TubeOhm ALPHA- RAY virtual analog synthesizer English manual V
Contents
1. 5S0UND PATCH BANK F p LOAD SAVE COPY LOAD SAYE pm Omputer 13 Dokumente E Bilder 2 Musik Si Zuletzt ge ndert Mm Suchvorg nge Weitere Ordner ALPHA RAY ALPHA RAY ALPHA RAY D ALPHA RAY ALPHA RAY ALPHA RAY ALPHA RAY ALPHA RAY A ALPHA RAY 007 Solo SPINETT MIDDLE AGE SPINETT MIDDLE AGE I SYNC BASS SYNC BASSI ART OF PWM ART OF PWML1 ATTACK STRINGS 6dBfilter ATTACK STRINGS 6d Brit Dateiname ALPHA RAY MY SOUND Dateityp VST Inst xp The name should always first be typed in the field The name is directly transfered to the data browser with SAVE PATCH and it is then possible to save the pactch in one click It makes sense to create a specific folder for your own sounds It can be named e g Alpha Ray own sounds It is possible to retrieve a prevouisly saved sound with LOAD It possible with COPY to copy a sound from one position in the bank to another E g from pos 1 to pos 35 SAVE LOAD BANK A complete soundbank is a file consisting of 128 individual sounds A new bank loaded in Alpha Ray offers new 128 available sounds You can save your own bank and load it again later Bank creation First you need soundpatches As many as possible Once you have created your 128 own sounds you can collect them in your own soundbank All patches have their own meaningful names and are saved in a folder Now a bit of2. F o T a ae ll eae Pu OLUME CO SUB CEECEE OCTAYE FINE PLL VOLUPIE WAYE The term VCO comes from the old analog technology and means voltage controlled oscillator In the 21st century everything including oscillators is digitally controlled so DCO means Digitally Controlled Oscillator One or several oscillators in a synthesizer are actually the sound generators like the strings of a guitar Thus when pressing a key the VCO gets a control voltage telling it at which frequency or note to oscillate On the other hand the DCO gets a digital information telling it at which frequency or note to oscillate The result is the same Each VCO DCO can generate different waveshapes ie sinus sawtooth ramp squarewave triangle and noise EX E Each of these waveshapes contains more or less harmonics and sounds differently A VCF can influence more or less the harmonic content and shape the sound accordingly VCF DCF 6 CUTOFF RESO Fri S a woke LFO 1 a a a sa 3 da a QGP YF ALA F ADSE K TRACK LFO VELOCITY The filter is one of the most important component of a synthesizer VCF means voltage controlled filter DCF is therefore a digitally controlled filter Whether voltage controlled or digitally controlled the control refers to the filter s cutoff frequency The cutoff frequency is the frequency at which a filter begins to attenua
3. handwork is required First to be on a safe side please copy the existing soundbank in a folder of your choice The following path is available c TubeOhm Alpha Ray Bank Then select patch 1 and load your own patch in position 1 then select patch 2 and load a different own patch in position 2 and so on until all 128 patch locations are full The complete bank is then saved with SAVE BANK under a dedicated name such as MY FIRST BANK FXB That s it Another tip While holding the Ctrl key pressed when tweaking an Alpha Ray knob it is possible to fine tune the selected knob Internal patchbrowser Left clicking the upper display window red dot will open the internal browser It will display all the patches included in the current bank CUTOFF im F ADSR E FREQ FREQ E 1 HIGH STRINGS 6dBfilter 2 Distortions Lead 3 BASS A 4GLAS 01 5 Low PAD 6 moving wolce Organic 8 BIG TRUMP LEAD DIST ULTRA 9 The Sleep 10 PWM_RANDOM 11 FILTER ZAP 12 AUTO PORTAMENTO 13 BELLS Mo Distortion 14 Geplinker N 15 THE DARK 16 HEOBO HE 17 HIGH STRINGS 3 18 JUP 6 19 TEC lt Dict You can now easily find a patch Clicking a patch directly will load it 33 5pacebells No Distortion 34 TOP WAVE 35 UP 5TRINGS 36 Wire 37 WORK ROUND 38 Arctic wind 39 Majestic strings 40 Oldfield flute 41 DARK PEAK 42 POPCORN effect 43 BIG ANALOG 44 SAW Lead 45 LONLY SAW 46 Alarm 01 47 Chapel orga
