Glossary

Effect Unit or Audio Plugin : An effect unit is a audio processing stage, which can be used to perform a variety of exciting things. You can have as many effect units in your design as you want, subject to the processing power of your target platform!

Tone Generator Plugin : A special sort of effect unit that knows how to generate note data in response to MIDI note events; for example, this includes "tg/dsynth" (the "DSynth"), and "tg/particle" (the "Particle System" which is a granular synthesiser unit).

Signal Rate Plugin : An audio plugin that works at the normal audio processing rate of the system; most plugins are considered to be audio-rate plugins.

Control Rate Plugin : An audio plugin that works at a lower rate than the normal audio processing plugins; used to control parameters on other units (for example, c/lfo and c/envelope are both control-rate plugins).

Effect Module or FXM network: An effect module is the grouping of all effects units used by a particular Voice, or by the global effects, or by a synthesizer module. Think of it in terms of a row of Effect Units that works from left-to-right.

LFO: Low Frequency Oscillator. Used to do a number of things; control-rate LFO (c/lfo) can be used to control other effects unit parameters such as filter cutoff frequency or perform pitch modulation. The signal rate LFO can be used as a direct frequency generator, or to apply Ring Modulation effects if run at a low enough frequency.

Envelope: A control-rate unit that creates a waveform in direct response to a note on MIDI event; used to modulate various critical parameters within synth modules. For example, envelopes are used to shape the volume of a note when it is triggered, and can also be used for all sorts of neat effects such as modulating the pitch of a note while it plays.