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User’s Manual
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Copyrightc Synapse Audio Software 2014.
All rights reserved.
Concept and Manual: Richard Hoffmann
Graphic Design: Marcin Lezak
Programming: Richard Hoffmann, Marcin Lezak
Sound Design: See Appendix
All technical specifications in the product described in this manual are subject to change without notice. The document may not be
changed, particularly copyright notices may not be removed or changed. VST is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies
GmbH. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners, and do not imply owner’s endorsement of this product, or guarantee
full compliance with owner’s standards.
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Contents
1 Introduction 5
1.1 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 New features in Dune 2 . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4.1 Oscillators . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4.2 Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4.3 Graphical Envelopes . . . . . . 8
1.4.4 Unison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.5 Arpeggiator . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.6 Master Effects . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.7 Patch Management . . . . . . . 8
1.4.8 Audio-Rate Modulation . . . . 9
1.4.9 Multi-threaded processing . . . 9
2 Basic Operation 10
2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2 Controlling parameters . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3 MIDI Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.4 Adjusting Polyphony . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.5 Pitch Bend and Modulation Wheel . . 12
3 The Center Screen 13
3.1 Main . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.2 Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.3 Mod Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.4 Arpeggiator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4 Sound Parameters 22
4.1 Patch Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.2 Oscillators 1+2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.2.1 Common parameters . . . . . . 24
4.2.2 Synthesis types . . . . . . . . . 25
4.3 Oscillator 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.4 Noise Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.5 Ring Modulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.6 Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.7 Filter Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.7.1 Filter Parameters . . . . . . . . 29
4.7.2 Filter Models . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.7.3 Filter Effect . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.7.4 Filter Envelope . . . . . . . . . 36
4.8 Amplitude Envelope . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.9 Unison Voices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.10 Voice Edit/Common . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.11 Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.12 MSEGs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.13 LFOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.14 Effect Bus 1+2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.14.1 Distortion . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.14.2 EQ 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.14.3 EQ 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
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4.14.4 Phaser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.14.5 Chorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.14.6 Delay 1+2 . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.14.7 Reverb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.14.8 Compressor . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5 Modulation Matrix 57
5.1 The differential unison engine (DUNE) 58
5.2 List of Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.3 List of Destinations . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.3.1 Common . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.3.2 Oscillator 1, 2, 3 . . . . . . . . 63
5.3.3 Ring mod/Noise . . . . . . . . . 65
5.3.4 Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
5.3.5 Amplifier . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.3.6 MSEG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.3.7 LFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.3.8 Mod Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . 68
5.3.9 FX Bus 1+2 . . . . . . . . . . . 68
8 Troubleshooting 74
8.1 Notes click when pressing or releasing a
key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
8.2 Patches do not recall . . . . . . . . . . 74
8.3 Parameters change unexpectedly . . . . 74
8.4 The sound is distorted . . . . . . . . . 74
8.5 MIDI messages are not received . . . . 75
8.6 The CPU usage is very high . . . . . . 75
9 Legal Information 76
9.1 Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
9.2 End User License Agreement (EULA) . 76
Appendix 78
6 MIDI Reference 70
7 Optimizing performance 72
7.1 Optimizing your system . . . . . . . . 72
7.2 Optimizing patch settings . . . . . . . 72
7.2.1 Polyphony . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
7.2.2 Modulation Rate . . . . . . . . 72
7.2.3 Patch structure . . . . . . . . . 73
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1 Introduction
Thank you for choosing Dune 2!
Dune 2 is an advanced polyphonic synthesizer
VST/AU plugin, designed for creating music on a computer, or playing live on stage.
The design goal was to develop a synthesizer which
offers yet higher sound quality and more flexibility
than its predecessor, Dune 1. Fast vector processing as
well as support for multiple processor cores allow the
plugin to run with a moderate CPU load on modern
systems.
Dune 2 was tested by music producers to guarantee
its ambitious design goals were met. It comes with
high quality sounds, created by experienced sound designers.
Installation PC
Unzip "Dune20win.zip" and run SETUP.EXE to commence with the installation process. The installer will
guide you through the necessary steps. You will be
asked to select the location of your VstPlugins directory. Make sure to choose the correct directory for
your host software. Refer to your host software’s manual if you are unsure about where the host software’s
VstPlugins directory is located. The plugin file "Dune
2.DLL" and the manual will be placed in the chosen
directory. Presets, MIDI files and wavetables will be
placed in your user documents directory (Synapse Audio/Dune 2). The next time you start your host software, Dune 2 will appear in the VST instrument list.
If you use a 64-bit host such as Orion 64, be sure
to provide the proper VstPlugins path for the 64-bit
edition of Dune 2.
Installation Mac
1.1 Installation
Important note for Dune 1 users: Dune 2 is a
new synthesizer which is not compatible with Dune 1
in any way. Both run fine in parallel, there is no need
to uninstall Dune 1 prior to installing Dune 2.
Download and open the file named "dune20mac.dmg".
Afterwards, double-click on the installer icon to begin the installation process. The installer will guide
you through the necessary steps. The next time you
start your host software, Dune 2 will appear in the
AU and/or VST instrument list, depending on which
format your host software supports.
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1.2 Compatibility
Dune 2 should run on any VST or AU-compatible host
and comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
If you encounter any compatibility issues with
your host software, do not hesitate to contact us
(service@synapse-audio.com).
1.3 System Requirements
In order to maximize sound quality, Dune 2 employs
complex DSP algorithms that are rather CPU demanding. Optimized SSE-2 vector processing, as well
as support for multiple processor cores allow Dune 2 to
perform very well despite its high complexity, however.
To achieve such performance, a modern computer is
required:
• Macs require OS X 10.6 or later, and should be
equipped with a 2 GHz quad core processor or
better. PPC processors are not supported.
in the background can severely degrade performance.
Furthermore, it is important to choose a good audio
buffer size. We recommend to use between 128 and
512 samples (at 44.1 / 48 kHz sample rate). On most
systems, this should give the ideal balance between
low-latency, realtime feel and CPU performance. Note
that using less than 128 sample buffers will disable
multi-threaded processing, as the thread synchronisation overhead becomes significant.
The memory requirement of Dune 2 is approximately 50 mb per instance, plus some memory shared
by all instances. If you plan to run many Dune 2
instances, your system should be equipped with sufficient memory.
• PCs require Windows XP or later, and should
be equipped with a 2 GHz quad core CPU or
better. Most importantly, Windows must be optimized for realtime audio, in order to maximize
the benefits of Dune 2’s multi-threaded engine.
Too many software packages or services running
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1.4 New features in Dune 2
This section provides an overview of the most important changes since Dune 1 — new users can skip this
section.
Since Dune 2 is a new synthesizer rewritten from
scratch, there is many changes compared to Dune 1.
What both synthesizers have in common, however, is
the differential unison engine (hence, "DUNE") with
its unique modulation system. If you are familiar with
this system, making the transition to Dune 2 should
be relatively easy.
1.4.1 Oscillators
• Oscillators 1+2 now both form oscillator
stacks with up to 32 oscillators each (previously,
there was only a "Fat" mode which used 7 fixed
oscillators). Each oscillator stack can be set to
use Virtual-Analog (VA), Wavetable or FM synthesis. The oscillator stacks operate in stereo
and offer detune and pan spread.
wavetable position is now much smoother than
previously (in fact perfectly smooth when choosing a proper modulation source, such as a triangular or sinusoidal LFO).
• FM Synthesis offers classic 3-operator fre-
quency modulation. In contrast to Dune 1, using FM does not compromise the ability to use
the full oscillator stacks. This means when both
oscillator stacks are set to 32 oscillators in FM
mode and all 8 unison voices are enabled, Dune 2
will render 1536 FM operators per key press
(64x8x3 operators). At maximum polyphony,
this is 24576 FM operators running simultaneously!
• The Noise Generator operates in stereo with
adjustable stereo width, and offers lowpass as
well as highpass filters for increased versatility.
1.4.2 Filter
• Oscillator 3 is no longer a sub oscillator, but
can use arbitrary semi and fine tuning, for increased flexibility.
• Wavetable Synthesis now allows to set arbi-
trary positions within the wavetable, for example in between two waveforms. Modulating the
• Zero-Delay Feedback Filters: Dune 2 in-
troduces zero-delay feedback filters, which more
closely mimic the behavior of analog hardware.
A drive parameter allows to adjust the saturation characteristic (important when using strong
resonance). Most filters can reach self-oscillation
and have proper resonant tuning.
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• Filter Effect: Some filter modes in Dune 1
offered extra gimmicks, such as a distortion or
bitcrush effect. Dune 2 offers a separate filter effect section with a variety of such effects as well
as auxiliary filters. The filter effect section can
be applied pre- or post-filter.
sequencer adds a slide feature and allows to import
MIDI files. Polyphonic sequences can be played back
as well.
1.4.6 Master Effects
1.4.3 Graphical Envelopes
Dune 2 introduces four multiple segment envelope generators (MSEG). MSEGs can be used to draw precise custom envelopes, or they can be used in loop
mode tempo sync’ed to the host, which allows to create rhythmic effects such as the well-known "trance
gate" effect.
1.4.4 Unison
One of the most important changes in Dune 2 is the
ability to edit all 8 unison voices directly, turning Dune
into a multi-part synthesizer. This allows to stack
completely different sounds, using different synthesis
models (VA, FM, Wavetable), a different filter, etc.
1.4.5 Arpeggiator
The arpeggiator now offers the classic up/down/random
modes known from many synthesizers, and works better when playing live via a MIDI keyboard. The step
The new version of Dune features two master effect
busses, each containing 9 effects rather than 6. The
new effects offer higher quality and more parameters than previously. Individual unison voices can be
routed to either effect bus or both.
1.4.7 Patch Management
The patch management in Dune 2 is now entirely
based on files and folders. Each patch is a single
file (FXP), folders represent banks and categories.
When launching Dune 2, all available banks will be
scanned automatically. This greatly simplifies using
third party content, as it is no longer necessary to explicitly load banks. Sound design becomes easier, as
the file-based system allows to duplicate, remove, and
rename patches, and to sort them in arbitrary categories. Additional functions like Initialize and Revert
Patch speed up the workflow.
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1.4.8 Audio-Rate Modulation
The new engine can be set to audio-rate modulation
mode, allowing all synthesizer parameters (except the
master effects) to be modulated at audio-rate. Audiorate modulation is very CPU-intensive, but allows to
develop new sounds with rapid modulations previously
not possible.
1.4.9 Multi-threaded processing
Most DSP algorithms employed in Dune 2 are a magnitude more complex than previously, in order to achieve
a yet higher sound quality. This also means a much
higher computational load, at least in theory. In practice the optimized SSE vector code, as well as the
multi-threaded engine lower the processor load substantially. On modern, optimized quad-core or better
systems, Dune 2 can even outperform Dune 1 in some
cases.
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2 Basic Operation
2.1 Overview
The Dune 2 interface can be divided into four parts
(see fig. 2.1).
• The center screen (A) hosts the patch management, global and patch settings, the modulation
matrix and the arpeggiator. The center screen is
covered in chapter 3.
• The right side (B) contains the master section
with global volume and the polyphony setting,
as well as the unison voice controls. In contrast
to its predecessor, Dune 2 allows to directly edit
the eight unison voices, either all at once or individually. This makes Dune 2 a multi-part synthesizer which facilitates synthesizing more complex sounds.
mixer, filters, and ADSR envelopes. The layout roughly follows classic synthesizers, with the
oscillators on the left, followed by the filter in
the middle and the envelopes on the right. Each
unison voice has its own set of sound parameters.
All sound parameters are covered in chapter 4.
• The gray switch buttons (C) toggle the bottom
view between the keyboard, effect busses, LFOs,
and four graphical envelopes (MSEG).
• The remaining knobs and sliders (D) are Dune’s
main sound parameters: The oscillator stacks,
Figure 2.1: Interface overview.
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2.2 Controlling parameters
2.3 MIDI Learn
Knobs, faders, and numerical displays are controlled
by left-clicking on them, then dragging the mouse up
or down in vertical direction (see fig. 2.2).
Hold down Shift while turning knobs to slow down
the movement, in order to set precise values. Use
Ctrl+Click to set knobs to their default position.
Figure 2.2: Controlling parameters.
The mouse wheel is a very useful tool to speed up
your workflow, and works on almost every parameter.
Use the mouse wheel on numerical displays to increase
or decrease the current value. Use the mouse wheel on
drop-down lists, to select the previous or next parameter in the list. Knobs and faders can be fine tuned
using the mouse wheel, in the graphical envelope editors it zooms the view.
Right-click on a parameter then choose "Learn" to link
it to a particular MIDI controller. Afterwards, turn
any knob or fader on your MIDI gear to link it to
that parameter. Unlink controllers by right-clicking
on a parameter then choosing "Forget". Note that
without any assignments, Dune 2 uses a default MIDI
controller map (see chapter 6).
