User’s Manual
Contents
3.8.3 Distortion . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.8.4 Phaser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.8.5 Chorus/Flanger . . . . . . . . . 21
3.8.6 Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.8.7 Reverb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.8.8 Compressor . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1 Introduction and Overview 3
2 Basic Operation 4
2.1 Patch Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Polyphony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3 Pitch Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.4 Modulation Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.5 Aftertouch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.6 Using Antidote as an effect device . . . 5
3 Sound Parameters 6
3.1 Patch Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2 Oscillators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2.1 Oscillator 1+2 . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2.2 Sub Oscillators and Mixer . . . 10
3.3 Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4 Modulation Envelope . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.5 Filter Envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.6 Amplitude Envelope . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.7 LFOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.8 Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.8.1 EQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.8.2 Bass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4 Modulation Matrix 25
4.1 List of Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.2 List of Destinations . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5 Arpeggiator 33
6 Back Panel 35
7 MIDI Reference 37
Credits 40
2 Antidote User’s Manual
1 Introduction and
Overview
Thank you for choosing Synapse Audio Antidote!
Antidote RE is a virtual-analog synthesizer for Propellerhead Reason. Antidote combines high audio
quality, flexibility and a fast work flow in an easyto-use plugin. It was specifically developed to complement Reason, and to yield the best possible sound,
integration and user experience.
Antidote RE comes feature packed with two stereo
oscillator banks, each emitting a stack of up to 24 high
quality virtual-analog oscillator waveforms.
The oscillators pass through the filter stage, which
employs the latest zero-delay feedback designs. This
recent technology is quickly gaining a lot of popularity, as it is able to mimic the behavior of analog filters
much better than previous designs.
Envelopes and LFOs further shape the sound, and
the modulation matrix — which can modulate almost
any sound parameter — adds the necessary depth to
realize complex sounds. The output of the synthesis
stage finally passes through a massive effect chain comprising EQ, Distortion, Phaser, Chorus, Delay, Reverb
and a Compressor effect. All effects can be enabled
and used simultaneously.
The back panel allows to connect Antidote RE to
other devices, to add extra modulation via CV Inputs,
to feed the effect chain with the outputs from other
instruments and to connect Reason’s step sequencers.
In contrast to conventional plugin standards, there
is little difference between using Antidote RE as an
instrument and as an effect. Both is possible and intended, and the vast modulation options apply equally
well in both cases.
3 Antidote User’s Manual
2 Basic Operation
2.1 Patch Controls
The patch operation in Antidote RE is the same as
in any other Reason device. To select a patch, either
click on the patch name, the folder icon or the arrow
buttons. To save a patch, click on the disk icon.
2.2 Polyphony
Each key that you press triggers a voice, with a pitch
determined by the key number. As each voice requires
CPU time, the total number of available voices is limited. The maximum number of available voices can be
adjusted by changing the POLY parameter in the top
left. Note that two special modes exist, Mono and
Mono-Legato. In both modes, only a single voice is
audible at a time. When multiple keys are pressed in
succession and sustained, the one hit last is audible.
Release it to snap back to the previous key (make sure
this one is still pressed!). This permits a unique style
of playing, which is particularly useful in combination
with the Glide knob. You can smoothly glide from
one note to another in this way. The difference between Mono and Mono-Legato is that the Mono mode
retriggers all envelopes whenever you press a key, while
the Legato mode will not change the envelope states
during a slide from one note to another.
2.3 Pitch Wheel
The pitch bend wheel changes the pitch of the current
sound. The minimum and maximum settings can be
changed on the backside of the device, in semitones.
There is two separate controls, one for up and one for
downwards motion. By default, the pitch bend ranges
from -2 (down) to +2 (up) semitones.
2.4 Modulation Wheel
The modulation wheel changes one or more sound parameters in real time, and adds expressiveness to your
performance. The parameter to change can be specified in the modulation matrix, by selecting Mod Wheel
in the source column, then choosing an arbitrary sound
parameter to modify from the destination list. Move
the corresponding AMT knob to the right, to specify
how strong the modulation should be at most.
A common application of the modulation wheel is
to open the filter with it, or to add vibrato/tremolo
4 Antidote User’s Manual
type effects. To do this, use LFO1*MW or LFO2*MW
in the modulation matrix source column, which multiplies the current LFO state with the modulation wheel
value (see chapter 4 for a more detailed description of
the modulation matrix).
