Home

USER MANUAL - Just Music

1. Gain 30 dB Q 2 Freq Frequency Hz Figure 20 Peak filter Tuning The level at which the Compressor starts to enter into action is determined by the value of the Threshold parameter This value is in dB and corresponds to the amplitude of the input signal as monitored by the first level meter of the module The amount of compression applied to the part of the signal exceeding the threshold value depends on the Ratio parameter which varies between value of 1 1 and 1 16 This parameter represents the ratio in dB between the portion of the output signal from the compressor above the threshold value and the portion of its input signal also exceeding the threshold value As one might expect increasing the ratio also increases the amount of compression applied to the signal For example a ratio of 1 5 means that if the input signal exceeds the threshold by 5 dB the output signal will exceed the threshold by only 1 dB Note that the Ratio parameter can also be adjusted from the Play view Two other controls affect the behavior of the Compressor The Attack knob is used to set the time in milliseconds before the Compressor fully kicks in after the level of the input has exceeded the threshold value A short value means that the compressor reaches the amount of compression as set by the Ratio knob rapidly With a longer attack this amount is reached more gradually In other words the attack time is a measure of the attack transi
2. The Vel modulation knobs are used to modulate the value of a parameter depending on the velocity signal received from the keyboard so that the value of a parameter increases as notes are played harder on the keyboard The position of the knob is used to adjust the amount of modulation applied to the parameter In its leftmost position the modulation source is turned off and the value of the parameter does not vary with the velocity signal from the keyboard Turning the knob clockwise increases the effect of the modulation signal on the value of the parameter Modulations using the signal from the LFO and Env modules are controlled using the LFO and Env gain knobs respectively The amplitude of the modulation is zero when the knob is centered It is increased by moving it from its middle position clockwise or anti clockwise When turning it anti clockwise the phase of the modulating signal is inverted while it is preserved when moving it clockwise 4 1 5 Synchronisation The rate of the Arpeggiator LFO and certain effect modules can be synchronized to the clock of a host sequencer To do so simply turn on the Sync switch Synchronization values are adjusted with the Sync Rate parameter and range from 4 whole notes 16 quarter notes to a thirty second note 1 8 of a quarter note where the duration of the whole note is determined by the host sequencer clock The effect can also be synced to a triplet or dotted note To adjust this parameter click
3. Ultra Analog VA responds to MIDI program changes When a program change is received the current program is changed to the program having the same number as that of the program change message in the currently loaded bank If you do not wish Ultra Analog VA to respond to MIDI program changes open the MIDI configuration window by clicking on the MIDI button and uncheck the Enable Program Changes option 6 2 5 MIDI Bank Changes In general MIDI bank numbers are coded using two signals the MSB most significant byte and LSB least significant byte transmitted using MIDI CC continuous controller number 0 and 32 respectively The way these signals are used differs with different manufacturers In the case of Ultra Analog VA the value of the MSB signal is expected to be zero while the value of the LSB signal represents the bank number Banks are therefore numbered from 0 to 127 with this number corresponding to the position of a bank within the list of banks as displayed by the Bank manager see Section 3 3 For example an LSB value of 0 corresponds to the first bank in the bank list while an LSB value of 10 corresponds to the eleventh bank in the list Note that a bank change only becomes effective after the reception of a new MIDI program change signal If you do not wish Ultra Analog VA to respond to MIDI bank changes open the MIDI config uration window by clicking on the MIDI button and uncheck the Enable Bank Changes option 6 2 6 Pi
4. 0 00 MANAGE COMPARE SAVE SAVE AS 1 Evolving 7 HISTORY VINTAGE CHORUS De pe DEPTH v SPREAD DIFFUSION Figure 6 The FX view Bank and Program Management 17 3 Bank and Program Management Ultra Analog VA comes with several factory presets called programs covering a wide range of sounds This collection of programs lets you play and familiarize yourself with this synthesizer without having to tweak a single knob Soon however you will be experimenting and creating your own sounds and projects that you will need to archive or exchange with other users In this section we review the management of programs 3 1 Banks and Programs Sounds are stored in banks contaning so called programs The name of the currently selected bank is shown in the Bank drop down display located at the top of the Ultra Analog VA interface The list of available banks is viewed by clicking on the Bank display A bank can be selected by navigating in the list of banks using the left and right pointing arrows in the display or by clicking on its name when the list of banks is open The list of programs included in the currently selected bank can be viewed by clicking on the Program display located below the Bank display A program is selected by using the left and right pointing arrows or by clicking directly on its name Once a program is selected the value of the different parameters of the synthesizer are updated an
5. situations and therefore guarantee that no additional distortion is added in the output signal A peak value mark allows one to follow the maximum level values reached by the output signal The limiter is triggered when this mark enters the red zone of the level meter 17 dB and it remains active while the side vertical bars at the top of the lever meter are switched on 5 7 The About Box The About box is open by clicking on the chevrons located at the very top of the interface or on the product or company logo The box is closed by clicking again on the chevrons or outside the box Useful information is displayed in this box such as the program s version number the serial number that was used for the authorization and the the email address that was used for registration The box also includes a link to the pdf version of this manual Audio and MIDI Settings 57 6 Audio and MIDI Settings This chapter explains how to select and configure Audio and MIDI devices used by Ultra Analog VA Audio and MIDI configuration tools are accessed by clicking on the Audio Setup button located in the lower left corner of the Ultra Analog VA interface and the MIDI button located just below the MIDI led in upper part of the interface Note that in plug in mode the audio and MIDI inputs sampling rate and buffer size are set by the host sequencer 6 1 Audio Configuration 6 1 1 Selecting an Audio Device Audio configuration tools are available by click
6. 3 3 Sub Oscillator 2 ee 24 oe HO ewe Dw we aE ee a a ee 24 ek ae ee ea ee es ae a ee ee ae a 26 4 4 1 Resonant Low Pass Filter 2 o o a 26 Aa E se ep at Gan Se tae dene O 27 4 4 3 Band Pass Filter aoaaa ee 27 4 44 NotchFilter 2 2 a 28 4 4 5 Formant Filter 2 2 ee ee 29 4 4 6 Filtet D VE aci ta gets a ed card See ares Mace ae i og Ae eg ew aca ee 29 447 Slave Balter o a i ec dja da ee eS od A le oe 30 4 4 8 Signal routing to the filterS o o 30 AN 31 4 6 The Noise Generator Module o e e 32 4 7 The LEO Module essa o i a ho we SS A 32 ATL Wave SHAPE soc a a da ee a es 32 A an RE ee ee ee NN 32 A ie phere Ree ae 9 BE ee pte hos Sep 33 OA ee ABER eee eee Ae ee ee 33 brett densi Stace ar ho ies tees ane gre od Dash ete on ag ee sacs 34 4 8 1 Shape of the Envelope Segments o o e 35 4 8 2 Free Run Mode 35 CONTENTS a db e sl ots A A ae 36 eed ote ake se os he oh oa ee ote ey ae ah Sd a Gade tae ee 36 bye ane ee bee bie eo bee oe By eee ee oes 37 O AN 37 E A 38 49 3 Delay coord a e ewes 40 EAS AAA A 41 AS Chorus esca a la al e a a 41 A 43 A TE AA EN 45 4 98 Wall eii ico eae a aa hae Be cad 47 4 9 9 Notch Filter o aoe ea e o o e e e 48 4 9 10 Reverb ses 60 sar Gace a ea kee Oe A Aa a GOWER 48 AA 50 4 10 1 The Clock Module o o e e 50 RS oe ee 51 ed Mla a RA
7. Tel 1 514 871 8100 Worldwide Tel 1 888 441 8277 North America Serial Number CL 3991 01EA 2323 5 Challenge Code 1109 86E2 0122 Response Code Figure 2 Offline Authorization 1 4 Getting Started 1 4 1 Using Ultra Analog VA in Standalone Mode Ultra Analog VA comes with a standalone versions allowing you to play it without having to open your sequencer This can be convenient to explore Ultra Analog VA and its library play it live or do some sound design work To start Ultra Analog VA in standalone mode simply follow the instructions below e Windows Double click on the Ultra Analog VA icon located on your desktop or select Ultra Analog VA from the Start gt All Programs gt menu e Mac OS Double click on the Ultra Analog VA icon located in the Applications folder Before you start exploring the program take a moment to set up you audio and MIDI configu ration as explained below 1 4 Getting Started 11 Audio and MIDI Configuration Audio and MIDI configuration tools are available by clicking on the Audio Setup button located in the lower left corner of the Ultra Analog VA interface The Audio Setup dialog first allows you to select an audio output device from those available on your computer Multi channel interfaces will have their outputs listed as stereo pairs On Windows the audio output list is organized by driver type The device type is first selected from the Audio Device Type drop down list If
8. and the noise source are routed to the filters The amount of signals received by the filters from the the VCO1 and VCO2 modules is ad justed by the Vcol and Vco2 knobs These control simply apply a gain factor to the signal received from the oscillators The gain is increased by turning the knobs clockwise from a value of zero inf dB to a factor of about 3 10 dB In the same way the amount of signal from the noise source is adjusted using the Noise gain knob 4 5 The Amplifier Module 31 Finally signal from the Filter 1 module can be routed to the input of the Filter 2 module The amount of signal is controlled using the Filter 1 knob appearing on the mixer of the second filter In order to have the two filters strictly in series this knob should be turned clockwise and the VCA 1 switched off as the output of the first filter is hard wired into the input of the VCA 1 module In this way the output signal only comes out from the second amplifier after going through the two filters 4 5 The Amplifier Module After filtering the signal is routed to an amplifier in order to add an amplitude envelope and panning effect to the sound Both the Filter 1 and Filter 2 modules have their own amplifier section the Amp 1 and Amp 2 modules which allows one to keep the signal coming from each filter totally independent from the other The two main controls of the amplifier module are the Level knob and the Pan knob The Level knob is used t
9. are selected with the Drive drop down menu and are numbered from 30 Parameters Saturation Level Sym1 Saturation Threshold Sym1 Input Level O oe Saturation Threshold Asym1 Saturation Level Asym1 Figure 15 Saturation curves of the resonant filters For asymmetrical curves the saturation level and threshold are different for positive and negative values of the input level one to three for both symmetrical and asymmetrical saturation These distortion algorithms range from very low distortion clean circuit to very high distortion 4 4 7 Slave Filter 2 The Filter 2 module can be enslaved to the Filter 1 module This can be done by clicking the Slave toggle switch on the Filter 2 module In this mode the frequency of the Filter 2 module follows exactly that of the Filter 1 module The Frequency knob on the Filter2 module is then used to adjust the offset frequency between the Filter 1 and Filter 2 modules When slaved the cutoff frequency of Filter 2 module follows exactly that of the Filter 1 module including the effects of the modulation signals from the keyboard LFO or envelope generator acting on the Filter 1 module Note that the modulation entries on the Filter 2 module are kept active so do not forget to disable them in order to have the desired effect 4 4 8 Signal routing to the filters The filter mixers allow one to control how the signal from the different sources the two oscillators