2.4 Adjusting Polyphony
Dune 2 allows you to play multiple notes at the same
time. The "Polyphony" drop-down menu in the master section on the right adjusts the number of notes
that can be played simultaneously.
Each note you play triggers one or more unison
voices (the number of active voices are displayed in
the MAIN section of the center screen). Since each
voice costs processor time, it is a good idea to limit
the polyphony as much as possible.
When choosing Mono or Legato, only one note can
be played at a time. Legato allows to smoothly go from
one note to another without retriggering the envelopes.
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This can be useful for bass and lead sounds, particularly in combination with the glide knob. It creates a
unique playing feel and sound which can be better for
monophonic lines. Using mono or legato modes also
results in the smallest CPU usage possible.
Note that the voice polyphony can be adjusted per
patch. While all patches should employ an adequate
setting out of the box, your individual playing style or
usage of sounds may require adjusting the polyphony
parameter at times.
2.5 Pitch Bend and Modulation
Wheel
At the bottom left of the user interface, the pitch
bend and modulation wheels are located. The pitch
bend wheel is used to temporarily shift the pitch upor downwards. When released, it automatically snaps
back to center position. The modulation wheel typically controls vibrato type effects, but can be used to
modify other sound parameters as well. It remains in
whatever position it was set to.
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3 The Center Screen
our favorite patches. Click on Soundbank to choose
a different bank/category.
Soundbanks and Patches are stored in the following
directory:
This chapter explains all parameters inside the center
screen. The center screen hosts the patch management, global settings, patch settings, the modulation
matrix and the arpeggiator.
3.1 Main
Selecting a patch
Each musical sound that you can play is called a Patch.
A patch is selected by clicking on the patch name in
the center screen:
Alternatively click on the left/right arrow buttons to
go to the previous/next patch inside the current bank.
Dune 2 comes with 300 patches, sorted into categories like Bass, Lead, Pads, Special FX etc. The default bank shown is "Showcase", a collection of some of
• Mac OS X:
Music/Synapse Audio/Dune 2/Soundbanks
• Windows:
User/Documents/Synapse Audio/Dune 2/Soundbanks
Each patch is a single Cubase .FXP file, a common
format for storing patches. Any directory within the
Soundbanks directory represents a bank. Thus you
can easily organize your patches and banks within the
Soundbanks directory.
Below the patch name, the patch description section
gives some information about the currently selected
patch, for example what the modulation wheel does
to the sound, or whether the patch is intended for a
particular tempo.
Important note for Dune 1 users:
Dune 2 keeps the active patch in memory, not the entire bank. Always save patches you edit, switching to
a different patch will lose your edits!
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Patch menu
The patch menu is invoked by clicking on "Patch":
• Load Patch loads a particular patch from disk.
This can be useful to browse patches outside of
Dune’s Soundbanks folder. Most of the time,
however, you should store patches in your Soundbanks folder, in order to be able to browse a
whole bank quickly.
Of course you can also simply save the project in
your host sequencer, this will automatically save
the active patch as well.
Any patch that has been modified is marked with
an asterisk (*), after saving the patch, the asterisk is removed.
• Copy FX 1/2 copies all effect bus 1/2 param-
eters into the clipboard, in order to apply them
to a different patch or to a different Dune 2 instance.
• Paste FX 1/2 pastes all effect parameters from
the clipboard into effect bus 1/2.
• Initialize Patch resets the current patch to de-
fault settings. When designing new patches from
scratch, it is useful to start with a "minimal"
patch, i.e. a patch with an empty modulation
matrix, all effects turned off, etc., which is what
the Initialize Patch function does. Note that
your current patch will be lost, so be sure to
save it first if necessary.
• Save Patch allows you to save the current patch
to disk. Always save your changes before switching to a different patch or closing your host application, otherwise you will lose your changes.
• Revert Patch allows you to restore the current
patch from disk, in case you are unhappy with
changes made to the patch.
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Multithreading
Dune 2 can take advantage of up to six processor cores
for synthesizing sounds. Enabling multithreading is
strongly recommended in most cases, as it can substantially reduce the CPU usage. Refer to chapter 7
for more details on how to optimize performance.
Skin
Click on Skin to choose between the different skins
available. Note that skins are located in the following
directory:
is useful in a setup where the MIDI hardware and/or
host sequencer sends too few messages, thus causing a
steppy response. The downside of smoothing is latency
and lower accuracy on rapid movements. By default,
only a little smoothing is applied, which should work
best in most setups.
For special applications, smoothing can be turned
off entirely. This is useful if you want to e.g. automate
one or more parameters via the modulation wheel and
an instantaneous response without any latency is required.
• Mac OS X:
Music/Synapse Audio/Dune 2/Skins
• Windows:
User/Documents/Synapse Audio/Dune 2/Skins
Since all skins come with all necessary bitmap files
as well as a Configuration file defining the skin, you
can create your own skins as well. The easiest way to
get started is to simply duplicate one of the existing
subfolders, then start to modify its files.
Midi Smoothing
Incoming Pitch bend, Modulation wheel and Aftertouch messages can be smoothed. Strong smoothing
3.2 Settings
This tab controls various patch settings such as velocity, pitch bend and the modulation rate.
Velocity
Each MIDI note transmits a velocity value, which can
be connected to any sound parameter using the modulation matrix. Since velocity is often used to control
the volume or brightness of a sound, the velocity section allows for a few common direct connections.
• Volume adjusts how much velocity affects the
volume of a patch. Set to zero, velocity has no
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effect on volume. Positive values cause higher ve-
0
Velocity
Magnitude
+100
-100
locities to increase volume, negative values invert
the effect — higher velocities decrease volume.
• Pan adjusts how much velocity affects the stereo
position. Set to zero, velocity has no effect on
pan. Positive values move the sound to the right
as velocity increases, negative values do the opposite.
• Filter adjusts how much velocity affects the fil-
ter cutoff. Set to zero, velocity has no effect on
the filter. Positive values cause higher velocities
to increase filter cutoff, negative values invert the
effect.
incoming velocity value of 80 has twice the effect compared to a velocity of 40. By setting the curve parameter, you can change this 1:1 mapping to a nonlinear
behavior. A value of zero corresponds to the default,
linear scale.
Figure 3.1: MIDI velocity curve.
• Env Amount adjusts how much velocity affects
the envelope amount. Set to zero, velocity has
no effect on the filter envelope amount. Positive
The curve parameters is useful to fine tune the velocity response towards your personal playing style, as
well as to your MIDI keyboard.
values cause higher velocities to increase envelope amount, negative values invert the effect.
Pitch Bend
The Bend up/down parameters specify by how many
Velocity Curve
Using the velocity curve setting, you can change the
semitones a sound is pitch shifted up or down, when
the pitch bend wheel is turned all the way up or down.
effect the MIDI Velocity has on the selected patch. To
change the velocity curve, left-click on the curve, then
drag the mouse up or down in vertical direction.
By default, all MIDI velocity values control the des-
tination in a linear manner (1:1). For example, an
16 DUNE 2 User’s Manual
Click on the numbers and drag the mouse up or
down to increase/decrease the pitch bend range.
Page 17
If a MIDI keyboard is hooked up to your computer,
turning the physical pitch bend or modulation wheel
should turn the same wheel in Dune automatically. If
this is not the case, then the required MIDI information is not transmitted to the plugin, and you should
refer to your host software’s manual to address the
issue.
Plugin Kb
This control allows you to set the key range the graphic
keyboard at the bottom responds to. By default, the
graphic keyboard uses the C2-C6 range.
Sync
Modulation rate
The modulation rate determines how frequently the
modulation matrix is evaluated.
• Normal rate is almost always sufficient, and the
best choice for most sounds.
• Fast and Very fast rates are useful when you
use rapid LFO modulations (>100 Hz), or when
you use MSEGs with very fast envelopes.
• Audio Rate mode processes the entire synth en-
gine sample by sample. This allows to e.g. use
oscillators as modulation sources and modulate
any (!) sound parameter with them accurately.
Note that audio rate modulation is very CPUintensive and should be only used when really needed.
Also note that a higher modulation rate does not equal
better sound — if you cannot hear a difference, do not
use a higher modulation rate, this will just waste precious CPU cycles.
All LFOs and MSEGs have an option to slave them
to the host tempo, a feature very useful for rhythmic
effects. DUNE 2 offers two ways to sync LFOs and
MSEGs to the host sequencer:
• Internal Tempo-synced LFOs and MSEGs are
retriggered whenever a note is played.
• Host Tempo-synced LFOs and MSEGs are
slaved to the host’s current transport position.
Both modes will use the host tempo in BPM as a
reference. The difference between both modes is apparent during sequencing, however. Host Sync is useful if you sequence a number of notes, while a slow,
tempo-synced LFO or MSEG modulates the entire sequence. Internal mode should be used whenever each
individual note played is to be modulated.
Note that some hosts may not support host sync
correctly. In this case, use internal mode.
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3.3 Mod Matrix
The modulation matrix is accessed by clicking on the
Mod Matrix button (see fig. 3.2). The purpose of
a modulation matrix is to connect MIDI controllers,
LFOs, and envelopes with Dune’s sound parameters.
In a nutshell, the modulation matrix is largely responsible for making sounds come alive.
the modulation amount for a specific slot. In the example above (fig. 3.2), LFO-1 modulates the amplitude
with an amount of 100%, giving a tremolo effect.
The voice column on the right allows to limit the
modulation to specific unison voices. By default, all
voices are modulated, the column is empty ("—").
To get the most out of the modulation matrix, it is
required to first understand how LFOs and envelopes
work, and what the sound parameters do. Hence, the
modulation matrix with all its source and destination
parameters is described more thoroughly in chapter 5,
after the sound parameter chapter.
Figure 3.2: The modulation matrix.
Click anywhere in the source column to choose the
modulation source, and anywhere in the destination
column to select the sound parameter to modulate. In
the amount column, click and drag vertically to change
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3.4 Arpeggiator
Type
An arpeggiator (short: ARP) is a module that generates melodic or rhythmic patterns from one or more
keys pressed. This is achieved with the help of a little step sequencer containing note length, velocity and
pitch information. For additional flexibility, standard
MIDI files can be loaded as well. The arpeggiator is
enabled or disabled using the ARP switch in the voice
edit section, individually per unison voice. The arpeggiator parameters are accessed by choosing ARP in the
center screen (see fig. 3.3).
The arpeggiator can use either the built-in step sequencer or midi files as a basis, which can be chosen
using the TYPE popup field in the top left of the monitor.
In Step Sequencer mode, monophonic patterns of
up to 32 steps can be programmed directly within
Dune. Click on buttons 1-8, 9-16, 17-24 or 25-32 to
edit eight steps simultaneously.
Each step has three parameters, note, velocity, and
tie. A nonzero note value transposes a step up or
down by the given number of semitones, e.g. +12
corresponds to one octave up. The velocity value is
transmitted to the modulation matrix, where it can
be used as a modulation source ("Arp Velocity") in
order to change the volume or timbre of each step.
The tie button glues two steps, which allows to either
slide from one note to another seamlessly, or to simply increase its length. A rest can be programmed by
turning down the note value all the way down, until
three dashes ("—") appear.
Figure 3.3: Arpeggiator screen.
The Midi mode allows to use standard MIDI files
as a basis. The files should contain only a single track,
and they should be monophonic. An exception is when
the "Playback" mode is chosen, in this mode polyphonic MIDI files can be played back too.
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Arpeggiator Modes
The arpeggiator module in Dune comprises 9 different
modes described below.
• Up mode successively triggers notes for all keys
currently pressed, from the lowest to the highest
note, then repeats the sequence starting with the
lowest note again.
• Down mode does the same, but in reverse order.
• Up/Down mode triggers all keys pressed from
the lowest to the highest note, then back.
• Down/Up works like Up/Down, except in re-
verse order.
• Alt Up is an alternative to Up mode, employing
a different pattern when moving up.
• Alt Down mode is identical to Alt Up, except
it operates in reverse order.
• Playback mode simply plays back the sequencer
notes (or MIDI file), transposed according to
the current MIDI key pressed. Pressing more
than one key simultaneously has no effect in this
mode. Playback mode is the only mode that allows to play back polyphonic MIDI files.
• Dynamic mode plays back a monophonic se-
quence similar to Playback mode. Dynamic
mode allows the performer to change the sequence in realtime, however, by pressing more
than one key at a time. Which notes are changed
is programmed using velocity. Velocities between
0 and 31 do not change a note, while velocities
between 32 and 63 affect the second key pressed,
velocities between 64 and 95 the third, and velocities above 96 the fourth. A simple application
of the Dynamic mode is to let the user turn a sequence written in minor to a sequence in major,
or vice versa.
• Random mode traverses through all keys
pressed, in random order.
• Chord mode chops up a chord into a rhythmic
pattern, according to what is programmed in the
step sequencer or MIDI file.
