Steinberg Retrologue 2 Instruction Manual
Retrologue
Matthias Klag, Michael Ruf
Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Christina Kaboth, Insa Mingers, Matthias Obrecht, Sabine Pfeifer,
Benjamin Schütte, Marita Sladek
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©
Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2016.
All rights reserved.
4 Retrologue
5 Common Editing Methods
7 Plug-in Functions Section
8 Keyboard
8 Synth Page
26 Arp Page
34 FX Page
44 Quick Controls
44 MIDI Controllers
46 Index
Table of Contents
3
Retrologue
Retrologue provides you with a highly flexible virtual analog synthesizer. It features all
essential classical synthesis features that you need to create your own synthesizer sounds.
Retrologue comes with three multi-mode oscillators, a dedicated sub oscillator, and a noise
generator. Oscillators 1-3 feature several modes that allow anything from basic synthesis
waveforms to sync and cross modulation to multi waveforms. One oscillator can be a
combination of up to eight detunable oscillator signals, which allows for very rich sounds. In
addition, you can add the ring modulated signal from the main oscillators.
The Filter section provides 24 different filter types, including low-pass, high-pass, bandpass, and band-reject filters. The integrated filter distortion can produce a variety of
distortion effects.
You can send signals from your sequencer tracks to Retrologue using the Side-Chain
function in the Instruments Rack. This allows you to use the tracks as source for the
oscillator mix and apply the same processing and effects to them.
The envelopes and the LFOs can be used to modulate a large number of modulation
destinations, which are accessible in the modulation matrix. The matrix features 16 freely
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Retrologue
Common Editing Methods
assignable modulations. For example, this allows you to create Note Expression modulation
assignments that can be addressed from within the Steinberg DAW. To give the sounds the
final polish, Retrologue provides an effect section that features 6 insert effects in series. With
the integrated arpeggiator and step sequencer, you can create anything from sequencer lines
to stepped chords.
The user interface of Retrologue is divided into 3 pages that give access to different areas of
the plug-in.
•
To switch between the pages, click the corresponding buttons in the plug-in function
section at the top of the window.
On the Synth page, you can find the parameters for the oscillators, the filter and amp
envelopes, the LFOs, and the modulation matrix.
The Arp page contains the arpeggiator.
The FX page allows you to edit the built-in effects and to set up the order in which the effects
are processed.
Common Editing Methods
Dials and Sliders
Dials and sliders can be unidirectional or bidirectional. Unidirectional values, for example
level values, start at a minimum value and go up to the maximum. Bidirectional controls
start from the middle position and go to the left for negative and to the right for positive
values.
Most of the editing methods are the same for dials and sliders.
• To adjust a value, click a dial or a fader and drag up and down, or use the mouse
wheel.
If you press Alt when clicking a dial, a small fader appears, allowing you to set the
parameter.
• To make fine adjustments, press Shift and move the dial or use the mouse wheel.
• To restore the default value for a parameter, press Ctrl/Cmd and click on the control.
Buttons
On/Off Buttons
These buttons have 2 states: on and off. If you move the mouse over an On/Off button, it
changes its appearance to show that you can click it.
Push Buttons
Push buttons trigger an action and then go back to their inactive state. These buttons open
menus or file dialogs.
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Common Editing Methods
Value Fields
To set a value, you have the following possibilities:
• Double-click in a value field, enter a new value, and press Enter.
If the entered value exceeds the parameter range, it is automatically set to the
maximum or the minimum value, respectively.
• Click in the value field and drag up or down.
• Position the mouse over a value field and use the mouse wheel.
• Click the up/down triangles next to the field.
• To set the parameter to its default value, Ctrl/Cmd-click the value field.
• To use a fader to adjust the value, Alt-click a value field.
• To enter musical values, such as key ranges or the root key, with your MIDI keyboard,
double-click the value field, press a key on your MIDI keyboard, and press Return.
• To navigate to the next parameter, press Tab. To jump backwards to the previous
parameter, press Shift-Tab.
