Operation Manual

BV512 VOCODER
212
BV512 parameters
On the front panel of the BV512 Vocoder, you will find the following parameters and
displays:
|Parameter |Description
Bypass/On/Off
switch
In Bypass mode, the carrier signal passes through the device un-
affected and the modulator signal is disregarded. In On mode,
the device outputs the vocoded or equalized signal. Off mode
cuts the output, silencing the device.
Level meters Show the signal level of the carrier and modulator signals, re-
spectively.
Band switch Selects the number of filter bands (4, 8, 16 or 32) or FFT (512)
mode.
Equalizer/Vocoder
switch
Determines whether the BV512 should work as a vocoder or an
equalizer. In Equalizer mode, the Modulator input is disregarded
(see page 211).
Modulation level
display
The upper display shows the spectrum of the modulator signal.
Frequency band
level adjust
The lower display allows you to adjust the level of each filter fre-
quency band, by clicking and dragging the corresponding bar. In
vocoder mode this affects the vocoded sound. In equalizer mode,
this is where you cut or boost frequencies. To reset a band to ±0
dB, press [Command] (Mac) or [Ctrl] (Win) and click on its bar in
the display. To reset all bands, select “Reset Band Levels” from
the device context menu.
Note: when FFT (512) mode is selected, each of the 32 bars in
the display corresponds to several frequency bands, with bars to
the right in the display controlling progressively more bands (due
to the FFT bands being linearly distributed over the frequency
range).
Hold button Clicking this button “freezes” the current filter settings. While the
button is lit, the modulator signal doesn’t affect the sound - the
carrier signal is filtered with the settings as they were the moment
you activated Hold. Click the button again to turn off Hold. Hold
is also automatically reset (turned off) when you stop sequencer
playback - just like the pitch bend and modulation wheels on
synth devices.
This function can be controlled via CV or MIDI, for sample and
hold-like effects.
The Hold button is not available in Equalizer mode.
Attack This is a global attack time control, affecting all envelope follow-
ers (see page 208). Normally you probably want this set to zero,
to make the vocoder react as quick as possible. Raising the At-
tack time can be useful for “smearing” sounds, creating pads,
etc.
Not available in Equalizer mode.
Decay Similarly, this controls the decay time for all envelope followers,
i.e. how quick the filter band levels drop. Adjust this according to
taste and context.
Not available in Equalizer mode.
Shift Shifts the carrier filters up or down in frequency, drastically
changing the character of the vocoded (or equalized) sound. This
parameter can be controlled via CV, for phaser-like sweeps and
special effects.
HF Emph
(High Frequency
Emphasis)
Boosts the high frequencies in the carrier signal. This is some-
times desired to get a clearer vocoded sound. The reason is that
a carrier signal should theoretically contain roughly equal ener-
gies in all frequency ranges for best results - in a typical synth
sound the high frequencies are often weaker than the low fre-
quencies. Raising the HF Emph control will rectify this.
Not available in Equalizer mode.
Dry/Wet Determines the balance between modulator sound (dry) and vo-
coded sound (wet). To get the pure vocoder sound, set this to
wet (turned fully right).
Not available in Equalizer mode.
|Parameter |Description