• Silent is a special mode in which the arpeggia-
tor does not trigger any notes. The purpose of
this mode is to use the arpeggiator exclusively
for modulation, by choosing "Arp Note", "Arp
Velocity" or both as a source in the modulation
matrix.
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Octaves
Length
This parameter specifies how many octaves the arpeggiated sequence spans. Set to one octave, the arpeggiator will use exactly the keys pressed. Set to two
octaves, the arpeggiator will use all keys pressed, plus
the very same keys one octave higher, etc.
Steps/Bars
When in Step Sequencer mode, this parameter sets the
pattern length in steps. When the arpeggiator reaches
the end of the pattern, it will automatically jump to
the beginning and start over. When MIDI mode is
selected, this parameter sets the number of bars to
use, up to 32 bars are possible. The arpeggiator loops
MIDI sequences, too.
Rate
Adjusts the tempo in which the arpeggiator generates
sequences from incoming MIDI notes. When SYNC is
enabled, the tempo is slaved to the host sequencer and
can be specified in musical intervals such as 8th note,
16th notes, dotted notes (*), triplets (T) etc. When
SYNC is disabled, the rate is specified in Hz.
Using the length parameter, the duration of all notes
in the sequencer can be increased or decreased. Turned
to the left, the notes get a staccato feel, while the opposite direction yields smoother sounding sequences.
Swing
This control shuffles the position of every other 16th
note by the specified amount. This parameter can be
used to obtain a typical swing feel with a setting of
+33% and above. In the step sequencer, the shuffled
notes are located at positions 2, 4, 6, 8, ..., 32.
Slide
This control adjusts the time it takes from the beginning of a slid note to reach its target pitch. In order
to get any audible effect, TIE must be used on a note,
and at least two different note numbers must be used
during the note.
Note that Slide only works in Step Sequencer mode,
not in MIDI mode.
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4 Sound Parameters
This section describes how a patch is constructed, the
operation of all front panel knobs and switches, the
effect section and the arpeggiator.
4.1 Patch Structure
The structure of a Dune 2 patch is shown in fig. 4.1.
The block diagram shows the basic working principle
of the entire synthesizer without taking into account
the modulation matrix (which will be covered in detail
in chapter 5).
Whenever a MIDI note is played, one or more voices
are triggered to synthesize that note. Each voice has
the exact same structure shown, but may use different
parameters. The voices are summed and fed into the
effects unit to further refine the sound with equalization, delay, reverb etc.
Each voice comprises three major building blocks,
an oscillator block ("OSC 1-3"), a filter block ("Filter") and a volume control block ("Amp"). 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 final block
controls the volume of the signal.
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, so called envelopes 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, and is typically used
to change the pitch progression.
While envelopes nicely control the overall progression of a sound, it is sometimes desirable to add periodic modulations. Such modulations can mimic vibrato or tremolo effects known from acoustic instruments, and can be added by using one or more of the
low frequency modulation ("LFO") blocks.
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LFO 1-3 MSEG 1-4
Timbre and
Pitch control
OSC 1-3
Brightness
control
Filter
Volume
control
Amp
Distortion, EQ,
Phaser, Delay,
Reverb...
FX Bus 1
Adjust the
brightness
over time
Filter Env
Adjust the
volume
over time
Amp Env
+
Unison Voice #1
Unison Voice #2
Unison Voice #3
Distortion, EQ,
Phaser, Delay,
Reverb...
FX Bus 2
+
...
Periodically
modulate the
sound
Graphical
Envelopes
Figure 4.1: Structure of a Dune 2 patch.
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4.2 Oscillators 1+2
50%
Sawtooth Pulse
Sine Triangle
4.2.1 Common parameters
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. 4.2. Dune offers three oscillators and a separate
noise generator. This corresponds to how many traditional synthesizers work. In Dune, however, the first
two oscillators are actually stacks of up to 32 oscillators each, with adjustable detune and stereo spread.
This allows to obtain thick pad, bass or lead sounds
with just one oscillator alone. With Dune’s 8 unison
voices, up to 520 oscillators per key can be synthesized.
Dune’s oscillator controls can be found in the top
left section of the user interface labelled "Oscillator".
Density
The number of oscillators can be changed by leftclick/drag on the Density field in the top-left. When
set to zero, the oscillator stack is turned off, which
saves processor time.
Amount
When choosing more than two oscillators using the
density control, the amount (AMT) parameter allows
to modify the level of the oscillators. The meaning of
this parameter depends on the selected tuning mode,
but usually adjusts the level of the oscillators around
the center (which always remains at maximum).
Tuning Mode
The chosen tuning mode affects the overall tuning and
volume of the oscillator stack.
Figure 4.2: Basic oscillator waveforms.
• Linear mode tunes all oscillators around the center with equal spacing.
• Nonlinear mode moves some oscillators closer to
the center.
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• Gaussian mode uses a gaussian distribution on
the volume of the oscillators, which can be finetuned by the amount parameter.
• Alternate mode lowers every other oscillator in
volume when changing the amount parameter.
• Random uses a random tuning for all oscillators,
whenever a new key is pressed.
Spread
When two or more oscillators are active in the stack,
the SPRD knob allows to spread the oscillators in the
stereo field, around the center. Turned fully left, the
oscillator stack will be mono.
Reset
Semi
The control labelled SEMI adjust the coarse tuning
of the oscillator stack, in semitones. The range spans
+/- 36 semitones. A larger range can be obtained by
using the modulation matrix, if required. This will be
covered in chapter 4.
Fine
This parameter adjusts the fine tuning of the oscillator stack in cents. A value of +/- 100% corresponds
to half a semitone.
Detune
When two or more oscillators are active in the stack,
the detune parameter allows to spread their pitch
around the center frequency.
When reset is enabled, all oscillators in the stack start
at the same initial phase (by default zero, this can be
changed in the modulation matrix). Setting the initial
oscillator phase can be useful to obtain better control
of the transient of a sound, for instance. When using
more than one or two oscillators, note however that
reset will create strong phasing effects. It is thus usually better to keep reset turned off when using multiple
oscillators.
4.2.2 Synthesis types
Three different synthesis types, Virtual-Analog (VA),
Wavetable (WT) and Frequency Modulation (FM) are
available per oscillator. When using more than one
voice, it is furthermore possible to specify different
types for different voices.
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VA mode
50% 75%
The virtual-analog (VA) mode synthesizes three basic
waveforms- sawtooth, pulse and triangle. Click on the
waveform drawing to switch between the three different types. When the pulse waveform is chosen, you
may additionally adjust its pulse width (see fig. 4.3).
The default is 50%, corresponding to a square wave.
Figure 4.3: Pulse Width.
All three waveforms offer oscillator synchronisation,
which is enabled by pressing the SYNC switch. Oscillator sync causes an oscillator to get periodically reset to zero phase, using a second "master" oscillator.
Whenever the master oscillator has completed a cycle,
it resets the "slave" oscillator. If the master oscillator
has a lower frequency than the slave, the result is a
new timbre, as the slave oscillator is not always able
to complete a full cycle.
In contrast to traditional synthesizers, no extra oscillator is needed to perform oscillator sync in Dune.
When sync is enabled, Dune automatically generates
a virtual master oscillator needed to perform the synchronisation. The frequency of this oscillator is adjusted by the frequency knob (FREQ), relative to the
given pitch. The sync frequency can be modulated
using the modulation matrix.
WT mode
The Wavetable (WT) mode allows to choose an arbitrary periodic waveform from a wavetable. The waveform is selected by clicking on the waveform drawing
in the same manner as in VA mode. Another way of
setting the waveform is by changing the position knob.
The position knob traverses the entire wavetable and
allows to specify positions in between two waveforms
for yet more versatility. The waveform position can
also be modulated via the modulation matrix, to obtain complex, dynamic timbres with constantly changing waveforms.
By clicking on the wavetable popup, different
wavetables can be selected. Wavetables can have a
varying amount of waveforms stored in them, between
3 and 64 waveforms. Note that you can select different
wavetables for different unison voices.
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FM mode
B C
A
B
A
C
Feedback
Feedback
Frequency modulation (FM) is a form of synthesis
which can create a wide variety of sounds, but is especially known for bell type sounds. The FM mode
uses three sine waves as a basis for sound generation,
each sine wave is commonly referred to as an operator.
Two operators "A" and "B" modify the frequency of
operator "C". Two algorithms are available to choose
from:
Both algorithms have a feedback path, marked with
a dashed line. Applying feedback creates more interesting timbres. The amount of feedback is controlled
with the FBK knob.
In order to create interesting FM sounds, it is important to change the operator levels "A" and "B" over
time. This can be accomplished by routing one or more
MSEG curves on the destination labelled FM Amt A
and FM Amt B. A slow, decaying envelope routed on
the operator levels A or B will create sounds that start
with a bright timbre, then become increasingly darker.
A fast decaying envelope can create punchy sounds.
4.3 Oscillator 3
The third oscillator generates a simple periodic waveform, which can be chosen by clicking on the waveform
display.
In the first algorithm, operator A modulates the frequency of operator B, and the output of this operation
modulates the frequency of operator C.
In the second algorithm, both operator A and B
modulate the frequency of operator C.
Figure 4.4: FM Algorithms.
Semi
The control labelled SEMI adjust the coarse tuning
of the third oscillator, in semitones. The range spans
+/- 36 semitones. A larger range can be obtained by
using the modulation matrix, if required. This will be
covered in chapter 5.
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Fine
Lowpass
This parameter adjusts the fine tuning of the oscillator
in cents. A value of +/- 100% corresponds to half a
semitone.
Reset
When reset is enabled, the oscillator will always start
at the zero phase when a new key is pressed. When
disabled, the oscillator starts with a random initial
phase. A specific phase angle to start with can be set
within the modulation matrix.
4.4 Noise Generator
All three oscillators generate periodic waveforms with
a certain pitch. Sometimes it is useful, however, to
spice up a sound with a random element that has no
fixed pitch. This can be useful to synthesize percussive
sounds, to recreate the behavior of wind or plucked
string instruments during transients or to synthesize
nature sounds such as fire, water or wind. For such
sounds, Dune offers a white noise generator. White
noise is a type of noise which contains an equal distribution of all frequencies.
The white noise emitted by the noise generator passes
through a low-pass and high-pass filter, to further
shape the timbre of the noise. The LP knob controls
the cutoff frequency of the low-pass filter. Lower values cause a darker timbre.
Highpass
The HP knob controls the cutoff frequency of the highpass filter. When set to zero it has no audible effect,
at higher values the sound becomes increasingly thin
and bright.
Width
Since the noise generator operates in stereo, it can emit
noise for the left and right channels separately. The
width parameter adjusts the stereo width — set to
minimum the noise appears monophonic, set to maximum both channels have independent noise sources,
resulting in a wide stereo image.
4.5 Ring Modulator
A further interesting effect that can be applied to the
oscillator stacks 1 and 2 is to multiply them with each
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other. This can be seen as one oscillator modulating
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
-1
0
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
-1
0
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
-1
0
1
Time (s)
the other in its amplitude (see fig. 4.5).
Figure 4.5: Ring modulation of two sine waves.
The effect depth can be controlled using the RM
fader in the mixer section. Set to zero, the ring modulator output is disabled.
Mathematically, the result of ring modulation is that
the sums and differences of both signal’s frequencies
are generated. If the oscillators are detuned, this will
lead to very inharmonic, metallic sounds.
4.6 Mixer
The mixer section allows to control the level and
panorama of oscillators 1-3, the ring modulator and
the noise generator, before they enter the filter. All
mixer parameters can be controlled via the modulation matrix too. This allows to fade in or out an oscillator, cross-fade between oscillators, modulate the
panorama position, etc.
4.7 Filter Section
4.7.1 Filter Parameters
The raw sound coming from the oscillator sections is
typically too bright to be useful. While many natural
instruments like a flute or guitar start with a short,
bright transient, they decay quickly to a much darker
timbre. This behavior can be modelled by using a
time-varying filter. The filter section is located in the
middle of the user interface below the monitor.
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:
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• For low-pass (LP) filter types, frequencies above
Frequency
Magnitude
Cutoff frequency
Frequency
Magnitude
Cutoff frequency
Frequency
Magnitude
Cutoff frequency
Frequency
Magnitude
Cutoff frequency
the cutoff frequency are damped:
• A band-pass (BP) filter damps frequencies
around the cutoff frequency. As a result, bass
and treble get attenuated.
• A notch filter rejects frequencies around the cutoff frequency and passes everything else.
• A high-pass (HP) filter attenuates all frequencies
below the cutoff frequency and passes the higher
frequencies unchanged.
The filters described above form the basic filters encountered in most synthesizers. The low-pass filter is
the most common, as it fully preserves 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 MSEGs, LFOs and the
filter envelope can be used. The most common way to
control cutoff is the filter envelope, discussed later in
this chapter.
