Xils lab PolyKB II User manual

PolyKB II
User Manual
www.xils-lab.com

Table of contents
1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 4
2 FEATURES .......................................................................................................................................................... 5
3 INSTALLATION ................................................................................................................................................. 6
3.1 ELICENSER DRIVERS ............................................................................................................................................. 6
3.1.1 If you already own a eLicenser ............................................................................................................... 6
3.1.2 If you have received a eLicenser dongle from XILS-lab .......................................................................... 6
3.2 ILOK DRIVERS ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
3.3 WINDOWS (XP, VISTA, WINDOWS 7) ................................................................................................................. 7
3.4 AC (OSX 10.3.9 AND LATER) ........................................................................................................................... 7
4 UICK START .................................................................................................................................................... 8
4.1 LAUNCH, PLAY ................................................................................................................................................... 8
4.2 TOOLBAR ........................................................................................................................................................... 8
4.3 ADJUSTING THE INSTRU ENTS PARA ETERS (KNOBS, SWITCHES) ................................................................................. 9
5 PRESET COMPATIBILITY WITH VERSION 1 .......................................................................................... 10
6 PRESET MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................................... 10
6.1 AIN TOOLBAR ................................................................................................................................................ 10
6.2 PRESET ENU .................................................................................................................................................... 11
6.3 SORT ENUS ..................................................................................................................................................... 13
6.3.1 Sorting enu: Additional Functions .................................................................................................... 14
6.4 A/B CO PARISON .............................................................................................................................................. 15
7 POLYKB MODULES DESCRIPTION ........................................................................................................... 16
7.1 SYNTHESIS ........................................................................................................................................................ 16
7.1.1 Oscillators ............................................................................................................................................. 16
7.1.2 Oscillator 2 Special features. Optional Noise Oscillator ...................................................................... 18
7.1.3 Filter ...................................................................................................................................................... 19
7.1.4 Envelopes ............................................................................................................................................... 19
7.1.5 LFO1/2 .................................................................................................................................................. 21
7.1.6 atrix odulation sections .................................................................................................................. 22
7.1.7 ain level and keyboard settings ........................................................................................................ 28
7.2 ARPEGGIATOR .................................................................................................................................................... 30
7.3 SEQUENCER ...................................................................................................................................................... 31
7.3.1 Sequencer display module ..................................................................................................................... 32
7.4 VIRTUAL KEYBOARD ........................................................................................................................................... 34
7.5 SPECIAL EFFECT AND STEREO ODULES. ADDITIONAL ODULATION TOOLS ................................................................ 35
7.5.1 Sequencer display module ..................................................................................................................... 35
7.5.2 Dyna YX .............................................................................................................................................. 35
7.5.3 Poly YX ................................................................................................................................................ 36
7.6 EFFECTS ODULES ............................................................................................................................................. 38
7.6.1 Delay ...................................................................................................................................................... 38
7.6.2 Chorus ................................................................................................................................................... 39
7.6.3 Phaser .................................................................................................................................................... 39
7.6.4 EQ .......................................................................................................................................................... 40
8 OPTION MENU ................................................................................................................................................. 41
8.1.1 ain ....................................................................................................................................................... 41

8.1.2 Display ................................................................................................................................................... 41
8.1.3 isc ....................................................................................................................................................... 42
9 SPECIAL TIPS ................................................................................................................................................... 43
9.1.1 Voices management ............................................................................................................................... 43
9.1.2 Sequencer and Arpeggio synchronization ............................................................................................. 44
9.1.3 How to modify a preset to make it V2 compatible ................................................................................. 44
10 CREDITS .......................................................................................................................................................... 46

1 Introduction
Thank you for choosing the PolyKB II !
The PolyKB II is a virtual instrument based on the architecture of a venerable vintage
oly honic synthesizer, which ro osed a very unusual, advanced, and revolutionary
waveform-mor hing feature.
Waveform mor hing allows you to change the sound
of your oscillators in a continuous way. Of course
this arameter can be modulated with a large
amount of sources. This brings very new and s ecial
synthesis sound you have never heard before.