2.5 Aftertouch
Aftertouch is another common way to add expressiveness to a sound. Aftertouch measures the pressure applied to all keyboard keys as a whole. When holding
down a chord, for instance, then increasing pressure,
you can add a vibrato effect to the sound. The aftertouch programming is identical to how you program
the modulation wheel. Using the previous example,
choose LFO1*AT or LFO2*AT as a source, then any
arbitrary sound parameter from the destination list,
to get a vibrato type effect.
Note that aftertouch is available in many, but not all
MIDI keyboards. Consult your MIDI keyboard manual to find out if your keyboard supports aftertouch.
Patch from the root folder as a starting point for effect
work. This patch sets all parameters to their default
values, including all effect parameters. Connect your
audio input signal to Antidote by using the EXT IN
jacks on the back side. If you want to adjust or automate the input level, use the red EXT IN knob on
the front. This avoids having to flip between the frontand back side of the device just to do level corrections.
2.6 Using Antidote as an effect
device
Antidote RE can be used as a killer effect unit and was
designed with this application in mind. Use the Init
5 Antidote User’s Manual
Oscillator 1
Sub Osc 1
Oscillator 2
Sub Osc 2
Filter EffectsAmp
Filter Env Amp Env
Mod Env
LFO 1+2
+
External
Input
Out L/R
3 Sound Parameters
This section describes how an Antidote patch is constructed, as well as the operation of all front panel
knobs and switches, except the arpeggiator and modulation matrix (which are covered in chapters 4+5).
3.1 Patch Structure
The structure of an Antidote patch is shown in fig. 3.1.
The block diagram shows the basic working principle
of the entire synthesizer.
Figure 3.1: Patch Structure.
Whenever a MIDI note is played, a voice is triggered to synthesize that note. Each voice comprises
three major building blocks, the oscillators, the filter,
and the amplifier. The blocks emulate the three basic properties of a sound: Pitch, Timbre and Volume.
The oscillator block controls the pitch and basic timbre
of a sound by generating one or more periodic waveforms. The resulting signal is typically very bright.
To further refine the timbre, the signal is processed
by the filter block, which attenuates frequencies specified by the user; usually, high frequencies are removed.
Hence, this type of synthesis is commonly called "subtractive". The third block controls the volume of the
sound.
On their own, the three basic building blocks synthesize a completely static sound. This is in contrast
to acoustic sounds, where pitch, timbre and volume
change over time. In order to obtain this possibility
in a synthesizer, envelopes and low-frequency oscillators are used to add dynamic variation to a sound.
The most important envelope is the amplitude envelope ("Amp Env"), which is essential to fade in and
fade out notes and thus to make a synthesizer playable
like a real instrument in the first place. Also important
is the filter envelope ("Filter Env"), which dynamically
controls the brightness and thus the timbre of a sound
over time. The modulation envelope ("Mod Env") can
be freely assigned to any sound parameter.
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3.2 Oscillators
50%
Sawtooth Pulse
Sine Triangle
3.2.1 Oscillator 1+2
An oscillator generates a periodic waveform and forms
the basic building block of the majority of synthesizers (the most common waveforms are illustrated in
fig. 3.2). Antidote offers two banks of oscillators, plus
two sub oscillators. Both oscillator banks allow you to
instantiate between 1 and 24 oscillators with the same
waveform shape, but with a different tuning each. The
sub oscillators are sawtooth and pulse waveforms, and
play one octave below oscillator bank 1 and 2, respectively.
Figure 3.2: Basic oscillator waveforms.
WAVEFORM and MODIFIER
Each oscillator bank allows you to choose between six
different oscillator types. Each oscillator type has a
unique property which is controlled by the MODIFIER
knob. All other parameters work in the same way, regardless of which type is chosen (Exception: Noise).
• Sawtooth: A high-quality analog-style sawtooth
oscillator. Each sawtooth in the bank has a virtual master oscillator, which allows to hard sync
the sawtooth to the frequency of the master oscillator. When set to zero, the master oscillator has no effect, resulting in a regular sawtooth
waveform output. As the MODIFIER knob is
increased, however, the master frequency is progressively lowered relative to the specified pitch,
producing the well-known oscillator sync sound.