10. can be opened directly in an Explorer or Finder window on Windows and Mac OS respectively or by using the Show Files command directly from the Ultra Analog VA bank manager Note that if you have bank files with the original factory bank names in your user bank folder they will be replaced by the original factory files This means that you will lose programs that you would have modified or created in these banks This operation must therefore be done with caution and it is recommended that you make copies or rename your user banks before proceeding with the restore Parameters 21 4 Parameters This section can be used as a reference for the different controls appearing on the Ultra Analog VA graphical interface We begin by describing the behavior of the different types of controls appearing on the interface and then describe the parameters of each module of the synthesizer 4 1 General Functioning of the Interface 4 1 1 Knobs The synthesizer parameters are adjusted using controls such as knobs switches and numerical displays A specific control is selected by clicking on it A coarse adjustment is obtained by click holding the parameter and moving the mouse or the finger on a track pad either upwards and downwards or leftwards and rightwards The value of the parameter replaces its label while it is being adjusted Fine adjustment of a control is obtained by holding down a modifier key of the computer keyboard Shift Ctrl Command
11. factory sounds with a reasonable number of voices but performances will vary depending on your specific computer configuration Introduction 1 2 Installation Simply double click on the installer file that you have downloaded and follow the instructions of the installer 1 3 Authorization and Registration Ultra Analog VA uses a proprietary challenge response copy protection system which requires au thorization of the product A challenge code is a long string of capital letters and numbers that is generated uniquely for each machine during the registration process The response code is another unique string of capital letters and numbers generated from the data encrypted in the challenge code As the keys are unique to each machine it is necessary to go through this procedure every time the program is installed on a new computer Note that it is possible to use the program during 15 days before completing the authorization process After that period the program will not function unless it is authorized 1 3 1 Your Computer is Online The authorization process is very simple if your music computer is connected to the internet since Ultra Analog VA program will connect to the AAS server and take care of the key exchange auto matically After starting the application a message will appear telling you that the application needs to be authorized as shown in Figure I Enter your serial number and click on the Authorize button The progr
12. on the Sync Rate button and choose a rate value from the drop down menu 4 2 The Edit View The Edit view is activated by clicking on the Edit button in the top part of the interface It allows one to go under the hood and tweak the core synthesis modules of Ultra Analog VA and therefore to customize its tone and behavior The two oscillators of Ultra Analog VA appear on the left of this view They are followed by the two filter amplifier lines and their associated mixers One can switch from one line to the other by clicking on the tabs to the right of the oscillators This reveals the main parameters of the filter and amplifier modules as well as that of the LFO module and envelope generators used as modulation sources To the right of the interface one finds the detailed or expert view of each of the synthesis modules giving access to all their parameters One can switch to any of these modules by clicking on the corresponding tab to the left of the modules 4 3 The Oscillator Module 23 4 3 The Oscillator Module The Oscillator module is the main sound source of Ultra Analog VA and offers the features of the most reputed analog oscillators It provides a fine control on the pitch standard waveforms a sub oscillator and hard synchronization The Oscillator module is implemented using precise modeling algorithms rather than wave tables providing alias free sources with clean pulse width modulation and synchronization 4 3 1 Wav
13. or Alt key while adjusting the parameter Double clicking on a knob brings it back to its default value when available 4 1 2 Switches Switches are turned on or off by clicking on them They are used to activate or deactivate modules and the sync feature of some parameters 4 1 3 Drop down Menus Clicking on a display with a small down pointing triangle reveals a drop down menu with a set of possible settings for the control Adjustment of the control is obtained by clicking on a selection 4 1 4 Modulation Signals Different parameters can be modulated by the signal from different sources including the MIDI keyboard envelope generators and the LFO modules Modulation signals are controlled with small gain knobs located on the left of the corresponding modulated parameters The Key modulation knobs are used to modulate a parameter depending on the note played on the keyboard When in its center position the value of the corresponding parameter is equal across the whole range of the keyboard Turning the knob to the left increases the value of the parameter for low notes while decreasing its value for high notes The variations are applied relative to the middle C C3 MIDI note 60 whose value is always that corresponding to the settings of the actual 22 Parameters parameter knob Turning the modulation knob to the right has the opposite effect and increases the value of the parameter for high notes while decreasing it for low notes
14. or panning effects that always start at the same point every time a note is played When the LFO is not in Reset mode Reset button off the phase of the signal is random and determined within a range fixed by the Phase knob Turning this knob clockwise increases the range to values located at different point of the wave period as explained above The main interest of this mode is to keep voices uncorrelated when chords are played Indeed the LFO modulation signals corresponding to the different voices then start at different points even if all the notes are triggered at the same time Note that when the LFO module is not in Reset mode and the Phase knob is fully turned to the left phase of 0 degree the synthesizer behaves as if the LFO was monophonic and all the voices played were following this single LFO 4 7 4 Fade In One more feature of the LFO module is the possibility to add a fade in effect to its output signal The duration of this fade in can be adjusted within the range of O to 5 seconds as determined by the Fade knob Turning this knob fully to the left results in a value of 0 which is equivalent to removing the fade in effect The time at which the LFO signal is introduced can even be controlled by adding a delay to the fade in This parameter can also be set to values varying between 0 and 5 seconds as determined by the Delay knob Note that this knob is effective even 1f the Fade value is adjusted to zero In this case the sig
15. the Sub knob When this knob is fully turned to the left the sub oscillator is muted Note that when the oscillator is used in its Syne mode see section 4 3 4 below the sub oscillator becomes unavailable 4 3 4 Synchronization The Oscillator module features a hard synchronization mode which is toggled on or off with the help of the Hard Sync button Synchronization involves a master and a slave oscillator In this mode the signal from the slave Oscillator is reset or in other words restarted at the beginning 4 3 The Oscillator Module 25 of each period of the waveform of the master oscillator which therefore acts as a master clock as shown in Figure J The perceived pitch of the final output of the oscillator module is the same as that of the master oscillator while the frequency of the slave or synced oscillator only affects the harmonic content and therefore the timbre of the resulting signal The Shape control applies to the shape of the slave oscillator The shape of the oscillation of the master is indeed irrelevant as it is only used to generate a master clock signal In hard sync mode the frequency of the master oscillator is determined by the settings of the Octave Semi and Key controls The frequency of the slave oscillator is adjusted using the Tune knob and its value is presented as a ratio between the frequency of the slave and that of the master oscillator It can take values between 1 and 20 and can be modulated by the
16. the vowels a e i 0 u The cutoff frequency and resonance of the filters can be modulated with different modulation sources The Key knob allows one to adjust the amount of variation with the pitch signal from the keyboard while the Env and LFO knobs are gain knobs applied to the signal received from the Filter Env envelope and LFO modules respectively Let s now have a closer look at the different filter types available 4 4 1 Resonant Low Pass Filter OdB 3dB Cutoff Frequency Hz Frequency Figure 10 Frequency response of the low pass filter 4 4 The Filter Module 27 A low pass filter is used to remove the higher spectral components of the signal while leaving the lower components unchanged The frequency at which attenuation begins to take effect is called the cutoff frequency and it is controlled using the Frequency knob In a resonant filter frequencies located around the cutoff frequency can also be emphasized by an amount called the quality factor or Q factor of the filter as illustrated by Figure 10 This parameter is adjusted using the Resonance knob The higher the Q factor the louder and sharper the response of the filter around the cutoff frequency When the Q factor is set to 1 Q knob fully turned to the left there is no emphasis around the cutoff frequency and the attenuation is 3dB at the cutoff frequency The attenuation for frequencies located above the cutoff frequency depends on the order
17. vibrato vintage chorus 41 voices 55 voltage controlled oscillator 23 volume VU meter wah wah warm tube waveform
18. wheel is linked to the Amount parameter of the Vibrato module It can be activated on screen or from the modulation wheel of your MIDI controller MIDI controller number 1 The MW gain knob of the Vibrato module is used to control the sensitivity of the vibrato amplitude to the modulation wheel Note that other parameters can be linked to the modulation wheel using MIDI links as explained in Section 6 2 2 Ribbon The lower part of this view includes a ribbon controller The ribbon covers seven octaves and notes are played when clicking on the ribbon The ribbon is useful to test sounds when no MIDI keyboard is connected to your computer Utility Section 55 5 Utility Section The utility section is located at the top of the Ultra Analog VA interface and it includes important parameters and monitoring tools For information on Banks and Programs please refer to Chapter 3 NN 7 Pad PROGRAM SAVE AS HISTORY 3 DustPad Pad v a 5 1 The MIDI LED The MIDI LED is located on the left of the level meter The LED blinks when the synthesizer receives MIDI signal If the application is not receiving MIDI signal make sure that the host sequencer is sending MIDI to Ultra Analog VA If you are running in standalone mode make sure that the MIDI controller you wish to use is well connected to your computer and that it is selected as explained in Section 6 Clicking on the MIDI button just below the MIDI led opens the MIDI configura
19. you have ASIO drivers available these should be selected for optimum performance The Configure Audio Device button allows you to open the manufacturer s setup program for your audio interface when available Once the audio input has been selected you can then select a sampling rate and a buffer size from those offered by your audio interface The list of available MIDI inputs appears at the bottom of the dialog Click on the checkbox corresponding to any of the inputs you wish to use 1 4 2 Exploring the Factory Sounds Ultra Analog VA comes with a wide range of factory programs right out of the box which amounts to a huge range of sounds before you have even turned a single knob As you would expect the best way of coming to grips with the possibilities Ultra Analog VA offers is simply to go through the programs one at a time Ultra Analog VA uses the notions of Banks and Programs to organize and classify sounds A program or preset is a stored set of parameters corresponding to a given sound The programs are grouped and organized in banks The name of the currently loaded bank and program are displayed at the top of the interface One navigates among the different banks and programs by using the arrows in each of the cor responding boxes or by opening the associated drop down menu by clicking inside these boxes Banks and programs are managed using the Bank Manager which is revealed by clicking on the Manage button appearing above the
20. 1 A 1 ES i voy x 1 1 H i YA 4 7 L Voy a Center Frequency Hz Frequency Band Width Q 1 Figure 12 Frequency response of the band pass filter 4 4 4 Notch Filter Amplitude dB OdB 3dB Center Frequency Hz Frequency Band Width Q 1 Figure 13 Frequency response of the notch filter The notch filter does essentially the opposite of the band pass filter It attenuates the frequen cies in a band located around the center frequency and leaves those outside of this band unchanged as shown in Figure 28 The Frequency knob is used adjust the center frequency and the Resonance knob sets the bandwidth of the notch Note that the center frequency is totally removed from the spectrum of the output signal of the filter 4 4 The Filter Module 29 4 4 5 Formant Filter Amplitude dB Male Voice Female Voice Formant Frequencies Figure 14 Frequency response of the formant filter The formant filter reproduces the filtering effect of the vocal tract in the human voice By changing the position of the tongue the opening of the mouth and opening or closing the nasal cavities one can change the filter applied to the glottal signal and thus produce the different vowels Measurements have shown that this filter can be modeled by three peaking EQ filters corresponding to the three main cavities of the vocal tract as shown in Figure 14 and also known as formants By moving the parameters
