IK Multimedia UNO Synth User manual

TRUE ANALOG SYNTHESIZER
USER MANUAL

UNO Synth
Contents
2
Table of Contents
English 1
Table of Contents 2
Introduction 4
Inthebox 4
RegisteryourUNOSynth 5
Precautions 5
1 – Installation and setup 7
2 – Turning the unit ON/OFF - Calibration process 9
3 – Overview 10
4 – Front panel interface 11
4.1–SoundEditor 12
4.1.1–OscillatorRow 12
4.1.2–FilterRow 13
4.1.3–EnvelopeRow 14
4.1.4–LFORow 14
4.2–MasterSection 15
4.2.1–Display 15
4.2.2–TempoKnob 16
4.2.3–VolumeKnob 16
4.2.4–DataButtons 16
4.2.5–PresetButton 16
4.2.6–Octave 16
4.2.7–Glide 16
4.2.8–Scale 16
4.2.9–DelayTimeandMix 17
4.2.10–AlternateFunctions 17
4.2.11–ArpeggiatorandSequencer 18
4.2.12–TransportFunctions 18
4.3–Performancecontrols 18
4.3.1–PerformanceButtons 19
4.3.2–Keyboard/16StepButtons 19
4.3.3–HOLDButton 20
5 – Presets 21
5.1–LoadingaPreset 21
5.2–StoreaPreset 21
5.3–FactoryPresets 22
6 – The Arpeggiator 23
7 – The Sequencer 25
7.1–StepRecording 25
7.2–Real-TimeRecording 27

UNO Synth
Contents
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7.3–StepEditRecording 28
7.4–Deletingasequence 29
7.5–SequencerLengthandDirection 29
7.6–KeyboardPriority 29
8 – MIDI Implementation 30
8.1–General 30
8.2–ControlExternalDeviceswithUNOSynth 30
8.3–ControlUNOSynthfromExternalDevices 30
8.4–ConnectingUNOSynthtoacomputerviaMIDI 30
8.5–ConnectingUNOSynthtoacomputerviaUSB 31
8.6–SettingtheMIDIChannel 31
8.7–MIDISoftThru 31
8.8–SettingtheSyncMode 31
8.9–MIDIImplementationChart 32
9 – Specifications 36
10 – Troubleshooting 38
11 – Support 39
11.1–UserArea 39

UNO Synth
Introduction
4
Introduction
ThankyouforpurchasingUNOSynth.
Inthebox
Yourpackagecontains:
• UNOSynth
• USBcable
• 4AABatteries
• MIDIcables
• QuickStartGuide
• RegistrationCard

UNO Synth
Introduction
5
RegisteryourUNOSynth
Byregistering,youcanaccesstechnicalsupport,activateyourwarrantyandreceivefreeJamPoints™whichwill
beaddedtoyouraccount.JamPoints™allowyoutoobtaindiscountsonfutureIKpurchases!Registeringalso
keepsyouinformedofallthelatestsoftwareupdatesandIKproducts.
Registerat:www.ikmultimedia.com/registration
Precautions
Locations
Usingtheunitinthefollowinglocationscanresultinamalfunction.
• Indirectsunlight
• Locationofextremetemperatureorhumidity
• Excessivelydustyordirtylocations
• Locationsofexcessivevibration
• Closetomagneticfields
Power Supply
PleaseuseonlytheUSBcableprovidedwiththeunit,andconnectthesamecabletoacorrectUSBportinthe
deviceorpoweradapter.
UNOsynthworkswithbothNi-MHandAlkaline.Ni-MHbatteriesaretestedtolastabout4hoursofcontinuous
use,whileAlkalinebatterieslastabout3hoursofcontinuoususe.
Interference with other electrical devices
Radiosandtelevisionsplacednearbymayexperiencereceptioninterference.Operatetheunitatasuitable
distancefromradiosandtelevisions.
Handling
Toavoidbreakage,donotapplyexcessiveforcetotheknobsandcapacitivecontrols.
Care
Iftheexteriorbecomesdirty,wipeitwithacleananddrycloth.Donotuseliquidcleanerssuchasbenzeneor
thinner,orcleaningcompoundsofflammablepolishes.
Keep this manual
Afterread,pleasekeepthismanualforlaterreference.
Keep foreign matter out of your unit
Neversetanycontainerwithliquidinitnearthisunit.Ifliquidgetsintotheunit,itcouldcauseabreakdown,fire,
orelectricalshock.