• Digital Saw: A basic sawtooth waveform, followed by a highpass filter. The digital sawtooth
oscillator generates a lot of aliasing noise, which
is particularly audible at high frequencies. This
is useful as a creative effect, for instance to synthesize noisy high string notes, as popularized by
older digital gear. The MODIFIER knob adjusts
the frequency of the highpass tracking filter, progressively increasing its relative frequency. As a
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result, the first overtones of the sawtooth get at-
25% 50% 75%
tenuated.
• Pulse: A pulse waveform with adjustable pulse
width (see fig. 3.3). The MODIFIER knob controls the pulse width, the center position of 50%
corresponds to a square wave.
different timbres. Note that the tuning parameters have no effect on this oscillator type, since
white noise has no pitch.
• Ringwave: Synthesizes bell-type waveforms using ring modulation. Use MODIFIER to change
the timbre of the sound.
• WT (Wavetables): A selection of wavetables,
each containing a number of distinct waveforms,
with a smooth blend between them. Use the
MODIFIER knob to set the position in the
wavetable. Modulate the modifier knob with
an envelope or LFO to obtain typical wavetable
sounds.
• Sine-Triangle: This oscillator blends seamlessly
between sine and triangle waveform shapes. The
MODIFIER knob controls the mix ratio. Turned
fully to the left, a pure sine wave is created.
Turned to the right, only the triangle is audible.
• Saw-Triangle: Same as above, except that this
oscillator mixes a sawtooth and a triangle waveform.
• Noise: Generates random white noise. Use
MODIFIER to filter the noise, in order to obtain
Figure 3.3: Pulse Width.
COUNT
This parameter specifies the number of oscillators to
use per bank. Set to OFF, the entire oscillator bank is
turned off and will not consume any CPU resources.
DYAD
The DYAD parameter allows to double the entire bank
with all its oscillators and their settings, and transpose
it up by a selectable number of semitones. For example, if COUNT is set to 5 and DYAD is set to +24,
Antidote would play back 10 oscillators in total. The
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first 5 oscillators would run at their regular pitch, the
extra 5 oscillators two octaves higher. This feature is
useful to build chord stabs. It can also come in handy
if one oscillator bank is set to noise and additional
tuned oscillators are needed.
SPREAD
This parameter spreads the oscillators in the stereo
field, from monophonic to full stereo. Note that more
than one oscillator needs to be chosen in the COUNT
field for this parameter to be audible.
SEMI
The SEMI control adjusts the primary tuning of the
oscillator bank in semitones. The range spans +/- 24
semitones. A larger range can be obtained by using
the modulation matrix, if required.
FINE
This parameter adjusts the fine tuning of the oscillator bank in cents. A value of +/- 100 corresponds to
a semitone.
DETUNE
This parameter adjusts the detune of all oscillators in
the bank. Higher values corresponds to stronger detuning. Note that more than one oscillator needs to be
chosen in the COUNT field for this parameter to be
audible. Detune works on all oscillator types except
noise.
PHASE
Whenever a note is triggered, all oscillators need to
start at a certain position within the waveform cycle. PHASE sets this initial starting phase, from 0
to 359 degrees. Turned fully clockwise, the oscillators
are in free run mode, which means they start at random phases. This is the default behavior, and strongly
recommended when using more than one or two oscillators in the bank. Otherwise, strong beating will occur when all oscillators in a bank start from the same
waveform position.
MODIFIER
See WAVEFORM and MODIFIER above.
KEYTRACK
When triggering a note, usually its MIDI key number
will tune the oscillators to the proper frequency for
9 Antidote User’s Manual
this key. With semi and fine tune at their default po-
Frequency
Magnitude
Cutoff frequency
sitions, pressing MIDI note A4 would set an oscillator
base frequency of 440 Hz, for example. In some cases,
however, it can be useful to change this key tracking.
When creating percussive sounds, it is often preferable
to turn off key tracking completely. This is accomplished by setting key track to zero, which means the
key number has no effect on the pitch of the oscillators.
PAN
Adjusts the panorama position of the entire oscillator
bank, from left to right. The default is center.
