Operation Manual

SUBTRACTOR SYNTHESIZER
116
Sustain
The Sustain parameter determines the level the envelope should rest at, after the De-
cay. If you set Sustain to full level, the Decay setting is of no importance since the vol-
ume of the sound is never lowered.
If you wanted to emulate the volume envelope of an organ, you theoretically only really
need to use the Sustain parameter set to full level, as a basic organ volume envelope
instantly goes to the maximum level (Attack “0”) and stays there (Decay “0”), until the
key is released and the sound instantly stops (Release “0”).
But often a combination of Decay and Sustain is used to generate envelopes that rise
up to the maximum value, then gradually decreases to finally land to rest on a level
somewhere in-between zero and maximum. Note that Sustain represents a level,
whereas the other envelope parameters represent times.
Release
Finally, we have the Release parameter. This works just like the Decay parameter, ex-
cept it determines the time it takes for the value to fall back to zero after releasing the
key.
Amplitude Envelope
The Amplitude Envelope is used to adjust how the volume of the sound should
change from the time you press a key until the key is released. By setting up a volume
envelope you sculpt the sound’s basic shape with the four Amplitude Envelope pa-
rameters, Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release. This determines the basic character of
the sound (soft, long, short etc.).
Filter Envelope
The Filter Envelope affects the Filter 1 Frequency parameter. By setting up a filter en-
velope you control the how the filter frequency should change over time with the four
Filter Envelope parameters, Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release.
Filter Envelope Amount
This parameter determines to what degree the filter will be affected by the Filter Enve-
lope. Raising this knob’s value creates more drastic results. The Envelope Amount pa-
rameter and the set Filter Frequency are related. If the Filter Freq slider is set to
around the middle, this means that the moment you press a key the filter is already
halfway open. The set Filter Envelope will then open the filter further from this point.
The Filter Envelope Amount setting affects how much further the filter will open.
Filter Envelope Invert
If this button is activated, the envelope will be inverted. For example, normally the De-
cay parameter lowers the filter frequency, but after activating Invert it will instead raise
it, by the same amount.
Mod Envelope
The Mod Envelope allows you to select one of a number of parameters, or Destina-
tions, to control with the envelope. By setting up a modulation envelope you control
the how the selected Destination parameter should change over time with the four
Mod Envelope parameters, Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release.
The available Mod Envelope Destinations are as follows:
|Destination |Description
Osc 1 Selecting this makes the Mod Envelope control the pitch (frequency)
of Osc 1.
Osc 2 Same as above, but for Osc 2.
Osc Mix Selecting this makes the Mod Envelope control the oscillator Mix pa-
rameter. Both oscillators must be activated for this to have any effect.
FM Selecting this makes the Mod Envelope control the FM Amount pa-
rameter. Both oscillators must be activated for this to have any effect.
Phase Selecting this makes the Mod Envelope control the Phase Offset pa-
rameter for both Osc 1 and 2. Note that Phase Offset Modulation
(Subtraction or Multiplication) must be activated for this to have any
effect (see page 110).
Freq 2 Selecting this makes the Mod Envelope control the Frequency param-
eter for Filter 2.