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Resonance
Frequency
Magnitude
Cutoff frequency
Resonance
If the output of a filter is fed back to its input, resonance occurs, which is a sinusoidal oscillation near the
cutoff frequency (see fig. 4.6). 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 sinusoidal oscillation gets strong
enough to use the filter in a similar fashion as an oscillator. This property can be useful to create special
effect sounds such as laser guns, electronic bass drums
etc.
Figure 4.6: Response of a resonant low-pass filter.
(see below), drive will additionally saturate the signal,
regardless of resonance.
Keytrack
The KTRK knob determines how much the cutoff frequency is affected by the MIDI key number. 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.
At low settings, this parameter is useful to create subtle timbre variations when different notes are played.
At higher settings, key tracking can be used to simulate the properties of acoustic instruments that have a
varying timbre dependent on the note played.
4.7.2 Filter Models
Drive
The DRIVE knob sets the input gain of the filter.
When using strong resonance, drive controls the mix
between the filtered signal and the resonant peak. The
lower the drive setting, the stronger the resonant peak.
When using any of the transistor ladder filter models
Dune 2 features a number of different filter models to
choose from. All filters except the legacy Dune 1 filters
are zero-delay feedback designs, which more closely resemble the response of analog filters. Furthermore,
most filters can reach self-oscillation when turning up
the resonance.
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Clean Multi-Mode
• CL Highpass 2p
The clean filter models resemble analog filters with a
largely clean direct path, such as OTA-based ladder
filters. Only the feedback path contains mild saturation, in order to prevent the resonance from ramping
to infinity at high resonant levels. The clean nature of
the filters and their moderate CPU usage makes them
an excellent choice for many sounds.
• CL Lowpass 2p
A two-pole lowpass filter, with 12 dB attenuation
per octave above the cutoff frequency.
• CL Lowpass 3p
A three-pole lowpass filter, with 18 dB attenuation per octave above the cutoff frequency.
• CL Lowpass 4p
A four-pole lowpass filter, with 24 dB attenuation per octave above the cutoff frequency.
A two-pole highpass filter, with 12 dB attenuation per octave below the cutoff frequency.
• CL Highpass 4p
A four-pole highpass filter, with 24 dB attenuation per octave below the cutoff frequency.
Transistor Ladder
The transistor ladder filters are exclusively low-pass
types and resemble analog transistor-based designs.
The key feature of those filters is that they contain
saturation in all stages, thus coloring incoming signals
even without any resonance applied. The transistor
filters require substantially more CPU than the multimode filters, and thus should be only used where necessary. When choosing the 2, 3 or 4-pole variants, it is
a good practice to compare the result with the corresponding clean filter, to see whether the sound is really
better.
• CL Bandpass 2p
A two-pole bandpass filter, with 6 dB attenuation per octave around the cutoff frequency.
• CL Bandpass 4p
A four-pole bandpass filter with 12 dB attenuation per octave around the cutoff frequency.
• TR Lowpass 2p
A two-pole lowpass filter, with 12 dB attenuation
per octave above the cutoff frequency.
• TR Lowpass 3p
A three-pole lowpass filter, with 18 dB attenuation per octave above the cutoff frequency.
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• TR Lowpass 4p
A four-pole lowpass filter, with 24 dB attenuation per octave above the cutoff frequency.
A two-pole bandpass filter, with 6 dB attenuation per octave on either side around the cutoff
frequency.
• TR Lowpass 5p
A five-pole lowpass filter, with 30 dB attenuation
per octave above the cutoff frequency.
• Acid Lowpass
This special filter mimics a four-pole transistor
network with unbuffered filter stages. The result
is a rather dark timbre, unlike any of the other
filter types.
Sallen-Key
The Sallen-Key filters are two-pole, multi-mode filter
designs. What makes them special is the sound of the
resonance, which is very different from all other filter
models. The resonance is highly distorted, yielding a
very aggressive sound.
• SK Lowpass 2p
A two-pole lowpass filter, with 12 dB attenuation
per octave above the cutoff frequency.
• SK Bandpass 2p
• SK Highpass 2p
A two-pole highpass filter, with 12 dB attenuation per octave below the cutoff frequency.
Dune
Dune 2 incorporates two filter types from Dune 1
("Lowpass 12dB" and "Lowpass 24dB"), to facilitate
creating patches that sound similar to Dune 1 patches.
• Dune 2p
A two-pole low-pass filter, with 12 dB attenuation per octave above the cutoff frequency.
• Dune 4p
A four-pole low-pass filter, with 24 dB attenuation per octave below the cutoff frequency.
4.7.3 Filter Effect
Dune 2 features a filter effect section, which allows to
perform additional processing in series with the main
filter. The filter effect can be processed before or after
the filter. Click-and-drag either the filter or the effect box to change the order of processing. The order
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of processing is particularly important when applying
distortion to the signal.
• Light Distortion
Performs a mild distortion on the input signal. The input gain is adjustable using the
AMOUNT knob, and determines the amount of
distortion. The output of the distortion stage
passes through a low-pass filter with adjustable
cutoff frequency. Both the amount of distortion
and the low-pass filter cutoff frequency can be
modulated via the modulation matrix.
• Hard Distortion
A stronger distortion effect than the light distortion, with more gain and a different timbre.
• Foldback
Foldback is a special kind of distortion, where
the signal is distorted along a bipolar curve such
as a triangle or sine wave. The result is a rather
extreme distortion. The sound of foldback distortion is often very digital and creates strong
artifarcts, so this effect must be used with some
care.
• Bitcrush
The bitcrush effect reduces the dynamic range of
the signal. The amount of reduction is controlled
using the AMOUNT knob. If the signal range is
reduced to 2 bits, for instance, each sample passing through the filter is reduced to only 4 different states. Strong reduction makes the result
sound somewhat similar to a square wave, and
creates very strong digital artifarcts. To tame
the artifarcts a little, the lowpass filter on the
output can be used to roll off high frequencies.
• Ratecrush
Ratecrush is another effect which creates strong
digital artifarcts. Rather than reducing the dynamic range, Ratecrush employs a sample-andhold circuit to reduce the sample rate.
• Halfrect
The half-wave rectifier effect nulls the negative
half-wave of the incoming signal. Note that the
signal level should be 0 dB for this effect to work
best, otherwise a temporary DC offset may occur
which results in a short audible "thump" noise
when pressing a key.
• Fullrect
The full-wave rectifier effect mirrors the negative
half-wave of the incoming signal, such that it becomes positive. Note that the signal level should
be 0 dB for this effect to work best, otherwise a
temporary DC offset may occur which results in
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a short audible "thump" noise when pressing a
key.
• Low Cut with Keytrack
• Highpass 2p
A two-pole highpass filter with 12 dB/oct attenuation.
A low cut filter which is tuned to the MIDI note
played. The result is a filter which will attenuate
the fundamental frequency of a sound, as well as
the first few overtones. The amount knob controls how strong this attenuation is.
• Lowpass 1p
A basic one-pole lowpass filter with 6 dB attenuation per octave. The cutoff frequency is
controlled via the AMOUNT knob, and can be
modulated via the modulation matrix. The extra filter can be used to fine-tune the response
of the main filter, for example a 2-pole bandpass
filter could be turned into a 3-pole filter. Another option is to apply different modulation to
the main filter and the extra filter.
• Lowpass 2p
A two-pole lowpass filter with 12 dB attenuation
per octave.
• Notch
A two-pole notch filter.
• Highpass 1p
A one-pole highpass filter with 6 dB attenuation
per octave.
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4.7.4 Filter Envelope
Attack
Decay
Release
Time
Level
Key pressed
Key released
Sustain
An envelope controls a sound parameter over time,
starting from the instant a key is pressed (see fig. 4.7).
The filter envelope is designed specifically to control
the filter cutoff frequency, but can be used to control
other parameters too via the modulation matrix.
Figure 4.7: The filter envelope.
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. Note that when a dual
filter is used, the filter envelope affects both filters simultaneously.
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.
Attack
The ATTACK parameter specifies the duration it
takes for the envelope to reach its maximum value.
Most sounds use a setting near the minimum in order
to start bright.
Amount
The AMT knob controls how much the filter envelope
affects the cutoff frequency. Set to zero, the filter envelope has no effect on the cutoff frequency. At 100%,
the envelope spans the entire cutoff range from the
Decay
After reaching the peak, the decay stage commences.
During the decay stage, the envelope falls back to a
lower level, the sustain level. The DECAY control
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specifies the duration of the decay stage, i.e. how long
Attack
Decay
Release
Time
Level
Key pressed
Key released
Sustain
it takes to fall back to the sustain level.
Sustain
This parameter specifies the sustain level that is
reached after the decay stage ends. The sustain stage
lasts as long as a key is pressed.
Release
The final release stage is triggered whenever a key is
released. The release parameter specifies the duration
it takes the envelope to hit zero. Note that when the
sustain level is set to zero, the release parameter may
have no effect if the envelope has previously reached
zero already.
4.8 Amplitude Envelope
Located below the Filter envelope, the amplitude envelope controls the progression of the volume of a sound
(see fig. 4.8). It works in the same manner as the filter
envelope.
Figure 4.8: The amplitude envelope.
Level
Controls the level of the amplitude envelope, which
simply boils down to the overall level of the current voice. If you wish to modulate the volume of a
patch, this is usually the right destination parameter
to choose.
Attack
The ATTACK parameter specifies the duration it
takes for the amplitude envelope to go from zero to
its maximum level.
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Decay
The DECAY parameter specifies the duration of the
decay stage, i.e. how long it takes the amplitude to
fall back to the sustain level.
Sustain
This parameter specifies the sustain level that is
reached after the decay stage ends. The sustain stage
lasts as long as a key is pressed.
Release
The final release stage is triggered whenever a key is
released. The release parameter specifies the duration
it takes the envelope to hit zero. Note that when sustain is set to zero, the release parameter may have
no effect if the envelope has previously reached zero
already.
4.9 Unison Voices
The unison voices section is located at the top right
of the interface, between the monitor and the master
section.
Dune allows to use multiple voices for any note
played. This is useful to for a variety of tasks, the
most common being to create the illusion of many instruments playing simultaneously (e.g. a string section). Another useful application is to stack different
sounds.
In order to cause an audible change, multiple voices
must differ in one or more sound parameters. The
most common change is to slightly detune the stacked
voices, resulting in thick chorus-type effects, as well as
to stereo-spread the voices to make sounds more spatial. To increase ease of use, both detune and spread
can be performed directly via the knobs in the unison section. Other sound parameters can be modified
per voice either by using the modulation matrix (see
chapter 5), or by editing the voices separately (section
4.10).
Amount
This parameter sets the number of voices to use for
each note played. When set to two voices, for instance,
each key press will trigger two unison voices. Note
that the CPU usage doubles as the number of unison
voices is doubled, since two voices per key mean twice
the processing. In contrast to Dune 1, the number of
unison voices does not affect the polyphony in any way
— so two unison voices at a polyphony of four means
that up to eight voices will be needed. The MAIN
monitor displays the current number of active voices,
as well as the maximum possible.
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Detune
4.10 Voice Edit/Common
This parameter detunes the unison voices. Higher settings correspond to more variation. A minimum of two
voices is necessary to get an audible change. The detuning is centered around the main note pitch. When
playing e.g. A4 (440 Hz) and detuning two voices by 1
Hz, the two pitches would be 339 Hz and 441 Hz, thus
still creating the sensation of a 440 Hz note.
Spread
Spreads the unison voices in the stereo field. A minimum of two voices must be dialed in to create an
audible effect. At maximum position, the voices will
be fully spread in the stereo field — in the case of using
two voices, one voice will be panned hard left and the
other one hard right. In case of three voices, one voice
will be panned hard left, one dead center and one hard
right, etc.
The voice edit section is located just below the unison
voice section. This section allows to edit all unison
voices combined (ALL), or to select individual voices.
Each unison voice has its own set of parameters, which
means you can stack up to 8 different sounds. The
sound parameters available per voice include all oscillator parameters, the mixer, filter, filter effect, as well
as the filter and amplitude envelope (see fig. 4.9).
Solo
Allows to solo individual voices. Note that only voices
that are actually in use can be solo’ed. Pressing solo
on the 4th voice of a 3-voice patch will thus lead to
silence.
Figure 4.9: Voice parameters.
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To copy a unison voice, choose one of the unison voices
1-8, then press COPY. Choose the destination voice,
then hit PASTE to overwrite its settings.
Glide
The glide knob controls the pitch glide effect for successive notes. Turned fully to the left, there is no glide.
Towards higher settings, the pitch glide time increases.
Each unison voice can have its own glide time.
Arp
The arp button enables or disables the arpeggiator.
Each unison voice can have the arpeggiator enabled or
disabled for increased versatility.
FX 1
Enabling this button sends the voice through the first
FX Bus. The FX bus can be enabled or disabled for
each voice separately.
FX 2
Enabling this button sends the voice through the second FX Bus. The FX bus can be enabled or disabled
for each voice separately.
4.11 Master
The Master section contains basic performance parameters and allows to set the global volume.
