Vacuum Pro: User Guide, v1.0
Contents
1. will not change as new sounds are loaded 8 Voices Vacuum Pro is a polyphonic instrument and can play up to six notes at the same time This parameter lets you limit the number of notes the instrument will play 7 Sir 9 Eco Switching this button on engages Economy Mode and can reduce CPU load by up to 35 This is achieved through a slight often unnoticeable reduction in the sampling rate of the Vacuum Pro sound engine If you have an older or less powerful computer we recommend engaging this mode in order to play complex sounds with higher polyphony 10 Double Switching this button on engages global unison doubling This creates a significantly thicker sound but places higher demands on your CPU 11 Save Load This section lets you load and save sounds e To load a sound click the screen to bring up a categorized list of Vacuum Pro sound presets You can also use the arrow buttons to the right of the preset name to quickly shift between sounds e To save a sound click the Save button If you wish to quickly overwrite the file you are currently working on without changing the file name or bringing up the file browser you can do so by shift clicking the Save button arr O L EE The Smart Controls Page Vacuum Pro features an innovative Smart Controls page that provides macro level control of a sound This makes it easy to take any existing sound and quickly modify it to suit your needs The kno2. UM PRO g a O Vacuum Pro is a polyphonic vintage style analog inspired virtual instrument Based on the original Vacuum instrument found in the Creative Collection included with Avid Pro Tools Vacuum Pro is a truly unique take on analog synthesis Rather than sampling or modeling a classic well known analog synth Vacuum Pro personifies the overall style and sound of synths from this era Vacuum Pro features two parts which are expanded to four that give this synth an incredibly rich fat multi layered sound Over 400 presets are included and many presets contain doubles and layers Intelligent randomization allows for quickly creating custom presets and Part and Randomization Locks help to refine sounds quickly without needing to adjust every parameter The Smart Page features eight macro knobs Each knob is meticulously mapped to numerous parameters on the Part Page to allow for intuitive musical editing of the instrument sound All parameters can be mapped to a connected MIDI controller and all are automatable Vacuum Pro is available as a 64 bit VST 64 bit AU and RTAS plug in for Mac OS X and Windows Sir O D System Requirements and Product Support For complete system requirements compatibility information and product registration visit the AIR website airmusictech com Installation Right click the zip file you downloaded and select Extract All Follow the on screen instruction
3. a brief instant for the feedback spectra to shift to a new note that is played This results in a more organic transition If switched on Re Pitch immediately resets the feedback spectra at the start of each note which some describe as being cleaner but more digital sounding This can be set according to your needs 14 Sir _ Mixer with Ring Modulation and Drive The oscillators are fed into a mixer that lets you set the levels of each input This mixer also includes a RingMod knob that lets you dial in a classic ring modulated sound Finally the mixer also has a Drive knob that simulates tube saturation on its output Filters The voice path has two filters a low pass band pass filter and a high pass filter The Routing switch lets you use these filters in Serial Parallel or Complex The serial and parallel modes work as expected Complex is a proprietary routing developed by the AIR team in which the filters work primarily in parallel but a small amount of output from each filter is fed back into the other filter This results in an interesting sound due to the unusual way in which the two filters interact with each other Finally each filter also has a Sat knob to set the amount of saturation Output Amplifier The output of the filters is passed to an output amplifier This amplifier is controlled by Envelope 3 and its A D S R knobs The output amplifier also provides additional wave shaping controls through th