4. modulation more effective LFO 1 and 2 EQ EP t1 EN Oe P _ SYNC p BPM Alpha Ray features 2 LFOs for different modulation tasks LFO 1 and 2 feature 11 different waveforms Thanks to the SYNC button both can be synchronized to the keyboard to start with an initial O Phase Each time a key is pressed the LFOs begin to oscillate starting withe phase 0 If the BPM button is set then the frequencies of the LFOs are synchronized to the VST Host program E g if set to 120 BPM the frequencies of the LFOs can be adjusted to 1 16 1 8 1 4 1 2 1 2 4 of the host clock frequency The M LFO2 control allows the modulation of LFO 1 frequency by LFO 2 LFO 2 controls the frequency of LFO 1 in this case LFO 2 s Random function generates a random value evolving according to the frequency set This random value can be routed to all destination modules WAVE sets the desired waveform PITCH and MODULATIONS joystick There are more control and modulation functions with a modulation joystick in order to modulate and play the instrument in real time with added flexibility The X direction controls the pitch ie the frequencies of the VCOs The Y direction controls the modulation Pitch modulation includes its own LFO which frequency is set by FRQ The magnitude of the pitch modulation of the LFO is controlled by the Y direction and by M W M W sets the maximum modulation that can be reached at Y end stop FIX
5. BACK and DIFFUSION affect reverb density PRE_DMP and DMP are 2 lowpass filters PRE_DMP is located before the actual reverb DMP after Both filetrs somehow attenuate higher frequencies It is thus possible to achieve the oil tank effect MIDI LEARN Learn UnLearn Almost all Alpha Ray s controls can be hardware remote controlled A popup menu appears when right clicking a control When MIDI LEARN is selected the control waits for incoming MIDI data from the hardware controller You just have then to turn a knob on the hardware controller Normally MIDI CC information are sent that actually move the knob on the synth Alpha Ray receives all data including keyboard information basically on channel 1 PATCH and BANK and SAVE and LOAD A patch is a single sound program All the settings of an individual sound are saved in a patch The patch file suffix is FXP P for Program A bank is a soundbank consisting of 128 individual sounds or patches The bank file suffix is FXB B for Bank The following is to do if you want to save your own sounds 1 the sound should have its own name in order to be retrieved later 2 it should be saved in a folder Patchname PATCH SELECT ei My SOUND PATCH BANK LOAD SAVE COPY LOAD SAY Left clicking the field containing the name allows to type in the new name of the patch FREQ BF I 1 A Oe IAE a a SYNC PMO a FREQ BPM WAYE PATCH SELECT E MHY
6. FF ArE OUT A e e e SIZE ROOM DECAY P DMP OMP mala O DRIFE H CHORUS H DELAY H REVERB The overall signal first passes through a 2 stage monophonic overdrive Its effect is similar to a guitar distorsion box Drive 1 generates moderate distorsion Drive 2 harder distorsion MIX sets the distorsion factor p 0 DRI E M OFF E ORIE 1 DRIVE E MIx The 3 stage chorus phattens the sound Chorus is set to the 3rd mode when both buttons CHORUS 1 and CHORUS 2 are ON FREQ controls chorus modulation and MIX mixes original and chorused signals CHORUS M OFF CHORUS 3 Ere D 48 CHORUS 1 CHORUS 2 FREQ a Delay can operate either in R L mode stereo delay or in normal mode Delay times are set to the host sync clock with BPM SYNC DELAY an FEEDBACK set the delay time and feedback MIX mixes original and delayed signals DELAY ONOFF A _ ESE HORMAK A DELAY FEEDE Hilso The final sound is polished by a REVERB In order to extend the sound capabilities it is possible to use the reverb as a kind of echo where individual reflections can be clearly distinguished This depends on the settings ED ee REYERB Ms i a E T a FEED DIFF AB SIZE Foor DECAY F OMF 0AF hx SIZE sets the Predelay the reverbed signal being actually delayed This is called PREDELAY ROOM changes the room size DECAY the overall time for the reverbed signal to fade away FEED
7. LTER attenuates low frequencies and is clearly a benefit to the sound Extreme settings remove the complete lower spectrum and the instrument gains a strong medium tone colour While working with Alpha Ray s main filter we noticed that lower frequencies remain stable in amplitude Setting the cutoff frequency only affects more or less higher frequencies Noise without highpass filter Frequency response J n A A F TE i i Ha E i El A Le Qe W i Mee Att Jl de hah poo sy A Padi HM J Noise with highpass filter Frequency response F I ml i Fa h Y k pal Ti if i Ms Hal AS r Ak h A L h Fa h l A ny I l 3 ee Li i 1 1 owl ral 300 400 600 800 WK The 6dB highpass filter has a second mode in order to introduce more dynamic in the lower part of the spectrum This mode can be set with LINK VCF In LINK VCF mode the 6dB HP filter is coupled to the actual cutoff frequency control of the main filter With actual we mean cutoff Velo K Track LFO modulation What does this coupling excatly do A smal consideration here Actually the 6dB HP filter is before the main LP filter Explanation of terms LP lowpass filter A lowpass filter allows all frequencies below the cutoff frequency to pass through Frequencies above the cutoff frequency are attenuated with a 12 24 dB octave frequency doubling slope CUTOFF HP highpass This HP filter allows only frequencies above the cutoff frequency t