21. AGE OPENING THIS PACKAGE INDICATES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT PROMPTLY RETURN THE UN OPENED PACKAGE AND ALL COMPONENTS THERETO TO THE PARTY FROM WHOM IT WAS ACQUIRED FOR A FULL REFUND OF ANY CONSIDERATION PAID This software program any printed materials any on line or electronic documentation and any and all copies of such software program and materials the Software are the copyrighted work of Applied Acoustics Systems DVM Inc AAS its subsidiaries licensors and or its suppliers 1 LICENSE TO USE The Licensee is granted a personal non exclusive and non transferable license to install and to use one copy of the Software on a single computer solely for the personal use of the Licensee Use of the Software is subject to this Agreement 2 RESTRICTIONS ON USE The Licensee may not nor permit third parties to i make copies of any portion of the Software other than as expressly permitted under this Agreement ii modify translate disassemble decompile reverse engineer or create derivative and or com petitive products based on any portion of the Software iii provide use of the Software in a network timesharing interactive cable television multiple CPU service bureau or multiple user arrangement to users not individually licensed by AAS other than as expressly permit ted by the terms of this license The Software is licensed to y
22. ANALOG MAMA USER MANUAL Applied Acoustics Systems Information in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Applied Acoustics Systems DVM Inc The software described in this manual is furnished under a license agreement The software may be used only in accordance of the terms of this license agreement It is against the law to copy this software on any medium except as specifically allowed in the license agreement No part of this manual may be copied photocopied reproduced translated distributed or converted to any electronic or machine readable form in whole or in part without prior written approval of Applied Acoustics Systems DVM Inc Copyright 2013 Applied Acoustics Systems DVM Inc All rights reserved Printed in Canada Program Copyright 2004 2013 Applied Acoustics Systems Inc All right reserved Ultra Analog VA is a Trademark of Applied Acoustics Systems DVM Inc Windows and Windows Vista are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries Mac OS and Audio Units are registered trademarks of Apple Corporation VST Instruments and ASIO are trademarks of Steinberg Soft Und Hardware GmbH RTAS is a registered trademark of Avid Technology Inc All other product and company names are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owner Unauthorized copying renting or lending of the software is strictly prohibited Vis
23. Mix knob allows one to control the amount of dry and wet distorted signal in the final output signal from the Distortion module In its leftmost position there is only dry signal in the output while in its rightmost position one only hears the distorted signal In its center position there is an equal amount of dry and wet signal in the output 4 9 5 Chorus The chorus effect is used to make a source sound like many similar sources played in unison It simulates the slight variations in timing and pitch of different performers executing the same part 42 Parameters The effect is obtained by mixing the original signal with delayed version obtained from the output of delay lines as shown in Figure 21 In the case of a chorus effect the length of the delay lines must be short in order for the delayed signals to blend with the original signal rather than be perceived as a distinct echo The length of the delay line can be modulated introducing a slight perceived pitch shift between the voices CHORUS LFO DELAY INPUT UNE Y a a OUTPUT Figure 21 Chorus module Tuning The amount of modulation of the length of the delay lines is adjusted using the Depth knob In the left position there is no modulation and the length of the delay lines remains constant As the knob is turned to the right the length of the delay line starts to oscillate by an amount which increases as the knob is turned clockwise thereby increasing the amount by
24. R e Ge Ee ee REA AA Y 51 PCE ERG RA CASPASES KEE GE RS eA 51 4 13 The Vibrato Module 2 2 e 52 hie tig E E eae ee rk yi ate E ie Ge os Mee 52 e a tae a te gen staat sie ee 52 sited oot ssn ACIS Ge Mens AR o ata ae aut ae giveth wee 53 ef Boe ele ea ek Be hae ee eo ee 53 Ry dara dido eho Gales Gees Dae T es 53 55 Ee TR a ee ear oe eee 55 Duda Ron dow SS dow MET Hak aa a a doe ERA Oe eee ar eS 55 A 244 058 42 bee eee be OS LA ELE ae Re ea ee ab 55 E he aA aes 56 5 VOLUME ys Ga Ge ae Sa Se Raa baa we kad Ga BRE AHA Ga ea 56 5 6 Level Meter 6 sar a sou e a A Ge oe DE a ew eH eS 56 5 7 The About Box a a a a 56 CONTENTS 6 Audio and MIDI Settings LA a Bete i dh eek re eee 6 1 2 Latency oo o e te Eos o Me ee eh oe fale 4 8 4 4 2 4 4 Gee E 6 2 3 Creating a default MIDI Map 6 2 4 MIDI Program Changes 6 2 5 MIDI Bank Changes 6 2 6 Pitch bend 6 2 7 Modulation wheell 7 Using Ultra Analog VA as a Plug In 8 State Sistah ee anto ha Depa dol aye Site i e de cad 7 5 Performance License Agreement Introduction 1 Introduction Ultra Analog VA is a virtual analog synthesizer that combines into a modern instrument features of the legendary vintage synthesizers Ultra Analog VA generates sound by simulating the dif ferent components of the synthesizer through physical mod
25. adjusted by clicking at the desired tempo on the Tap Tempo pad of the module Once the new tempo is detected the value of the Rate knob is automatically adjusted When using Ultra Analog VA in plugin mode the Tap Tempo pad is replaced by a Sync To Host switch In its on position the rate is synchronized with that of the host sequencer When switched off the tempo is determined by the value of the Rate knob 4 11 The Key Module 51 4 11 The Key Module The Key module controls how the synthesizer voices respond to the events coming from an external MIDI keyboard or from a MIDI sequencer The keyboard can be monophonic allowing one to play only one note at a time or polyphonic allowing one the play chords This behavior is adjusted with the Mode drop down menu The Priority control located below the Mode control sets the behav ior of the keyboard when several notes are depressed at the same time in monophonic mode or when the maximum number of polyphonic voices has been reached in poly phonic mode In monophonic mode the Priority determines which of the lower last or higher note has precedence when several notes are played In polyphonic mode this control determines which of the lowest highest or oldest note is muted in order to replace it with the newest note played once the maximum of polyphonic voices has been reached Note that since this parameter determines the note priority the stolen note will be the opposite of what app
26. ains in the sustain stage until the last note is released 4 8 4 Loop Modes The envelope generator features three loop modes AD ADR and Once These modes allow the envelope to cycle between several stages of the envelope until the key is released and are selected from the Loop drop down menu Amplitude AD Mode Key Released S A D Looping through AD AR Time Amplitude ADR Mode Key Released a A D_R Looping through ADR R Time Amplitude Key Released Once Mode S De AR A D Normal Sustain Time Figure 18 Loop mode of an envelope generator In the 4D mode the envelope begins with the attack and decay phases as usual but rather than holding the sustain level it repeats the attack from the sustain level and the decay phases until 4 9 The FX View 37 the note is released When the note is released the envelope signal returns to zero following the release phase The ADR mode is quite similar to the preceding mode and only differs in that the looping is done by cycling trough the attack decay and release phases Finally in the Once mode the envelope is played normally but the envelope generator cycles once more through the attack and release phase when the key is released 4 9 The FX View The FX view is displayed by clicking on the FX button in the utility section at the top of the interface and is based around a Multi effects module The Multi Effects module allows one to process
27. am will then connect to the AAS server and complete the authorization process If this is the first AAS product that you authorize on your computer or if no registration infor mation can be related to your serial number by our server you will be asked to provide your name and email address for registration purposes Note that only a valid email address is required to reg ister your product Registration of your product will entitle you to receive support and download updates when available as well as take advantage of special upgrade prices offered from time to time to registered AAS users 1 3 2 Your Computer is Offline If your music computer is not connected to the internet you will need to obtain the response code from an internet connected computer or by contacting AAS After starting the application a message will appear telling you that the application needs to be authorized After clicking on the Authorize button a pop up window will appear as shown in Figure 1 Enter your serial number and click on the Authorize button The program will then inform you that your computer is not connected to the internet click on the Offline Options button and a new pop up window will appear as shown in Figure 2 1 3 Authorization and Registration Ultra Analog VA 2 Serial Number To work beyond the 15 day grace period Ultra Analog VA 2 needs to be authorized Please enter your serial number and click the Authorize button Serial Numbe
28. ame modules commands and menu names e Italic characters are used to name controls on the interface e Windows and Mac OS keyboard shortcuts are written as Windows shortcut Mac OS shortcut Architecture of Ultra Analog VA 13 2 Architecture of Ultra Analog VA 2 1 General Signal Flow The general architecture of Ultra Analog VA is presented in Figure 3 The primary sound sources of the synthesizer are two oscillators and a noise generator These sources are mixed before being sent to two different multi mode filter modules in series with an amplifier FLTR ENV1 VCA ENV1 FILTER 1 FILTER 2 FLTR ENV 2 Figure 3 General signal flow of Ultra Analog VA VEL KEY LFO 1 vco T fey NOISE O vco 10 vco tos NOISE O vco 10 NOISE LFO 2 KEY VCA ENV 2 MODULATION VEL EE AUDIO This configuration is very flexible because depending on the type of mixing applied sources can be treated separately or in combination For example when the filters each receive signal from distinct sources the right and left information from each source is preserved until the very end of the signal path Sources can therefore be moved and positioned independently in the stereo space using the panning control on each of the amplifiers On the other hand combining the sources at the mixer level results in rich and complex tonal structures 2 2 Interface The graphical user interface has been organized around th
29. an drop down menu This parameter can be adjusted to Low for downwards transposition to High for upwards transposition or wide for transposing both upwards and downwards Finally the Order control sets the order in which the notes are played therefore determining the arpeggio pattern When set to Forward the notes are played from the lowest to the highest When set to Backward the notes are played from the highest to the lowest In the two last modes Rock and Roll exclusive and Rock and Roll inclusive the notes are played forward from the lowest to the highest and then backward from the highest down to the lowest When using the RnR exclusive mode the highest and the lowest notes are not repeated when switching direction but in RnR inclusive mode these notes are repeated Finally in Chord mode all the notes are played at once 4 14 2 Rhythmic Patterns Rhythmic patterns can be added to the arpeggio pattern by using the 16 step Pattern display Notes are played as the step display is scanned and the corresponding step is selected red button on Notes are played regularly when all the steps of the display are turned on and rhythmic patterns are created by selecting only certain steps The arrow button below each step is used to fix looping points from which the rhythmic pattern starts being played again from the beginning a o lara a e u Ela 4 14 3 Rate and Synchronization The rate at which the arpeggiator pattern is scanned is set by th
