A.2 SYN MACHINES
APPENDIX A: MACHINES > A.2 SYN MACHINES · PDF p. 89–101 · OS 1.10D
# A.2 SYN MACHINES APPENDIX A: MACHINES APPENDIX A: MACHINES A machine is a module within the Digitone II with specific functionality. A machine can be switched out for another machine in the same category. For example different synthesis engines or filters. Every machine has a specific set of parameters tailored to give you the most relevant and useful sound-shaping possibili ties for that particular machine. For more information, please see “5.3.1 AUDIO TRACKS AND MACHINES” on page 16 Use the [UP]/[DOWN] keys to select the parameter group's pages. You can also press a [PARAMETER] key repeatedly to cycle trough the parameter pages in that group. Press and hold a [PARAMETER] key to see the values for all parameters on that page. A.1 ASSIGNING MACHINES TO THE ACTIVE TRACK 1. Press [FUNC] + [SYN] to open the MACHINE menu. 2. Use [LEFT]/[RIGHT] to navigate to the desired machine category. 3. Use [UP]/[DOWN] to select machine, and then press [YES] to assign the selected machine to the track. The rest of this appendix lists the machine-specific parameters on the SYN and FLTR pages. The selected machine determines the parameters available. A.2 SYN MACHINES The SYN machines are different synthesis engines with unique functionalities. In this section you also find the MIDI machine that lets you control external, MIDI equipped, gear. For more information, please see “5.3.2 MIDI TRACKS” on page 17. You can assign any SYN machine to any track. Press [SYN] to access these parameter pages. A.2.1 FM TONE The Digitone II's FM TONE machine is a four operator Frequency Modulation (FM) synth in the style of the classic 80s implementations. However, unlike the early FM synths, the Digitone II use its FM engine more like a complex tone generator than a complete synthesizer voice (although it does have this capa bility too). The Digitone II signal path is more similar to a typical subtractive synth than a classic FM voice. PAGE 1 The parameters on the page 1 control various aspects of the FM engine. You can find more informa tion about the Digitone II FM synthesis in “APPENDIX B: THE FM TONE SYNTHESIS” on page 106. ALGO Algorithm selects the structure of how the four operators are connected to each other. For more information, please see “B.3 ALGORITHMS” on page 107. RATIO C Sets the frequency ratio for operator C. For more information, please see “B.4 FM RATIOS” on page 107. APPENDIX A: MACHINES RATIO A Sets the frequency ratio for operator A. For more information, please see “B.4 FM RATIOS” on page 107. RATIO B Sets the frequency ratio for operator B1 and B2. The minimum value for B1 and B2 is .25. As you turn the encoder, B2 increases until it reaches the max (16). It then starts over from .25 and B1 increases to the next value (0.5). This revolving behavior continues until both operators reach the maximum value. This parameter behavior is similar to the movement of the hands on a watch. (0.25–16.0) For more information, please see “B.4 FM RATIOS” on page 107. HARM Harmonics controls waveform of the operators, C, A, and B1. The parameter is bipolar. Negative parameter values change the harmonics of operator C, while positive parameter values change the harmonics of operators A and B1. (-26.00–26.00) For more information, please see “B.6 HARMON ICS” on page 109. DTUN Detune offsets the ratio of operator A and B2. Up to a parameter value of around 64, the offset is very slight to achieve subtle movement. Above 64 the operators start to detune more heavily. FDBK Feedback sets the amount of self modulation of the operator that has feedback. This operator is shown in the algorithm on the screen with a feedback loop in its upper left corner. For more infor mation, please see “B.2 OPERATORS” on page 106. MIX Each algorithm has two carrier outputs (X and Y) that come from two different operators depend ing on what algorithm you chose. Use the MIX parameter to mix between these outputs so that you can cross-fade between two separate timbres. (-64–63). For more information, please see For more information, please see “B.3 ALGORITHMS” on page 107. PAGE 2 The parameters on the page 2 control various aspects of the FM synthesis, mainly the amount of frequency modulation together with the operator envelopes. The FM engine has two operator envelopes. One is for operator group A, and one is for group B (B1 and B2). The envelopes are essentially expanded AD (Attack Decay) envelopes, but with an added adjustable end level (the amplitude level the sound reaches at the end of the decay stage). For more information, please see “B.5 OPERATOR ENVELOPES” on page 108. ATK (A) Attack Time sets the length of the attack phase of the modulation envelope