If no parameter is selected inside the focused view, pressing Tab always jumps to the
first parameter.
Presets
Retrologue offers two types of presets: section/module presets and VST presets. Section and
module presets store and recall the setup of a specific component on the Retrologue panel.
VST presets contain all information necessary to restore the complete state of the plug-in.
During setup, the factory presets are installed in a dedicated folder and a user folder is
created for your own presets. The handling of presets is the same throughout the program.
NOTE
Factory presets are write-protected, but may be overwritten when a software update is
executed. Presets in your user folder are never changed by the software update.
For more information on VST presets, see the Operation Manual of your Steinberg DAW.
Handling Section and Module Presets
The preset controls can be found throughout the program. The handling is always the same.
• To save a preset, click Save .
NOTE
You cannot overwrite factory presets. If you want to save changes made to a factory
preset, save the preset under a new name or in a new location.
• To load a preset, click the arrow icon and select a preset from the list.
• To delete a preset, click Delete .
NOTE
Factory presets cannot be deleted.
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Retrologue
Plug-in Functions Section
Handling VST Presets
Loading VST Presets
PROCEDURE
1. In the header of the plug-in panel, click the Preset Management button next to the
preset name field and select Load Preset.
2. Do one of the following:
•
•
Saving VST Presets
PROCEDURE
• In the header of the plug-in panel, click the Preset Management button next to the
preset name field and select Save Preset.
Select a preset to load it.
Double-click a preset to load it and close the preset loader.
Plug-in Functions Section
The plug-in functions section is found at the top of the plug-in panel.
Plug-in Name and Steinberg Logo
To get information regarding the version and build number of the plug-in, click the plugin logo. This opens the About box. To close the About box, click it or press Esc on your
computer keyboard.
If you click the Steinberg logo in the top right corner of the plug-in interface, a pop-up menu
opens. Select one of the options to navigate to Steinberg web pages containing information
on software updates, troubleshooting, etc.
Program Loader
• To load a program, click the program loader and select a program.
• To load the previous or next program, use the left and right arrow buttons.
• To save the current program, click the Save button.
Page Buttons
Use the page buttons to switch between the Synth, Arp, and FX pages.
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Retrologue
Keyboard
Options
Click Options to open the Options pop-up menu.
Show Tooltips
Activates/Deactivates the tooltips.
Show Value Tooltips
If this option is activated, parameters without a value field indicate their value in
a tooltip when you use the control.
Save MIDI Controller as Default
Saves the current MIDI controller assignments as default. If you add a new
instance of the plug-in, the new default settings are used.
Reset MIDI Controller to Factory Default
Restores the factory MIDI controller assignments. That means, controllers 7 and
10 are assigned to the volume and pan parameters, and all other assignments
are removed.
Keyboard
Wheel Controls
To the left of the internal keyboard, the pitchbend wheel and the modulation wheel are
located.
Previewing Notes Using the Keyboard
• To preview a note, click the corresponding key on the keyboard.
The vertical position where you click a key defines the velocity that is used to trigger
the note. Click the lower part of a key to use the highest velocity, and the upper part to
use the lowest velocity.
• To play a key and all following keys at the same velocity, for as long as you keep the
mouse button pressed, hold down Ctrl/Cmd and click the key on the keyboard.
• To play each note 10 times at increasing velocities between 1 and 127, hold down Ctrl/
Cmd-Alt and click a key.
Synth Page
On the Synth page, you can find the parameters for the oscillators, the filter and amp
envelopes, the LFOs, and the modulation matrix.
•
To show the Synth page, activate the Show Synth Page button.
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Retrologue
Synth Page
Voice Section
Mono
Retrigger
Activates monophonic playback.
If this option is activated, a note that was stolen is retriggered if you still hold the
stolen note when releasing the newer note. This lets you play trills by holding
one note and quickly and repeatedly pressing and releasing another note, for
example.
