partial

5th partial

6th partial

7th partial

Piano waveform (complex)

Sine waveform (smooth)

time

time

"clang"

"poooh"

time

time

soft sound

loud sound

frequency

time

time

bright waveform

Higher partials are cut,
making the waveform more rounded (mellow)

Low Pass Filter

partials
which are cut

level

Column

to p.38

Inside the V-Synth - A Tutorial

First Steps 6

Introduction 6
Trying out the Presets 7
The Two Basic Approaches to Programming

7
Alternative Methods of Setting Values 7
The Simplest of Patches 8

Basic Sound Parameters 12

The OSC1/OSC2 Sections 12
The Mod Section 15
The COSM Sections 17
The TVA Section 22
The Effect Section 23

Advanced Sound Programming

24

Sampling and Encoding 24
Effective Use of Envelopes 27
Getting More out of a Sample 30

Advanced Performance 31

The Arpeggiator 31
Performance Controls 33
The Matrix - Assigning Destinations 34

Backing Up your Data 36

Inside the V-Synth - A Tutorial

First Steps

6

There is quite a lot of “learning by doing” in this tutorial, and to get the most out of it

you should follow all the instructions strictly from start to finish. Later parts of the tutorial

assume that you have carried out all previous steps to the letter, e.g. that you have saved

a sound called INIT PATCH to patch number 512, and one called “Simplicity” to

number 300, etcetera. Instructions become progressively terse because you will become

more familiar with the programming environment and terminology.

To differentiate between physical and virtual controls, those on the panel are referred to

as KNOB, BUTTON, SLIDER, VALUE DIAL, whereas those appearing on the screen

are referred to as PAD, TAB, CONTROL or even GRAPHIC (depending upon function

and/or appearance).

TABs are used for selecting different pages within a section, and only appear on the left

or right of the screen. The combination pitch-bender and modulation control to the left

of the keyboard is simply referred to as the BENDER.

For the sake of simplicity, only STRUCTURE number 1 is used throughout the tutorial.

Split and Drum modes are not mentioned for the same reason - for further information,

please refer to the Owner’s manual.

Introduction

First Steps

knob sliderbutton

dial

Tab Pad

ControlGraphic

Inside the V-Synth - A Tutorial

First Steps

7

One common misconception about programming synthesizers is that it is always easier to modify an existing sound than to start from

scratch. The main problem with modifying existing sounds is that you often have to search for and remove unwanted parameters (which

may be affecting the sound quite drastically), and you can easily end up with a very untidy patch structure.

On the other hand, analysing existing presets in depth can teach you quite a few tricks. Once you have found out how a certain trick is

done, you should then start from scratch and integrate the trick into your own patch. This will improve your programming skills much more

effectively than editing existing presets!

✱

AAfftteerr yyoouu hhaavvee ll eeaarrnnee dd tt hh ee bbaassii cc ss hheerree,, tthheerree ii ss ooff cc oouurrssee nnootthhiinngg ssttooppppiinngg yyoouu ff rroo mm bb eeiinngg iinnss ppiirreedd bbyy ssoommee ooff tthhee eexxiiss ttiinngg

pprreessee ttss aanndd mmaakkiinn gg tt hheemm yyoo uu rr oo wwnn

The Two Basic Approaches to Programming

Before delving into the innermost secrets of the V-Synth, you should have a good listen to the presets to appreciate the wide range of sounds

the V-Synth already has to offer. If you are not currently in PATCH PLAY mode, press the EXIT button a few times (the mode is always

shown in the top left-hand corner of the display) and browse through all the presets using the INC/+ and DEC/- buttons or the VALUE dial.

Make sure that the patch number is highlighted white on blue first - if not, either touch it on the screen or use the cursor buttons.

Because most of the factory sounds have been programmed to react, often quite dramatically, to the various left-hand controls

(Time-Trip, integrated Bender, D-Beam and the two CONTROL knobs) you should try all of these with each and every sound!

Trying out the Presets

Like many computer programs, the V-Synth gives you alternative ways of selecting parameters and adjusting

their values: By touching and dragging controls (or even graphics) on the screen, by touching controls or

selecting with the cursor buttons then adjusting values using the VALUE dial or DEC/- and INC/+ buttons,

or by operating physical knobs, buttons and sliders on the panel. Throughout the tutorial I have tried to choose

the simplest method each time, although this sometimes means jumping wildly from one method to another.

