Operating instructions

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ADSR: Acronym for Attack/Decay/Sustain/Release, a particular type of envelope generator.

Analog synthesizer: A type of musical instrument that synthesizes sounds from component

parts rather than via sampling.

Arpeggiator: A circuit that plays notes sequentially for as long as they are held down.

Bounce: When recording or sequencing, to “bounce” tracks means to combine several tracks

together on a single track.

Cent: Unit of pitch equal to 1/100th of a semitone.

Channel, Output: The circuitry through which the Emulator II outputs individual notes.

Channel, MIDI: An “information pipeline” through which MIDI information is sent. MIDI provides

for 16 available channels, each of which can address one MIDI instrument.

Channel, MIDI Control: A MIDI Channel also contains information about which controllers are

being varied. Assigning an Emulator II real time control destination to MIDI Control Channel A,

B, or C lets another MIDI device’s controllers control the Emulator II real time control

destinations via the Control Channels.

Cutoff Frequency: The frequency above which a low pass filter will start attenuating signals

present at its input. Abbreviated Fc.

Data: Information a computer needs in order to make decisions or carry out a particular action.

dB/octave: The unit typically used to indicate the slope of a filter, or how fast the frequency

response rolls off past the cutoff frequency. Example: A 24 db/octave filter would attenuate an

input signal by 24 dB one octave above the cutoff frequency, by 48 dB two octaves above the

cutoff frequency, and so on.

Envelope Generator: A circuit, usually triggered by pressing a keyboard key that generates a

changing voltage with respect to time. This voltage typically controls a VCF or VCA. An ADSR

envelope has four adjustable parameters: attack (the time required to go from minimum to

maximum voltage), decay (the time required to go from maximum voltage to a specified sustain

level voltage); sustain (the level at which the voltage holds during a keyboard key depression),

and release (once a key has been released, the time required to go from the sustain voltage to

minimum voltage).

Fc: See Cutoff Frequency.

Filter: A circuit that restricts frequency response, thus altering a signal’s harmonic structure.

LFO: Low Frequency Oscillator. A circuit that is usually used to vary sound parameters at a

specific, low frequency rate. Example: Varying pitch cyclically creates vibrato.