8. TubeOhm ALPHA RAY virtual analog synthesizer English manual V 1 0 Translation Xavier 43 JUMP AGAIN MAIN PY EFFECTS VCO 1 OVERDRIVE ee ae VCF ADSR VCO 1 A A e VCO 2 VCF FILTER Q RESO YCO SUB SUSTAIN RELEASE CUTOFF 7 A i SA aft y 7 F ADSP K TRACH LFO VELOCITY P M0D PUM OLUME DRIVE VCA ADSR LFO 1 VCO 2 OCTAVE FINE FREQ M LFO2 WAYE me E 4 Sd MES MS 79 gt gt y 6dB VELOCITY YOLUME EK DECH SUSTAIN RELEASE dE E n y EL gt o E is a A E A E 6 E AS de E PITCH ADSR P Moo PLUM OLUME HP FILTER FREO WA YE SO a yy VCO SUB MASTER TUNE PATCH SELECT 45 SN e e ee e y A i A E S A A l E F a ml ge JUMP AGAIN 5i aw OCTAVE VOLUME WAYE OCT FINE n aa pr ES pr LOAD SAYE COPY LOAD SAVE NA SUSTAIN RELEASE TubeOhm 2012 About Alpha Ray The idea of Alpha Ray emerged after several of our users have asked where to get basic information on virtual as well as on real hardware synthesizers This user manual is therefore also meant as a tutorial on the basics of a virtual analog synthesizer based on subtractive synthesis So let s go With clarification in mind we will first explain the basic terms VCO or DCO OCTAWE l EE LFO i A gt A gt a A qe E Pen E oP P 00 Eais FUH FHI OLLE VCO 2 EG E OCTAYE SEMI FIME l a l a E MF LFoe E ee k Y qe A P Ehy na
9. cillator Its frequency range is typically 0 01 40 HZ An LFO is used typically to modulate components such as VCO DCO VCF DCF and VCA DCA F ADSR F ADSR sets the magnitude of the filter cutoff frequency modulation by the ADSR K TRACK K TRACE K TRACK moves the filter s cutoff frequency according to the note played Higher notes would always sound more muffled without K TRACK since the filter s cutoff frequency would have been fixed VELOCITY S Pi VELOCITY WELOCITY i VELOCITY allows cutoff frequency or volume to be controlled Higher velocity means higher frequencies in the spectrum or higher signal volume VCF I II Switches between a ladder network filter LP or a state variable filter LP They sound differently P Mod ulation or VCO pitch modulation The VCO pitch is dynamically controlled The modulation source can be LFO 1 LFO 2 or Pitch ADSR P MOD sets the magnitude of the pith modulation Keyword siren effects PWM Modulation PWM p CLF A fi P ENY Plu PWM sets the magnitude oft he the pulse width modulation All 3 VCOs can generate a squarewave The squarewave can be pulse modulated First in a static way by the PWM control Technically it changes the harmonic content of the sound A pulse width of 50 produces a rather bassy sound A pulse width of 90 generates a nasal medium coloured sound PULSE PAUSE Harmonic Es i i
10. lly every synthesizer uses envelope generators to produce dynamic sounds An envelope consists of several time and amplitude segments The most common ist he so called ADSR generator The envelope generator starts its ATTACK phase A as soon as a key is pressed until it reaches a maximum Once the maximum is reached the amplitude decreases with DECAY time D to the SUSTAIN level S and maintains this level until the key is released As soon as the key is released the amplitude decreases to 0 in the time set by RELEASE R A stands for the time required to go fro O to the envelope s maximum level D is the time required to go from the maximum level to the SUSTAIN LEVEL S sets the SUSTAIN LEVEL R is the time required by the envelope to decrease to O when the key is released gt gt ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE lt lt A synthesizer uses ADSR generators for several tasks and usually several of them are available An ADSR generator controls the cutoff frequency of the filter A second one controls the volume Another one can control the PWM or the VCO pitch PW and PWM W Fol am A ar P P ENy a F UWHA FUJ PW means Pulse Width and sets the pulse shape of a square wave PWM is Pulse Width Modulation The pulse width or pulse phase behavior of a square wave is modulated by an LFO or an ADSR FM or Frequency Modulation Alpha Ray allows the VCO 1 frequency to be modulated by the VCO 2 freq