UNO Synth
Introduction
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Becarefulnottoletmetalobjectsgetintotheequipment.Ifsomethingdoesslipintotheunit,unplugtheUSB
cable,thencontactyournearestIKMultimediadealerorthestorewheretheequipmentwaspurchased.
Specification subject to change
Theinformationcontainedinthismanualisbelievedtobecorrectatthetimeofprinting.However,IKMultimedia
reservestherighttochangeormodifyanyofthespecificationswithoutnoticeorobligationtoupdateexisting
units.

UNO Synth
1- Installation and setup
7
1 – Installation and setup
Pleasenote:Topreventmalfunctionandequipmentfailure,alwaysturndownthevolumeandturnoffallthe
unitsbeforemakinganyconnections.
UNOSynthcanbepoweredbytheUSBbusorbyinternalAAbatteries.
USB:WhenconnectedtoanUSBhost(MAC,Windows),alltherequiredpoweristypicallyprovidedbythehost.
Iftheconnectedhostisnotcapabletoprovidetherequiredpower,batteriesmaybeneeded(forexample,using
aniOSdevicewithacameraconnectionkit).
IMPORTANT:IfthepowerswitchissettoUSBandbatteriesarepresent,thesynthwillbepoweredbythe
batteriesevenwhenconnectedtoaUSBhostthatcanprovideenoughpower.
1 - Power switch
Thisswitchturnsthepoweronandoff.Theunitcanbepoweredby4AAbatteriesorbyUSB.
Ni-MHbatteriesaretestedtolastforabout4hoursofcontinuoususe,whileAlkalinebatterieslastabout3hours
ofcontinuoususe.
2 - Micro USB port
ConnecttheUNOSynthtoaHostsuchasaMac/PCoraniOSdevicewithaLightningtoUSBCameraAdapter
orpowersupply(forexampleaUSBpoweradapterorUSBpowerbank).
3 - MIDI IN/OUT ports
TheMIDIportsworkswiththeincluded2.5mmmicroplugstoMIDIDINadapters.
4 - Audio IN
ConnectanotherUNOunitoranyexternalmonoaudiosource.

UNO Synth
1- Installation and setup
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5 - Audio OUT
ConnecttheUNOSynthoutputtoanexternalamp,mixeroraudiointerfaceortoyourheadphoneswithstereo
mini-plughere.
6 - Knobs Behavior
UNOSynthknobbehavioruses“AbsoluteMode”bydefault.Thismeansthattheknobvalueisrecalledusing
theabsolutevalueofthepositionoftheknobwhenedited(i.e.:turnapotandthevaluejumpsimmediatelyfrom
thestoredvaluetotheeditedvalue).
Theother2modesarePass-ThroughandRelative.InPass-ThroughMode,turningtheknobhasnoeffect
untilaftertheeditedvalueequalsthepresetvalue(or“passesthrough”thestoredvalue).InRelativeMode,the
changesarerelativetothestoredsettingandthefullvaluerangeoftheknobisnotavailableuntileitherthe
minimumormaximumvalueandtherespectivelowerorupperlimitoftheknob’stravelisreached.