4. bs on the Smart Controls page are connected to all of the appropriate controls on the Part A and Part B pages This means that turning one Smart knob will cause several related knobs on both Part pages to change simultaneously to help you achieve a desired sound This saves you from having to manually locate and change the controls on each Part page 9 Sir O D The Apply Button When working with the Smart controls you are always imparting modifications to the parameters on the Part pages without actually overwriting those parameters As you work with the Smart controls you may come across a heavily modified sound that you wish to use as a starting point for even more modifications To do this simply click the Apply button When you click the Apply button all of the temporary modifications being imparted from the Smart controls become permanently imprinted into the Part pages The Smart controls are then reset to their baseline 12 o clock settings You can then save the sound or continue using the Smart controls for even more modification Performance and Effects Area 1 Arp This cluster of controls affect the arpeggiator of Vacuum Pro e On This switch turns the arpeggiator on and off When the arpeggiator is active the LED below the switch is illuminated and pulses with the running arpeggiator Rate This knob sets the speed of the arpeggiator Speeds are set in musical divisions of your DAW s digital au
5. dio workstation s master BPM e Mode This knob sets the progression of the chord you are arpeggiating O O O O Up steps notes from bottom to top and repeats Down steps notes from top to bottom and repeats U amp D steps notes from bottom to top to bottom and repeats Rnd plays all of the notes in your chord in random order 2 Keyboard and Pitch Mod Wheels The keyboard as well as the Pch pitch and Mod modulation wheels respond to incoming MIDI data You can also manipulate these controls with a mouse 11 Sir O _ 3 Chorus Phaser These controls affect the Chorus and Phaser effects of Vacuum Pro Selector This three position switch sets the effect Chorus Phaser 1 or Phaser 2 Depth This knob sets the intensity of the selected effect Rate This knob sets the speed of the selected effect Mix Determines how much of the effect is mixed in with the original unprocessed signal Note that if this knob is set fully counter clockwise you will not hear any effect 4 Delay These knobs and switches control the delay effect of Vacuum Pro LPF Sets the delay effect s low pass filter cutoff frequency HPF Sets the delay effect s high pass filter cutoff frequency Time Sets the delay time If the Sync parameter is switched on this parameter is displayed as beat divisions If the Syne parameter is off this parameter is shown displayed in seconds Fdbk Determines how much of the outgoing signal is
6. e Shape knob 15 Sir O Sound Modifiers Envelopes LFOs and Modulation Vacuum Pro has a number of envelopes LFOs and other modulation sources to help you control the various parts of the synthesizer in new and interesting ways Envelopes Vacuum Pro has four envelopes Envelopes 1 and 2 share one set of knobs and are used to control the first filter HP the second filter LP or Both The third envelope exclusively controls the output amplifier You can assign the fourth envelope to control various parts of the synthesizer by using the Destination drop down menu o Fourth Envelope Vacuum Pro has a unique flat fourth envelope that is quite useful for pitch effects This flat envelope does nothing in its default state as shown above The Att Lvl knob sets the target level positive if turned clockwise negative if counterclockwise that will be reached over the time defined by the Att Time knob The Slope knob sets the post attack behavior of the envelope while a note is being held If this knob is greater than zero the envelope will drift upward if it is lower than zero the envelope will drift downward The Rel Sip knob performs the same function as the Slope knob except once a note has been released 16 Sir O D LFOs Vacuum Pro has two low frequency oscillators The shape of the LFOs can be set using the Shape menu and the LFOs can be synchronized to the master clock of your DAW by using the Sync drop down m
7. ed in the next section of this guide 2 Part A B Power These buttons switch each part on and off The button s backlight is illuminated when the part is active 3 Part A B Volume These sliders set the level of each part ar O 4 Part A B Load This section lets you load individual parts This is done by clicking the name display or the arrow icons next to the display The A button copies the contents of Part A into Part B the B button copies Part B into Part A 5 Part A B Randomization Enabling The Rand button see below lets you quickly randomize all of the parameters of a part By default it randomizes all parameters in all sections of the synthesizer Oscillator Filter Envelope Modulation or Output Amplifier However it is possible to lock a section of the synthesizer to prevent changes being made to that section To do this click the buttons VTO VTF ENV MOD VTA and make sure the backlight is off so that randomization is not enabled 6 Part A B Rand This button lets you randomize the parameters of a part If you d like to prevent a section of the synthesizer from being randomized ensure that Randomization Enabling is switched off for that section See above 7 Load Locking This is a unique feature to lock certain sections of Vacuum Pro as you load new sounds For example if you lock the VTO Oscillator VTF Filter and ENV Envelope sections while loading other sounds those sections