Polyphony
The polyphony popup menu allows to specify how
many notes can be played simultaneously. The main
purpose of limiting the polyphony is to limit the CPU
usage, as less voices need to be rendered.
A polyphony of 4 means that 4 keys can be held
down simultaneously, pressing a fifth key will cut one
of the existing voices. Note that when sounds have
long release times (e.g. pads, strings), it is a good idea
to choose a polyphony of 12 or 16 even when only playing a few notes at a time. Otherwise, old notes get cut
which can lead to clicks.
When choosing Mono or Legato, only one note can
be played at a time. Legato allows to smoothly go from
one note to another without retriggering the envelopes.
This can be useful for bass and lead sounds, particularly in combination with the glide knob. It creates a
unique playing feel and sound which can be better for
monophonic lines. Using mono or legato modes also
results in the smallest CPU usage possible.
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Volume
Using the editor
Sets the overall volume of the entire synthesizer.
MIDI In
This red indicator lights up on incoming MIDI note
events, as well as MIDI controller messages.
4.12 MSEGs
Dune 2 introduces four graphical envelopes called
MSEG (Multiple Segment Envelope Generator).
Graphical envelopes allow precise and customizable
adjustment of sound parameters over time, and thus
serve as an important modulation source. MSEGs can
be looped, which allows to create rhythmic gate effects (for instance the classic "trance" gate sound), or
they can act as low-frequency oscillators with custom
shapes.
• Create new points either with the left mouse button (double-click), or with the middle mouse button (single-click).
• Delete points with the right mouse button.
• Move points by clicking on them with the left
mouse button, then moving them in any direction.
• Change the curve shape of a segment by clicking
on it with the left mouse button, then drag the
mouse up or down.
• Set precise values by holding down shift when
dragging the mouse up or down.
Four buttons are located on the left side of the edi-
tor:
• Copy copies the MSEG into the clipboard.
• Paste replaces the current envelope with an en-
velope stored in the clipboard.
• Invert mirrors all points vertically.
• Clear deletes all points in the envelope.
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Mode
Sync
MSEGs can be used in four different modes:
• Note On starts the MSEG when pressing a key,
then traverses the envelope until the last point
is reached. Note that MSEGs are polyphonic
in this mode when modulating voice parameters
(such as pitch), ie each voice keeps its own envelope position.
• Note Off triggers the MSEG when releasing a
key. MSEGs are polyphonic in this mode too.
• Key On mode is identical to Note On, except
when the arpeggiator is enabled. Note On will
react to every note that is triggered by the arpeggiator, while Key On will only react to actual
MIDI keys pressed. Key On mode thus allows modulation of an arpeggiated sequence as a
whole, for example the mode can be used to fade
in an arpeggiated sequence.
• Loop mode periodically loops through the envelope. MSEGs are monophonic in this mode, ie
all MSEG destinations receive the same signal.
This is important when using the envelope for
trance gate and other rhythmic effects, synchronized to the song tempo.
When the sync switch is off, the envelope operates in
seconds. The time line shows seconds, and the maximum length can be adjusted in seconds.
If the sync switch is on, the MSEG operates in sync
with the host tempo. The time line is switched to a
musical notation in the format "bars.quarters" (e.g.
4.2 means the second quarter note in the fourth bar).
Rate
Adjusts how fast the envelope is traversed. When the
SYNC switch is disabled, the rate knob simply scales
the entire envelope from 1/10th to 10 times the duration. Set to center, the envelope time is unaffected by
the rate knob — an envelope spanning 1 second takes
exactly 1 second to complete.
When sync is on, the envelope duration is scaled
with musically meaningful values, in order to keep the
sync with the host tempo. Setting the rate knob to
half a bar (1/2) will traverse the envelope twice as fast
as the default of one bar (1/1), for instance. For more
sophisticated effects, Triplet (T) and dotted (*) values
can be dialed in.
The MSEG rate can be modulated via the modulation matrix. Note that this only works when sync is
disabled.
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Length
The maximum duration of the envelope. The meaning depends on the rate knob and the sync switch. If
sync is disabled and rate set to center, the maximum
duration is given in seconds.
Velocity
value, the shorter the envelope when pressing higher
keys. The purpose of key tracking is to imitate the
behavior of acoustic instruments such as the guitar —
high notes on the guitar decay more quickly than low
notes.
Key tracking requires the sync switch to be turned
off, otherwise it has no effect.
With the Velocity knob, the envelope amount can
be varied according to the velocity of the MIDI key
pressed. At default center position, the velocity has
no effect. Set to negative values, low velocities will
have a stronger effect than high velocities. Set to positive values, higher velocities increasing the envelope
amount.
Making envelope amounts velocity-dependent is particularly important for FM sounds. Low velocities typically correspond to low envelope amounts (resulting
in a soft sound), while high velocities typically correspond to high envelope amounts (causing a brighter,
more aggressive sound).
Keytrack
The key track knob allows to make the envelope rate
dependent on the MIDI key number pressed. Usually
key tracking is set to zero, so the MIDI key number
has no effect on the envelope. The higher the key track
4.13 LFOs
Using oscillators, the filter and envelopes, it is possible to control the basic properties of a sound, such
as timbre, volume and pitch. For bass and percussive
sounds this may be enough to get good results, but
for pad or lead type sounds, the sustain stage can still
sound dull. This is because the pitch, filter cutoff and
volume are steady in this stage and do not change.
This is where LFOs (low frequency oscillators) come
into play. LFOs work similar to ordinary oscillators,
and usually generate a periodic signal using similar
waveforms (see fig. 4.10). LFOs are inaudible, however, their only purpose is to continually change one
or more aspects of the sound. The most typical applications are modulating the volume, cutoff or pitch,
resulting in a vibrato or tremolo effect. Dune’s three
LFOs are much more capable than that, however, as
almost any sound parameter can be used as a modulation destination. Additionally, LFOs can modulate
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each other in volume or frequency to obtain yet more
Triangle
Pulse
Sine
S+H Noise
S+G Noise
Ramp Up/Down
interesting variations.
The three LFOs are accessed by clicking on the
LFOs tab. Assigning destinations to LFOs and adjusting the modulation depth is performed in the modulation matrix, which is covered in the fourth chapter of
this manual.
Ramp, Pulse, Triangle and Sine are periodic waveforms, while S+H noise (Sample-and-Hold), as well
as S+G noise (Sample-and-Glide) are random signals.
Random modulation signals are useful for special effects or to simulate the behavior of old analog hardware, by choosing a very slow and subtle modulation.
Rate + Sync
By default, LFOs run at a constant rate specified in
Hz, independent of the MIDI note played. Typical settings are between 3-6 Hz for vibrato or tremolo effects.
When the SYNC switch is enabled, the rate is specified in units of the current song tempo, such as quarters, eights or sixteenths notes, with either their standard durations, or in triplet (T) or dotted (*) form.
Examples:
• 1/4 specifies the duration of a quarter note.
Figure 4.10: LFO waveforms.
Shape
Clicking on the shape popup menu allows to select
one of the waveform shapes depicted in fig. 4.10.
• 1/8+ sets the modulation rate to a dotted eight
note.
• 1/16T sets the modulation rate to a sixteenth
triplet.
• 1/1 sets the modulation rate to span one bar.
• 2/1 sets the modulation rate to span two bars.
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Poly
By default LFOs operate in a global fashion, ie all
voice destinations receive the same LFO signal. When
the POLY switch is enabled, however, each voice uses
its own, local LFO. This allows to set up modulations
which always start at zero phase, for instance.
Fade-in
Usually modulations start immediately when a key is
pressed and last for the entire duration of the sound.
Sometimes, however, strong modulation can be objectionable in the early attack stage of the sound. To
preserve the transients, the fade-in parameter can be
used to gradually increase the modulation from zero to
its maximum value, for a duration specified in seconds.
Amount
This knob adjusts the amount of LFO modulation that
takes place. This is useful to fine-tune the overall
amount of modulation in combination with the modulation matrix. Furthermore, the amount knob itself
can be modulated via the modulation matrix. This
allows to vary the modulation amount over time, for
instance with a second LFO or an envelope.
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4.14 Effect Bus 1+2
Type
Dune 2 offers two effect busses with nine effects in each
to further enhance the sound. All of them may be used
simultaneously, and most units offer several sub-types
to further increase their versatility. Note that all effects are global, that is all voices enabled for a specific
effect bus are first summed and then processed by the
effect bus.
The effects are processed from left to right in the order they appear. By default, the distortion is applied
first and reverb last. You can modify the effect order,
however, by dragging the individual sections. When
you click on an effect label (e.g. "Delay") a red border
will appear. Keep the mouse button pressed, and move
the effect into any spot you like. Note that changing
the effect order is not necessarily audible. The most
significant change usually occurs when moving an active(!) distortion or compressor effect to a different
position.
• Crunch simulates a typical guitar pedal distor-
tion effect.
• Overdrive simulates a typical guitar overdrive
effect.
• Grunge is a distortion effect which specifically
simulates the vintage DS-1 pedal, popularized by
its usage in Grunge music.
• Triode Amp models a typical valve-based gui-
tar amplifier head.
• Hard Clip boosts then simply hard-clips the
signal at 0 dB.
• Bitcrush reduces the dynamic range of the sig-
nal to a low bit depth.
• Ratecrush reduces the sample rate of the sig-
nal, using a sample-and-hold circuit.
4.14.1 Distortion
A distortion effect changes the signal in a nonlinear
manner, which creates new overtones and usually results in a harsher sound. Dune 2 offers a variety of
different distortion types:
• Exciter is an effect which distorts only the high
frequencies of the signal, leaving other frequencies largely unaffected.
Note that the Hard Clip, Bitcrush and Ratecrush effect can sound very digital and harsh at high drive settings, so those effects should be used with some care.
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Tone
Frequency
Magnitude (dB)
Cutoff frequency
Gain (+)
Gain (-)
0 dB
Frequency
Magnitude (dB)
Peak frequency
Gain (+)
Gain (-)
0 dB
Tone usually controls the mid frequencies of the output
signal, with the center position resulting in a largely
neutral sound. The implementation differs dependent
on which distortion type is chosen, however, so the
effect can vary.
Dry/Wet
Blends between the dry and processed signal. For
guitar-type distortion effects, this parameter should be
typically set to 100%. For all other types, it is often a
good idea to try much smaller values.
4.14.2 EQ 1
An equalizer (EQ) is used to boost or attenuate a certain frequency range. This is useful to e.g. add more
bass to a sound, increase its presence, or to achieve
formant-type effects. Dune features a classic 3-band
equalizer:
• The Low Shelf EQ amplifies or attenuates fre-
quencies below the chosen frequency.
Two parameters are available, the frequency of
operation and the gain. Gain specifies how much
to attenuate or boost the chosen frequency. At
center position (0 dB) the signal is not affected
in any way.
• The Peaking EQ amplifies or attenuates the
region around the chosen frequency.
The peaking EQ offers a frequency and gain parameter like the Low Shelf EQ, additionally a
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"Q" parameter to control the steepness of the
Frequency
Magnitude (dB)
0 dB
Q=1
Peak frequency
Frequency
Magnitude (dB)
Cutoff frequency
Amount (+)
Amount (-)
0 dB
curve:
• The Hi Shelf EQ with a frequency and gain
parameter amplifies or attenuates frequencies
above the chosen frequency.
frequency regions can be boosted. Another application is to move one EQ to the left side of the distortion and one to the right. This allows to control the
sound both pre- and post-distortion, which is useful to
fine-tune the overall timbre.
4.14.4 Phaser
A phaser modifies the phase of the signal around some
frequency, then adds it back to the original signal. The
result is a notch in the frequency spectrum. By varying the operation frequency periodically with a LFO,
the typical sweeping sound of a phaser is achieved.
Type
The phaser can use between 2 and 12 stages. Each pair
of stages produces one notch in the frequency spectrum, so e.g. two stages produce one notch. More
stages result in more notches, which increases the
phasing effect.
4.14.3 EQ 2
This section is identical to EQ 1 and allows further
processing of the signal. For example, two different
Rate + Sync
Sets the modulation rate of the effect in Hertz (Hz).
When the SYNC switch is enabled, the rate is specified in units of the current song tempo, such as quarters, eights or sixteenths notes, with either their stan-
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dard durations, or in triplet (T) or dotted (*) form.
Examples:
• 1/4 specifies the duration of a quarter note.
• 1/8+ sets the modulation rate to a dotted eight
note.
• 1/16T sets the modulation rate to a sixteenth
triplet.
• 1/1 sets the modulation rate to span one bar.
quency range to include. Usually this should be set to
100% to include the entire frequency spectrum.
Depth
Sets the modulation depth of the LFO. Set to zero,
there is no modulation and thus no sweeping effect,
the sound will be static. When increasing the modulation depth, the phaser operates on a larger frequency
region, which increases the sweeping effect.
• 2/1 sets the modulation rate to span two bars.
Spread
Adjusts the width of the notches produced by the
phaser. Usually 100% sounds best.
