Partikl Tone Generator Unit: DSynth

Tip: You can use an audio junction unit to add together sounds from multiple tone generators to make even richer sounds!

Overview

The "DSynth" effect unit is a very powerful and flexible tone generator, that can be used both as a melodic tone generator and and as a Drum/Percussion Synthesizer (which you can use to create all sorts of drum/percussion related sounds).

You can shift the pitch of the generated sound away from the notes that would otherwise be played, using the octave/semi/offset controls.

The unit works by combining two Oscillators, which cross-modulate each other's oscillation frequency. Each oscillator has its own ADSR envelope, which is used primarily to modulate the volume of the oscillator, but which can also be used to modulate the frequency of the oscillator!

The output of the two oscillators is merged with the output from a filtered noise generator (the bottom block of parameters), which also has its own ADSR envelope. The net effect is a unit which can create a wide array of percussive and melodic sounds. You can use the Export and Import buttons at the top of the unit to export and import DSynth settings to/ from the clipboard - have fun!

The main controls in this unit are:

Oscillator 1 and Oscillator 2 Parameters

Freq.: The frequency of oscillator 1 or 2.

OMod: "Oscillator Modulation" - The amount of modulation provided by the other oscillator, for oscillator 1 or 2.

EMod: "Envelope Modulation" - the amount of the envelope which should also be used to modulate the frequency of oscillator 1 or 2. If this is set to 0, then the ADSR envelope is used purely to modulate the volume of the oscillator.

Delay : The length of time it takes after a note event occurs for the voice, before the envelope starts to rise-up from zero to its Attack level.

Attack: The length of time it takes after the delay time has passed for the voice, for the envelope to rise-up from zero to its Attack level.

A Level: The target Attack Level for the attack stage of the envelope, as the envelope rises from its initial value of zero.

Decay : The length of time it takes for the envelope to decay down from the Attack Level, down to the Sustain Level of zero.

Rate: A measure of the curvature of the Decay, down to the sustain level of zero. A value of 0 gives a linear decay, and increasing values giving an increasing level of curvature - resulting in a sound that is more "plucked" in nature.

Filter/Q Parameters

Freq.: The frequency of the filter.

EMod: "Envelope Modulation" - the amount of the envelope which should also be used to modulate the filter frequency. If this is set to 0, then the ADSR envelope is used purely to modulate the volume of the filtered noise..

Q: the amount of accentuation of the filter, 1.0 is high, 0.0 is no effect at all.

Delay : The length of time it takes after a note event occurs for the voice, before the envelope starts to rise-up from zero to its Attack level.

Attack: The length of time it takes after the delay time has passed for the voice, for the envelope to rise-up from zero to its Attack level.

A Level: The target Attack Level for the attack stage of the envelope, as the envelope rises from its initial value of zero. Tip: A value of zero is very good for melodic sounds; set to a higher value for more percussive sounds.

Decay : The length of time it takes for the envelope to decay down from the Attack Level, down to the Sustain Level of zero.

Rate: A measure of the curvature of the Decay, down to the sustain level of zero. A value of 0 gives a linear decay, and increasing values giving an increasing level of curvature - resulting in a sound that is more "plucked" in nature.

Click: Use this checkbox to add an initial transient when the notes are triggered; very useful for percussive sounds.

Notes: This Checkbox determines whether the drum unit will actually use the composed note frequency to override the frequency of oscillator 1. The default is that the checkbox is clear : i.e. the system will not use the composed note frequency for the drum unit. Tip : for percussive sounds, you might like to try clearing this checkbox!

Type List: The filter type to use: includes Low Pass, High Pass and Band Pass.

Ove: This allows you to specify the the octave offset from the voice's pitch.

Semi: This allows you to select the semitone offset from the voice's pitch (taking into account the octave offset above).

Micro: This allows you to specify the microtonal offset in order to 'detune' the tone. -100 is the equivalent to a semitone down, and +100 is a semitone up.