Phosphor User’s Guide Audio Damage, Inc. Release 1.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Audio Damage, Inc. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Audio Damage, Inc. © 2011 Audio Damage, Inc.
License Agreement BY INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE, YOU ARE CONSENTING TO BE BOUND BY THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL OF THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, THEN RETURN THE PRODUCT TO THE PLACE OF PURCHASE FOR A FULL REFUND. Single User License Grant: Audio Damage, Inc.
been subjected to abnormal physical or electrical stress, misuse, negligence, or accident, or (d) is used in ultrahazardous activities. DISCLAIMER. EXCEPT AS SPECIFIED IN THIS WARRANTY, ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS, AND WARRANTIES INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NONINFRINGEMENT OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE, ARE HEREBY EXCLUDED TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
Introduction Phosphor is a polyphonic software synthesizer plug-in modeled on the alphaSyntauri hardware synthesizer. Introduced in 1979, the alphaSyntauri used an Apple ][ microcomputer as its central processor and user interface. While quite modest by contemporary standards, the alphaSyntauri can create a surprising wealth of sounds easily, thanks to its simple but flexible approach to synthesis.
System Requirements To use Phosphor, you'll need a Steinberg VST-compatible host application which conforms to the VST 2.0 specifications, and a computer capable of running it. For the Audio Unit version of Phosphor, you’ll need an application capable of hosting Audio Unit plug-ins, and an Apple computer with an Intel CPU capable of running it. We support the use of Phosphor under Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7; and Apple OS X version 10.5 or newer.
Operation The following screen shot shows Phosphor’s user interface. The controls are described in the following paragraphs. 1. Wavetable Oscillators Phosphor’s core is a pair of audio oscillators, referred to as the Primary and Secondary Oscillators. Each oscillator has its own wave table and hence its own timbre.
The groups of vertical sliders near the top of Phosphor’s windows are called the partial sliders. The partial sliders control the level of the partials used to calculate Phosphor’s wave tables, and hence control the tone of the oscillators. Each oscillator has its own set of sixteen partial sliders which set the relative amplitudes of each of the sixteen partials. The left-most slider sets the level of the fundamental, that is, the lowestfrequency partial, which has the frequency of the note you’re playing.
If you turn on the Vintage switch above the partials sliders on the right, the quality of Phosphor’s oscillators is reduced to resemble the alphaSyntauri’s hardware. The Vintage switch introduces aliasing and digital grunge which can add some interesting color to Phosphor’s tone. 2. Envelope Generators Phospor employs a pair of envelope generators to shape the volume or loudness of each oscillator over the duration of a note.
3. Oscillator Control Sliders Beneath the envelope generators are groups of sliders which control several parameters for both of the oscillators. Crossmod The Crossmod sliders enable the Primary and Secondary oscillators to modulate each other’s frequency, creating a much wider range of tones than they create individually. While Yamaha made frequencymodulation (FM) synthesis famous with the DX7, the NED Synclavier combined wavetable and FM synthesis in a manner very similar to Phosphor.
If you click on the VINTAGE switch to the right of the Noise slider, the noise generator reproduces the sound of noise sources found in computer sound generators that were contemporaries of the alphaSyntauri. In this mode, the noise generators have some apparent pitch and will track both the keyboard and pitch-bend wheel as you play. If you’ve played old video games, you’ll recognize the timbre of the noise generator, particularly near the low end of the keyboard.
4. Low-Frequency Oscillators (LFOs) Phosphor has two low-frequency oscillators (LFOs) that can be used to change, or modulate, several parameters of the Primary and Secondary Oscillators, and the frequencies of the filters associated with the delays. The numeric LFO controls determine how fast the output of the LFO varies over time. They operate either in units of frequency (Hertz, or cycles per second), or in metrical units. The LFO’s rate can be set from one cycle every 100 seconds (or 0.
directions. Moving the WAVESHAPE slider warps and skews the sine wave without creating any sharp corners in its shape. Its effect is far easier to hear than to describe. If the random wave is selected, and the WAVESHAPE slider is moved all the way to the left, the output of the LFO jumps to a random value, changing at a rate determined by the numeric control. As you move the WAVESHAPE slider to the right, the output moves more slowly from one random value to the next.
5. Modulation Sliders The horizontal sliders on the right side of Phosphor’s windows are called modulation sliders. They route signals from the LFOs to the Primary and Secondary Oscillators, and to the filters in the delay lines. Each slider can be thought of as controlling a connection between one of the LFOs and one of the parameters of one of the oscillators.
The sliders are bidirectional. If left at their center position, no signals from the LFOs reach the corresponding parameter in the oscillators and filters. In general, moving a slider to the right of center causes the LFO to increase the parameter’s value and moving it to the left of center causes the LFO to decrease the parameter’s value. Simply click and drag on a slider to change its value. If you hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and click the slider, the slider will return to its center position.
Note that the amount that the LFOs control parameters can be affected by the modulation wheel on your MIDI keyboard. See “Keyboard and Master Controls” below for more information. 6. Delay and Filter Controls Because we at Audio Damage dearly love delay effects, we’ve added a stereo delay to Phosphor. The output of each oscillator/noise source passes through its own delay. Each delay has a range of 0 to 1999 msec, or approximately two seconds.
Phosphor has low-pass and high-pass filters which come after the delay lines in the signal chain. These filters can be adjusted to alter the timbre of the delayed signal. For instance, you can use the low-pass filter to create a “darker” sound, or the high-pass filter to create a “thinner” sound. The filters are controlled in tandem with the graph-like controls labeled, appropriately enough, FILTER.
7. Keyboard and Master Controls The row of switches and sliders along the bottom of Phosphor’s window provide some handy shortcuts for creating new sounds, control Phosphor’s response to MIDI keyboards, and setting output levels. Starting from the left and heading right: L+R Link Turning on the L+R Link button cause the controls for the Primary Oscillator and the left delay/filter to affect the corresponding controls for the Secondary Oscillator and the right delay/filter.
Poly Mode The Poly Mode switches determine how Phosphor responds when you play more than one note at a time on your MIDI keyboard. It has three positions: Poly – in this mode, Phosphor responds polyphonically, like a piano and most digital synthesizers. Play several keys on your keyboard, and you’ll hear several notes. Mono – in this mode, Phosphor plays only one note at a time.
MIDI Controllers Phosphor responds to MIDI continuous controller messages. You can use hardware MIDI controllers, such as MIDI slider boxes or the knobs found on some MIDI keyboards, to adjust Phosphor’s parameters other than the partials sliders. Phosphor has a simple “MIDI Learn” mode for assigning its onscreen controls to MIDI controllers. To assign a control to a MIDI controller: 1.
To remove a MIDI controller assignment from a control, SHIFT and CTRL keys, (SHIFT and CMD keys on a Mac) click on the control once so that the white box appears, then click again on the same control. Phosphor’s MIDI controller assignments apply to all presets and instances of Phosphor, in all host applications that you use. The MIDI assignments are stored in a special file on your hard drive. The contents of this file are read when Phosphor is loaded by your host.
