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Chapter 20 ES2 201
Note: If you switch to Legato, you need to play legato to actually hear the Glide
parameter taking effect.
Note: On several monophonic synthesizers, the behavior in Legato mode is referred to
as single trigger, while Mono mode is referred to as multi trigger.
Voices
The maximum number of notes that can be played simultaneously is determined by
the Voices parameter. Maximum value for Voices is 32.
The value of this parameter has a significant impact on the computer processing
resources demanded by the ES2 when played at its maximum polyphony. Reduce this
value to the number of voices that you actually require for the part. Setting it to a
higher value places higher overheads on the CPU, and wastes resources.
Unison
A forte of polyphonic analog synthesizers has always been unison mode. Traditionally,
in unison mode, classic analog polysynths run monophonically, with all voices playing a
single note simultaneously. As the voices of an analog synthesizer are never perfectly in
tune, this results in an extremely fat chorus effect with great sonic depth. Switch the
ES2 to Mono or Legato and switch on Unison in order to achieve and hear this effect.
The intensity of the unison effect depends on the number of Voices selected.
Remember that the amount of processing power required is correlated to the number
of voices! The intensity of detuning (voice deviation) is set via the Analog parameter.
In addition to this classic monophonic unison effect, the ES2 also features a polyphonic
unison effect. In Poly/Unison, each note played is effectively doubled, or more correctly,
the polyphony value of the Voices parameter is halved. These two voices are then used
for the single triggered note.
Switching on Poly and Unison has the same effect as setting the ES2 to Mono, Unison,
and Voices = 2, except that it can be played polyphonically.