Poly
If Mono is deactivated, you can use this parameter to specify how many notes can
be played simultaneously.
Glide
Allows you to bend the pitch between adjacent notes. You achieve the best results
in Mono mode.
• Activate Fingered to glide the pitch only between notes that are played
legato.
• Use the Glide Time parameter to specify the time that it takes to bend the
pitch between 2 notes.
Voice Mode
Determines which notes are stolen during playback and whether new notes are
triggered when the Poly setting is exceeded.
• If Last is selected, new notes have playback priority over the notes that
were played first.
If you exceed the maximum number of notes, the notes that were played
first are stolen in chronological order (first in/first out) and the new notes
are triggered.
• If First is selected, older notes have playback priority over newer notes.
If you exceed the maximum number of notes while older notes are still
being held, no notes are stolen. New notes are only triggered if a free voice
is available.
• If Low is selected, low notes have playback priority over higher notes.
If you exceed the maximum number of notes by playing a note that is lower
than the ones being held, the highest note is stolen and the new note is
triggered.
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Retrologue
Synth Page
If you exceed the maximum number of notes by playing a note that is
higher than the ones being held, no note is stolen and no new note is
triggered.
• If High is selected, high notes have playback priority over lower notes.
If you exceed the maximum number of notes by playing a note that is
higher than the ones being held, the lowest note is stolen and the new note
is triggered.
If you exceed the maximum number of notes by playing a note that is lower
than the ones being held, no note is stolen and no new note is triggered.
Trigger Mode
Defines the trigger behavior for new notes.
• Normal triggers a new note when the previous note is stolen.
• If Resume is selected, the envelope is retriggered, but resumes at the level
of the stolen note. The pitch is set to the new note.
• If Legato is selected, the envelopes keep playing. The pitch is set to the
new note.
Main Section
Octave
Key Follow
Random Pitch
Adjusts the pitch in octave steps.
Allows you to adjust the pitch modulation by MIDI note number.
• Positive values raise the pitch the higher the note that you play.
• Negative values lower the pitch the higher the note that you play.
• At a setting of 100 %, the pitch follows the played note exactly.
Allows you to randomly offset the pitch with each note that is played. Higher
values cause stronger variations. At a setting of 100 %, the random offsets can
vary between -6 and +6 semitones.
Pitchbend Down/Up
Sets the range of the pitch modulation that is applied when you move the
pitchbend wheel.
Tune
Adjusts the main tuning of the plug-in.
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Retrologue
Synth Page
Volume
Adjusts the main volume of the plug-in.
Oscillator Section
The oscillator section offers six sound sources: three main oscillators, the sub oscillator, the
ring modulation, and the noise generator. To create interesting electronic spectra, you can
mix any of these sound sources.
For the three main oscillators, the following settings are available:
On/Off
Activates/Deactivates the oscillator.
Wave
Allows you to choose between the waveforms sine, triangle, saw, and square.
Type
• Single produces a single waveform.
If the square waveform is selected, the Shape parameter controls the pulse
width, that is, the ratio between the high and low value of the square wave.
A setting of 50 % produces a pure square wave. With settings below or
above 50 %, the oscillator produces rectangular waves.
• Sync provides different hard-sync oscillators, where each is a combination
of a master and a slave oscillator. The waveform of the slave oscillator
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Retrologue
Synth Page
(sine, triangle, saw, or square) is reset with each full wave cycle of the
master oscillator.
The Shape parameter adjusts the pitch of the slave oscillator, producing
the typical sync sound.
• Cross provides a combination of two oscillators where a master oscillator
is modulating the pitch of a slave oscillator (sine, triangle, saw, or square)
at audio rate.
The Shape parameter adjusts the pitch ratio between slave and master
oscillator, resulting in a sound close to frequency modulation.
• XOR (exclusive OR) compares two square waveforms with an XOR
operation. Depending on the outcome of the XOR operation, the waveform
of a third oscillator (sine, triangle, saw, or square) is reset.