11. n the octave precision isn t guaranteed However we are dealing here with minimal flucutuations and these produce BEATS These beats as such are pleasant to our ears In plain English if on an old synth we press 10 times the same key consecutively we will obtain indeed 10 different pitchs E g 440 Hz the first time then 440 02 Hz then 439 99 Hz and so on When played in combination the notes already produce a phasing or a light chorus effect And this without any special effect That s the trick And this can also be simulated Thus when ANALOG is set a small random pitch value is added to the VCO pitch information DETUNE sets the magnitude of the random values And suddenly it sounds no longer so cold or sterile The effect is however very subtle and only noticeable when switched off It depends also on the sound used MODULATION Modulation is the influence of frequency amplitude or harmonic content of a sound generator buy another component such an LFO We talk about VIBRATO when the frequency of an oscillator is modulated and about TREMOLO when its amplitue ie its volume is modulated Depending on the oscillator waveform e g a squarewave it is possible to dynamically modulate the pulse width by a LFO In which case we talk about PWM or Pulse Width Modulation LFO Gx E FREQ EFt M LFOe MWAYE a ae PMO FREQ i IA E An LFO is a low frequency oscillator ie a slow beating os
12. n 01 48 FM piano 01 49 Jan H lead 01 50 Resonance dance 01 1 Sine hell 01 65 SF 66 47 67 41 68 5 69 00 fO C Fit fast Ea HC TaGC f6 C TE T amp C TAC 80 10 Bl 0 82 0 A That s all enjoy Alpha Ray Final word Only Alpha Ray the synthesizer itself is freeware You can use the sounds without restriction However the cost to unlock the effects section is 4 95 We think it s a very fair price for a fine instrument Hey we live from the sale of our instruments and it s not that easy 4 95 is your support so that we can continue our work and we consider it as a Thank you With this mind we wish you much fun with this instrument TubeOhm 09 01 2012
13. o pass through Frequencies below the cutoff frequency are attenuated with a 6 dB oct slope Highpass behavior Now let s consider our Alpha Ray filter Lower frequencies are attenuated thanks to the 6 dB HP filter Higher frequencies are attenuated by the main LP filter We get a narrower frequency band depending on the setting of the main filter s cutoff frequency and the setting of the 6 dB filter This combination allows the creation of a bandpass filter with adjustable bandwidth A simplified example The HP filter only allows frequencies above 1000 Hz the master LP filter cuts off over 5000 Hz In this case the bandwidth is 4000 Hz 5000 1000 HP plus LP combination BP 200 300 400 600 800 Ik Beware the trap here If for example the HP filter cuts off frequencies below 5000 Hz and the LP filter above 5000 Hz we simply hear nothing It should now be clear why If the HP filter passes frequencies that are attenuated by the LP filter the resulting signal becomes more and more attenuated Furthermore if the control of the cutoff frequency is now completly synchonized to the cutoff frequency of the 6dB filter we obtain a bandpass filter controlled by VELO VCF ADSR through the complete sound frequency range As we are dealing now with a bandpass filter lower frequencies are now attenuated depending on how the BP filter moves accross the frequency range The sound thus seems more present and the filter
14. r ial i Ll il 200 00 400 II 1K 20h PULSE PAUSE 50 50 0 Harmonic content A A nm E y T P y ii i i if i i NU Wy P 200 300 400 600 800 1 Thanks to PWM Pulse Width Modulation it is possible to dynamically control the pulse width ratio with LFO 1 LFO 2 or pitch envelope LFO 1 2 periodically change the harmonic content of the signal according to their respective frequencies The pitch envelope changes the harmonic content of the VCOs accordingly PW Pulse Width Sets a predefined pulse width ratio of a squarewave This pulse width ratio can be modulated with PWM gt m FoI pone P ENY Overdrive poly and the 6dB HP Filter OVERDRIVE MA IN vco SUE pm DRIVE Technically speaking VCO signals are mirrored through a non linear characteristic This results is a distortion of the signals E g if a sinus wave is distorted it will contain harmonics Sinus wave without distorsion Harmonic content Harmonic content The signal includes more or less harmonics according to the level of distorsion A sawtooth is perceived more clearly with some added harmonics The optimal DRIVE setting is 30 70 Too much DRIVE can significantly distort the signal which then can be perceived as unpleasant distorsion In contrast to a light crunchy distortion which slightly roughen the sound The 6dB highpass filter Unk O CF HF FI