This synthesizer rovides a wide range of
modulation ossibilities making it as a great
erformance instrument. But this goal wouldn't
be achieved without the hel of an ar eggiator
and a oly honic sequencer, which has its own
dedicated resets.
Famous sound designers and artists have already made hundreds of resets for the PolyKB, so
you can enjoy this instrument even if you do not have any knowledge of sound design!
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2 Features
The PolyKB II offers:
•Two aliasing-free mor hing oscillators: from triangle to ulse, through saw.
•One 4 oles low ass self oscillating filter
•Two freely assignable envelo e generators (ADSR) with 2/3/4 Multi lier
•Two Multi Waveform MIDI syncable LFO with Mono honic and Poly honic action
•One MIDI synced Sam le and Hold
•One 128 ste s oly honic sequencer
•One ar eggiator (mono honic or oly honic)
•Chorus , Phaser, Delay and EQ effects
•Mono/Unison/Poly laying mode with u to 16 voices of oly hony
•3 inde endent Modulation Matrixes
•One exclusive fully configurable Dynamic Stereo Enhancer
•All arameters are MIDI controllable
The PolyKB II is available in the following formats:
•Mac OSX 10.3.9 and later: VST, Audio Unit, RTAS (Pro Tools 7.0 and later)
•Windows 7, XP and Vista: VST, RTAS (Pro Tools 7.0 and later)
inimum system requirements: 1 Gigabyte of RA and a 2 GHz processor.
The PolyKB II is a plug-in and is not available as a standalone application
Notice : The screen resolution must be set at least to 1024 pixels width.
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3 Installation
3.1 eLicenser drivers
The PolyKB uses an eLicenser dongle. You must have this dongle connected to a USB port on your
computer to make the PolyKB work.
Im ortant : Please take care of your dongle: you need it to run the PolyKB and it carries your
license!
3.1.1 If you already own a eLicenser
Please Note: Even if you have already installed the eLicenser drivers for a revious roduct, lease
install the latest version of the eLicenser License Control.
To download the latest eLicenser Control Center (eLC), lease go to:
htt ://www.elicenser.net/en/latest_downloads.html
You need a PolyKB Activation Code to load your license onto the dongle:
First, lug your dongle into a USB ort of your com uter. Then launch the License Control Center.
Launch the Enter authorization code. Enter your Acti ation Code in the reserved field, and ress Next.
Wait for the license to be downloaded and then check to see if the license is correctly loaded on
the dongle in the main section of the License Control Center.
3.1.2 If you have recei ed a eLicenser dongle from XILS-lab
You must first install the eLicenser drivers (eLicenser Control Center, eLC).
To download the latest eLC lease go to:
htt ://www.elicenser.net/en/latest_downloads.html
Then lug your dongle into any free USB ort on your com uter. Then launch the License Control
Center and enter the authorization code you received as ex lained above.
3.2 iLok drivers
With the iLok version of the PolyKB, you need to plug an iLok USB key into your computer.
After downloading and installing the latest PACE drivers, please login into you ilok.com account to
download your PolyKB license into your iLok USB key.
To download the latest PACE drivers, lease go to:
http://www.ilok.com/download-ilok-software.html
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3.3 Windows (XP, VISTA, Windows 7)
To install the PolyKB II on Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7, launch the PolyKB II installer file
olykb_II_syncrosoft_win_setu .exe. Please download the latest version from the XILS-lab website.
Once you have acce ted the license agreement, you will be asked to select the installation directory
and rovided with a default one. Presets and various files, like this manual, used by the PolyKB will
be stored in this directory. Please note that this location is different from the VST install directory,
which you will need to s ecify in the next ste of the installer.
Once the installation directory is s ecified , you will be asked to select the VST lug-in directory, with
a suggested default location. Kee this default directory if you do not use the VST version.
I portant notice for Vista or Windows 7 : be sure to use a folder owned by the user (do not
use “c:/ rogram files” for instance). Otherwise you will have to run your music a lication with
“administrator rights”.
The RTAS lug-in and its table control management ProTools are directly co ied into the following
directory: C:\Program Files\Common Files\DDigidesign\DAE\Plug-Ins
3.4 M c (OSX 10.3.9 nd l ter)
To install the PolyKB II on a com uter equi ed with Mac OSX 10.3.9 or later, double-click the file
olykb_II_syncrosoft_osx_setu .dmg. You will find this on the CD-ROM installer or you can
download it from the XILS-lab website to make sure you have the latest version of the software.