UNO Synth
2- Turning the unit ON/OFF - Calibration process
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2 – Turning the unit ON/OFF - Calibration process
WhentheunitispoweredON,itautomaticallystartsthefirsttuningandcapacitancesensingcalibration.During
thecalibrationthedisplaywillfirstshowastatic“UNO,”thenblink“CAL.”Attheendofthecalibration,itwill
displaythefirmwareversion.Theunitwillthenbereadyforuseandthelastusedpresetwillbeloadedand
indicatedonthedisplay.
Donotpressbuttonsorputobjectsontheunitduringthecalibrationasthiswillincorrectlycalibratethe
capacitnancesensingsystem.Incaseofincorrectcalibrationofthecapacitancesensingsystem,pleasepower
offtheunit,andthenturnitonagaintorepeattheprocess.
Variousnoisesandcalibrationsoundsmightbeaudibleduringthestartupoftheunit,sowerecommendturning
thevolumedownwhilestartingup.

UNO Synth
3 – Overview
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3 – Overview
UNOsynthisapowerfulandportablemonophonicsynthesizerwithfeaturesthatchangethemeaningof
“completeinstrument”forthepricerange.Itisaninstrumentthatwillbecomeknownforitssoundandflexibility,
readyforcreativeartiststhatneedinspiration.

Raw,warm,tightandeverythingin-between,thismonophonicbeastisthefirstofitskindthankstotheeasy
andpowerfulanalogarchitectureandthecomplexdigitalcontrols.ThesyntharchitectureprovidedbySound
MachinesbasedontheIKMultimediadesignpresentsananalogaudiopathwithadigitally-controlledengine
withthesefeatures:
• 2analogoscillatorspervoicewithcontinuouslyvariablewaveshapesincludingtriangle,sawandsquare
withpulsewidthmodulation
• Noisegenerator
• 2-poleanalogmultimodefilterthatcanbesettoLP,HPandBPwithoverdrive
• 2digitalenvelopes,oneforthefilterandonefortheamplitude
• 1digitalLFOwithsine,triangle,sawup,sawdown,square,randomandsample-and-holdshapes
• 5performancebuttonsforinstantmusicalarticulations
• A10-modearpeggiator
• Apowerful3-modesequencerwithparametersequencingandparametersteprecording
• Adigitaldelay
• Capacitancesensingkeyboardwithsmartscalecapabilities
• AudioinputtoconnectanotherUNOunitoranyaudiosource
• 20factorypresetsand80userpresets
• FullyMIDIcontrollable

UNO Synth
4 – Front panel interface
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4 – Front panel interface
Thesynthhas3mainsections:theSoundEditor,theMasterSectionandthePerformanceControls.

UNO Synth
4 – Front panel interface
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4.1–SoundEditor
Thesoundeditorsectionusesamatrixof4buttonsand4knobstomodifythesynthesisparametersinreal-
time.However,thesoundeditingcapabilitiesofthesyntharenotlimitedtothematrix,andwiththehelpofMIDI
ContinuousControllers,itispossibletoadditionalsynthparameters(seeMIDIimplementationchartformore).
Hereisthedescriptionofeachrowofthesoundprogrammingmatrix.
4.1.1–OscillatorRow
Theoscillatorsgeneratethebasicsoundofasynthesizer.
TheUNOsynthhastwoanalogoscillatorsandanoisegenerator.Bothoscillatorshavecontinuouslyvariable
waveformsthatgofromtriangletosawtosquareandthenvariablepulsewidthsquarefrom50to98%.
TheOSCrowcontainsthesecontrols:
TheWAVE1andWAVE2controlscontinuouslychangethewaveformoftheoscillatorstartingfromtriangleat
theminimumsettingtosquarewithitspulsewidthat98%atthemaximumsetting.

