7

326 Chapter 23 Ultrabeat
As soon as a modulation source is selected in the Via menu (Vel in this example), a
movable slider appears on the Mod ring. Grabbing and moving this slider with the
mouse allows you to set the maximum modulation value that can be reached through
use of the Via source (0.90 in this example).
So much for the settings. What do the markings found around the Cut knob mean, and
what is happening to the sound?
The Mod and Via controls indicate the minimum and maximum values that the
modulated parameter can attain (in comparison to the mean value). Put another way,
the result of the modulation. These controls don’t show us—as is customary with other
synthesizers—a percentage value describing their intensity, but state very
clearly: “These are the minimum and maximum possible values of the modulated
parameter”.
Back to our example; the frequency of the filter is set to the mean value of 0.50. When
the Mod source Env 1 enters the equation, the Env 1 envelope generator drives the Cut
value up from 0.50 to 0.70 (during the attack phase) and back down to 0.50 (during the
decay phase).
Note: You can view the exact values in the Help Tags that appear when you grab the
individual handles of various parameters.
If the Via source Ctrl A is introduced, the following interplay occurs: when Ctrl A
remains at its minimum value, nothing changes (yet); Cutoff continues to be modulated
between values of 0.50 and 0.70 by the envelope. A maximum value for Ctrl A causes
the envelope generator to vary the parameter between the values of 0.50 (the mean
value) and 0.90 (the Via amount).
You can see, at a glance, the degree of maximum influence on basic parameters by the
Mod and Via modulation sources: the area between the Mod and Via points shows the
amount that the modulation depth can be (further) altered by the Via modulation
source. In our example, the Cutoff can reach values between 0.70 and 0.90 depending
on the value being sent by Ctrl A.