Then launch the install rogram, PolyKB. kg, and follow the instructions.
Warning: the install rogram will ask you for your system assword.
The various files of the PolyKB will be co ied into the following directories:
Library/A lication Su ort/Digidesign/Plug-Ins
Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Com onents
Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST
Library/Audio/Presets/XILS-lab/PolyKB II
Library/A lication Su ort/Documentation/XILS-lab/PolyKB II
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4 Quick Start
4.1 L unch, Pl y
When you o en the PolyKB in your host, an Init reset is loaded.
You can directly use this reset, a sim le one oscillator standard sound which can be seen as a
basis for your sound design, or load one of the 250 factory resets rovided.
To browse the factory- reset library, just select a category of instruments, using the bank dro
down menu at the left of the PolyKB Tool Bar. (See Picture Below)
You can then use the u and down arrows located at the right of the reset name, or o en the
whole bank list by clicking on the triangle located at the left of the reset name (See Picture
Below)
Note: We have also rovided different Init Patches, which can be seen as a good basis to begin
to design new resets. All these resets can be found in the [mettre le nom de la banque]
4.2 Toolb r
Note: The toolbar at the to of the interface allows you to load or save resets, make a com arison
between settings A and B, or modify the o tions. These functions are described in detail later in this
manual.
Click on the PRESET arrow to show the available resets in the current sorted grou . Please note
that selecting a new reset without saving your current settings will erase any changes you have
made to those settings.
Click on the sort arrow button to dis lay the current sorted grou and to choose the reset within
it.
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You can sort resets by: Author, Feeling, Type, Style, Bank or Projects.
Please note that the PolyKB will dis lay resets by instruments categories (Ty e) by default.
Click on the sorting label over the sorted grou name, to sort your reset according to your
references
Please note that the PolyKB 2 owerful Preset management is fully detailed in cha ter 6 of this
manual.
4.3 Adjusting the instruments p r meters (Knobs, switches)
On the PolyKB, most sound parameters, like the pitch of an oscillator, or the filter’s Cut-Off
frequency are controlled using Knobs.
To adjust the arameters of the PolyKB with the mouse, you have two axes: horizontal and vertical,
which will give the same results.
To increase a arameters value, click and drag the knob to the right or to the to
To decrease a arameter value, click and drag the knob to the left or to the bottom.
If you right-click on a arameter, or if you hold shift while clicking, you can adjust the arameter
with fine recision (the ? button of the toolbar dis lays a anel summarizing these shortcuts).
Keyboard shortcuts
In addition we have provided some soft keys combination to perform several very useful tasks:
Windows:
•CTRL+left click: reset arameter to its default value.
•CTRL+right click or CTRL+Shift+left click: initialize the default value of the arameter.
•Win+Alt+CTRL + click: o en the MIDI Control anel, with the arameter already selected.
OSX:
•A le+left click: reset arameter to its default value.
•A le+Shift+left click: initialise the default value of the arameter
•A le+Alt+CTRL + click : o en the MIDI Control anel, with the arameter already selected.
Note: Other Gui elements and controls, like the Led Switches, or the dro down menus, will be
described in the following sections of this manual, when you’ll need to use them.
The switches are sim ler: just left click to change their state. A right click will change the state only
while the button is ressed, and return to the revious state when it is released.
When a arameter is chosen thanks to a dro down menu, just click on the button or label and
select the item.
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5 Preset Compatibility with Version 1
A bank exported by the PolyKB (1.0.0 or 1.0.1) can be imported to the PolyKB II. The
presets are compatible but a few differences in the sound will eventually be noticeable.
Please note that, to ensure the best possible compatibility, the label “MODULATION V1” should be
displayed.
To enable all the new modulation enhancements available on V2, just click on this label, which will
switch to the standard V2 “MODULATION” display.
Modulations Version 2 Modulations Version 1
Please consult our 9.1.3 section at the end of this manual to get more detailed information about
compatibility modes.