for operator A. DEC (A) Decay Time sets the length of the decay phase of the modulation envelope for operator A. END (A) End Level sets the end level of the modulation envelope for operator A. LEV (A) Level sets the modulation amount from operator A. ATK (B) Attack Time sets the length of the attack phase of the modulation envelope for operator group B (B1 and B2). APPENDIX A: MACHINES DEC (B) Decay Time sets the length of the decay phase of the modulation envelope for operator group B (B1 and B2). END (B) End Level sets the end level of the modulation envelope for operator group B (B1 and B2). LEV (B) Level sets the modulation amount from operator group B (B1 and B2). The LEVEL parameter for B is macro mapped to both operator B1 and B2 and control their modula tion amount as per this graph: B1 B2 Level Parameter value If you wish to use frequency modulation, it is important that you turn the LEV parame ters up, since they set the amount of frequency modulation in the FM engine. PAGE 3 The parameters on the page 3 control various aspects of the FM synthesis, mainly the amount of frequency modulation together with the operator envelopes and their behavior. ADEL Envelope delay sets the time before attack phase of the modulation envelope for operator A starts. Attack End level Decay Delay ATRG Envelope trig sets the trig behavior of the operator envelopes. The envelopes can be either trig gered or gated - making it either an ADE (Attack Decay End) or an ASDE (Attack Sustain Decay End) envelope. The sustain phase does not have an adjustable envelope level. It is instead the LEV parameter that sets the sustain level. The note length defines the length of the sustain phase. APPENDIX A: MACHINES Trigged (ATRG/BTRG ON) Attack End level Decay Note on Gated (ATRG/BTRG OFF) Attack Decay End level Sustain Note on Note off ARST Envelope reset sets if the envelopes should reset or not when they are retrigged. Reset on (ARST/BRST ON) Trig Trig Reset off (ARST/BRST OFF) Trig Trig PHRT Phase reset sets if the operators phase are reset to start at 0 or not when they are trigged. OFF do not reset any operators ALL resets all operators C resets operator C A+B resets operator A, B1, and B2 A+B2 resets operator A and B2 APPENDIX A: MACHINES BDEL Same as ADEL but for operator group B (B1 and B2). BTRG Same as ATRG but for operator group B (B1 and B2). BRST Same as ARST but for operator group B (B1 and B2). PAGE 4 The parameters on the page 4 controls the operators ratio offsets and the key scaling. RATIO OFFSET C, A, B1, B2 Adds offsets to the ratios of each of the four operators. KEY TRACK A Key track sets the level of how much the modulation output from operator A is affected by what note you play on the keyboard. If you set key track to 0, the modulation level is the same for all keys. A higher setting decreases the modulation level more and more the higher you play the key board. So, a lower level of modulation decreases the complexity of the tone in the higher frequen cies, which is a typical behavior in many acoustic instruments. KEY TRACK B1 Same as KEY TRACK A, but for operator B1. KEY TRACK B2 Same as KEY TRACK A, but for operator B2. A.2.2 FM DRUM The Digitone II’s FM DRUM machine is an FM engine specially tailored to produce drums and other per cussive sounds, although it also works well for melodic sounds. Below, you see the FM DRUM machine’s voice architecture. FM OPERATORS FM ENVELOPES BODY ENVELOPE WAVE FOLDER LEVEL NOISE LEVEL TRANSIENT LEVEL B/W FILTER NOISE ENVELOPE + + AMP AMP TO FILTER OPERATOR B IN ALGORITHM 5–7 APPENDIX A: MACHINES PAGE 1 TUNE Tune sets the pitch of the oscillator. STIM Sweep Time sets the pitch sweep time. Lower values result in shorter sweep. SDEP Sweep Depth sets the depth of the pitch sweep. ALGO Algorithm selects the structure of how the three operators are connected to each other. OP.C Operator C Wave sets the waveform for Operator C. OP.AB Operator AB Wave sets the waveform for Operators A and B. FDBK Feedback sets the amount of self modulation of the operator that has feedback. This operator is shown in the algorithm on the screen with a feedback loop in its upper right corner. FOLD Fold sets the amount of wavefolding of the body part of the sound. (The noise and transient parts of the sound are excluded.) The wavefolding increases the complexity of the wave and creates a more overtone rich sound. PAGE 2 RATIO Ratio A sets the frequency ratio for operator A. DEC Decay A sets the length of the decay phase of the modulation envelope for operator A. END End A sets the end level of the modulation envelope for operator A. MOD Mod A sets the modulation amount from operator A. RATIO Ratio B sets the frequency ratio for operator B. DEC Decay B sets the length of the decay