Feedbk
The output of the phaser can be fed back to its input,
creating a resonant sweep. Both positive and negative feedback is possible, at center position there is no
feedback.
Freq
Sets the lowest frequency the Phaser . For the Chorus/Flanger types, this parameters specifies the fre-
LR Offset
Since the phaser operates in stereo, both channels
have their own LFO. With the offset knob, the relative phase difference between both channels can be
adjusted from 0 to 180 degrees. Set to zero, both channels produce an identical sweep. Set to nonzero, both
channels will operate on different frequency regions,
making the effect more spatial.
Dry/Wet
Mixes the dry and processed signal. Since the phasing
effect is achieved by mixing the original and processed
signal, the mix ratio should be typically around 50%.
Lower values can be useful to make the effect more
subtle, however, and higher values can be useful with
strong feedback.
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4.14.5 Chorus
Depth
A chorus or flanger effect is obtained by summing a
signal with a delayed copy of itself. When the delay
is continuously varied with a low-frequency oscillator
and separately for the left and right channel, the sound
becomes thicker and more spatial. Using smaller delay
times and adding feedback results in a flanging effect.
Mode
• Single simulates a standard chorus effect with
one delay line for each channel.
• Dual uses two delay lines per channel, to obtain
a yet thicker sound.
Offset
Adjusts the minimum delay time. Medium to high settings are useful to create a typical chorus affect, while
low values are useful for flanging.
Sets the modulation depth of the LFO. Set to zero,
there is no modulation and thus no sweeping effect,
the sound will be static.
LR Offset
Since the chorus operates in stereo, both channels
have their own LFO. With the offset knob, the relative phase difference between both channels can be
adjusted from 0 to 180 degrees. Set to zero, both channels produce an identical sweep, while nonzero values
make the chorus effect more spatial.
Feedbk
The output of the chorus delay lines can be fed back to
their input, creating a resonance effect. Both positive
and negative feedback is possible, at center position
there is no feedback. For a classic chorus sound, the
feedback should be set to zero. For flanging effects,
use strong positive or negative feedback.
Rate
Sets the modulation rate of the effect in Hertz (Hz).
Dry/Wet
Mixes the dry and processed signal. Since the chorus
effect is achieved by mixing the original with a delayed
copy of itself, the mix ratio should be typically around
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50%. Lower values can be useful to make the effect
more subtle, however, and higher values can be useful
with strong feedback.
4.14.6 Delay 1+2
A delay effect produces a series of echoes — the duration of the echoes is usually locked to the host tempo.
A total of five delay programs are available. Two delay
instances allow to obtain more complex echo patterns,
in particular when both delay instances are set to different rates or use different programs.
Type
• Simple creates a series of echoes centered in the
stereo field.
of echoes alternating between the left and right
channel.
• Diffuse works similar to the Simple delay, ex-
cept that each echo becomes increasingly diffuse.
• Tape works similar to the Simple delay, except
that each echo becomes increasingly distorted.
L/R-Rate + Sync
The delay time can be specified independently for the
left and right channels. By default the delay times
are synced to the host tempo and are thus specified in
quarters, eights, sixteenths etc., optionally in triplet
(T) or dotted (*) form. Examples:
• 1/4 specifies an echo duration of a quarter note.
• Simple+Offset is a identical to the Simple de-
lay, except that the right channel is delayed.
When both channels use the same delay time,
this sounds like a ping-pong delay except for a
missing first echo.
• Ping-Pong creates echoes alternating between
the left and right channels.
• Dual Ping-Pong uses two ping-pong delay
units, one for each channel. The result is a pair
• 1/8+ sets the duration to a dotted eighth note.
• 1/16T sets the duration to a sixteenth triplet.
• 1/1 sets the duration to span an entire bar.
Turning off SYNC allows to specify the delay time in
milliseconds (ms), for each channel separately. When
using very short delay times (e.g. 1 ms), the ear can no
longer perceive the individual echoes as such. The result is a comb-filter effect which can sometimes sound
interesting. Turning off sync also allows to modulate
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the delay time via the modulation matrix, useful to
obtain special effects.
Low Cut
from one echo to the next, so 100% creates an infinite
series of echoes, 50% cuts the level of each subsequent
echo in half etc.
The echoes can be processed by a 6 dB/oct lowpass filter, making each subsequent echo darker. Set to zero,
the lowpass filter is disabled.
High Cut
The echoes can be processed by a 6 dB/oct highpass
filter, making each subsequent echo brighter than the
previous one. Set to zero, the highpass filter is disabled.
Width
By default, all delay programs operate in full stereo.
When using the ping-pong delay, for instance, the generated echoes will alternate between the left and right
speakers, with no signal in the center. If this effect
feels too strong, the width knob can reduce the stereo
image, all the way down to mono.
Mod-Rate
All delay programs allow to modulate the delay time
with a LFO. The modulation rate parameter adjusts
the LFO rate in Hertz (Hz).
Mod-Amt
The amount knob adjusts the modulation depth. Set
to zero, no modulation takes place, the echoes sound
rather static. Small modulation amounts cause the
delay to sound slightly more organic, as the delay constantly varies a little over time. Large modulation
amounts cause a noticeable strong pitch modulation,
which can be used for special effects.
Dry/Wet
Blends between the dry and processed signal.
Feedbk
The feedback parameter adjusts how long the echoes
are repeated. The percentage specifies the level change
4.14.7 Reverb
A reverb effect is used to create the illusion of a sound
being played back in a spatial environment such as a
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living room, hall or cathedral. Six different algorithms
are offered in Dune 2:
Type
• Ambience is a program useful for subtle reverbs
of short to medium duration, e.g. 1-2 sec.
• Big Room simulates a large room, designed for
a reverb time around 1 sec.
• Chapel simulates a larger chapel, good for re-
verb times of 2-3 sec.
• Gated Room is a special-purpose program giv-
ing the impression of a very small space, ending
abruptly. This program is limited to a maximum reverb time of approximately 0.5 seconds
and should be used with some predelay for best
effect.
• Plate is a highly diffuse reverb program, it does
not simulate a particular space.
• Stadium simulates a very large reverberant
space.
Predelay
Adjusts the onset of the reverberated signal. When set
to zero, the reverberated signal commences almost immediately. Higher settings delay the signal, which can
be useful to change the perception of the room size.
Time
This parameter adjusts the reverb time in seconds. Reverb time is defined as the time it takes the wet signal
to reach -60 dB. Note that the displayed value is an
approximation, and that other parameters like highfrequency damping can shorten the perceived reverb
time.
• Hall simulates a hall of various sizes
(Small/Medium/Large). The algorithm works
well with reverb times of 3-5 seconds and above.
• Slapback Hall simulates a hall with strong
early reflections occurring after a few milliseconds.
HF Damp
The high-frequency damp parameter changes the simulated room’s wall materials. Low settings correspond
to reflective walls (bright, uncolored sound), high settings to very absorbent walls (progressively darker timbre).
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Low Cut
4.14.8 Compressor
The low-cut filter in the reverb effect can be used to
remove unwanted low frequencies from the processed
signal. This is useful for sounds containing strong bass
frequencies, such as bass drums etc. Note that the dry
signal is not affected by this parameter, only the reverberated signal.
Color
The color parameter can be used to equalize the mid
frequencies of the reverberated signal. At center position the reverberated signal is unaffected. Turning the
knob to the left cuts the mid frequencies, turning it to
the right boosts the mid frequencies.
Mod-Amt
All reverbs in Dune 2 employ modulation, to generate a rich timbre. The modulation amount parameter
adjusts how strong this modulation is. At low s
The purpose of a compressor is to reduce the dynamic
range of a signal, which increases the perceived loudness and can reduce clipping problems in a digital environment. A compressor performs dynamic range reduction by lowering the level of loud passages. What
is considered "loud" is specified by the user, in form
of a threshold level given in decibel (dB).
Type
Two compressor types are available:
• Air is a good general-purpose compressor. This
compressor is very transparent for low compression ratios and works on a wide range of input
signals.
• Vintage simulates a vintage analog broadband
compressor, which saturates the signal. Good
for bass sounds.
Dry/Wet
Blends between the dry and processed signals.
Input
Adjusts the input level. The input level affects the
amount of compression, and should be adjusted such
that the level meter peaks around 0 dB.
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Ratio
Input (dB)
Output (dB)
Threshold
1:1
2:1
100:1
Threshold
Ratio tells the compressor how much to lower those
passages that are louder than the threshold. A ratio
of 1:1, for example, means that the sound comes out 1
to 1 - as it is - the compressor does not do anything.
At a ratio of 2:1, the loud passages will be lowered by
a factor of 2 — they will come out only half as loud as
they were when they came in. At a ratio of 4:1, they
will come out 4 times softer, and so on. So the Ratio setting effectively decides how much the passages
above the threshold will be compressed.
Refer to the image below for a graphical representation of the compression input/output ratio. The image
shows ratios 1:1, 2:1 and 100:1. At the highest setting
100:1, the compressor will act as a limiter, and will not
pass any signal levels above the threshold.
The threshold knob sets the level at which a passage
is considered "loud" — that’s the point at which the
compressor will start working. For example, if you set
the threshold to -16 dB, then everything below that
level will pass straight through, while anything above
-16 dB will be attenuated according to the ratio setting.
Attack
The attack parameter adjusts the time it takes for the
compressor to react to a signal exceeding the threshold. The attack time involves a trade-off: Short attack times usually sound more transparent, but can
also cause distortion artifarcts on some signals when
the compressor reacts too quickly. Long attack times
usually do not cause distortion problems, but fast transients pass through uncompressed which sometimes
sounds objectionable.
Release
The release parameter adjusts the time it takes for the
compressor to recover when the threshold is no longer
exceeded.
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Output
Adjusts the compressor output level in decibel (dB).
Dry/Wet
Blends between the dry and processed signals. While
a compressor is traditionally used 100% wet, mixing
in the dry signal has become a popular trick known as
"parallel" or "New York" compression.
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5 Modulation Matrix
The modulation matrix in Dune is located in the center
of the interface, and accessed by clicking on the Mod
Matrix button. Up to 32 source/destination combinations are possible per patch.
One of the biggest strength of subtractive synthesizers
is their ease of use. The pitch, timbre and volume of a
sound and its progression over time can be controlled
in a simple and straightforward way. The simplicity is
achieved by employing a fixed structure with a limited
set of parameters, however.
In order to create more complex patches, modern
synthesizers offer a modulation matrix, where you can
choose from a set of sources and link them to almost
any sound parameter:
Most importantly, the sources comprise the LFOs.
The ability to link a LFO to any sound parameter
makes the traditional LFO destination parameter obsolete and offers far greater flexibility. Classic destination parameters include Pitch (to obtain a vibrato
effect), Volume (to obtain a tremolo effect) as well as
Filter Cutoff. Further sources include the graphical
envelopes (MSEG 1-4), which also must be assigned
to a destination in the modulation matrix to work.
Typical destinations for the graphical envelope generators include pitch, volume, or the amount of frequency
modulation (FM) when using FM synthesis.
The modulation matrix is also used to assign MIDI
performance controllers to sound parameters. The
modulation wheel or expression pedal, for instance,
can be chosen as a source and linked to any destination parameter. The effect of note velocity is also
controlled from within the modulation matrix. While
typically linked to volume, it can be easily set to affect
the filter cutoff frequency or other sound parameters.
Advanced users will appreciate the ability of the
modulation matrix to modulate itself, by choosing any
of the 32 modulation slots as a destination.
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5.1 The differential unison
engine (DUNE)
Traditionally, unison on synthesizers means "playing
all voices simultaneously". In unison mode, a classic
synthesizer with 8 voices simply fires all 8 voices simultaneously when pressing a key. The different voices
are slightly detuned, which provides a chorus type effect and thus an overall fat sound, when playing a
note. Unfortunately, firing all voices at once means
that polyphonic play is no longer possible, as all available voices are in use. Hence, modern synthesizers use
a more sophisticated unison mode, which allows to set
an arbitrary number of unison voices that is only a
subset of the total number of available voices. For example, a synthesizer with a maximum of 32 voices may
offer the option to trigger 4 unison voices simultaneously. This still allows to play 8 notes at the same
time (32 / 4 = 8). Another feature that is very common in today’s synthesizers is the ability to specify an
arbitrary detuning and stereo spreading of all unison
voices. A synthesizer which employs 2 unison voices
may detune both and spread them to the left and right
side of the stereo panorama, which creates a very spacious effect. The Synapse Audio WASP is such a synthesizer.
