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Chapter 20 ES2 267
Bass Drum With Self-Oscillating Filter and Vector Envelope
Electronic kick drum sounds are often created with modulated, self-oscillating filters.
This approach can also be taken with the ES2, particularly when the vector envelope is
used for filter modulation. An advantage of the vector envelope, in comparison with
conventional ADSR envelopes, is its ability to define/provide two independent decay
phases. The distortion effect applies the right amount of drive without losing the
original sonic character of the drum sound.
Note: In order to make the Vector Kick setting really punchy, you must activate Flt
Reset. This is necessary, because all Oscillators are switched off in this setting, and the
filter needs a little time to start oscillating. At the start of each note, Flt Reset sends a
very short impulse to the filter—making it oscillate from the outset!
Through tweaks to the Vector Kick setting, you’ll probably be able to create any
dancefloor kick drum sound your heart desires. These are the parameters which allow
for the most efficient and significant variations:
 Filter2 slopes 12 dB, 18 dB, 24 dB
 Distortion Intensity, Soft/Hard
 Envelope 3’s Decay Time (D)
 Vector Envelope Time 1 > 2 (Pre-set: 9.0 ms)
 Vector Envelope Time 2 > 3 (Pre-set: 303 ms)
 Vector Time Scaling
Percussive Synthesizers and Basses With Two Filter Decay Phases
As with the Vector Kick, the Vector Perc Synth setting uses the vector envelope to
control the filter cutoff frequency (with two independently adjustable decay phases).
This would not be possible with a conventional ADSR envelope generator. Try creating
further percussive synthesizers and basses by varying these parameters:
 Vector Envelope Time 1 > 2 (= Decay 1),
 Vector Envelope Time 2 > 3 (= Decay 2),
 Vector Time Scaling,
 Cursor positions in the Square for points 1, 2, and 3 (= Cutoff Frequency),
 Choosing other waveforms.