30. and shape the signal from the synthesizer before sending it to the output This module comprises an EQ and a Compressor in series with two configurable effect processors followed by a Reverb module The configuration of the EQ and the Compressor module depends on the position of the SC and Pre butons of these modules as will be explained below The two effect processors can be set to a different type by using the drop down menu located at the center of each module for a wide range of possibilities The effect list includes a Delay Distortion Chorus Flanger Phaser Wah Wah Auto Wah and a Notch filter The order of the effect modules in the signal path can be changed by click dragging the handles located on the left of the modules The Multi Effects module is also visible from the Play view just below the utility section This allows one to see rapidly which effects are selected for a given sound turn the effects on or off and rapidly adjust the amount of each effect The Compressor Equalizer and Reverb can also be adjusted from this view 4 9 1 EQ The EQ module provides equalization over the low mid and high frequency bands It is composed of a low shelf filter two peak filters and a high shelf filter in series labelled LF LMF HMF and HF respectively The functioning of the low shelf filter is depicted in Figure The filter applies a gain factor to low fre quency components located below a cutoff frequency while leaving those abov
31. back enhances frequency components least affected by the delay line and located at even harmonic intervals of the fundamental frequency As the feedback is increased these peaks become sharper resulting in an apparent change in the pitch of the signal Light effect mix 0 1 Amp Medium effect mix 0 25 Strong effect mix 0 5 0dB w a vi Vi ni iwi iwi y f0 2xf0 3xf0 4xf0 Sxf0 6xf0 Frequency Figure 24 Effect of the mix between wet and dry signal on the frequency response of a Flanger module Tuning The delay length in milliseconds is adjusted with the Delay knob The length of this delay can be modulated by a certain amount depending on the adjustment of the Depth knob In the left position there is no modulation and the length of the delay line remains constant As the knob is turned to the right the length of the delay line starts to oscillate by an amount which increases as the knob is 4 9 The FX View 45 No Feedback Amp Feedback 0 5 Feedback 0 9 fo 2xf0 3xf0 4xf0 Sxf0 6xf0 Frequency Figure 25 Effect of the amount of feedback on the frequency response of a Flanger module turned clockwise and at a frequency fixed with the Rate knob The Feedback knob is a gain knob used to fix the ratio of wet signal re injected into the delay Finally the Mix knob determines the amount of dry and wet signal in the output signal from the module When this knob is adjusted in its leftmost position only dry
32. city signal when the Vel knob is fully turned to the right The decay time is set with the Decay knob The sustain phase of the envelope generator lasts from the end of the decay phase until the key is released When the Sustain knob is fully turned to the left the sustain level is zero and there is no sustain phase while fully turned to the right the sustain level is at maximum and there is no decay phase When the key is released the envelope generator toggles to the release phase and the envelope signal decreases from the value at the end of the sustain phase to zero in a time set by the Release knob Note that during the sustain phase the envelope signal can be made to decrease even if a key is still depressed The time taken to go from the level set by the Sustain knob to a value of zero is then determined by the value of the Time knob located below the Sustain knob When the Time knob is fully turned to the left the envelope signal falls to zero right after the end of the decay phase when the knob is in it rightmost position the sustain level is held as long as the key is depressed Finally the overall level of the envelope can be controlled with the velocity signal from the keyboard through the Vel slider located to the left of the Sustain knob and behaves in exactly the same way as the Vel parameter associated with the Attack knob 4 8 1 Shape of the Envelope Segments We have so far determined the shape of the envelope by adjusting t
33. d it can then be played 3 2 Saving Programs Programs are saved by clicking on the Save button located on the top of the Program display When a program has just been loaded this command is greyed and therefore inactive It is activated as soon as a parameter of the interface is modified Clicking on this command replaces the stored version of the program with the new one The Save As command is activated by clicking on the corresponding button which opens the Save Program pop up window It is then possible to save the program under a new name or its current one in any of the available program banks Note that if the original name of the program is used a new program with the same name will be created at the end of the program list meaning that the original program is not erased This also implies that it is possible to have many programs with the same name in the same bank 3 3 The Bank Manager Banks and Programs can be edited using the Bank Manager The manager window is displayed by clicking on the Manager button located above the Bank display It is closed by clicking again on the same button On the left of the window one finds the list of banks Clicking on a bank name fills the list of programs located in the center of the window with the name of these included in the selected bank 18 Bank and Program Management PROGRAM NAME Ambient SunRise Pad SunRise Pad Arpeggiator CloudAtlas Pad SOUND DESIGNER q _ DustPad Pad L
34. e Reverberation Time TR Figure 29 Impulse response of a room Adjusting the room effect The size of a room strongly affects the reverberation effect The Size selector is used to choose be tween the Studio Club Hall and Large Hall settings each reproducing spaces of different volumes from smaller to larger The duration of the reverberation time depends on both the size of the room and the absorption of the walls which is controlled with the Decay knob In a real room the reverberation time is not constant over the whole frequency range As the walls are often more absorbent in the very low and in the high frequencies the reverberation time is shorter for these frequencies These parameters are adjusted with the Low and High knobs respectively 50 Parameters Another parameter which affects the response of a room is its geometry the more complex the geometry of a room the more reflexion are observed per unit of time This quantity is known as the time density and can be set trough the Diffusion knob In a concert hall the time density is supposed to be quite high in order not to hear separate echoes which are characteristic of poor sounding rooms The last parameter which affects our listening experience in a room is the distance between the sound source and the listener While the room response is quite constant regardless of the position of the source and the listener the direct sound the sound which comes directly fr
35. e Rate knob of the Arpeggiator module or can be synced to the master clock of the Clock module The Rate knob is only effective when the Sync control is set to off When the Sync control is on the rate tempo is fixed by the master Clock module see 4 10 1 or the host sequencer when its sync to host button is turned on The rhythmic value of each step is set using the Step parameter Values can range between a quarter note and a thirty second note with binary and ternary beat division options One can then fix the metric of the pattern by setting the loop point of the step display appropriately 4 14 4 Latch mode The Arpeggiator module is toggled in latch mode by clicking the Latch button to its on position In this mode the Arpeggiator keeps playing its pattern when the notes on the keyboard are released and until a new chord is played 54 Parameters Pitch Wheel The MIDI pitch wheel allows one to vary the pitch of the note played The pitch wheel can be moved with the mouse but it is also automatically connected to the pitch wheel signal received from your MIDI keyboard The range of the pitch bend is 2 semi tones up or down by default but can be changed To adjust the range of the pitch bend open the MIDI configuration window by clicking on the MIDI button located just below the MIDI led in the top part of the interface and use the Pitch Bend Range drop down menu to select the range in semi tones Modulation Wheel The modulation
36. e fixed by the Freq knob Turning this knob clockwise increases the excursion of the center frequency Note that the Depth parameter is also adjustable from the Play view Finally the Rate knob controls the frequency or rate of the modulation of the center frequency of the filter In the case of the Wah Wah effect turning this knob clockwise increases the rate of the modulation In the case of the Auto Wah filter this knob is labeled Speed and controls the time constant of the envelope follower Turning this knob clockwise decreases the time constant or in other words the reaction time of the envelope follower 48 Parameters 4 9 9 Notch Filter The Notch Filter does essentially the opposite of a band pass filter It attenuates the frequencies in a band located around the center frequency and leaves those out side of this band unchanged as shown in Figure 28 As was the case for the Wah Wah effect the filter can be modulated Amplitude dB 0dB 3dB Cener Frequency Hz Frequency Band Width Q 1 Figure 28 Frequency response of a notch filter The Freq knobs is used to control the central frequency of the filter Turning this knob clock wise increases the center frequency The Depth knob controls the excursion of the center frequency of the filter around its center frequency Turning this knob clockwise increases the excursion of the center frequency Finally the Rate knob controls the frequency or rate
37. e unchanged The cutoff frequency of this filter is adjusted using the Freq knob and can vary between 40 and 400 Hz The Gain knob is used to adjust the gain factor applied to the signal in a 15dB range In its center position there is no attenuation 0 dB Turning it clockwise boosts the amplitude of low frequencies while turning it anti clockwise reduces it The high frequency content of the signal is controlled with a high shelf filter that works in the opposite manner as the low shelf filter as illustrated in Figure The filter applies a gain 38 Parameters factor to components located above a cutoff frequency while leaving those below unchanged The cutoff frequency of this filter located above 1 kHz is adjusted with the help of the Freq knob while the gain factor applied to the signal in a 15dB range is adjusted using Gain knob In its center position there is no attenuation 0 dB Turning it clockwise boosts the amplitude of high frequencies while turning it anti clockwise reduces it Amplitude dB Amplitude dB Gain 30 dB Gain 30 dB Gain 20 dB Gain 20 dB Gain 10 dB Gain 10 dB 0dB 0dB Gain 30 dB Gain 30 dB Freq Frequency Hz Freq Frequency Hz Figure 19 Low and high shelf filters The EQ module features two peak filters labeled LMF and HMF allowing to shape the signal in two frequency bands as illustrated in Figure The filters apply a gain factor to f
38. ears in the control display The Error knob adds a random error to the pitch of each note played as it is turned clockwise the error increases This makes all the notes play slightly out of tune Note that the sustain pedal MIDI controller number 64 is always active on the Key module 4 11 1 Unison The unison mode allows one to stack voices in other words play two or four voices for each note played on the keyboard This mode creates the im pression that several instruments are playing the same note together adding depth to the sound Each voice can be slightly detuned relatively to the others by using the Detune knob Turning this knob clockwise increases the amplitude of the error Furthermore voices can be desynchronized by adding a small time lag between their triggering with the Delay knob There is no delay when the knob is in its leftmost position and it increases units in ms as it is turned clockwise 4 12 The Glide Module The Glide module is used to make the pitch slide between notes rather than chang ing immediately from note to note The Time knob sets the amount of time necessary for the pitch to slide over one octave The Mode drop down menu enables one to choose between the Constant or Proportional mode When in Constant mode the time necessary for the pitch to slide from one note to another is always the same re gardless of the interval between the notes When set to proportional the slide time becomes propo
39. effect but as it is turned clockwise the depth of the vibrato increases when the modulation wheel is used The increase is always relative to the position of the Amount knob and becomes greater as the MW knob is turned clockwise The vibrato can be adjusted not to start at the beginning of a note but with a little lag This lag in seconds is set by the Delay knob The Fade knob allows you to set the amount of time taken by the amplitude of the vibrato effect to grow from zero to the amount set by the Amount knob 4 14 The Arpeggiator Module The Arpeggiator module allows one to play sequentially all the notes that are played on the keyboard In other words arpeggios are played rather than chords The modules allows one to produce a wide range of arpeggios and rhythmic patterns and to sync the effects to the tempo of an external sequencer 4 14 1 Arpeggio Patterns The arpeggio pattern is set by the combination of the value of the Range Span and Order controls The Range control is used to select the number of octaves across which the pattern is repeated When the range is set to 0 there is no transposition and only the notes currently depressed are played If set to a value between 1 4 14 The Arpeggiator Module 53 and 4 its maximum value the notes played are transposed and played sequentially over a range of one or more octaves depending on the value of the Range parameter The direction of the transposition is set with the Sp