15. sets the magnitude of the basic modulation The modulation of the VCOs by the LFOs can also by set by AFTER TOUCH P W means Pitch Wheel and sets in X direction the maximum number of semitones transposed by the VCOs when moving the joystick The VCF control sets the cutoff frequency by AFTERTOUCH When MF is set the cutoff frequency is modulated by the LFO and AFTERTOUCH Portamento has 2 functions as well When Portamento is set the pitch glides to the next key pressed The 2nd mode is called AUTO PORTA and is operating only when Alpha Ray is set to mono AUTO PORTA is set by the switch just left to the Porta control In AUTO PORTAMENTO mode each individual note is generated without portamento When a further note is played while the current is still active key still pressed the portamento kicks in and the pitch then glides from note 1 to note 2 The MONO POLY switch sets Alpha Ray in 10 voices mode or in monophonic 1 voice mode The effect section P A IN EFFECTS The effect section includes 4 different effects which are connected in serie at the output of the synthesizer OVERDRIVE gt gt CHORUS gt gt DELAY gt gt REVERB p O ORIVE p CHORUS DELAY M OFF M OFF y OM OFF CHORUS 3 git is gi aie gts E CD a m EEE DRIVE 1 ORIYE Z HE CHORUS 1 CHORUS 2 FREQ MIs MORM ES A DELAY FEEDE HE ONOFF 5 EFFECT FLOW l p siy a in REVERE S16 OUT L ma a CE a a FEED DI
16. te We re talking here about a LP filter ie a lowpass filter meaning that the higher frequencies are attenuated The specification given in dB refers to the slope of the filter The slope is a measure of the filter s attenuation when frequency is doubling ie per octave We are dealing here with SUBSTRACTIVE SYNTHESIS since the filter can be controlled to attenuate more or less certain frequencies The filter attenuates part of the total harmonic content of the signal Filter Q or filter resonance If a filter is looped back meaning its resonance is increased it will eventually begin to oscillate and then as such it can be used as a sound generator The filter s tone becomes harsher when its gain at cutoff frequency is increased As soon as Q 1 is reached the filter begins to self oscillate VCF VCA PITCH ADSR The filter can be controlled by e g an envelope generator or an LFO in order to obtain a dynamic change in the signal s spectral content in which case the filter s cutoff frequency is controlled y i E LEG 1 a M LFoe The cutoff frequency is periodically swept by an LFO An envelope generator controls the overall filter process as soon as a key Is pressed until it is released The envelope generator or envelope or ADSR generator A Be ES ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE VC A ADSR EEEE VELO CITY OLUME ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE PITC H AD SR ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE Virtua
17. uency so that new harmonics are generated by VCO 1 Osc SYNC or Oscillator Synchronization Every time VCO 2 s signal crosses zero the phase of VCO 1 is resetted However this only works if VCO 1 frequency is higher or equal to VCO 2 frequency In this case VCO 2 synchronizes VCO 1 PHASE PHASE AMALOG a i DETUME Let s consider a sinus wave A whole period covers 360 degrees Phase 0 means that the sinus is starting with O amplitude lts maximum is reached at 90 degrees the next zero crossing is at 180 degrees the maximum negative at 270 degrees and the next zero crossing at 360 degrees When PHASE is on the VCO wave starts with phase 0 and amplitude 0 0 90 180 2 0 360 We have a so called predefined transient If PHASE is off the VCO wave starts with a random amplitude e random phase Is it important Yes if we want some punchy bass we need a specific waveform attack But it s exactly the opposite with strings Since the VCO starts every time at Phase 0 an unpleasant spike noise may be heard Therefore strings gt gt PHASE off ANALOG DETUNE pm PHASE p ANALOG DETUME We have once been lucky to have an opportunity to test an old analog synthesizer Well what distinguishes a real synthesizer from a VA synthesizer Why does hardware sound somehow different than software We have noticed that old equipments are rather prone to unstability regarding pitch Eve
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