The Shape parameter adjusts the pitch ratio of the square oscillators
resulting in a sound close to ring modulation of the third oscillator.
• Multi is a multi oscillator that can play up to eight oscillators
simultaneously. You can specify the number of oscillators in the No. value
field. This parameter can be set continuously. Values in between 2 integer
values mean that an additional oscillator is mixed in at a reduced level.
If the square waveform is selected, the Shape parameter controls the pulse
width, that is, the ratio between the high and low value of the square wave.
A setting of 50 % produces a pure square wave. With settings below or
above 50 %, the oscillator produces rectangular waves.
Phase
Determines the initial phase of the oscillator when you play a note.
• If this is set to Free Phase, the oscillator runs freely and continuously.
• If this is set to Random Phase, the oscillator starts with a random phase.
• If this is set to Fixed Phase, you can specify a fixed start phase (0-360°) for
the oscillator.
No.
If the oscillator type is set to Multi, this parameter determines the number of
oscillators that play back simultaneously.
You can also set fractions of numbers. For example, with a setting of 2.5, you
hear two oscillators at full level and a third oscillator at half level.
Detune
If the oscillator type is set to Multi, this parameter specifies by how many cents
the additional oscillators are detuned.
For example, if you use 5 oscillators and set Detune to 4, you get one oscillator at
the original pitch, and 4 detuned oscillators at -8, -4, +4, and +8.
Octave
Adjusts the pitch in octave steps.
Coarse
Adjusts the pitch in semitone steps.
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Synth Page
Fine
Fine-tunes the pitch in cent steps.
Sub Oscillator
On/Off
Activates/Deactivates the sub oscillator.
Wave
Allows you to choose between three waveforms for the sub oscillator: triangle,
saw, or square. The pitch of the sub oscillator is always one octave below the
overall pitch. If you modulate the overall pitch, the sub oscillator follows.
Fix
If this option is activated, the sub oscillator starts with a phase of 0 each time
that a note is played.
If this option is deactivated, the oscillator runs freely.
Noise Generator
On/Off
Activates/Deactivates the noise generator.
The Noise parameter is used for non-pitched sounds. In addition to standard
white and pink noise, there are also band-pass filtered versions (BPF) of white
and pink noise.
Ring Modulator
On/Off
Activates/Deactivates the ring modulator.
Ring Modulation Source 1/2
Ring modulation is produced by multiplying the signals of two oscillators. On
these pop-up menus, you can select the sources for the ring modulation.
NOTE
For the ring modulation to have an effect, the corresponding oscillators must be
active.
Oscillator Mix
In the Oscillator Mix section, you can adjust the levels of the different oscillators, the noise
generator, and the ring modulation.
Using Audio Input from your Steinberg DAW
If Side-Chain is activated in the Steinberg DAW, you can send the signals from your tracks to
Retrologue.
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Retrologue
Synth Page
If signals are sent to Retrologue via side-chain, the Input control becomes available in the
Oscillator Mix section, allowing you to adjust the level of the signals that are coming in from
the tracks in the DAW.
Filter Section
The Filter section allows you to adjust the tone color of the sound.
Filter Shape
• LP 24, 18, 12, and 6 are low-pass filters with 24, 18, 12, and 6 dB/oct.
Frequencies above the cutoff are attenuated.
• BP 12 and BP 24 are band-pass filters with 12 and 24 dB/oct. Frequencies
below and above the cutoff are attenuated.
• HP6+LP18 and HP6+LP12 are combinations of a high-pass filter with 6 dB/
oct and a low-pass filter with 18 and 12 dB/oct, respectively (asymmetric
band-pass filter). Frequencies below and above the cutoff are attenuated.
Attenuation is more pronounced for the frequencies above the cutoff.
• HP12+LP6 and HP18+LP6 are combinations of a high-pass filter with 12
and 18 dB/oct and a low-pass filter with 6 dB/oct (asymmetric band-pass
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