✱

TThhee bbee sstt mmeett hh oodd ooff sseellee cc ttiinngg aadd jjaa cceenntt ppaa rr aammeett eerrss iiss tt oo uu ssee tthhee ccuurrssoo rr bbuutt ttoonnss

Alternative Methods of Setting Values

First Steps

8

1 2

The initial patch already reacts quite

strongly to keyboard velocity, and this is

seldom desirable when creating new

patches. Touch the TVA pad , then the

Velocity Curve control . Press the

DEC/- button (below the VALUE dial) to

change the curve to 0 (flat). Open the

dropdown menu again and select PATCH

Write . Touch the Execute pad in

the PATCH Write window.

✱

YYoouu wwiill ll nneeee dd tthhiiss “vvaa nn iill llaa ”” ppaa tt cchh

tt hh rr oouugghhoouutt tt hhee ttuutt oorriiaa ll.. ....

...so why not put it in the PATCH

PALETTE for instant recall? Hold down

the PATCH ASSIGN button and

press 8 . To find INIT PATCH, just

press button number 8 from now on.

2

1

876

5

6

5

7

8

The following instructions may seem rather long and needlessly detailed, but there is a very good reason for this – it has to be assumed

that you know absolutely nothing about the V-Synth architecture or menu structure at this stage. Please take your time and try to be

aware of the reason for everything you are asked to do. After you have become more familiar with the programming environment, creating

such a basic patch should only take a minute or two.

The Simplest of Patches

INIT PATCH

In PATCH PLAY mode, use the VALUE dial to select patch number 512 – the highest

one available . Holding down the SHIFT button at the same time will scroll through

patch numbers in steps of 10, so this is of course the best method. Touch the triangle in

the top right-hand corner of the screen, select PATCH Init from the dropdown menu

, then touch the EXECUTE pad in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen . If

you find you have selected a different function by mistake (e.g. PATCH Write or PATCH

Copy), simply touch the CANCEL pad or press the EXIT button, and try again.

Tip: When calling functions from the drop-down menu, you may find it easier to do this

all at once: Touch the triangle and don’t release immediately. Drag your finger down until

the function you want is highlighted – then release!

432

1

1

2

34

Touch Env Depth (Envelope Depth) and take the value up to +40 by holding SHIFT

and pressing the INC/+ button four times. Take the Sustain value down to zero by

flipping the physical S slider (in the TVA section) all the way down. Touch Attack and

keep your finger on the screen. Change the value to around 20 by dragging your finger

upwards (you can make fine adjustments with the DEC/- or INC/+ buttons). Press the

cursor-right button to select the Decay parameter and change its value to 60 by holding

down SHIFT and moving the VALUE dial clockwise.

You have just been introduced to many different methods of selecting controls and

adjusting values – and not always the best ones! Choosing the best method according

to the circumstances is far quicker and more precise than using e.g. touch-and-drag for

each and every parameter.

Touch Freq KF (Frequency Keyboard Follow) and change the value to 100% (I’ll leave

the method up to you this time). This balances out the filter cutoff frequency across the

keyboard – lower notes become mellower and higher notes become brighter, just like in many

acoustic instruments. If you like, try different values and play the keyboard to get a feel for

what this parameter does, then set it back to 100% again.

The sound is still polyphonic, which is not very typical of analog lead sounds, so touch

the Common pad . Touch the General tab if this page isn’t already active.

654

3

2

1

First Steps

9

First Steps

9

2
4
5
6

3

1 7

1

3 4 2

5

6

1

2

3

Simplicity

To introduce you to some of the more basic parameters we’ll start by creating a very

simple classic analog lead sound. Touch the OSC1 pad on the screen to open the

PATCH Edit / OSC Type page for oscillator 1.

If the screen on your V-Synth looks different from the right image, this is probably

because one of the other tabs has been selected in this section – touch the OSC Type

tab . You should be able to hear a simple sawtooth when you play the keyboard. The

oscillator type is ANALOG and the currently selected waveform is SAW .