6 Preset Management
6.1 M in Toolb r
In the toolbar you can find two buttons, dis laying the category name (Bank, Author, Ty e, Style,
Feeling or Project) which o en the sort management menus.
The two first text fields show the current sorting grou and the third shows the current reset.
Clicking on the arrow on the left of the category or reset names o ens the corres onding menus.
Note: When a arameter is modified, the name of the reset is followed by a *, indicating that the
current settings of the PolyKB II no longer matches the stored reset.
When you want to save a modified reset, click on the Sa e or Sa e As button.
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In order to revent you from erasing them, the Factory resets cannot be modified. When you edit a
Factory reset, the Sa e button will be grayed, and you will have to use the Save As function to save
it in another bank.
If you edit any other reset than a Factory one, the Save and Save As function will both be
available.
The main difference is that the Save function will save the reset under its current name, and with
its current tags, overwriting the revious incarnation of the reset, while the Save as function o ens
a dialog box where you can modify the name of the reset, the bank in which it will be stored, and
all its tags
The settings of the PolyKB are then saved in the currently dis layed reset, and the * disa ears.
Clicking on the Save As button to save this reset with another name and/or to other sorting
grou s.
6.2 Preset menu
Click the Preset arrow button to o en the reset menu. Here you can choose and load another reset
from the current sort grou s into the PolyKB.
In this menu, other actions are also available:
Delete Preset: use this to delete the current reset (a o u confirmation window a ears). This
o tion is only available if the current reset is not a factory one.
Export Preset: Use this function to ex ort the current reset in an external file (.e kb format). This
file can be im orted later as a new bank. It always makes sense to back u your resets on external
su ort like CD-ROMs, etc.
Open preset Information (or click on SAVE AS): o ens the following reset information window where
the name and all other information related to the current reset can be dis layed or changed.
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In this window you can modify the Name of the reset, s ecify the Bank in which the preset will be
saved, and also enter information in the other fields:
•Author (Your name, otherwise used by Sound Designers for factory presets),
•Type (Category of the instrument like Keys, Leads, Basses, also)
•Style (Musical Genre),
•Feeling (Cold, warm, soft) and finally
•Project (My Song, My_Live_Project).
You can also see its creation date and the last u date date.
To modify a reset name, click in the reset field and enter the new reset name this will also save
all the current settings.
To change presets information, click on the display, this will open a menu when you can select one
of the existing items.
Note: You can add a new item in any category, and therefore create custom banks, custom styles,
Projects, categories of instruments etc.
To add a new item in any filed, select “New….”. At the bottom of the list.
Note (You may have to browse until the end of the list in order to select “new” depending on its
length.)
A Pop Up window opens when you can enter the new name. The current preset will then be
associated to this new item.
Note: Please be aware that creating to many categories can also have its drawbacks, making
browsing go from difficult and painful to nearly impossible. Should you create around 200 different
custom instrument categories, it would become very difficult to browse the library using the Style
sorting.
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Once you have filled all the desired/required fields:
SAVE AS: Will save the current preset in the chosen Bank, with its new (or unchanged) Name,
tagged with all the fields you filled.
MOVE TO: Allows saving the current preset in another location. This is handy to gather a lot of
preset into a single location, or User Bank, which you can export in a single file containing all the
presets you created or edited for a given project.
CANCEL: Will just cancel all o erations and return to the standard PolyKB GUI.
6.3 Sort menus
The sorting menus are a powerful and unique tool. Which will allow you to perform such
sophisticated tasks as displaying in the preset list one of the following selections:
•All the Basses of your Sound Library
•All the Basses tagged with a given musical genre
•All the Pads made by a given Sound Designers
•All instruments for a musical genre like Electronica, or Funk
•All instruments that were recently imported in a bank (like additional sound-sets from Xils-Lab
or 3rd party vendors)
There are indeed a lot of possibilities, and we’re confident that you’ll find the best way to customize
it to your personal needs.
In order to perform such selections, all you have to do is to select an item in the first sort menu. This
represents the first and main criteria for the search engine.
•Author (Your name, or a Sound Designer name for factory presets),
•Type (Category of the instrument like Keys, Leads, Basses, etc)
•Style (Musical Genre),
•Feeling (Cold, warm, soft) and finally
•Project (My Song, My_Live_Project).