UNO Synth
4 – Front panel interface
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Tochangethetuningoftheoscillators,asemitoneanddetunecontrolforeachoscillatorisavailable.The
controlsarelabeledTUNE1andTUNE2.Fromthecenterpositionoftheknob,detunetheoscillator+/-100
cents.Thenattheouterextremes,thetuneadjustmentswitchestoquantizedsemitonestotransposethe
oscillator.
ToadjustthelevelsofOSC1,OSC2andthenoisegenerator,holdtheOSCbuttonfor1secondunitltheOSC
LEDstartsblinking.NowtheknobsadjustthevolumesforOSC1,OSC2andNoise.
Theoscillatortuningisdigitallycontrolled.Thetuningisupdatedatstartupandthenautomaticallyduring
momentsofinactivity.YoucanalsotunetheoscillatorsmanuallybypressingtheALT+TUNEbuttons.
4.1.2–FilterRow
Thefiltercolorsthesoundoftheoscillatorsinasynthesizer.
TheUNOfilterisa2-polemultimodefilter.Itfiltersfromthecutofffrequencyat12dBperoctave.
TheUNOSynthhasadedicatedfiltercutoffknob.TurningCUTOFFisthemostimmediateandeffectivewaysto
changethesound.
ThentheFILTERrowcontainsthesecontrols:
MODE:selectsbetweenLowPass(LP)wherehighsabovethecutofffrequencyarereduced,HighPass(HP)
wherelowsbelowthecutofffrequencyarereducedandBandPass(BP)wherebothhighsandlowsaroundthe
cutofffrequency(theselected“band”)arereduced.
RES:adjusttheresonanceofthefilterwhichistheleveloftheresonantpeakatthecutofffrequency.
DRIVE:adjuststheamountofsaturationappliedtothesoundgoingfromsubtleoverdrivetodistortion.
ENV AMOUNT:setstheamountthatthefilterenvelopewillmodulatethefiltercutofffrequencywithboth
positiveornegativevaluesavailable.TheFilterEnvelopeisapowerfultoolandanessentialpartofthesoundof
asynthesizer.Itssettingsandamountletsyoucreatealltypesofsounds.

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4.1.3–EnvelopeRow
Envelopesaremodulationsourcesinasynthesizerthatcreateshapesthatchangethefiltercutofffrequency,the
amplitude(volume)oreventheoscillatorshape.
TheUNOSynthhastwoseparateenvelopes,oneforthefilterandonefortheamplitude(volume).Thepanel
providesAttackandDecaycontrolsfortheFilterEnvelopeandAttackandReleasecontrolsfortheAmplitude
Envelope.

FullADSRcontrolsareeditableviaMIDIcontinuouscontrollers(MIDICC).SeetheUNOSynthMIDI
ImplementationChartforthespecificCCnumbers.
4.1.4–LFORow
LFOstandsforLowFrequencyOscillator.TheLFOisacyclicalmodulationsourcethatcanmoduletheoscillator
pitchorshape,thefiltercutofffrequencyandtheamplitudeofthesynth.

TheUNOSynthLFOisnotonlyawaytocreatemovingsoundtextures,it’salsothesourceforauser-friendly
performancetoolwithinstantarticulationeffects.
Thereare7LFOwaveforms:Sine,Triangle,FallingSawtooth,RisingSawtooth,Square,RandomandSample-
and-Hold.
TherateoftheLFOgoesupto30Hzandcanbesettofreerunortosyncwiththemastertempousingjustone
knob:Thefirst75%oftheknob’stravelsettheindependentfreerunspeedoftheLFO,andthelast25%ofthe
knob’stravelsyncstheLFOtothemastertempousingnotevaluesstartingwith1/1(wholenote)andcontinuing
with½(halfnote),¼(quarternote),1/4d(dottedquarternote),1/4t(quarternotetriplet),1/8,1/8d,1/8t,1/16,
1/16dand1/16t.