40. eform The Shape drop down menu is used to choose the wave form generated by the oscillator Wave forms include sine wave saw tooth rectangular and white noise as shown in Figure 8 When the Shape is set to rectangular one has additional control and can adjust the pulse width of the rectangular wave This parameter is controlled using the PW knob In its leftmost position the pulse is very narrow while in its rightmost position the wave is perfectly square and only the odd harmonics are heard Note that the pulse width of the rectangular waveform can be modulated with the signal received from the LFO module The amount of modulation around the value set with the PW knob can be set from the LFO module using the VCO PW knob Amplitude Amplitude sinus rectangular Time Time Pulse Width Amplitude Amplitude saw tooth noise Time Time Figure 8 Choice of wave forms provided by the Oscillator module 24 Parameters 4 3 2 Pitch The pitch of the Oscillator module can be adjusted using the Octave Semi and Detune controls The Octave control al lows one to transpose the pitch by octaves upper or lower while the Semi control is used to transpose the pitch by semi tones To adjust these parameters click on the corresponding button to select it and drag the mouse or use the finger on a track pad up or down to select a value The Detune knob is used to slightly detune the oscillator When the D
41. eling This technology uses the laws of physics to reproduce how an object or system produces sound In the case of Ultra Analog VA mathematical equations describing how analog circuits function are solved in real time Ultra Analog VA therefore uses no sampling or wavetable it just calculates the sound as you play in accordance with the controls it receives This sound synthesis method ensures unmatched sound quality realism warmth and playing dynamics Before discussing the synthesizer in more detail we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for choosing an AAS product We sincerely hope that this product will bring you inspiration pleasure and fulfill your creative needs 1 1 System Requirements The following minimum computer configuration is necessary to run Ultra Analog VA Mac OS e Mac OS X 10 5 or later e Intel Core processor or later e 512 MB of RAM e 70 MB of free hard drive space e 1024 x 768 screen resolution e Built in audio interface Windows e Windows XP SP2 32 bit or Windows Vista 7 32 bit 64 bit e Intel Core or equivalent processor e 512 MB of RAM e 70 MB of free hard drive space e 1024 x 768 screen resolution e Windows compatible audio interface e Windows compatible MIDI interface keyboard Keep in mind that the computational power required by Ultra Analog VA depends on the num ber of voices of polyphony and the sampling rate used These computer configurations will enable you to play the
42. ent time of the compression effect The Release parameter is similar and represents the amount of time taken by the Compressor to stop compressing once the amplitude of the input signal falls below the threshold value The Makeup knob is used to adjust the overall level at the output of the Compressor module and is used to compensate from an overall change in signal level due to the compression effect The location of the Compressor in the signal path depends on the setting of the Pre button When this parameter is on the Compressor is located at the output of the synthesizer just before the EQ module In this position the input signal of the Compressor and its control signal are both the output signal from the synthesizer When the Pre button is off the Compressor is located 40 Parameters after the EQ module In this configuration the control signal of the Compressor is then the output signal from the EQ module while the input signal to the compressor is determined by the position of the SC button When it is on the Compressor is in a side chain configuration The input signal of the Compressor is then the output signal from the synthesizer When it is off the input signal of the Compressor is the output signal from the EQ module Using the compressor in side chain configuration is useful when one wants to trigger the com pressor using other criteria than the general level of the signal to be compressed For example a sound with a lot o
43. etune knob is in its center position there is no detune while turning it clock wise or anti clockwise increases or decreases the pitch respec tively The pitch of the Oscillators module can be modulated by the pitch signal received from the MIDI keyboard and or the LFO module The amount of modulation from these sources is adjusted by using the Key and the VCO Detune gain knob from the LFO module In order for the oscillator to respond to the keyboard with an equal tempered scale the Key knob of the Oscillator module must be set to its center position The Oscillator module includes a ramp generator which allows one to obtain a pitch variation when a key is depressed The Ramp modulation knob is used to set the starting pitch of the oscillator while the Decay knob determines the time for the pitch to glide from this starting value to the effective pitch The starting pitch can be set from 72 to 72 semi tones with respect to the effective pitch by turning the Ramp knob clockwise There is no pitch change when this control is in its middle position 4 3 3 Sub Oscillator The Oscillator module is equipped with a sub oscillator which generates a wave one octave below the pitch of the oscillator The shape of the sub oscillator signal is a square wave when the wave shape of the Oscillator is set to Rect or Saw and a sine wave when it is set to Sine The amount of this sub oscillator signal in the output signal of the oscillator is adjusted with
44. f bass would easily trigger the Compressor when playing low notes In order to avoid that the EQ module would be set to filter out low frequency components This signal would then be used to control the Compressor while the input signal to the Compressor would still include these low frequency components The attenuation or gain reduction level meter located in the middle of the module indicates the amount of compression applied by the module It is the difference between the input and output signals of the module before makeup gain is applied 4 9 3 Delay The Delay module consists in a stereo feedback loop with a variable delay in the feedback It is used to produce an echo effect when the delay time is long greater than 100 ms or to color the sound when the delay time is short smaller than 100 ms The Delay knob is used to adjust the amount of delay in seconds introduced by the effect Turning this knob clockwise increases the delay The Feedback parameter is a gain factor varying in the range between 0 and 1 applied to the signal at the end of the delay lines It controls the amount of signal that is re injected in the feedback loop In its leftmost position the value of this parameter is 0 and no signal is re introduced in the delay line which means that the signal is only delayed once Turning the knob clockwise increases the amount of signal re injected at the end of the feedback loop and therefore allows one to control the durati
45. he Multi Effect module includes three different types of distortion which are selected using the Shape selector knob The Warm Tube effect applies a smooth symmetrical wave shaping to the input signal resulting in the introduction of odd harmonics in the signal The Metal distortion is similar to the Warm Tube effect but is slightly asymmetrical resulting in the introduction of even and odd harmonics in the signal The Solid State distortion applies an aggressive symmetrical clipping to the signal thereby adding high frequency harmonics and resulting in a harsh sound DISTORTION The Drive control is a gain knob acting on the input signal This parameter allows one to adjust the amount of distortion introduced in the signal by controlling how rapidly the signal reaches the non linear portion of the distortion curve applied on the signal In its leftmost position the amplitude of the input signal is reduced by 6 dB turning this knob clockwise allows one to increase its amplitude Note that the Drive parameter is also adjustable from the Play view The Jone knob is used to adjust the color of the signal after the distortion algorithm has been applied In its leftmost position high frequencies are attenuated in the signal while in its rightmost position low frequencies are filtered out from the signal In its center position the signal is left unchanged The Volume knob is a gain knob acting on the amplitude of the distorted signal Finally the
46. he duration of the different phases as well as their level The envelope signal can further be modified by adjusting the shape of the envelope segments These are linear when the Exp button is in its off position and become exponential when it is switched on as shown in Figure I7 4 8 2 Free Run Mode The Free button sets the envelope into free run mode This allows one to bypass the sustain phase of the envelope or in other words to go directly from the decay phase to the release phase regardless of the amount of time a key is depressed 36 Parameters 4 8 3 Legato Mode This mode is used to choose how the envelope generator reacts when a new note is played before the end of the preceding one When this occurs two strategies are possible The first one consists in triggering a new envelope from the attack phase when the new note is played The second consists in applying the current envelope signal of the first note to the second note which produces a legato effect The first strategy is adopted when the Retrig button switched on while the second is applied when it is in its off position Note that when the keyboard is in polyphonic mode and the envelope generator in retrig mode the envelope generator behaves in a monophonic manner reacting to a logical OR between all the gates signal from the different notes played on the keyboard In other words the envelope generator is only triggered by the first note played on the keyboard and then rem
47. ing on the Audio Setup button located in the lower left corner of the Ultra Analog VA interface The Audio Setup dialog first allows you to select an audio output device from those available on your computer Multi channel interfaces will have their outputs listed as stereo pairs On Windows the audio output list is organized by driver type The device type is first selected from the Audio Device Type drop down list If you have ASIO drivers available these should be selected for optimum performance The Configure Audio Device button allows you to open the manufacturer s setup program for your audio interface when available Once the audio input has been selected you can then select a sampling rate and a buffer size from those offered by your audio interface 6 1 2 Latency The latency is the time delay between the moment you send a control signal to your computer for example when you hit a key on your MIDI keyboard and the moment when you hear the effect Roughly the latency is equal to the duration of the buffers used by the application and the sound card to play audio and MIDI To calculate the total time required to play a buffer just divide the number of samples per buffer by the sampling frequency For example 256 samples played at 48 kHz represent a time of 5 3 ms Doubling the number of samples and keeping the sampling frequency constant doubles this time while changing the sampling frequency to 96 kHz and keeping the buffer size con
48. inot specified Effect Descend Pad Bright slowly evolving pad Keys OxygenPad Pad Lead TexturePad Pad Pad Space and Time Pad Pacific Pad RENAME SHOW FILES COPY MOVE DELETE SELECT ALL Figure 7 Bank and program manager window A new bank can be created by clicking on the button below the bank list This opens the Create New Bank window in which the name of the new bank can be entered A bank can be deleted by first selecting it in the bank list and then clicking on the button Be careful this command erases a bank and all the programs it contains this operation is permanent and can not be undone In order to rename a bank simply click on the Rename button and enter a new name Banks and the information corresponding to each of its programs is stored in a simple text file on your computer hard disk In order to view these bank files click on the Show Files button under the bank list On Windows this command will open an Explorer window at the location where the files are stored On Mac OSX the command has a similar effect and opens a Finder window All the bank file names follow the same format and begin with the bank name These files can be used for backups or to exchange presets with other users The list of programs included in the selected bank is displayed in the program list in the center of the manager window Presets are selected by clicking on their name which updates the program information appearing