phase of the modulation envelope for operator B. APPENDIX A: MACHINES END End B sets the end level of the modulation envelope for operator B. MOD Mod B sets the modulation amount from operator B. PAGE 3 HOLD Body Hold sets the time before the decay phase starts for the body part of the sound. DEC Body Decay sets the length of the decay phase for the body part of the sound. The last value is infinite. PH.C OP C Phase sets the reset of the phase for operator C. A parameter value less than 90 means that phase reset is on, and the value represents the phase start position in degrees. At 90, the operator resets at the peak of the waveform. When set to OFF (value 91), operator C’s phase is not reset. LEV Body Level sets the level of the body part of the sound. NRST Noise Reset will (when switched on) reset the noise to the same random seed on every note on. This can be useful if you want the noise part to always sound the same, like if it was a sample. NRM Noise Ring Mod will (when switched on) use Operator C as ring modulator for the noise. PAGE 4 NHLD Noise Hold sets the time before the decay phase starts for the noise part of the sound. NDEC Noise Decay sets the length of the decay phase for the noise part of the sound. The last value is infinite. TRAN Drum Transient selects between different transients. TLEV Transient Level sets the level of the transient part of the sound. APPENDIX A: MACHINES BASE Noise Base sets the base frequency for the noise/transient filter. WDTH Noise Width sets the frequency width above the base frequency for the noise/transient filter. GRAN Noise grain adjusts the density of the grains for the noise part of the sound, from high density (white noise) to low (grainy). NLEV Noise Level sets the level of the noise part of the sound. A.2.3 WAVETONE The WAVETONE machine is a two-oscillator synth engine with very flexible wave shaping possibilities, borrowing elements from phase distortion, wavetables, ring modulation, hard sync, and adding flexible noise design. PAGE 1 TUN1 Osc1 Tune sets the pitch of oscillator 1. WAV1 OSC1 Waveform sets the waveform for oscillator 1. The waveform crossfades between the differ ent waveforms. Which waveforms you can select here depends on what wavetable you select with TBL1. PD1 Osc1 Phase Distortion controls the amount of phase distortion of oscillator 1. Think of it as chang ing the pulse width, but on any waveform, not just square waves. LEV1 Osc1 Level sets the level of oscillator 1. TUN2 Osc2 Tune sets the pitch of oscillator 2. WAV2 Osc2 Waveform sets the waveform for oscillator 2. The waveform crossfades between the differ ent waveforms. Which waveforms you can select here depends on what wavetable you select with TBL2. PD2 Osc2 Phase Distortion controls the amount of phase distortion of oscillator 2. Think of it as chang ing the pulse width, but on any waveform, not just square waves. LEV2 Osc2 Level sets the level of oscillator 2. Phase distortion makes the oscillator traverse the first and second half of the waveform at different speeds, effectively distorting the waveshape by dragging its midpoint towards the start or end. A simple example is the squarewave, where phase distortion acts a pulsewidth parameter adjusting the duty cycle of the waveform. APPENDIX A: MACHINES PAGE 2 OFS1 Osc1 Lin Offset sets an offset of oscillator 1 tuning. This parameter offsets the frequency of the oscillator linearly in hertz (unlike TUNE which adjusts the pitch in cents). This feature gives more noticeable detune in lower notes than higher. It allows for a different kind of chorus-like detune, since the beating frequency does not vary with the pitch. TBL1 Osc1 Wavetable selects the wavetable for the oscillator 1 WAVE parameter. PRIM contains the ba sic oscillator waves Sin, Tri, Saw, Square. HARM contains a long list of waveforms sweeping across other combinations of harmonics. MOD Oscillator Modulation selects how the two oscillators can interact with each other. The settings are OFF, RING MOD, RING MODE FIXED (Osc 2 does not track note values), and HARD SYNC. In RING MOD mode, Oscillator 2 is modulating Oscillator 1. In that configuration, you most often don’t want to hear the modulator, so you would turn down LEV2 to 0. TUN1 will adjust the tuning of the sound, while TUN2 will change the sound. Even if LEV2 is set to 0, adjusting WAV2 and PD2 will impact the timbre of the sound. In HARD SYNC mode, Oscillator 1’s phase is reset every time Oscillator 2’s waveform starts a new cycle. In this mode, TUN2 controls the tuning of the sound, and TUN1 will control another aspect of the sound, that may sound a bit like a filter with resonance when modulated. RSET Oscillator Phase Reset sets if and how the oscillator's wave phase resets when you play a