✱

FF rr oo mm nn ooww oonn iitt iiss aa ggoooodd iidd eeaa ttoo ppllaa yy aa ffee ww nnoo tteess aafftteerr eeaa cc hh sstt eepp ssoo tthhaatt yyoouu

ccaann hheeaa rr wwhhaatt dd iiffffeerreennccee tthh ee ppaarraammee tteerr mmaakk eess

Before we start filtering out some of the higher partials using one of the COSM sections, now

is a good time to check out the upper row of controls in the OSC1 section to see how they

affect the raw wave: PITCH, PW and FAT (TIME and FORMANT only apply to PCM

oscillators). Hold down a note with your left hand and turn each of these knobs in succession.

After you have finished, make sure that PITCH and PW are in the center and that FAT is at

minimum. The tabs labeled Pitch , Pulse Width and Fat on the left of the screen

give you access to many parameters affecting these three elements, but we will leave them

alone for the moment and head straight for the filter: Touch the COSM1 pad .

7

654

321

1

Touch the TVF pad to select a conventional filter algorithm for the COSM1 section.

Touch the 24db/oct pad to change the filter to a 4-pole Lowpass type. Touch the

Cutoff tab to access the Cutoff page.

Take the filter cutoff frequency down to 64 by turning the upper knob in the COSM1

section to the center. The sound is now very mellow. To turn this into a typical analog

lead sound we have to apply some filter envelope...

321

Next

First Steps

10

Touch the control 1/2 tab and change the control 1 source to CC01 using the

VALUE dial. As CC01 is the very next source in the list after OFF, you can hold SHIFT

and turn VALUE anticlockwise to quickly reach the beginning, then either move the

VALUE dial one “click” in the other direction or press the INC/+ button.

✱

CCCC0011 iiss ddeeffiinneedd aass “MMoodd uu llaa ttiioonn ”” ii nn tthhee MM IIDDII ssttaannddaa rr dd ssppeecc iiffiiccaatt iioonnss .. OOnn tthhee

VV--SSyynn tthh,, tt hh iiss ttyyppee ooff ddaattaa iiss ttrraa nn ssmmiitt tteedd bbyy ppuusshhiinngg tt hh ee BB eennddee rr aa wwaayy ffrroomm yyoouu

Open the Destination1 list and select parameter 019:OSC1-LFO-PCH (oscillator

1 LFO to pitch) by turning the VALUE dial . Touch OK to confirm , then press the

cursor-right button to select Sens (Sensitivity) . This parameter determines the

maximum depth of the modulation, in this case how much vibrato you will get when

pushing the bender to its limit. A value of +14 is enough here. Now touch the Effect

pad to access the Effects section.

765

4

3

2

1

Touch the MFX (Multi Effects) tab . Touch the List button and select algorithm

16:AnalogDelay ➝ Chorus using the VALUE dial . Confirm your selection with OK .

Change the Level to 80 for a more subtle mixture .

5

432

1

4

5

1

2

5

3

4

1

2

3

6

7

Touch the Mono pad and switch Portamento on . The sound is now

monophonic, but portamento (glide) is applied to every note you play even if you leave

gaps between notes. To remedy this, change the Portamento mode to LEGATO . The

glide effect is a bit too slow. Reduce the Time parameter to about 8.

Before adding some delay effects (this sound is still completely dry), we could make the

Bender add some vibrato for extra expression. Touch the Matrix Ctrl (Control) tab .

5

432

1

1

3

4

2

5

First Steps

11

Although this sound is still very primitive, it’s about time we named and saved it to make

sure that all the work done so far is not lost. Open the drop-down menu (via the triangle)

and select PATCH Write .

1

Now touch the Rename pad . Enter a suitable name: “Simplicity”.

At this point you might like to try out all the pads in this page, for instance Shift gives

you capitals instead of lower case letters and symbols instead of numbers. Confirm with

the OK pad in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen . To save the sound to an

unused location (300), change the Destination using the VALUE dial . When you

are sure the destination number is correct and that you are not overwriting any patch

you might need in future, touch the Execute pad . Note that you can Compare

a sound to the original before overwriting.

654

3

2

We’ll be improving “Simplicity” later on, so please make sure you have saved it.

Now it’s time to learn a little more about each individual section in your V-Synth...

2

4

5

6

1

3

Basic Sound Parameters

Basic Sound Parameters

12

This chapter only deals with those sections which are directly

involved in sound generation and treatment. For information

about programming the Arpeggiator or applying realtime

controllers (Time-Trip, D-Beam, Bender and Control knobs),

please refer to the chapter “Advanced Performance” towards

the end of this tutorial. For information about Sampling and more

advanced programming, see the chapter “Advanced Sound

Programming” below.