The idea behind Dune is to make the power of the
unison mode accessible to sound designers. Why re-
strict the unison mode to just detuning or panorama
changes? In Dune, any sound parameter can be
changed in any unison voice, relative to the basic parameter settings. This is accomplished by the modulation matrix. Apart from the classic source, amount
and destination parameters, Dune adds the "Voice"
parameter, which allows to restrict the modulation to
one or more unison voices. This concept is best explained by a simple example matrix:
In this example, we have assigned all three LFOs
to three different destinations: Filter Cutoff, Pan
(Panorama) and Volume. In the first row, the Voice
field is left blank, which simply means to apply the
modulation to all unison voices in use. If the number
of unison voices is set to e.g. five voices, then the filter cutoff will be modulated in the same manner for
all five voices. The second and third column, set to
modulate the volume and panorama, are restricted to
affect the second and third unison voice, respectively.
As a result, only those voices will be modulated. To
experiment with and understand the unison engine, try
the example above (or something similar) on an empty
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patch (use the "Initialize Patch" function in the Patch
menu). Make sure that the number of unison voices is
set to at least three. The number of unison voices can
be set from the Unison panel, located above the modulation matrix. Use the SOLO switches in the same
panel to toggle between individual unison voices and
see how the modulation affects them.
A further example will demonstrate how to set two
unison voices to different settings, and conclude the
introduction of the differential unison engine:
Here we modulate two parameters, filter cutoff and filter resonance. The modulations are set to affect the
second unison voice. As a source, we chose "Const",
which means constant. The result of those modulations is to simply adjust the two filter parameters relative to the knob settings. For example, if the Cutoff
knob is set to 50%, the second voice will have a cutoff
setting corresponding to 100% (50% + 50%).
Note that in Dune 2, there is two ways to change the
parameters of unison voices. You can use the modulation matrix as described in the second example above,
or you can simply edit the voice parameters directly,
by using the Voice Edit section. By editing voice parameters directly, you perform absolute changes to
the unison voices. This is required if you want to use
different filter types, different synthesis models or different wavetables in the unison voices, and is generally
a good idea if you want to stack completely different
sounds. Using the modulation matrix instead, you peform relative changes to the unison voices. This is
great to keep common controls: Suppose you build a
C-minor chord stab with three unison voices using the
modulation matrix, then all voices can still be edited
together. Tweaking the cutoff knob or changing pitch
will always affect the entire chord and not just a single
voice.
5.2 List of Sources
The following section lists all available modulation
sources with a brief explanation. All sources, whether
it is MIDI data or synth parameters, are converted
to the same range, which is [0,+1] for unipolar and
[-0.5,+0.5] for bipolar sources. The LFOs, tze Pitch
bend wheel, and the Random modifier are bipolar
sources, all other sources are unipolar.
The current value of a source is multiplied with the
amount value [-100 to +100] in the same modulation
slot. The result of the multiplication is then added to
the selected destination parameter.
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Velocity
MWheel
The MIDI Note-On velocity information, which is
transmitted once at the instant a key is pressed. The
harder a key is hit, the higher the transmitted value.
Vel>100
Emits maximum value if the MIDI key velocity is
greater than 100, and zero otherwise. This source can
be used to obtain additional effects when a key is hit
hard, for example an extra layer could be triggered.
Keytrack
The MIDI Note number becomes the source of modulation, relative to C0. This means low keys emit a low
value while high keys emit a high value. This source
can be used to make a patch key-dependent, for instance shorten the envelopes when pressing a higher
key.
Freqtrack
Identical to keytrack, except that this source is based
on the pitch of the MIDI key, rather than its note
number.
The MIDI modulation wheel data (controller #01).
PWheel
The MIDI pitch wheel data. Note that the pitch bend
wheel always changes the pitch up or down dependent
on the Bend up/down setting in the main panel. Set
both to zero if you wish to use the pitch wheel exclusively for a different purpose.
ATouch
Quality MIDI keyboards not only transmit velocity,
but send pressure information as well. This parameter
is called Aftertouch. In contrast to velocity, the aftertouch information is sent permanently and for the
entire keyboard, not per key. It is transmitted for as
long as any key(s) are being pressed. Note that there
is a few keyboards which support sending pressure information per key. This is called polyphonic aftertouch. While polyphonic aftertouch is supported by
the MIDI standard, such keyboards are very rare and
never found wide usage. Hence, polyphonic aftertouch
is not supported.
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Const
Arp Velocity
This source simply sends a constant value of 1. Hence,
the amount setting is directly added to the destination parameter. This can be useful for a wide range of
tasks, for instance to offset a parameter for a specific
unison voice or to set parameters only available in the
modulation matrix.
Random
Sets a random value whenever a voice is triggered.
Very useful with pan as a destination, or to add subtle
pitch modulations simulating the behavior of acoustic instruments or vintage analog synthesizers (both
of which have a slightly inconsistent pitch each time a
note is played).
Arp Note
The note information sent from the arpeggiator. This
is a special purpose parameter, which should be used
in combination with Pitch Semi as a destination and
with the Arp Mode set to "Silent". This will result
in direct pitch changes within a voice, an effect common in old computers such as the C64. The resulting
sound is different from the regular arpeggiator, which
constantly triggers and releases voices.
The velocity information sent from the arpeggiator.
This can be used to modulate any parameter rhythmically, and sync’ed to the host tempo if desired.
Breath
MIDI Breath controller (#02).
Foot
MIDI Foot controller (#04).
Expr
MIDI Expression controller (#11).
Osc 1
The output of oscillator 1. When using this source,
make sure to adjust the modulation rate to "Fast" or
"Audio-Rate".
Osc 2
The output of oscillator 2. When using this source,
make sure to adjust the modulation rate to "Fast" or
"Audio-Rate".
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Osc 3
LFO*AT
The output of oscillator 3. When using this source,
make sure to adjust the modulation rate to "Fast" or
"Audio-Rate".
Noise Gen
The output of the noise generator. When using this
source, make sure to adjust the modulation rate to
"Fast" or "Audio-Rate".
LFO-1
Current value of LFO-1.
LFO-2
Current value of LFO-2.
LFO-3
Current value of LFO-3.
The value of LFO-1, LFO-2 or LFO-3 multiplied by the
aftertouch data. Useful to create vibrato type effects
when applying pressure on the keyboard.
Voice #
The unison voice number counting from zero, i.e. the
first unison voice sends 0, the second voice sends 1,
the third 2, and so on. This source can be useful to
quickly set a parameter of each unison voice to a different value.
Filter Env
Current value of the filter envelope.
Amp Env
Current value of the amplitude envelope.
LFO*MW
The value of LFO-1, LFO-2 or LFO-3 multiplied by
the modulation wheel data. Use this to create vibrato
or tremolo effects with the depth controlled by the
modulation wheel.
MSEG 1
The output of envelope generator 1.
MSEG 2
The output of envelope generator 2.
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MSEG 3
The output of envelope generator 3.
MSEG 4
The output of envelope generator 4.
5.3 List of Destinations
The destinations of the modulation matrix comprise
almost all sound parameters DUNE has to offer (as
described in the third chapter), plus most effect parameters and a few helper functions not available on
the front panel.
semitone). Modulate this parameter using a LFO as
a source in order to obtain vibrato effects. For strong
vibratos spanning a larger pitch range, use Pitch Semi
as a destination instead. The modulation can be restricted to specific voices if desired. For example, you
could have a static, low-pitched sine wave on the first
voice and a vibrating sawtooth on the second.
5.3.2 Oscillator 1, 2, 3
This section describes all oscillator destinations. Note
that oscillator 3 has fewer parameters, only the first
six parameters are available here.
5.3.1 Common
Pitch Semi
The overal tuning of in semitones. An amount value
of +1 corresponds to one semitone, +12 transposes
the oscillator one octave up, -12 transposes one octave
down etc.
Pitch Fine
The overal fine tuning in cents. Cents are a fraction
of a semitone (+50 equals half a semitone, +100 a full
Osc Semi
The tuning of the oscillator in semitones. An amount
value of +1 corresponds to one semitone, +12 transposes the oscillator one octave up, -12 transposes one
octave down etc.
In the context of the differential unison engine,
choosing Osc Semi as a destination allows you to specify arbitrary tunings for each voice. For example, if
you long for a fourth or fifth oscillator having a different pitch than the first three oscillators, you could
simply increase the number of unison voices and set
the oscillator pitch of that voice only.
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Osc Fine
The fine tuning of the oscillator in cents. Cents are
a fraction of a semitone (+50 equals half a semitone,
+100 a full semitone). Modulate this parameter using
a LFO as a source in order to obtain vibrato effects.
For strong vibratos spanning a larger pitch range, use
Osc 1/2 Semi as a destination instead. The modulation can be restricted to specific voices if desired.
For example, you could have a static, low-pitched sine
wave on the first voice and a vibrating sawtooth on
the second.
Osc Volume
The mixer volume of the oscillator.
Osc Pan
the human hearing is largely insensitive to the starting
phase of a single oscillator, the relative phase difference
between both oscillators can matter in some cases, for
example when both oscillators share the exact same
frequency.
Osc Keytrack
This parameter sets the key tracking of the oscillator
and is only available in the modulation matrix. An
amount of +100 corresponds to the regular key tracking, where each MIDI key number corresponds to one
semitone. By changing this parameter to values other
than +100, you can either realize strange tunings or
turn off key tracking entirely by setting Keytrack to
0. This is often done for drum sounds, which have no
defined pitch.
The mixer panorama of the oscillator.
Osc Init Phase
This parameter sets the absolute starting phase of the
oscillator whenever a note is triggered. As a consequence, it will no longer be in free-run mode. Set to
zero, the specified oscillators starts at zero phase. An
amount of +50 corresponds to a +180 degree phase
shift, an amount of +100 to +360 degrees, etc. While
Osc 1+2 Init Phase
This parameter sets the absolute starting phase of both
oscillator 1+2 combined.
Osc Detune
Modifies the detune parameter of the oscillator stack.
Oscillator density must be higher than 1 for this to
work.
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Osc Amount
Osc FM Amt A
Modifies the amount parameter (located next to "Density" on the top left). Oscillator density must be higher
than 1 for this to work.
Osc Spread
Modifies the spread parameter. Oscillator density
must be higher than 1 for this to work.
Osc VA Pulse Width
When the oscillator is set to "Pulse" in VA mode, this
parameter changes the pulse width.
Osc VA Sync Freq
When the oscillator is set to VA mode with Sync enabled, this parameter changes the synchronisation frequency.
When the oscillator is set to FM mode, this changes
the amount of operator A.
Osc FM Amt B
When the oscillator is set to FM mode, this changes
the amount of operator B.
Osc FM Amt C
When the oscillator is set to FM mode, this changes
the amount of operator C.
Osc FM Feedbk
When the oscillator is set to FM mode, this changes
the amount of operator feedback.
5.3.3 Ring mod/Noise
Ring Mod Volume
Osc WT Position
When the oscillator is set to WT mode, this parameter sets the Wavetable position. This allows to sweep
through the wavetable by applying a LFO or MSEG.
Adjusts the mixer volume of the ring modulator.
Ring Mod Pan
Adjusts the mixer panorama position of the ring modulator.
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Noise Volume
Filter Reso
Adjusts the mixer volume of the noise generator.
Noise Pan
Adjusts the mixer panorama position of the noise generator.
Noise Lowpass
Changes the low-pass filter of the noise generator.
Noise Highpass
Changes the high-pass filter of the noise generator.
Noise Width
Changes the stereo width of the noise generator.
5.3.4 Filter
Adjusts the filter resonance relative to the front panel
knob, using the same value range.
Filter Env Amount
Adjusts the filter envelope amount relative to the front
panel knob, using the same value range.
Filter Keytrack
Sets the key tracking for the filter, which specifies how
much the cutoff frequency changes according to which
MIDI note number a voice is playing. The parameter
works in the same manner as the front panel knob,
however you may specify negative values, too. Negative values cause low keys to have a higher cutoff
frequency than high keys.
Filter Drive
This section describes the filter destinations.
Filter Cutoff
Adjusts the filter cutoff frequency relative to the front
panel knob and using the same value range.
Adjusts the filter drive parameter.
Filter FX Amount
Changes the filter effect’s "Amount" knob.
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Filter FX LP Cutoff
Amp Level
Most filter effects (esp. distortion), are followed by a
low-pass filter to roll off unwanted high frequencies.
This destination allows you to modulate this parameter. The slope of the low-pass filter is 12 dB, making it
steep enough to be useful as a second filter, in addition
to the main filter.
Filter Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release
Adjusts the filter envelope parameters relative to
whatever is set on the front panel. This allows you
to specify different filter envelopes for different voices
or to dynamically vary those parameters for each note.
5.3.5 Amplifier
This section describes the amplifier destinations.
Amp Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release
Adjusts the amplitude envelope parameters relative to
whatever is set on the front panel. This allows you
to specify different amplitude envelopes for different
voices or to dynamically vary those parameters for
each note.
Adjusts the amplitude envelope level.
Amp Pan
Adjusts the panorama position of the amplitude envelope. This parameter has no corresponding knob on
the front panel; it allows you to control the panorama
of the entire voice.
5.3.6 MSEG
This section describes the available destinations for the
graphical envelopes, MSEG 1-4.