note. OFF does not reset the oscillator phase. ON resets the oscillators to the start of their waveform phase. RAND resets the oscillators to a random position in the waveform phase. OFS2 Osc2 Lin Offset sets an offset of oscillator 2 tune. This parameter offsets the frequency of the oscillator linearly in hertz (unlike TUNE which adjusts the pitch in cents). This feature gives more noticeable detune in lower notes than higher. It allows for a different kind of chorus-like detune, since the beating frequency does not vary with the pitch. TBL2 Osc2 Wavetable selects the wavetable for the oscillator 2 WAVE parameter. PRIM contains the ba sic oscillator waves Sin, Tri, Saw, Square. HARM contains a long list of waveforms sweeping across other combinations of harmonics. DRIF Oscillator Drift sets the amount of random pitch drift of oscillator 1 and 2. PAGE 3 APPENDIX A: MACHINES ATK Noise Attack sets the length of the attack phase of the noise amp envelope. HOLD Noise Hold sets the length of the hold phase of the noise amp envelope. Fixed Hold time values (0–126) specify the length of the hold phase, and the envelope ignores Note Off events such as Trig Length, releasing a [TRIG] key or a key on an external controller. Setting HOLD to NOTE means the hold phase will be determined by Note On and Note Off events. If you set HOLD to NOTE and use an external keyboard to trigger the envelope, then the sound will be sustained (if DEC is set to less than 127) for as long as you press a key on the keyboard. DEC Noise Decay sets the length of the decay phase of the noise amp envelope. NLEV Noise Level sets the level of the noise part of the sound. BASE Noise Base sets the base frequency for the noise filter. WDTH Noise Width sets the frequency width above the base frequency for the noise filter. TYPE Noise Type selects between three different types of noise, GRAIN, TUNED (a Sample and Hold that tracks the pitch, and S&H (Sample and Hold). CHAR Noise Character changes the character of the noise. The effect of this parameter vary depending on the selected TYPE. GRAIN, Character sets the density of the grain, from white noise to very grainy. TUNED, Character sets the base tuning of the sample & hold that are then tracked by pitch. S&H, Character sets the fixed tuning of the sample and hold. A.2.4 SWARMER The SWARMER machine is based on using one main oscillator and a swarm of six additional detuned oscillators to create a rich sound. PAGE 1 TUNE Tune offsets the incoming note value. This parameter is bipolar. A setting of 0 leaves the pitch unchanged. SWRM Swarm Waveform sets the waveform of the detuned swarm oscillators. DET Detune sets the amount of detuning of the six swarm oscillators in relation to the main oscillator. APPENDIX A: MACHINES MIX Mix sets the level of the swarm oscillators in relation to the main oscillator. M.OCT Main Octave detunes the main oscillator down one or two octaves but leaves the swarm oscillators’ pitch unchanged. MAIN Main Waveform sets the waveform of the main oscillator. ANIM Swarm Animation sets the modulation amount of the swarm oscillators. The swarm oscillators are modulated separately in pairs by hidden LFOs running at different rates. N.MOD Noise Modulation sets the amount of noise modulation of the detuned swarm oscillators. A.2.5 MIDI The parameters for the MIDI machine are split over the TRIG, SYN, FLTR and AMP PARAMETER pages. The FX page contains no parameters The MOD pages are the same as for audio tracks, but there are two LFOs available for MIDI tracks. TRIG PAGE 1 Set the actions for when a note is trigged. Change settings using the DATA ENTRY knobs. These general settings affect note trigs placed in the sequencer. NOTE Trig Note sets the pitch of the note when trigged. When in LIVE RECORDING mode and playing in KEYBOARD mode, the pitch of the [TRIG] keys played will override this setting. Press and turn DATA ENTRY knob A to select only note values that exist in the scale set by KB SCALE. For more information, please see “8.5.2 KEYBOARD SETUP MENU” on page 25. VEL Trig Velocity sets the velocity of the sequencer’s note trigs. LEN Trig Length sets the length of the note trig. In LIVE RECORDING mode, the duration of pressing the [TRIG] keys overrides this general setting. PROB Trig Probability sets the probability that the trigs on the track plays or not. The probability outcome is re-evaluated every time a trig is set to play. The default setting is 100%, meaning that all the trigs on the track plays every time. This parameter can be parameter locked which lets you give separate trigs their own probability. LFO.T LFO Trig controls if the LFO will be trigged or not. FILL Fill is a separate trig condition that determines if a trig is active (plays) or not depending