3.2.2 Sub Oscillators and Mixer
The levels of both oscillator banks as well as their respective sub oscillators can be adjusted by using the
faders in the mixer section. The first sub oscillator,
labeled SUB 1, emits a square wave. Its pitch is tuned
precisely one octave below oscillator bank 1. The second sub oscillator, labeled SUB 2, emits a sawtooth
wave, pitched one octave below oscillator bank 2. Sub
oscillators are often used to add more body to a sound.
When a fader is set to zero, that oscillator is inaudible. The DRIFT parameter adjusts the tuning drift
of all oscillators over time, a property known of vintage analog synthesizers. To have perfect and stable
oscillator tuning, the fader should be at zero.
3.3 Filter
The raw oscillator sound is typically too bright to be
useful. Furthermore, the periodic nature of the oscilators results in a dull timbre. Many natural instruments
like a flute or piano feature a short, bright transient
behavior, and then decay to a more steady, darker timbre. This behavior can be modeled by using a timevarying filter. The filter section is located below the
first LFO.
CUTOFF
Perhaps the most important filter parameter is the
CUTOFF knob. It sets the corner frequency where
the filter operates. Its meaning depends on the filter
type chosen:
• For the low-pass filter types, frequencies above
the cutoff frequency are damped:
10 Antidote User’s Manual
Antidote features four lowpass filter types, which
Frequency
Magnitude
Cutoff frequency
Frequency
Magnitude
Cutoff frequency
differ in how strong the damping is per octave. The one-pole filter will attenuate frequencies above the cutoff by 6 dB, the two-pole by
12 dB, the three-pole by 18 dB, and finally the
four-pole by 24 dB per octave.
• The band-pass filter damps frequencies around
the cutoff frequency. As a result, bass and treble
get attenuated.
The Highpass filter attenuates the frequencies
below cutoff by 12 dB per octave.
• Diode Ladder
This filter is a special kind of low-pass filter,
which models analog filter circuits based on
diodes (or transistors hooked up as diodes). The
response and the resonant tuning of such filters
differs from the standard low-pass filters, and is
useful to recreate some vintage analog sounds.
The Bandpass filter attenuates the frequencies
around cutoff by 12 dB per octave.
• The high-pass filter attenuates all frequencies below the cutoff frequency and passes the higher
frequencies unchanged.
Of the above filter types, the low-pass filter types are
the most common, as they fully preserve the bass frequencies and allows the natural progression from a
bright to a dark timbre when being modulated.
To modulate the cutoff frequency and produce a dynamically changing timbre, the LFOs and filter envelope can be used. Both options will be discussed later
in this chapter.
11 Antidote User’s Manual
RESO
Frequency
Magnitude
Cutoff frequency
Resonance
If the output of a filter is fed back to its input, resonance occurs, which is a sinusodial oscillation near the
cutoff frequency (see fig. 3.4). The RESO knob controls the depth of this effect. At lower settings, resonance can be used to add presence to a sound. Using
higher settings, the sinusodial oscillation gets strong
enough to use the filter in a similar fashion as an oscillator (try setting the low-pass filter to maximum resonance, with Key Track set to 100% and Cutoff to 0%).
This property is furthermore useful to create special
effect sounds such as laser guns, electronic bass drums
etc.
the cutoff frequency. At 100%, the envelope spans the
entire cutoff range from the minimum to the maximum
value.
Most sounds will use a low-pass filter with an envelope amount setting in between the two extremes and
the envelope attack and sustain set to their minimum
values. This creates the most common timbre which
is a bright start followed by a darker sustain stage, a
property shared by many acoustic instruments.
In rare cases, you may also want to set the envelope
amount to a negative value. This can be helpful to
create sounds which become bright when releasing a
key. A negative envelope amount can be set using the
modulation matrix, with the envelope amount knob
set to zero.
KEY TRACK
ENV
This knob controls how much the filter envelope (described later in this chapter) affects the cutoff frequency. Set to zero, the filter envelope has no effect on
Figure 3.4: Response of a resonant low-pass filter.
The key track parameter determines how much the
cutoff frequency is affected by the MIDI key note. Set
to zero, all notes share the very same cutoff frequency
as specified by the CUTOFF parameter. Nonzero
values move the cutoff according to the key pressed,
with higher keys corresponding to higher cutoff frequencies.
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