Practical instructions here are in a much more compact form than

those above because I assume that you already know your way

around the menus. Look in the Owner’s Manual under

“Creating a Patch - Functions of Patch Parameters”

whenever you need detailed information about individual

parameters. Although each section will be dealt with in turn, you

will be guided towards other sections in the V-Synth whenever

necessary. This will help you get used to switching between

sections and guard against seeing each one as a separate,

unrelated entity.

✱

IInn pprraacctt iicc ee,, ccrr eeaatt iinngg aa ggoo oodd pp aa ttcchh uuss uu aa llll yy mmeeaa nnss

jjuummpp iinngg bb aacckk aa nn dd ff oo rr tthh bbeettww eeeenn ppaarraammee tteerrss rraa tthheerr

oo ffttee nn.. SSyynn tthhee ssiizzeerr mmoodduull eess//sseecc ttiioo nn ss aa rr ee,, bbyy tthheeiirr vvee rr yy

nnaattuurree ,, hhii gghhllyy iinn tteerraa ccttii vvee

Because the Effect section is dealt with last, the sounds will only

start coming to life towards the end of this chapter. If you find

dry sounds generally tiring to the ear, you can always add some

internal or external reverb.

Go to 512:INIT PATCH and touch the OSC1 pad...

For each of its two oscillators (per Zone), the V-Synth gives you

the choice of two fundamentally different types - Analog and

PCM. Whichever you choose, many of the parameters are

practically the same. There is a third option which will be

mentioned later on: EXT IN causes signals from the two INPUT

jacks to be routed directly to the MOD section.

As these diagrams clearly show, the signal passes through several

stages, each with its own dedicated envelope but with a single,

shared LFO. This means that the main parameters (Pitch,

Time...) in each of the four stages can be modulated by individual

envelopes as well as by a common LFO.

** AAnnyy aauuddiioo ssii gg nn aall tt hhaatt''ss bbee eenn iinn pp uu tt wwhhii llee tt hh ee ooss cc iillllaatt oo rr

ttyyppee oonn tthhee VV-- SS yynntthh iiss sseett ttoo EEXX TT IINN wwiillll bb ee hheeaarrdd oonnllyy

ww hh eenn yyoouu pp llaayy tt hh ee kkeeyybbooaarrdd.. IInn oott hheerr wwoorrddss,, tthhee ssii mmppllee

aa cc tt oo ff iinnppuuttttiinngg aa ssoo uu nn dd iiss nnoott eennoouugghh ttoo cc aauussee iitt ttoo bbee

hhee aarrdd.. NNoottee tthhaa tt tthhee ssiiggnnaall ff rr oomm tthhee DDII GG IITTAALL IINNPPUUTT ii ss nnoott

aa lllloowweedd tt oo bbee uuss eedd aass aa ssoouurrccee ffoorr EE XXTT IINN..

The OSC1 / OSC2 Sections

Wave

Pitch

Envelope

Pitch

PW

Envelope

Pulse
Width

Fat

Envelope

Fat

TVA

Envelope

OSC
TVA

LFO

control signal

Analog OSC

audio signal

Waveform

Pitch

Envelope

Pitch

Time

Envelope

Time

Formant

Envelope

Formant

TVA

Envelope

OSC
TVA

LFO

control signal

PCM OSC

audio signal

Basic Sound Parameters

13

This is what you see when you select PCM in the OSC1 section and touch the Pitch

pad, but the corresponding page for analog oscillators looks the same. If you touch each

of the other tabs in succession, you will see that they have a similar layout - except for

the LFO page of course.

PITCH (Analog or PCM)

This page is used for setting all parameters which affect oscillator pitch. Try turning up

the LFO DP1 knob (DP stands for “depth”) to add some vibrato. If you like, go to the

LFO page (touch the LFO pad) and experiment with the parameters for a while.

Pitch modulation from the envelope is best demonstrated by turning Env Depth up to

something drastic like +50, setting Sustain to zero and then adjusting Attack and

Decay to taste.

✱

WWhhiicchh mmee tthhooddss ddii dd yyoouu uussee ttoo sseellee cc tt aanndd cchhaannggee aallll tthheessee vv aalluueess??