•ALL (this item is not used for sorting the reset)
Then these primary results can be filtered according to a second criteria, which you can choose in a
similar list in the second sort menu.
Sometimes a picture is better than a lot of text, so you’ll find below an example where you can find
out how to select all the basses designed by a given Sound Designer.
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Please note that, once you’ll get familiar with this system, you can also erform some o erations in
a single click, by using the Sub Grou s to choose a reset:
In the icture below the rimary sort menu is used to browse the different banks. Then in a factory
bank, the author Xils-Lab is selected, and finally the Preset XO Bass. In this exam le the reset is
selected in a single click o eration, and the resets available in the reset list will be all the Xils-Lab
resets available in the entire Factory Sound Library.
Click on the row of the sorting button to o en the menu used to manage this sorting grou (or sub
grou ). Here you can directly select and load any reset from any grou or subgrou .
6.3.1 Sorting Menu: Additional Functions
In this menu, other actions are also available:
Delete: deletes all of the resets of the current grou that are not factory ones. IMPORTANT: Use
this function with care: If the bank does not contain any factory resets, ALL PRESETS IN THIS
BANK WILL BE PERMANENTLY DELETED.
Rename: modifies the current grou name. Selecting this choice will o en a window where the new
name will be entered.
Use Factory: enables or disables the dis lay of factory resets.
Sort By: sorts the resets according the bank, author, roject, or shows all resets (Bank Name,
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Author Name, Project Name, All Presets). The reset menu will show resets of the same category
(same author, same roject or same bank).
Export Bank: ex orts a bank in the PolyKB’s ro rietary cross latform format, (Mac and PC). The
selected bank (ie the bank which contains the currently active reset) will be ex orted to a user
s ecified location on your hard drive.
Import Bank: allows you to browse your hard drives to select a file and im orts a PolyKB bank.
These two choices are not available for the second sort menu.
This menu provides also the possibility to change the size of the interface. This feature is the same
that the one provided in the Option menu.
6.4 A/B comp rison
You can store two different settings at the same time and instantly switch from one to the other to
com are their settings. These two settings are stored in the A and B memories.
When you launch the PolyKB, the default-activated memory is A. When you load or modify a reset,
this memory –A- is also modified in real time according to your edits. You can switch to B memory
by clicking on the B button.
To co y the current active memory content to the other memory slot, just ress the button labeled
-> or <-, according to the current active memory.
With this A/B com arison system, you can easily have two settings and com are them in a
convenient way.
Note: Please note that by default the B memory slot, until you co y settings into it or until loading a
other reset within the other memory slot, contains the same init atch loaded in the A memory
when you first launch the PolyKB.
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7 PolyKB modules description
The PolyKB contains two main cabinets: the first one is dedicated to the synthesis part, which brings
the controls to set oscillators, filters, envelopes etc. The other one is used to set the sequencer &
arpeggiator controls, and to open and operate additional panels.
7.1 Synthesis
7.1.1 Oscillators
Frequency: This knob set the frequency –tuning- of
the oscillator. When tuning with the left mouse
button, it sets the frequency by semitone steps. When
tuning with the right mouse button, it fine-tunes the
frequency with more precision. Depending on a
setting that can be found in the Option dialog box
(see below, the Option menu), the oscillator
frequency can be displayed by semi-tone or in Hz.
Waveform: This knob sets the Waveform of the
oscillator. It can be anything between a pure
triangle when turn left to a narrow pulse when
turn right, in a perfectly smooth continuous way,
you can set it to a saw, double saw or square wave
form with all the intermediary settings. oreover,
the scrolling between the waveform can be
modulated by a lot of sources, via the 3 different
odulation atrix
Volume of Oscillator 2 and 1: The Big Volume
knob controls the output level of the Oscillator 2
in a continuous way while the two Volume
switches are used to set the level of the oscillator
1 in three fixed values (1/3, 2/3 or 1, uted if no
switch is lit (Red Light)).
Note: Oscillators frequencies, waveforms and
levels can all be modulated with controls or audio
signal thanks to the modulation section (see
below) of the PolyKB.