on if the device is in FILL mode or not. For more information, please see “10.12.4 FILL MODE” on page 52, and “10.12.3 TRIG CONDITIONS AND CONDITIONAL LOCKS” on page 51. ON, A trig with FILL set to ON, plays when FILL mode is active. OFF, A trig with FILL set to OFF plays when FILL mode is not active. APPENDIX A: MACHINES The sequencer needs to be in FILL mode to activate the FILL trig condition. For more information, please see “10.12.4 FILL MODE” on page 52. COND (Trig Condition) when you add a conditional lock, COND sets the Trig Condition with which a set of conditional rules can be applied to any trig, using a conditional parameter lock. For more informa tion, please see “10.12.3 TRIG CONDITIONS AND CONDITIONAL LOCKS” on page 51. SYN PAGE Here you can set the MIDI channel that the MIDI machine should use to send data. Bank and program change values are also set here, together with a few standard CC parameters. The default value of the parameters on this page is OFF, meaning they are disabled and do not send out any data. Press and hold [FUNC] and then press the DATA ENTRY knobs to enable them. You can then use the DATA ENTRY knobs to set the parameter values as usual. Disable the parameters again by repeating the activation procedure. CHAN (Channe) sets the MIDI channel the track sends MIDI data to. If you set this parameter to OFF, it turns the MIDI track off. Please note that this parameter cannot be parameter locked. (OFF, 1–16) BANK (Bank) sends a bank change message on CC 0 MSB. SBNK (Sub Bank) sends a bank change message on CC 32 LSB. PROG (Program Change) sends a Program Change message. PB (Pitch Bend) controls the pitch bend data sent on the MIDI track. AT (Aftertouch) controls the aftertouch data sent on the MIDI track. MW (Mod Wheel) controls the modulation wheel data sent on the MIDI track. BC (Breath Controller) controls the breath control data sent on the MIDI track. FLTR PAGE 1 Here you can set the values of the first eight assignable CC commands. The default value of the pa rameters on this page is OFF, meaning they are disabled and do not send out any data. Press and hold [FUNC] and then press the DATA ENTRY knobs to enable them. You can then use the DATA ENTRY knobs to set the parameter values as usual. Disable the parameters again by repeating the enabling procedure. VAL1-VAL8 (CC 1–8 Value) controls the values that the CC commands send. You specify the CC commands themselves on FLTR page 2. These parameters default value is OFF. Press [FUNC] + DATA ENTRY knobs to activate the parameters and then turn the DATA ENTRY knobs to set a value. APPENDIX A: MACHINES Here you can also name the parameter whose value you control. Press and hold [FUNC] and then press and hold any DATA ENTRY knob to access the naming screen. For more information, please see “6.5 THE NAMING SCREEN” on page 19. FLTR PAGE 2 Here you select the first eight CC commands whose values you set with the parameters on the FLTR page 1. Press the corresponding knob or [YES] to activate the CC command change. SEL1-SEL8 (CC 1–8 Select) specifies the CC commands whose values you control controlled by the parameters on the AMP PAGE 1 (CC VALUE) page. The selectable commands are the standard MIDI Control Change Messages. You can specify the CC command for the SEL parameters by sending the CC value from the external MIDI equipped device you want to control. 1. On FLTR PAGE 2 or AMP PAGE 2 press and hold [FUNC] + DATA ENTRY knob A-H. 2. When the popup screen MIDI LEARN appears, and the parameter starts flashing, you can send a MIDI CC value on the active track’s MIDI channel (set in the SET TINGS > MIDI CONFIG > CHANNELS menu) or on the auto channel. 3. The popup disappears and the parameter stops flashing when the sent CC value is received and configured on the selected SEL parameter. You can cancel MIDI learn by pressing [NO] twice. AMP PAGE 1 Here you can set the values for eight additional assignable CC commands. VAL9-VAL16 (CC 9–16 Value) controls the values that the CC commands send. You specify the CC commands themselves on AMP page 2. These parameters default value is OFF. Press [FUNC] + DATA ENTRY knobs to activate the parameters and then turn the DATA ENTRY knobs to set a value. AMP PAGE 2 Here you select the eight additional CC commands whose values you set with the parameters on AMP page 1. Press the corresponding knob or [YES] to activate the parameter change. SEL9-SEL16 (CC 9–16 Select) specifies the CC commands whose values you control controlled by the parameters on the AMP page 1 (CC VALUE) page. The selectable commands are the standard MIDI Control Change Messages. A.3 FLTR MACHINES The FLTR machines are a collection of different filters and EQ.
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