Could you have made some of the adjustments much more quickly or precisely by using

the knobs, buttons and sliders on the panel? The answer to this question may only mean

5 seconds difference for each adjustment you make, but this can add up to many hours

in the long run!

PULSE WIDTH (Analog only)

This is where you can add automatic modulation and adjust various other pulse width

parameters, but you should first be aware of the different effects Pulse Width has on

each of the waveforms. Go back to the OSC Type page, select another waveform and

manually turn the PW knob in the OSC1 section.

Note that PW has no effect on the HQ-SAW waves. Pulse width is normally defined as

the ratio between the upper and lower plateaus of a pulse wave, but in the V-Synth this

term is also used for similar effects available for most of the other waves. Now try adding

pulse width modulation from the LFO by turning up the LFO DP2 knob in the OSC1

section.

FAT (Analog only)

The Fat page looks almost exactly the same as the Pulse Width page. Go back to the

OSC Type page, select each waveform and turn the FAT knob in the OSC1 section to

see what effect Fat has on the sound. If you return to the Fat page at any point, you will

see the value changing as you turn the knob. Note that Fat also has no effect on the

three waveforms: HQ-SAW, HQ-SQR and NOISE.

Basic Sound Parameters

14

TIME (PCM only)

Mad Orchestra

Press EXIT, then step down and up a patch to remove any edits you have made. Press

the OSC1 pad and change Osc Type to PCM instead of Analog. Use the cursor up/down

buttons (if necessary) to highlight the waveform number, then change this to number

043, “120 PfLick1+”. If you play a note you should now be able to hear a piano

arpeggio sample.

Touch the Time tab so you can see the Time value. Touch the ZERO pad . Play the

keyboard, watch Time change as you take it slowly up to +63 (using the OSC1 / TIME

knob) and then all the way down to -63 . This is VARIPHRASE and not conventional

sampling, in case you hadn’t already noticed!

Now set Time to -1 by turning the TIME knob back to the to the center, touching the

Time control and pressing the DEC/- button. Play a bunch of random notes in the

center of the keyboard. Do you recognize this sound? It is the basis for the first patch in

your V-Synth, “001:MadOrchestra”. Of course you can modulate the Time

parameter from its own dedicated envelope or from the LFO. Later on you will learn how

to modulate parameters using any realtime controls you like (Time-Trip, D-Beam, C1

and C2, Bender, keyboard velocity, aftertouch) by defining sources and destinations in

the modulation matrix.

FORMANT (PCM only)

This page is grayed out because the currently used waveform is of type Ensemble - see

the section on “Creating and Editing Samples (Sample Mode)” in the Owner’s

Manual as well as the section “Sampling and Encoding” later on in this tutorial.

We need a waveform of type Solo (or Lite) to demonstrate how formants can be

manipulated in realtime. Press EXIT, then step down and up a patch.

Go to the OSC1 / OSC Type page, select PCM and change the waveform to 067,

“088:NaNaNa+”. Activate Tempo Sync (a pad in the bottom right-hand corner of the

page) and reduce the tempo a little using the TEMPO knob in the ARPEGGIO section.

Play a chord with your left hand and add a higher note afterwards with your right hand.

The new note will be retriggered i.e. probably out of step with the other voices, so

change the Playback Mode to Legato. Try the chord and the additional note once again

- everything is now in step. Now experiment with the OSC1 Formant knob...

Hey You!

Take FORMANT back to the center, then turn the LFO DP3 knob up to maximum for

some deep and rapid formant modulation. Go to the LFO page, activate Key Sync

and change the Rate to one of the musical notes you will find after reaching 127 .

If you have selected a minim here (the empty circle with a tail), changing the LFO

waveform to SAW will give you “NunnaNaah HooYaah”, and TRI will give you

“NannaNoo HeyYou”. To turn this into “HeyYou NannaNoo”, go to the Osc Type page and

take Start Offset up to about 40000. You should use SHIFT + VALUE to do this,

otherwise it would take forever! Save this patch under the name “Hey You!” to patch

number 301.

43212

1

1

2

34

2

1

Basic Sound Parameters

15

OSC1

OSC2

Output

121

RING

Ring Modulation adds complexity to the sound by multiplying two input signals

(oscillators 1 and 2) together. When the waveforms of both inputs are fairly pure, you

can get bell-like sounds. Go to 512:INIT PATCH and activate oscillator 2 – you can

press the lower of the two buttons next to the VALUE dial. Set both oscillators to SINE,

then change the Modulator Type to RING in the MOD section . Take the Original

Level down to 0 . Experiment with both PITCH knobs and adjust overall pitch in the

Common / Tune page.