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ThePitchandFiltercontrolssettheamountthattheLFOmodulatesthemasterpitchandthefiltercutoff.
TheLFOmodulationisalsoroutedtothePulseWithModulationandWaveshaperofbothoftheVCOs,andto
theperformancebuttonscalledTremolo,WahandVibrato.
TherelativeamountsofmodulationareeditableviaMIDIcontinuouscontrollers(MIDICC).
SeetheUNOSynthMIDIImplementationChartforthespecificCCnumbers.
4.2–MasterSection
TheMastersectioniswhereyouaccessmoregloabalparametersthatareidentifiedbybuttonswiththered
outline,thedisplaywhichshowstheparametervalues,andtheTEMPOandVOLUMEknobs.
4.2.1–Display
Thisdisplaysthevaluesforparametersselectedbyusingtheknobsandbuttons.

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4.2.2–TempoKnob
Thisknobsetsthetempoforthesequencerandthearpeggiator.NotethatifthesyncissettoUSBorexternal,
thetempoknobwillworkasnotevalueselectorinunitsfrom1/4to2x.
4.2.3–VolumeKnob
Thisknobadjuststheoutputvolume.
4.2.4–DataButtons
TheUPandDOWNbuttonsadjustthevalueforthefunctionsselectedusingthebuttonswiththeredoutline.
Thesebuttonsalsomovebetweenstepsduringthestep-by-steprecordingofasequence.
4.2.5–PresetButton
ThePRESETbuttonisthe“homeposition”oftheinstrument’sinterface.Itcannotbedeselected.Whenthe
PRESETbuttonisactive,youcanmovebetweenthe100presetsstoredinthesynthusingthedatabuttons.
ThePRESETbuttonalsoletsyoustorepresetsbypressingandholdingit.SeeChapter5forfurtherinfo.
4.2.6–Octave
Thisbuttonselectstheoctaveofthekeyboardusingthedatabuttons.
4.2.7–Glide
Thisbuttonselectstheamountofportamentoor“slew”betweenheldnotesusingthedatabuttons.
4.2.8–Scale
This button quantizes the tone generator to different musical scales using the natural note keys (white keys). The
default setting is Chromatic where incoming note data will not be converted.
Press SCALE, and only one LED on the keyboard will be lit which indicates the currently selected key. Press
another note in the first octave of the keyboard to change the key.
Use the data buttons to select the musical scale.
When a scale other than Chromatic is selected, the accidental note keys (black keys) on the keyboard will be
disabled, and you can use only the bottom 16 keys to play the chosen scale in the selected key. This makes it
possible to gliss across the bottom part of the keyboard with ease and play only the notes in the chosen scale.

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TheavailableScalesare:
• CHR:Chromatic
• MAJ:Major
• MIN:Minor
• 1:MajorPentatonic
• 2:MajorBlues
• 3:MinorPentatonic
• 4:MinorBlues
• 5:MinorHarmonic
• 6:Mixolydian
• 7:Dorian
• 8:Klezmer
• 9:HungarianGypsy
• 10:SpanishGypsy
• 11:Japanese
• 12:South-EastAsian
4.2.9–DelayTimeandMix
TheDELAYandMIXbuttonsadjustthedelaytimeandthedelaymixamountusingthedatabuttons.Notethat
thefeedbackamountofthedelayisfixed.
NotethattheFeedbackamountisfixed.
4.2.10–AlternateFunctions
TheALTbuttonletsyouselectalternateandglobalfunctions.Thevaluescanbechangedwiththeup/down
buttons.Onceyouarefinishedadjustingthealternatesettings,pressALTagaintoexit.
METRONOME:enablesordisablestheaudiometronomeclickduringtherecordingofthesequence.
SYNC:adjuststheMIDIClocksettings.ThedefaultisInternalwheretheinternaltempooftheUNOSynthis
used.ThedatabuttonsalsoallowtheselectionofexternalMIDIandexternalUSBwheretheUNOSynthwill
synctoincomingMIDIClock.
MIDI:selecttheMIDIchannelsoftheUNOSynthbetween1and16usingthedatabuttons.Thedefaultis
channel1.WhenthebuttonLEDisgreen,theselectionisrelativetheMIDIINchannel.PresstheMIDIbutton
again,andtheLEDwillbecameorange:nowtheselectionreferstotheMIDIOUTchannel.
TUNE:startstheautomatictuningofthesynth.Ifduringthecalibrationthebuttonispressedagain,itwillstop
thecalibration.PleasenotethatwhenSEQorARPisactive,thisfunctionisdisabled.