49. ion to provide to Licensee such updates or upgrades and Licensee continues to have a valid license which is in effect at the time of receipt of each such update or new release This License shall remain in effect until terminated The Licensee may terminate this Agreement at any time upon notification to AAS This Agreement will terminate immediately without notice from AAS if the Licensee fails to comply with any provision of this License Any such termination by AAS shall be in addition to and without prejudice to such rights and remedies as may be available including injunction and other equitable remedies Upon receipt of notice of termination from AAS the Licensee must a immediately cease to use the Software b destroy all copies of the Software as well as copies of all documentation specifications and magnetic media relating thereto in Licensee s possession or control and c return all original versions of the Software and associated documentation The provisions of Sections 1 3 and 5 shall survive the termination of this Agreement GOVERNING LAW This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Quebec without regard to the United Nations Convention On Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and conflict of laws provisions if applicable and the parties hereby irrevocably attorn to the jurisdiction of the courts of that province Les parties sont d accord ce que cette conve
50. it Applied Acoustics Systems DVM Inc on the World Wide Web at www applied acoustics com Contents 1 Introduction 1 1 System Requirements e 12 Installation ooe eo oea ee hehe a ea y a ds pa a aia o a Se eres 1 3 1 Your Computer is Online o e e NA 1 4 Getting Started sce coe ed 6 wae we ew a a ia a e ee E 1 4 1 Using Ultra Analog VA in Standalone Mode do aa cas A eo gh at ee 15 Getting Helpi s s c s ea s bed Ae Ye e ae EA a ae ae ae 1 6 About this Manual 2 Architecture of Ultra Analog VA 3 2 1 General Signal Flow 2 2 Interface 2 2 1 The Play View Bank and Program Management 3 1 Banks and Programs 3 2 Saving Programs 3 3 The Bank Manager 3 4 Using MIDI Bank and Program Changes o 3 5 Backups of Banks and Programs o e eee 3 6 Exchanging Banks and Programs o o e 3 7 Restoring the Factory Library 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 13 14 15 15 CONTENTS 4 Parameters 21 ga igni aii eee eee 21 A A EA 21 4 1 2 IS Witches oie a ok ye kd a A A ee ee Bk 21 wh Ale By wk Baek Ok eh We aoe a a a ns Ge 21 wed oth Mw SMe ea A ee Ga Soe ee dows hs 21 fe ow Oh hw Rh Pek ob Gad Gk we a a Ge SR Gee 22 A E 22 4 3 The Oscillator Module a 23 43 10 WadetorMle siei aaa hk a a we A a A 23 432 Pitch sa es A 24 4
51. k knob is used to fix the amount of wet signal re injected into the delay Finally the Mix knob determines the amount of dry and wet signal sent to the output When this knob is adjusted in the left position only dry signal is sent to the output in its center position there is an equal amount of dry and wet signal in the output and in the right position only wet signal is sent to the output 4 9 8 Wah The Multi Effect module includes 2 different types of Wah effects wah wah and auto wah These effects are used to enhance a frequency band around a varying center frequency using a bandpass filter In the wah wah effect the center frequency of the bandpass filter varies at a rate fixed by the user In the case of the auto wah the variations of the center frequency is controlled by the amplitude envelope of the incoming signal The Freq knob is used to control the central frequency of the filter Turning this knob clockwise increases the center frequency In the case of the Wah Wah effect the center frequency oscillates around the value fixed by the Freq knob while with the Auto Wah effect the setting of the Freq parameter fixes the starting point value of the varying center frequency The Depth knob controls the excursion of the center frequency of the filter In the case of the Wah Wah effect this excursion is applied around the value fixed by the Freq knob while in Auto Wah effect the value of the center frequency increases from the valu
52. lest way to create a backup of banks and programs is to make a copy on an external media of the above mentioned folders Individual banks can be backed up by making copies of individual bank files 3 6 Exchanging Banks and Programs Banks and programs can easily be shared with other Ultra Analog VA users This operation simply involves the exchange of the above mentioned user bank files When a new bank file is copied to the bank folder it is automatically available to Ultra Analog VA Note that individual programs can not be exported They always appear inside a bank file If you only wish to share a few programs create a new bank copy the programs you wish to exchange to this bank and share the corresponding bank file 20 Bank and Program Management 3 7 Restoring the Factory Library If necessary it is possible to restore the original factory library of banks and programs The original factory bank files are located in the following folders On Windows 64 bit C Program Files x86 Applied Acoustics Systems Ultra Analog VA 21 Factory Library On Windows 32 bit C Program Filesl Applied Acoustics Systemsl Ultra Analog VA 2 Factory Library On Mac OS startup disk Library Application Support Applied Acoustics Systems Ultra Analog VA 2 Factory Library Restoring the factory library simply involves copying the files contained in these folders and pasting them in the user bank folders listed in Section 3 5 The user bank folders
53. ll be uninterrupted or ERROR FREE 62 License Agreement 5 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLI CABLE LAW IN NO EVENT WILL AAS BE LIABLE TO THE LICENSEE OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT SPECIAL CONSEQUENTIAL INCIDENTAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF REVENUE OR PROFIT LOST OR DAMAGED DATA BUSINESS INTER RUPTION OR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT TORT OR OTHER CAUSE OF ACTION EVEN IF AAS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES EXCEPT IN RELATION TO GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR WILFUL BREACH OF THIS AGREEMENT BY AAS NO AAS AGENT REPRE SENTATIVE OR DEALER IS AUTHORIZED TO EXTEND MODIFY OR ADD TO THIS WARRANTY ON BEHALF OF AAS THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF AAS FOR DAM AGES WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR TORT UNDER OR RELATED IN ANY WAY TO THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE LICENSE FEES ACTUALLY PAID BY LICENSEE TO AAS OR IF NO FEES WERE PAID AAS LIST PRICE FOR THE SOFTWARE COVERED BY THIS LICENSE THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WAR RANTIES AND OR THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS NOT PERMITTED IN SOME JURISDICTIONS AND SOME OR ALL OF THESE EXCLUSIONS MAY THEREFORE NOT APPLY TERMINATION This License also shall extend to the Software and any updates or new releases thereof obtained by the Licensee if any subject to any changes to this License made by AAS from time to time and provided to the Licensee provided AAS is under a separate obligat
54. lues are Sine for sinus Tri for triangular Rect for rectangular and Rnd and Rnd 2 for the two random modes In the case of the triangular and rectangular waves the PW Pulse Width knob is used to control the symmetry of the wave This allows one to go from a pulse to a square wave when a rectangular waveform is selected and from a saw tooth to a perfectly triangular wave when the triangular waveform is selected Note that the PW knob has no effect on the Sine Rnd and Rnd 2 waveforms When the Shape control is set to rnd the LFO outputs random values at the rate determined by the Sync control or the Rate knob In this case the output value from the LFO remains constant until a new random value is introduced The Rnd 2 mode reacts almost like the preceding mode except that the LFO module ramps up or down between successive random values instead of switching instantly to the new value 4 7 2 Rate There are two ways to adjust the rate or frequency of the output of the LFO module If the Sync control is in its off position the rate is set with the Rate knob When the Sync control is on the frequency of the oscillator is fixed relative to the frequency tempo of the master clock see and the value displayed in the Sync control Sync values range from 4 whole notes 16 quarter notes to a thirty second note 1 8 of a quarter note where the duration of the whole note is determined by the value in BPM appearing in the Tempo display of the Clock mod
55. m the Env module as the modu lation source moves the source to one side of the source and brings it back to its original position Note that since the sign of the envelope signal is always the same the source would need to be positioned completely to the left or to the right Pan knob in its leftmost or rightmost position in order for the source to sweep the entire space Finally the pitch signal from the keyboard positions 32 Parameters notes depending on their pitch low notes to the left and high notes to the right where the middle C is the reference note positioned at the location determined by the Pan knob 4 6 The Noise Generator Module The Noise module generates white noise and is followed by a 6dB Oct low pass filter used to adjust the frequency content of the noise The Color knob is used to vary the cutoff frequency of the built in low pass filter Turning this knob to the right increases this frequency and therefore increases the high frequency content of the noise until in its rightmost position the filter is fully opened The Noise knob on the filter mixers is used to control the amount of noise sent to each filter 4 7 The LFO Module The LFO module is used as a modulation source for the Oscillator Filter and Amplifier modules On the LFO module one can adjust the waveform the phase of the signal and fade in behavior 4 7 1 Wave Shape The waveform of the LFO is selected with the Shape drop down menu The possible va
56. n Figure 27 As the amount of wet signal sent to the output is reduced the 46 Parameters OUTPUT ALL PASS INPUT FILTER FEEDBACK GAIN Figure 26 Phaser algorithm amount of rejection increases The shape of the frequency of the Phaser module is also influenced by the amount of wet signal re injected into the feedback loop Increasing the feedback enhances frequency components least affected by the all pass filter As the feedback is increased these peaks become sharper The functioning of the Phaser is very similar to that of the Flanger module The filtering effect is different however since the Phaser module only introduces rejection around a limited number of frequencies which in addition are not in an harmonic relationship Light effect mix 0 1 Amp Medium effect mix 0 25 Strong effect mix 0 5 0dB 250 Hz 2435 Hz Frequency Figure 27 Frequency response of a Phaser module Effect of the mix between wet and dry signal on the frequency response 4 9 The FX View 47 Tuning The location of the first notch in the frequency response of the module is adjusted with the Fre quency knob This frequency can be modulated by an amount controlled with the Depth knob In its leftmost position the location of the first notch is fixed but it starts to oscillate by an amount which increases as the Depth knob is turned clockwise The frequency of the modulation is controlled using the the Rate knob The feedbac
57. nal from the LFO module si simply delayed 34 Parameters Amplitude rece ie oe Be AAA UU VU U time Fade in Figure 16 Fade in feature of the LFO 4 8 The Envelope Module Each row of Ultra Analog VA is equipped with two envelope generators the Filter Env and Amp Env modules which are used to modulate the Filter and Amp modules Both envelope generators have the same user interface and offer the same functions Envelopes are generated through the use of a standard ADSR attack decay sustain release approach including MIDI velocity modulation and looping capabilities Amplitude Exp Lin Key Released A D R 3 Sustain Time E Figure 17 Response curve of an envelope generator Broken line exponential full line linear 4 8 The Envelope Module 35 The envelope modules generate a four segment envelope attack decay sustain release The attack time is adjusted us ing the Attack knob The attack time can also be modulated with the velocity signal received from the MIDI keyboard to make the attack time shorter as the velocity increases the in tensity of this effect being controlled using the Vel knob on the left of the Attack knob When this knob is in its leftmost po sition the attack is only determined by the value of the Attack knob turning the knob clockwise increases the influence of the velocity signal until the attack time is strictly determined by the inverse of the velo