You might also like to experiment with the other knobs in the OSC sections. Of course

ring modulation is not only useful for bell-like sounds – you can use any oscillator types

you like, including external input. Remember that if the sound is too harsh, you can

mellow it with a Lowpass filter (in one of the COSM sections). We’ll get to that soon.

2

1

FM

Frequency modulation of one signal (oscillator 1 is the carrier) by another (oscillator 2 is

the modulator) is also a good source of complex sounds. Press EXIT and step down and

up a patch to remove all your edits. Activate oscillator 2 again and change both oscillators

to SINE. Select FM in the MOD section and turn the OSC2 PITCH knob only. Because

this is the modulator and not the carrier, doing this won’t change the fundamental pitch of

your sound. Again, you should experiment with all the other oscillator types.

1

The Mod Section

2

1

As well as standard mixing (MIX), the modulation section offers Ring Modulation (RING), Frequency Modulation (FM) or Synchronization

(OSC SYNC) between the two oscillators, as well as an envelope follower controlling oscillator 1 volume (ENV RING). Let’s experiment

with each of these algorithms in turn. For further details about each parameter, please refer to the Owner’s Manual under

“Creating a Patch – Mixing/Modulating Two Sounds”.

OSC1

OSC2

Output

OSC TVA (Analog or PCM)

This gives you control over individual oscillator volume. Because the “Hey” in your “Hey

You” patch starts rather abruptly, you can smoothen it here by changing the Attack to

around 30 . You will find that the R (Release) setting has no effect yet because the

main TVA release time is currently very short. Open the TVA section (by touching the

TVA pad ) and change the Release value to 30. Save the patch again.

2

1

Basic Sound Parameters

16

ENV RING

This is basically an envelope follower whereby the volume of oscillator 1 is controlled by

the audio “envelope” of oscillator 2 i.e. its volume at any given time. Patch number

179:Shakin’Str uses an internal sampled percussion loop (055 Shakin’+) and shows

off the effect very well (play the lower half of the keyboard). However, here is a good

opportunity to hook up an external audio source to your V-Synth...

Start from INIT PATCH again, activate oscillator 2 and set the Type to EXT IN. Select

ENV RING in the MOD section , go to OSC1 and change the waveform to SAW.

Feed a drum loop or drum computer into the V-Synth’s inputs and play a chord. To

accentuate the rhythmic effect, use only very short percussive sounds with no reverb etc.

You can always soften the rhythmic effect by adjusting ENV RING’s own Attack and

Release parameters .

2

1

ENV RING is very good in combination with dynamic filtering e.g. Auto Wah (available as

Multi Effect), but we are going to “jump the gun” here and use a similar (but polyphonic!)

COSM effect. Select COSM1 and change the Type to DYN-TVF. Touch the Cutoff tab

and take Cutoff frequency (Freq) down to around 50 , Freq KF to +100 and Dyn

(input Dynamics) up until it sounds interesting . Note that you might also have to adjust

the volume of the sound source or the Cutoff frequency again. Try going to the Resonance

page and take the Reso and/or DynEnv parameter up for a much more squelchy sound.

432

1

OSC SYNC

This algorithm resets the phase of oscillator

1 every time oscillator 2 repeats its cycle,

and can have a similar effect to sweeping a

filter with high resonance and overdrive if

oscillator 1 pitch is modulated. Start again

from scratch i.e. the INIT patch in

program number 512, activate oscillator 2

and set both oscillators to SQR. Go to the

MOD section and select OSC SYNC .

Experiment with the OSC1 PITCH knob,

then set it to the center again. Go back to

OSC1 and touch the Pitch pad . Flip

Sustain down to zero using the slider and

change Decay to 40 . Change the

Velocity Curve to 1 and Env Depth

to +50 . Tune everything down an

octave in the Common / Tune page

(Course = -12) and play single notes on

your keyboard as dynamically as possible –

you might recognize this type of sound

from countless Techno tracks!

6

5

432

1

OSC1

OSC2

Envelope

Output

1

2

213 4

1

6

2

3

4

5

OSC1

(=Output)

OSC2