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4.2.11–ArpeggiatorandSequencer
ThesearethecontrolsfortheArpeggiatorandSequencer.
ARP:activatesthearpeggiator
SEQ:activatesthesequencer
DIR:WhentheARPbuttonisactive,theDIRectionbuttonletsthedatabuttonssettheorderinwhichtheheld
notesarearpeggiated.Thereare10differentarpeggiatormodes.WhentheSEQbuttonisactive,theDIRection
buttonletsthedatabuttonsmovebetween3sequenceplaybackmodes:Forward,BackwardandForward-
Backward.
RANGE:whentheARPbuttonisactive,theRangebuttonletsthedatabuttonssettherangeofthearpeggiator
inoctaveswitharangeof1to4.WhentheSEQbuttonisactive,theRangebuttonletsthedatabuttonssetthe
Rangeofthesequencebetween1and16steps
4.2.12–TransportFunctions
Thetransportfunctionsarepartofthesequencer.Theyworkonlywhenthesequencerisactive.
PLAY:startsandstopsthesequencer.
REC:pressedaloneenablessteprecordingofthesequencer,pressedwithPLAYactivatethereal-time
recordingofthesequence,andpressedwithALTactivatetheStep-Editrecording.
4.3–Performancecontrols
Performancecontrolsareusedtoplayandarticulatethepresets.Theyincludethekeyboardandthe
performancebuttons.

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4.3.1–PerformanceButtons
Theperformancebuttonsprovideinstantmusicalarticulationsthatcanbeusedwithliveplayingorwhilethe
arpeggiatororsequencerarerunning.NotethattheLFOdrivestheVibrato,WahandTremoloeffects.Sothe
selectedLFOwaveformandrateintheLFOrowaffectsthebehavioroftheseperformancebuttons.
TheamountofmodulationfortheperformancebuttonsiseditableviaMIDIcontinuouscontrollers(MIDICC).
Thebuttonsare:
VIB:bipolaroscillatorpitchmodulationformusicalvibrato.ThevibratorateandwaveshapearesetintheLFO
section.
WAH:filtermodulationforwahwah-styletimbralchanges.ThewahwahrateandwaveshapearesetintheLFO
section.
TREM:negativeamplitudemodulationoftheVCAfortremolo.Thetremolorateandwaveshapearesetinthe
LFOsection.
DIVE:appliesthefilterenvelopedecaytooscillatorpitchwitharangeof2semitonestocreateabenddownto
theplayedpitch.
SCOOP:appliesthenegativefilterenvelopedecaytooscillatorpitchwitharangeof2semitonestocreatea
benduptotheplayedpitch.
4.3.2–Keyboard/16StepButtons
Thekeyboardisa27-notecapacitancesensingdevicethatcanbeplayedbyjustswipingafingeroverit.This
makestheUNOsynthveryeasytouseandalsoextremelyportable.Bysettingaparticularscale,itgetseven
easierasonlythebottomkeysareused.Thecreatesthepossibilityforeveryonetoplayinkeyandexperiment
withsolos,strangeriffsorjustforfun.
The16“white”keysinthebottomrowalsorepresentthe16stepsofthesequencerwhichhasitsownseparate
chapter.
Keyboard

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Scale keyboard or Sequencer’s steps
4.3.3–HOLDButton
TheHOLDbuttonsustainstheplayednoteorthechordofanarpeggiowhentheARPfunctionisenabled.When
insteprecording,pressingHOLDletsyouchangethedurationofthenoteinthestepfrom0.5to16steps.