58. ntion soit r dig e en langue anglaise The parties have agreed that this agreement be drafted in the English language SEVERABILITY If any of the above provisions are held to be illegal invalid or unenforce able such provision shall be severed from this Agreement and this Agreement shall not be License Agreement 63 10 rendered inoperative but the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect ENTIRE AGREEMENT This Agreement is the entire agreement between AAS and the Licensee relating to the Software and 1 supersedes all prior or contemporaneous oral or written communications proposals and representations with respect to its subject matter and 11 prevails over any conflicting or additional terms of any quote order acknowledgement or similar communication between the parties during the term of this Agreement except as otherwise expressly agreed by the parties No modification to the Agreement will be binding unless in writing and signed by a duly authorized representative of each party NON WAIVER No delay or failure to take any action or exercise any rights under this Agreement shall constitute a waiver or consent unless expressly waived or consented to in writing by a duly authorized representative of AAS A walver of any event does not apply to any other event even if in relation to the same subject matter Index about adsr amplifier architecture arpeggiator 52 latch looping pat
59. o adjust the overall level of the amplifier while the Pan knob is used to posi tion the sound in the stereo field The source can be positioned from left to right by turning the Pan knob clockwise it is cen tered when the knob is in its center position The level of the sound is always modulated by the signal from the Amp Env module which is hard wired to the Amp module The level of the sound across the overall range of the keyboard can also be adjusted using the Key modulation knob In its center position the sound level is the same across the keyboard Turning the Key knob clockwise boosts high notes and decreases the amplitude of low notes while turning it to the left boosts low notes while decreasing the amplitude of high notes Note that the middle C key C3 MIDI note 60 always sounds a the same level regardless of the position of the Key knob The output signal from the LFO module can be used for adding a tremolo effect to the sound The pan value can be modulated by signals from the LFO the Amp Env modules and the pitch of the note played The modulation signals moves the source relative to the source position determined by the settings of the Pan knob Negative values of the modulation signal move the source to the left of the source while positive values move it toward the right Using the LFO module as a modulation source moves the signal from left to right at the fre quency of the signal from the LFO module Using the signal fro
60. odified The Compare button located above the Program display is used to switch between Edit and Compare mode This button is visible only once a modification is applied to a given program It allows one to revert to the original version of a program in order to compare it with the current version When in Compare mode edition is blocked and it is therefore not possible to modify any parameter The Compare mode must then be switched off by clicking on the Compare button in order to resume edition 5 5 Volume The Volume knob is the master volume of the application It is used to adjust the overall level of the output signal from the synthesizer General level is increased by turning the knob clockwise 5 6 Level Meter The level meter allows one to monitor peak and RMS root means square level of the left L and right R output channels from the synthesizer As a limiter is located at the output of Ultra Analog VA it is important to make sure that the amplitude of the signal remains within values that ensure that no distortion is introduced in the signal at the output The 0 dB mark on the level meter has been adjusted to correspond to 20 dBFS full scale This means that at that level the signal is 20 dB below the maximum allowed value This O dB level mark should typically correspond to playing at mezzo forte moderately loud level This ensures a headroom of 20 dB which should be more than enough to cover the dynamics of most playing
61. of the filter which is set by the Order menu a slope of 12dB Oct corresponding to a second order filter and a slope of 24dB Oct to a fourth order filter 4 4 2 Resonant High Pass Filter OdB 3dB Cutoff Frequency Hz Frequency Figure 11 Frequency response of the high pass filter The high pass resonant filter works exactly in the opposite manner as the low pass resonant filter by removing the frequency component of a signal located below the cutoff frequency while leaving those above the cutoff frequency unchanged Similarly to the low pass filter the Q factor controls the emphasis of frequencies located around the cut off frequency 4 4 3 Band Pass Filter The behavior of a band pass filter is to let the frequencies in a band located around a center fre quency and to attenuate the frequencies outside of this band as shown in Figure 12 The bandwidth of the band pass filter is set with the Resonance knob while the center frequency is set with the Frequency knob The Order control sets the order of the filter This parameter affects the slope of the roll off on both sides of the center frequency For a second order filter the slope is 6dB Oct while for a fourth order filter it is 12dB Oct 28 Parameters Amplitude dB ii i da Ed Q 10 AAA ree 0dB PA gt Q 4 3dB AMA 2 faces E ves Z a ro an Q 2 i 1 A X Q 1 Y vo A Do A A dy Y 1 5 f A 1 x j A 1
62. of the modulation of the center frequency of the filter Turning this knob clockwise increases the rate of the modulation Note that the Depth parameter is also adjustable from the Play view 4 9 10 Reverb The Reverb effect is used to recreate the effect of reflections of sound on the walls of a room or hall These reflections add space to the sound and make it warmer deeper as well as more realistic since we always listen to instruments in a room and thus with a room effect 4 9 The FX View 49 CLUB HALL o f S a E Y e A y SIZE DIFFUSION Impulse Response of a Room The best way to evaluate the response of a room is to clap hands and to listen to the resulting sound Figure 29 shows the amplitude of the impulse response of a room versus time The first part of the response is the clap itself the direct sound while the remaining of the response is the effect of the room which can itself be divided in two parts Following the direct sound one can observe a certain amount of echoes which gradually become closer and closer until they can not be distinguished anymore and can be assimilated to an exponentially decaying signal The first part of the room response is called the early reflexion while the second is called the late reverberation The total duration of the room response is called the reverberation time RT Amp dB Direct Sound Room Response Early reflexions Late Reverberation Tim
63. of these three filters frequency amplitude and Q factor one can cycle between all the vowels The effect of the Frequency knob on the formant filter is to offset all the formants by the same factor and it is used to switch between male voice left position female voice center and child right position The Resonance knob is used to cycle between vowels Note that changing these parameters can be automated by using the different modulation signals 4 4 6 Filter Drive As seen in the preceding sections some filters can boost the signal in some regions of the spectrum Theoretically with a high Q factor the amplification can reach up to 50dB but in real life electronic components saturate before this level is reached and saturation is introduced in the signal In other words the output signal of a circuit can raise linearly up to a certain value but then begins to raise more slowly up to a value where the output is clipped to the maximum output value allowed by the circuit This effect is typical of the sound signature of vintage circuits and is implemented in Ultra Analog VA through the Drive control as shown in Figure 15 There are 6 different saturation patterns implemented the three first being symmetrical meaning that the saturation is the same for positive and negative values of the signal while for the three remaining the distortion pattern applied is not the same for positive and negative values of the signal The distortion algorithms
64. om the source depends strongly on the position of the listener The farther we are from the sound source the quieter is the direct sound relatively to the room response The ratio between the direct sound and the room response is adjusted with the Mix knob which in other words is used to adjust the perceived distance between the source and the listener In its leftmost position only the direct sound is heard while when fully turned to the right one only hears the room response Note that the Mix parameter is also adjustable from the Play view 4 10 The Play View The Play view is where the main performance oriented modules are located Key parameters from the Edit and FX view are also included for quick access This view is loaded when starting the instrument and can be accessed from another view by clicking on the Play button on the top part of the interface The middle section of this view allows one to switch on and off the EQ Compressor and Reverb as well as the active effect modules Key effect parameters are also adjustable as presented in the description of the different effect modules in section 4 9 4 10 1 The Clock Module This module is used to control the tempo of the different effects of the FX section as well as that of the LFO and Arpeggiator modules when their respective sync button is switched on When Ultra Analog VA is launched in standalone mode the clock tempo in bpm is set by using the Rate knob The tempo can also be
65. on of the echo for a given delay time In its rightmost position the gain coefficient is equal to 1 which means that all the signal is re injected into the feedback loop and that the echo will not stop In addition to this gain factor low pass filtering can also be applied to the signal re injected into the feedback loop The cutoff frequency of this filter is controlled using the Cutoff knob The Pan knob is used to balance the input signal between the left and right channels In its leftmost position signal is only fed into the left delay line and one hears clearly defined echo first from the left channel and then from the right channel and so on In its rightmost position the behavior is similar but with the first echo coming from the right channel These two extreme position correspond to the standard ping pong effect but a a less extreme behavior can be obtained 4 9 The FX View 41 by choosing an intermediate position In particular when the Pan knob is in its center position an equal amount of signal is sent in both channels The output signal from the Delay module can include a mix of input signal dry and delayed signal wet The Wet and Dry knobs are used to adjust the amplitude of each component in the final output The amplitude of each component is increased by turning the corresponding knob clockwise from no signal to an amplitude of 6dB Note that the Wer parameter is also adjustable from the Play view 4 9 4 Distortion T
66. on the right of the preset list Program information includes the name of the preset its author and comments This information can be updated by clicking on the corresponding box which opens an edition window Note that multiple presets can be updated simultaneously by selecting more than one preset at once and clicking on a preset information box A multiple selection consisting of adjacent programs is obtained by holding down the Shift key on the computer keyboard and then clicking on the name of the first program to be copied and then the last one A non adjacent multiple selection is obtained by holding down the Ctrl command computer key and clicking on the name of the different programs to be copied It is also possible to select all programs at once by clicking on the Select All button at the bottom of the program list Programs can be copied to another bank by clicking on the Copy button A program must first be selected by clicking on its name on the program list it is then copied by moving the mouse to a given bank in the Bank list on the right and clicking on the bank name The Move command is activated by clicking on the Move button it copies a preset to a new bank but also erases it in the 3 4 Using MIDI Bank and Program Changes 19 original bank A multiple selection of programs can be used with the Copy and Move commands Programs can be deleted from a bank by first selecting them and then clicking on the Delete button This will mo
