User Manual
Table Of Contents
- Evolver Operation Manual
- Dave Smith Instruments
- 1210 Cabrillo Hwy N
- Half Moon Bay, CA 94019-1449
- For Technical Support, E-mail to:support@davesmithinstruments.com
- Contents
- Quick Start 6
- Basic Operation FAQs 11
- Inside Evolver 12
- Signal Flow Diagram 13
- Main Parameters 14
- Sequencer Operation 18
- Program Parameters 21
- Modulation Destination Table 38
- Modulation Source Table 40
- MIDI Implementation 41
- Welcome…
- Register
- Version 3.0 Notes
- Quick Start
- Program Notes
- Bank 1
- Bank 4
- Programs 80 – 128 are sounds meant to played from a keyboard; some have sequences programmed, and some do not. Most respond in different ways to keyboard pressure and mod wheel.
- Special thanks to Program contributors, including:
- Craig Wiper
- Basic Operation FAQs
- The Analog Side
- The Digital Side
- Sequencer Operation
- While the sequencer is running, if you hold the Shift button when you hit the Stop button, the sequence will continue running until finished (according to the length of Sequence 1), and will stop after playing step 1.
- A simple “tap tempo” feature is available. With the sequencer off, hold the Reset button, and then hold the Start/Stop button for a count of four; then lift up the Start/Stop button in time. The sequencer will start with the new tempo. Note – the actual speed will depend on the Clock Divide setting. The count will match if Clock Divide is set to 4n. If set to 8n, it will play twice as fast as your “tap”, and so forth.
- Program Parameters
- Display
- Destination
- 0ff
- No destination selected
- 01F
- Oscillator 1 Frequency
- 0AL
- Oscillator All Level
- noL
- Noise Level
- El
- External In Level
- 01P
- Oscillator 1 Pulse width
- F43
- Frequency Mod (FM) Amount; Osc 4 -> 3
- F34
- Frequency Mod (FM) Amount; Osc 3 -> 4
- R43
- Ring Mod (Amplitude) Amount; Osc 4 -> 3
- R34
- Ring Mod (Amplitude) Amount; Osc 3 -> 4
- FL
- Lowpass filter frequency
- FLS
- Filter Split –separation between left / right
- Res
- Resonance
- UCA
- VCA amount
- Fbf
- Feedback frequency
- Fba
- Filter Amount
- Dt1
- Delay 1 Time
- DA1
- Delay 1 Amount
- L1f
- LFO 1 Frequency
- L2f
- LFO 2 Frequency
- L3f
- LFO 3 Frequency
- L4f
- LFO 4 Frequency
- Additional Sequencer-Only Modulation Destinations
- Display
- Destination
- CL0
- Sequencer clock (BPM) multiplier
- n0
- MIDI note number
- uel
- MIDI Velocity
- Modulation Sources
- Display
- Source
- 0ff
- No Source selected
- SE1
- Sequence 1
- fen
- Filter Envelope
- MIDI Implementation
- MIDI Messages
- System Exclusive Messages
- 0
- No destination selected
- 1
- Oscillator 1 Frequency
- 10
- Oscillator All Level
- 11
- Noise Level
- 12
- External In Level
- 13
- Oscillator 1 Pulse width
- 16
- Frequency Mod (FM) Amount; Osc 4 -> 3
- 17
- Frequency Mod (FM) Amount; Osc 3 -> 4
- 18
- Ring Mod (Amplitude) Amount; Osc 4 -> 3
- 19
- Ring Mod (Amplitude) Amount; Osc 3 -> 4
- 20
- Filter frequency
- 21
- Filter Split –separation between left / right
- 22
- Resonance
- 23
- Highpass Frequency
- 24
- VCA amount
- 25
- Pan
- 26
- Feedback frequency
- 27
- Feedback Amount
- 28
- Delay Time 1
- 29
- Delay Time 2
- 30
- Delay Time 3
- 31
- Delay Time All
- 32
- Delay Amount 1
- 33
- Delay Amount 2
- 34
- Delay Amount 3
- 35
- Delay Amount All
- 36
- Delay Feedback 1
- 37
- Delay Feedback 2
- 38
- LFO 1 Frequency
- 39
- LFO 2 Frequency
- 40
- LFO 3 Frequency
- 41
- LFO 4 Frequency
- Sequencer only destinations
- 69
- Tempo Clock multiplier
- 70
- MIDI Note Out
- Modulation Sources
- 0
- No Source selected
- 1
- Sequence 1
- 9
- Filter Envelope
Basic Operation FAQs
Evolver is a very flexible instrument. While this provides a wide range of operational
possibilities, it also means that you can put Evolver into a state where it doesn’t seem
to work. Here are some hints:
1) How do I save a Program? Hold the M
AIN button down; its LED will start
blinking. Hit the button a second time, and the Program will be stored. While
blinking, you can change the Program and/or Bank to store in a different location.
2) When I play a MIDI keyboard, it triggers the envelopes but the oscillator
pitch doesn’t change. Check Key Off/Xpose (Row 7, knob 8). If it is
OFF, MIDI
notes will not affect the oscillator pitch. This knob also transposes the MIDI range
by +/- 3 octaves.
3) MIDI affects the note pitch, but will not trigger the envelopes. Check Trigger
Select (Row 7, Knob 7). It must be set to
ALL or miid for basic MIDI triggering. It
can also be set
miDR, miS, or miSR when using MIDI and the sequencer together –
see page . 33
4) After playing on a MIDI keyboard, I change Programs and the sounds are
transposed too high. The quick fix is to hit the R
ESET button when the
sequencer is stopped; it acts as a MIDI all-notes-off, and resets all MIDI
controllers. In general, you usually want to set up Programs as sequencer-driven,
MIDI-driven, or both. When you try to play a sequence-based Program with MIDI,
or sequence a MIDI-based sound, you will likely have to change a couple
parameters (see 1 and 2 above).
5) I hit the Sequence Start button; the LEDs advance, but the envelopes don’t
trigger. This is the opposite problem of 2 above; check Trigger Select (Row 7,
Knob 7) - it should be set to
ALL or SEQ for the sequencer to trigger the
envelopes.
6) When I change Programs, the Sequencer speed always stays the same.
Check Use Prgm Tempo – if it is
OFF, then the speed is not updated when
Programs change. Set it to
On.
7) How do I copy Sequences from one Program to another? First, turn Lock
Seq off, and select the Program with the sequence that you want to copy.
Second, turn Lock Seq On – now when you change Programs the sequence will
not change, so select the destination Program. Third, do a normal save, and the
Sequence will be saved in the new location.
8) I can’t get the filter to oscillate. Check the 2 pole/4 pole switch (Row 3, Knob 1,
Shift) – the filter only oscillates when 4 poles are used.
9) I seem to be getting some distortion in my output. Assuming that the
Distortion is off, you are likely just overloading the signal somewhere. There are
many signal sources in Evolver, and many sources of gain. If too many are used
at levels that are too high, you will likely get some distortion. For example, if you
are using all four oscillators, you should have the levels lower, in the 40 – 60
range. Likewise, if using all three delay taps, lower the levels of each.
10) Reset Main Parameters - There is a quick reset of the Main parameters; just hit
row 1 and 4 buttons at the same time, and the Main parameters will be re-
initialized.
11