8. enu Finally the Fade knob allows you to fade in and out the default 12 o clock position produces no fade in or out turning counter clockwise sets fade out whereas turning clockwise sets fade in e Mod The Mod section allows you to select a modulation Source and Destination using drop down menus The Depth knob sets the amount of modulation that takes place There are three Velocity knobs that use the velocity of incoming MIDI note data to control the filters and output amplifier sections 17 Other Unique Controls Vacuum Pro has two additional sections Age and Setup with controls may not be familiar e Age These controls model the effects of wear and tear experienced by classic synthesizers The Drift knob sets how much random variance drift you will hear in pitch When set fully counter clockwise there will be no pitch variance with each note strike When set fully clockwise you may hear a great deal of random variance in pitch with each note strike The Dust control models the effects of dust and corrosion on the contacts of keybed This results in specific sonic artifacts that appear at the start of each note e Setup These are controls that affect the behavior of the synthesizer The Glide Time knob sets the amount of time it takes to portamento or glide from one note to the next The Glide All switch determines whether notes glide at all times or if gliding only happens when one note is already being
9. fed back into the delay module from 0 100 Mix Determines how much of the effect is mixed in with the original unprocessed signal Note that if this knob is set fully counter clockwise you will not hear any effect Sync Engaging this switch synchronizes the Time parameter to the master clock of your DAW If this switch is off the Time parameter is displayed in seconds L R This switch engages a ping pong stereo delay mode 5 Master These knobs control the master output of Vacuum Pro Width Sets the width of the stereo sound field from mono fully counter clockwise to stereo fully clockwise Level Sets the output level of Vacuum Pro 12 Sr O Synthesizer Area This area is where all of the Vacuum Pro sounds are generated Please note that this user guide describes only the signal flow and unique features of Vacuum Pro but does not go into the basics of synthesis and sound design If you are not familiar with the building block concepts of synthesis such as oscillators or envelopes there are many great resources on the Internet to help you learn Also Vacuum Pro has useful Tooltips that appear when you hold the mouse over a control for one second These Tooltips can be very helpful in identifying the names of different controls as you are learning about synthesis You can also start by tweaking any of the preset sounds in Vacuum Pro In our experience hearing how a knob twist affects overall sound i
10. held down The Env Retr switch determines whether the envelopes are retriggered with each key strike or if they begin with the first note strike and continue until all notes are released 18 Settings Page The Settings page contains several global parameters that affect all areas of Vacuum Pro Clicking the wrench icon at the lower right corner of the Performance and Effects area accesses this page 1 Pitch Bend Range This parameter sets how many semitones up or down your note will be shifted when you use your MIDI controllers pitch wheel If this parameter is set to 0 Vacuum Pro will ignore pitch bend MIDI messages 19 Sir _ 2 Show Tooltips Tooltips are helpful hints that appear when you hold the mouse over an on screen control for one second If you re already familiar with the instrument you can hide the tooltips by setting this parameter to No 3 MIDI Assignments Nearly all of the Vacuum Pro controls can be re mapped MIDI learned to the buttons knobs or sliders of your MIDI controller This is done by right clicking the on screen control and selecting Learn MIDI CC and then using that control on your MIDI device If you have several different MIDI controllers that you wish to use with Vacuum Pro for example a small lightweight keyboard for live performance and a large master keyboard for studio use use the Save and Load buttons to quickly save or load learned MIDI mappi