MSEG Rate
Adjusts the rate of the MSEG. Note that MSEG Sync
must be turned off for rate modulation to work.
5.3.7 LFO
This section describes the available destinations for
low frequency oscillators 1-3.
LFO Amount
Adjusts the amount of the specified LFO.
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LFO Rate
Adjusts the rate of the specified LFO.
LFO Init Phase
MM slot, which in turn modulates another MM slot
etc. For such modulations to work properly, you must
ensure that the MM Amount numbers occur in ascending order.
Adjusts the initial phase of the specified LFO when a
new voice is started. This parameters works just like
oscillator init phase.
5.3.8 Mod Matrix
MM Amount 1-32
The MM Amount destinations allow you to change the
modulation amount of any modulation slot. This feature can be useful to build complex modulations. For
instance, if LFO 1 modulates the noise level using MM
slot 1, then you could have LFO 2 modulate that slot
by choosing LFO 2 as a source, and MM Amount 1 as
a destination.
Another useful application is to make modulations
dependent on a MIDI controller, e.g. you program a
modulation envelope and wish to have the modulation
depth controllable by the modulation wheel. In that
case you would choose Mod Wheel as a source and the
MM slot(s) containing the modulation envelope as a
destination.
You may also have one MM slot modulate another
5.3.9 FX Bus 1+2
This section describes the effect destinations. Almost
all destinations correspond to their front panel knobs
(refer to chapter 3 for a detailed description of the
parameters), only differences will be explained here.
Dist
Adjusts the corresponding distortion parameters.
EQ 1/2
Since the mid band of the equalizer offers the most
flexibility, its parameters can be modulated by choosing the Freq, Q or Gain parameter, respectively. The
low- and high shelving filters can not be chosen as destinations.
Phaser
Adjusts the corresponding phaser parameters.
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Chrs
Adjusts the corresponding chorus parameters.
Del
Adjusts the corresponding delay parameters. When
delay sync is turned off, the delay time may be modulated, relative to the L/R times specified with the
front panel knobs.
Rev
Adjusts the corresponding reverb parameters. All parameters except pre-delay can be modulated.
Comp
Adjusts the corresponding compressor parameters.
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6 MIDI Reference
Most knobs and buttons on the front panel can be
remote controlled via MIDI. Dune’s default controller
assignments follow common conventions and the MIDI
standard as much as possible. The number of sound
parameters Dune offers, however, is higher than the
amount of available MIDI controllers. Most effect parameters and large parts of the modulation matrix are
thus not assigned to any MIDI controller.
To override the default MIDI assignment, rightclick on a knob and select "MIDI Learn", then
move your hardware controller knob. To remove
an assignment, choose "MIDI Forget". Once you
close Dune, the changes will be made persistent
and apply to any future instance of Dune.
Dune Parameter CC # MIDI Ctrl Name
Common
Modulation Wheel 1 Modulation Wheel
Glide 5 Portamento Time
Sustain Pedal 64 Sustain Pedal
Volume 111
Dune Parameter CC # MIDI Ctrl Name
Unison
Detune 53
Pan Spread 54
Oscillators
Osc 1 Detune 102
Osc 1 Spread 30
Osc 1 Semi 77 Sound Controller 8
Osc 1 Fine 24
Osc 1 PW 70 Sound Controller 1
Osc 1 Level 75 Sound Controller 6
Osc 2 Detune 103
Osc 2 Spread 31
Osc 2 Semi 78 Sound Controller 9
Osc 2 Fine 34
Osc 2 PW 71 Sound Controller 2
Osc 2 Level 76 Sound Controller 7
Osc 3 Semi 105
Osc 3 Level 106
Noise LP 107
Noise HP 108
Noise Width 109
Noise Level 110
Ring Mod Level 79 Sound Controller 10
Arpeggiator
Arp On 47
Arp Rate 50
Arp Note Length 52
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Dune Parameter CC # MIDI Ctrl Name
LFOs
LFO 1 Rate 14
LFO 1 Waveform 15
LFO 1 Sync 16
LFO 1 Fade In 18
LFO 2 Rate 19
LFO 2 Waveform 20
LFO 2 Sync 21
LFO 2 Fade In 23
LFO 3 Rate 80
LFO 3 Waveform 81
LFO 3 Sync 82
LFO 3 Fade In 84
Filter
Filter Attack 38
Filter Decay 39
Filter Sustain 40
Filter Release 41
Filter Cutoff 74 Brightness
Filter Reso 42
Filter Env Amt 43
Filter Key Track 46
Dune Parameter CC # MIDI Ctrl Name
Amp Envelope
Amp Attack 73 Attack Time
Amp Decay 36
Amp Sustain 37
Amp Release 72 Release Time
Effects (Bus 1)
EQ 1 Mid Gain 89
EQ 2 Mid Gain 90
Reverb Dry/Wet 91 Effect 1 Depth
Delay Dry/Wet 92 Effect 2 Depth
Chorus Dry/Wet 93 Effect 3 Depth
Distortion Dry/Wet 94 Effect 4 Depth
Phaser Dry/Wet 95 Effect 5 Depth
Mod Matrix
MM Amount 1 112
MM Amount 2 113
MM Amount 3 114
MM Amount 4 115
MM Amount 5 116
MM Amount 6 117
MM Amount 7 118
MM Amount 8 119
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7 Optimizing
performance
7.2 Optimizing patch settings
The two most important patch settings affecting CPU
usage are polyphony (how many notes can be active
simultaneously), and the modulation rate.
7.2.1 Polyphony
The most important switch to boost performance is
to enable the multi-threading switch (located in the
MAIN section of the center screen). Additional performance gains can be achieved by optimizing your
system or by adjusting the patch settings.
7.1 Optimizing your system
If you use a Windows-based system, often many services run in the background which can degrade performance — check if you really need all of them. If
you run Dune 2 on a modern quad-core or better CPU
with multi-threading enabled, you should see a substantial reduction in CPU usage, especially when playing pad/string-type sounds with a high polyphony and
voice count. If you do not experience a significant performance boost with multi-threading, then either your
host’s audio buffer size is too small (the minimum is
128 samples), or your system is not optimized enough
for realtime audio playback.
The polyphony can be adjusted on the top right of
the user interface, inside the MASTER section. Set
the polyphony as low as possible. If you start to hear
clicks, you have two options:
• Shorten the amplitude envelope release time.
This will reduce the overlap of successively
played notes, and thus lower the required
polyphony.
• Increase the polyphony again, until the clicks
disappear.
7.2.2 Modulation Rate
The modulation rate can be adjusted in the SETTINGS tab, inside the center screen. Set the modulation rate to "Normal" for best performance. Use
"Fast" or higher only if you are certain the patch requires this rate, and if you can really hear a difference. Audio-rate modulation needs a lot of CPU, as
the entire synth engine, plus all modulation sources
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(e.g. LFOs, MSEGs, ...) are processed sample by sample, rather than in blocks.
7.2.3 Patch structure
If you design sounds from scratch, here is a few tips
that will help you reduce CPU usage:
• Oscillator stacks 1+2 can be turned off by setting the oscillator count to zero. This is strongly
recommended if you do not need them.
• Avoid using more unison voices than necessary.
For example, using 8 unison voices with a single
oscillator per voice is much more CPU intensive
than using a single unison voice with a stack of
8 oscillators in it. In contrast to its predecessor, Dune 2 has stereo oscillators with pan +
pan spread, it is thus no longer necessary to use
multiple unison voices to achieve a stereo sound.
• Set the filter to "Off" for patches that do not
require a filter.
• Use the transistor ladder lowpass filters only if
you really need them. They use much more CPU
than the corresponding multi-mode lowpass filters.
• Keep the amplitude envelope release time as
short as possible.
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8 Troubleshooting
If Dune does not work as expected, check the following points. If your problem is not listed here, do not
hesitate to contact us at service@synapse-audio.com,
we are happy to assist you.
8.1 Notes click when pressing or
8.3 Parameters change
unexpectedly
Check your MIDI setup. While Dune uses a controller
map designed to not react on controllers such as bank
change or volume (which may be sent by some hosts),
it is possible that your gear sends other controller messages that Dune will respond to. The default controller
assignments are given in chapter 6.
releasing a key
Check the amplitude attack and amplitude release
time, and increase both if necessary. Furthermore,
check the polyphony setting (top right of the user interface) and increase the polyphony if necessary.
8.2 Patches do not recall
The most likely reason is that you have the demo
version installed, which does not save. If you have
purchased the full version, make sure to uninstall the
demo version then install the full version, and be sure
to provide your proper serial number.
8.4 The sound is distorted
Lower the master volume, and watch out for the clipping indicator in your host sequencer. If this does not
help, check your audio driver settings and the CPU
load — if the CPU load is too high, clicks or other artifarcts will occur. Refer to chapter 7 for tips on how
to reduce the CPU usage.
If none of the above helps, check if the active patch
intentionally uses distortion, e.g. by switching to other
patches and comparing the output. There is many
ways to intentionally add distortion to a patch. The
most obvious way is the distortion effect in one of the
master effect busses. The filter, filter effect as well as
the compressor can distort, too, however.
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8.5 MIDI messages are not
received
Check the MIDI IN indicator, located on the top right
of Dune’s user interface. If this indicator never lights
up, Dune does not receive any MIDI messages. Check
the MIDI setup of your host sequencer, as well as the
setup of your hardware.
8.6 The CPU usage is very high
Check if your system meets the minimum system requirements. Also read chapter 7, "Optimizing performance".
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Grant of license
9 Legal Information
9.1 Trademarks
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- und Hardware
GmbH. All other trademarks and trade names are the
properties of their respective owners, and do not imply
owner’s endorsement of this product, or guarantee full
compliance with owner’s standards.
9.2 End User License Agreement
(EULA)
By installing, copying, or otherwise using this software or any files provided with it, you agree to be
bound by all of the terms and conditions of this license agreement. If you are not the original purchaser
of the Software, or if you do not agree with the License
Agreement, you must promptly remove the software
from your computer, and cease any and all use of it. If
you are accepting the License Agreement on behalf of
an other legal entity, the use of the terms "you" and
"your" in the License Agreement shall refer to such
entity.
You are granted a personal, non-exclusive, nontransferable and limited license to install and use the
Software for the purposes set forth herein. Unless you
have purchased additional licenses, you may only install and use a single copy of the Software on a computer, and/or move the software to another computer,
provided that you are the only individual using the
software. If you are an entity, you may appoint one
individual within your organization to have the right
to use the Software under the terms of this License
Agreement. This software, including all of it’s components and any additional files included with the distribution, is protected by copyright law and international
copyright treaties. The total number of copies of the
software used by you, may not exceed the number of
licensed copies paid for by you, except that you may
make one copy of the software solely for archival or
backup purposes. The term of this license is perpetual,
unless terminated under the conditions provided in the
License Agreement. Except as provided in the agreement, you receive no rights to transfer, rent, lease,
lend, copy, modify, market, transmit or reverse engineer the software, any component hereof, or any file
provided with the distribution. The software, and any
files included with the distribution, including sampled
sounds, presets and demonstration songs, is licensed
but not sold to you, for use in music production. If
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you have purchased this software as an upgrade from
a previous version, this constitutes a single licensed
product, to be used under the terms of this License
Agreement.
Disclaimer
The software, any component hereof, and any files distributed with the software, is provided "as is", and
there is no warranty of any kind, either express or implied - including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantibility and fitness for any particular
purpose. The risk as to the quality and performance
of the program is with you, and the licensor will not be
held responsible for any damage or loss, to your person or property, as incidential or consequential result
of installing or using this software.
Termination
software, and shall destroy all copies hereof, and shall
not be entitled to any claims or refunds.
Your license to use the software is effective from the
date you agree to the terms and conditions of this License Agreement. You license is automatically terminated if you fail to comply with the limitations described in the License Agreement, and no notice shall
be required from the licensor to effectuate such termination. Upon termination of this License Agreement
for any reason, you shall make no further use of the
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Appendix
Sound Design Reference
The last two characters of every patch name are the
author’s initials. The following table lists all sound
designers who contributed patches or wavetables, and
a website where you can learn more about their work.
Ab. Author Name Email or Website
AS Adam Szabo http://www.adamszabo.com
AZ Aiyn Zahev http://www.aiynzahev-sounds.com/
EDT Ed Ten Eyck http://www.edtaudio.com
EX Daniel Thiel (eXode) https://soundcloud.com/exodesound
GW Vincent Bastiat http://ghostwaveaudio.com
IW Ingo Weidner ingo_weidner@web.de
JB Junebug http://www.electronisounds.com
MH Mark Holt https://soundcloud.com/markholt
MK Michael Kastrup http://www.xsynth.com
KS Kevin Schroeder https://www.facebook.com/DejaVuSound
RH Richard Hoffmann http://www.synapse-audio.com
RL Rob Lee http://www.roblee-music.com
sT Satya Choudhury http://satyatunes.com
ST Solidtrax http://www.solidtrax.nl
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