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Below is a view of the various available waveforms through the waveform setting
Triangle - Saw
Saw- double Saw
Saw - Square
Square-Pulse
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7.1.2 Oscillator 2 Special features. Optional Noise Oscillator
The oscillator 2 can be used in various ways according to the state of the following switches:
Synchro: (Active when the red diode is lit)
Hard synchronization between oscillator 1 and oscillator 2. Each time the oscillator 1 begin its
cycle, it forces the oscillator 2 to begin its cycle too.
Key Off: (Active when the red diode is lit)
The oscillator 2 is no longer connected to the keyboard and its pitch doesn't follow it any more.
Lower: (Active when the red diode is lit)
The oscillator 2 works at a very low frequency rate .Hz) You can think of it as an additional LFO,
with the difference that its frequency will vary according to the pitch of the note played. (Except if
the Key Off switch is on)
Audio Noise: Adds white noise to the audio path with three fixed levels (1/3, 2/3, 1, uted if no
switch is active (red diode off on both switches)
[White Noise]: clicking on the noise label will change its type, white or pink.
Audio Noise LED: You can activate the Led located under the Noise Switches to activate a Band
Limited Noise ode, which will eliminate harsh high frequencies noise content.
In this picture, Oscillator 2 is tuned, and the sync
feature is active (Both red LEDS are on)
White Noise is active, with the maximum
volume, as both LEDS are lit.
Then the White Noise is Band Limited, as
indicated by the green LED, which is on.
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7.1.3 Filter
The PolyKB’s filter is an accurate dynamic 4 poles self-oscillating low pass filter.
Frequency: This knob sets the cut-off frequency
of the filter.
Response: This knob sets the resonance (or
quality factor) of the filter. When set to the
maximum the filter self oscillates. That means that
it outputs a kind of sine wave even without any
audio signal feeding its input. (Ie even if both
Oscillators are muted)
Keyb Ctrl: set the amount of the keyboard follow
Cut Off modulation.
Adsr2 Ctrl: Set the amount of the second
envelope (ADSR2) applied to the Cut Off
modulation.
Drive: Set the level of the overdrive emulation
circuit. Turning totally left disables it while
turning totally clockwise gives a strong driving
effect. Depending where this stage is placed, pre
or post filtering you can get a subtle low-end
enhancement or a sort of saturation effect.
[DRV Pre/Post]: Clicking on the label [DRV
PRE] or [DRV POST] selects where the driving
stage will stand, before or after the filter.
7.1.4 En elopes
The PolyKB features two envelope generators (EG). The first one is dedicated to the control
of the output level stage (VCA) while the second is hardwired to control the filter’s Cut Off value.
Thanks to the modulation section, they can also be used for a wide range of other purposes.
An envelope generator is a classic electronic module that outputs a command signal, built on four
parts : ADSR ( Attack-Decay-Sustain-Release )
When the envelope is trigged (generally by hitting a note on the keyboard, or from the output of a
sequencer or an arpeggiator) it begins with the “Attack” part : From zero to the maximum level, the
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EG outputs a signal which increases in a time depending on the Attack setting. Then follows the
“Decay” part, while the output decreases to a level specified by the Sustain setting, during a time
specified by the Decay setting. It stays to this “sustain” level as long as the EG is gated (ie as long
as the note is hold). Then when the note in off, it goes into the “release” stage, while the output
continuously decreases to zero, depending to the Release setting.
Attack: set the time over which the output
increases.
Decay: set the time the output decreases to the
sustain level.
Sustain: set the sustain level, maintains while the
EG is gated (the note is held)
Release: set the time the output decrease to zero
after the note is released.
While knobs control the last 4 parameters, there
are additional features, which are all controlled by
switches. As always a function is active when the
diode is lit.
Key track: Connect keyboard follow to the EG's
parameter modulation. The highest the note
played, the shortest the attack will be.
Loop2: set the ADSR 2 in a loop mode. This
means that as long as the note is held, the EG
cycles from attack to release, while bypassing the
sustain stage
Mul : ultiplies the ADSR parameters by a
factor 2, 3 or 4. This parameter is especially
handy when you need very long attack times, or
decays ( Example : Pads )
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