11. ing sounds or adjusting the volume between the two Parts that make up a sound If you just want to play the amazing sounds that ship with Vacuum Pro you only need to understand how this section works exploring the other sections of the synth is optional The Master Section is described in detail in the next section of this guide e Synthesizer This area contains all of the elements that create the sounds of Vacuum Pro including oscillators filters envelopes LFOs etc These elements are covered in the Synthesizer Area section of this guide Performance and Effects Area This area has a variety of performance related controls keyboard pitch and modulation wheels and arpeggiator as well as some sweetening effects including Chorus Phaser and Delay For more information please refer to the Performance and Effects Area section of this guide 5 lh ll OT EE The Master Section 1 Page Select These buttons select which page is currently being shown on screen e Part A Part B Each Vacuum Pro sound can have up to two independent separately programmed parts that make up the overall sound you hear Each part has its own page and can be accessed using the Part A and Part B buttons e Smart Vacuum Pro features innovative Smart Controls page in which a handful of smart knobs can simultaneously control many knobs on both part pages These controls are accessed by pressing the Smart button and are discuss
12. ngs for each controller The Reset button removes all custom mapping and returns Vacuum Pro to its default state 4 Parts Inherit Preset Names When Saved This feature applies if you create new sounds using parts of existing sounds If No is selected the names of the original parts will remain in the new sound that is created and saved If Yes is selected the name of each part will be changed to match the name that is chosen for the sound 20 Sir O Support eee For technical support please contact us through the Support page of our website airmusictech com support Trademarks and Licenses VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH Avid Pro Tools and RTAS are registered trademarks of Avid Technology Inc in the U S and other countries Mac and OS X are trademarks of Apple Inc registered in the U S and other countries Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries All other product or company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners airmusictech com Manual Version 1 0
13. s By default Windows will show you the extracted files when it has finished extracting them N 3 Double click the exe installer file 4 Follow the on screen instructions Note Vacuum Pro uses PACE copy protection so it will install the PACE InterLok driver on your system if you do not already have it As most audio software uses PACE copy protection though this is probably already installed on your system 1 Double click the zip file you downloaded The archive utility will extract the files and put them in a folder in the same location as the zip file 2 Open the Vacuum Pro folder 3 Double click the pkg installer file 4 Follow the on screen instructions Design Philosophy VTO VTF ENV IMOD VTA VTO VIF ENV IMOD VTA a Like many classic hardware synths Vacuum Pro has a straightforward layout in which you can see the flow of your signal from left to right and there is only one mode of operation i e no separate play or edit modes Furthermore nearly all of the buttons and knobs have only one function These design elements make it easy to develop muscle memory and confidently reach for the right knob without having to actively think about what you re doing 4 air O zz Vacuum Pro Sections MASTER SECTION oom i SYNTHESIZER l PERFORMANCE amp EFFECTS Master Section This section gives you high level global features such as loading sav
14. s one of the most immediate and satisfying ways of learning about synthesis 13 Vacuum Pro Voice Path Filter Section 2 filters 3 routing variations SERIAL Oscillator 1 PARALLEL A Output TO Syne Mixer with Ring Modulation Amplifier PERFORMANCE and Drive Controls HP ADSR amp FX SECTION COMPLEX Oscillator 2 Can be synced to Oscillator 1 The voice path of Vacuum Pro is similar to that of many classic synthesizers from the 1970 80s Oscillators with Quad Mode and Delay Controls Vacuum Pro has two oscillators with continuously variable wave shapes that are dialed in using the Shape knob The second oscillator can be synced to the first by using the Syne Mode switch O Quad Mode Each oscillator has a Quad mode on off switch This is a special mode in which four oscillators play together to create a thick super saw style sound However unlike some classic synths you are not limited to using saw waveshapes in this mode any waveshape can be quadrupled Use the Detune knob to vary the thickness of the sound by detuning each of the four oscillations Delay Controls Each Oscillator features a very short one cycle delay line with knobs to set Delay Time and Delay Amount This short feedback loop creates interesting tonal characteristics by simulating the electro acoustical feedback that occurs while playing instruments like electric guitar If Re Pitch is switched off it takes
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