67. ou as a single product Its component parts may not be separated for use on more than one computer 3 OWNERSHIP AAS retains title to the Software including but not limited to any titles computer code themes objects dialog concepts artwork animations sounds audio effects methods of operation moral rights any related documentation and applets incorporated into the Software AAS retains ownership of and title to all intellectual property rights in the Software underlying technology related written materials logos names and other support materials furnished either with the Software or as a result of this Agreement including but not limited to trade secrets patents trademarks and copyrights therein Licensee shall not remove or alter any copyright or other proprietary rights notices contained on or within the Software and shall reproduce such notices on all copies thereof permitted under this Agree ment or associated documentation 4 LIMITED WARRANTY Except for the foregoing THE SOFTWARE IS provided AS IS without warranty or condition of any kind AAS disclaims all warranties or conditions writ ten or oral statutory express or implied including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantable quality or fitness for a particular purpose title and non infringement of rights of any other person AAS does not warrant that THE SOFTWARE will meet the Licensee s requirements or that the operation of the software wi
68. r 15 days left Figure 1 Online Authorization Your serial number as well as the automatically generated challenge code are displayed but you need to obtain the response code To do so take note of your serial number and challenge code and proceed to an internet connected computer Launch your browser and go to the unlock page of the AAS website located at http www applied acoustics com unlock Enter your serial number and challenge code in the form follow the instructions and the re sponse code will appear on screen Write it down go back to your music computer and enter the response code in the authorization pop up window This will complete the authorization procedure If you prefer you can also contact us by email at supportO applied acoustics com with your serial number and challenge code and we will send you back your response code Should you not have access to the internet AAS support representatives are available to assist you in the unlock and registration process Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm EST You may contact us by phone at e North America Toll free number 1 888 441 8277 e Outside North America 1 514 871 8100 10 Introduction Offline Options Forward us your serial number and challenge code via email visit the Unlock page from another computer connected to the internet or give us a call to get your response code Once you have your response code enter it below support applied acoustics com
69. ramp signal of the oscillator envelope using the Ramp knob and the output from the LFO module Note that in sync mode the sub oscillator knob is not available Amp Oscillator Signal E Time Osc Periode Am aoe a p Synchronisation Signal A L Sync Periode E Time Amp Synchronized Oscillator Signal Time Sync Osc Periode Figure 9 Synchronization of the oscillator 26 Parameters 4 4 The Filter Module Ultra Analog VA is equipped with two multi mode filters The filters are patched in a flexible way in order to allow their use in parallel in series or any combination of both For even more flexibility the cutoff frequency of the Filter 2 can also be locked to that of Filter 1 Each of the multi mode filters include a resonant low pass band pass high pass notch and two formant filters which can be selected using the Type drop down menu The order of the filters can be adjusted to 2 12 dB oct for low pass and high pass and 6 db oct for band pass or 4 24 dB oct for low pass and high pass and 12 db oct for band pass with the help of the Order parameter Furthermore different saturation algo rithms selected with the Drive drop down menu can be ap plied to the filters The resonance or cutoff frequency of the filters is adjusted with the Frequency knob while the amount of resonance is controlled with the Resonance knob When a formant filter is used the Resonance knob is used to cycle between
70. ree different views as shown in Figures Bland 6 14 Architecture of Ultra Analog VA The first view called the Play view of the instrument gives access to different performance parameters as well as to a step sequencer The second and third views called the Edit and FX views respectively are used for in depth editing of the synthesis and effect parameters One can switch from one view to the other by using the Play Edit and FX buttons located in the Utility section at the top of the interface This section of the interface is common to all the views and includes the bank manager used to access and manage sounds as well as general settings and indicators These tools are described in details in Chapter 3 and Chapter 5 respectively 2 2 1 The Play View The lower section of this view includes a master clock keyboard unisson glide vibrato and arpeg glator modules which will be described in more details in Chapter f On the left of these parameters one finds a pitch bend wheel and a modulation wheel The modulation wheel is normally used to control the amount of vibrato in the sound but it can also be used to adjust any other parameter through MIDI links which will be described in Chapter 6 Just below is a clickable eight octave ribbon allowing one to play different notes on the range of the piano which can be useful when no MIDI keyboard is connected to the computer The middle section of this view allows one to turn the effec
71. requency components in a band located around the cutoff frequency of the filters This cutoff frequency is adjusted using the Freq knob and can vary between 100 Hz and 10 kHz The gain factor applied a the cutoff frequency is controlled by the Gain knob and can vary in a 15 dB range When in its center position there is no attenuation 0 dB Turning it clockwise boosts the amplitude of frequencies located around the cutoff frequency while turning it anti clockwise reduces it The Q knob is used to adjust the so called quality factor of the filter which controls the width of the frequency band on which the filter is active In its leftmost position the frequency band is wide and it gets narrower as the knob is turned clockwise The SC button side chain is used to determine if the output from the EQ module is to be used as the control signal of the Compressor module as described in Section Finally note that all the gain knobs from this module can be accessed directly from the Play view 4 9 2 Compressor The Compressor module is used to automatically compress in other words reduce the dynamics of a sig nal This module receives two input signals The first one is the signal to be compressed while the second one is a control signal which triggers the compression process when it rises above a given level 4 9 The FX View 39 Gain 30 dB Q 2 Amplitude dB A Gain 30 dB Q 5 Gain 20 dB Gain 10 dB 00B pn nem Se oS
72. right top corner of the Bank box Playing programs and or ganizing them is pretty straightforward please refer to Chapter 3 for a complete description of the bank and program management operations 1 4 3 Using Ultra Analog VA as a Plug in Ultra Analog VA integrates seamlessly into the industry s most popular multi track recording and sequencing environments as a virtual instrument plug in Ultra Analog VA works as any other plug in in these environments so we recommend that you refer to your sequencer documentation in case you have problems running Ultra Analog VA as a plug in Note that in plug in mode the audio and MIDI inputs sampling rate and buffer size are determined by the host sequencer 12 Introduction 1 5 Getting Help AAS technical support representatives are on hand from Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm EST Whether you have a question on Ultra Analog VA or need a hand getting it up and running as a plug in in your favorite sequencer we are here to help Contact us by phone or email at e North America Toll Free 1 888 441 8277 e Worldwide 1 514 871 8100 e Email support applied acoustics com Our online support pages contain downloads of the most recent product updates and answers to frequently asked questions on all AAS products The support pages are located at www applied acoustics com support 1 6 About this Manual Throughout this manual the following conventions are used e Bold characters are used to n
73. rithm implemented in this module is shown in Figure 22 The input signal is sent into a variable delay line The output of this delay is then mixed with the dry signal and re injected into the delay line with a feedback coefficient OUTPUT VARIABLE INPUT DELAY FEEDBACK GAIN Figure 22 Flanger algorithm The effect of the Flanger module is to introduce rejection in the spectrum of the input signal at frequencies located at odd harmonic intervals of a fundamental frequency as shown in Figure 23 The location of the fundamental frequency fO and the spacing between the valleys and peaks of the frequency response is determined by the length of the delay line fO 1 2delay the longer the delay the lower is fO and the smaller the spacing between the harmonics while decreasing the delay increases fO and hence the distance between the harmonics 44 Parameters Amp Amp Long Delay Time Short Delay Time 0 dB 0 dB Frequency Frequency Figure 23 Frequency response of a Flanger module Effect of the length of the delay line The amount of effect is determined by the ratio of wet and dry signal mixed together as shown in Figure 24 As the amount of wet signal sent to the output is increased the amount of rejection increases Finally the shape of the frequency response of the Flanger module is also influenced by the amount of wet signal re injected into the feedback loop as shown in Figure 25 Increasing the feed
74. rtional to the width of the interval between the two notes 52 Parameters Clicking on the Legato button switches the module into legato mode and the sliding between two notes then only occurs if the second note is played before the first one is released When a note is played staccato or in other words if a key is released before the next one is depressed there is no glide effect Note that even though the glide effect is available when the Key module is in polyphonic mode it is mostly dedicated to monophonic playing In polyphonic mode the sames rules apply to individual voices and the overall result is less predictable 4 13 The Vibrato Module The vibrato effect is equivalent to a periodic low frequency pitch mod ulation This effect is generally obtained by using an LFO to modulate the pitch signal of an oscillator In Ultra Analog VA a dedicated module is provided for this effect The vibrato module is hard wired and affects the pitch of both oscillators The Rate knob sets the frequency of the vibrato effect from 0 3 Hz to 10 Hz The Amount knob sets the depth of the effect or in other words the amplitude of the frequency variations In its leftmost position there is no vibrato and turning the knob clockwise increases the amount of pitch variation The MW gain knob is used to determine the effect of the keyboard modulation wheel on the depth of the vibrato When this knob is fully turned to the left the modulation wheel has no
75. signal is sent to the output in its center position there is an equal amount of dry and wet signal in the output signal while in its rightmost position only wet signal is sent to the output Note that the Depth parameter is also adjustable from the Play view 4 9 7 Phaser The Phaser module implements the effect known as phasing which colors a signal by removing frequency bands from its spectrum The effect is obtained by changing the phase of the frequency components of a signal using an all pass filter and adding this new signal to the original one The algorithm implemented in this module is shown in Figure 26 The input signal is sent into a variable all pass filter This wet signal is then mixed down with the original dry signal A feedback line allows the resulting signal to be re injected into the filter The effect of the Phaser module is to introduce rejection in the spectrum of the input signal depending on the tuning of the filter The all pass filter modifies a signal by delaying its frequency components with a delay which increases with the frequency This phase variations introduce a certain amount of cancellation when this wet signal is mixed down with the original dry signal as shown in Figure 27 The rejection is maximum when the phase delay is equal to 180 degrees and a given component is out of phase with that of the original signal The amount of effect is determined by the ratio of wet and dry signal mixed together as shown i
76. stant reduces the latency to 2 7 ms It is of course desirable to have as little latency as possible Ultra Analog VA however requires a certain amount of time to be able to calculate sound samples in a continuous manner This time depends on the power of your computer the preset played the sampling rate and the number of voices of polyphony used Note that it literally takes twice as much CPU power to process audio at a sampling rate of 96 kHz as it would to process the same data at 48 kHz simply because you need to calculate twice as many samples in the same amount of time 58 Audio and MIDI Settings Depending on your machine you should choose for a given sampling frequency the smallest buffer size that allows you to keep real time for a reasonable number of voices of polyphony 6 2 MIDI Configuration 6 2 1 Selecting a MIDI Device The list of available MIDI inputs appears at the bottom of the Audio Setup dialog Click on the Audio Setup button located in the lower left corner of the Ultra Analog VA interface and then click on the checkbox corresponding to any of the inputs you wish to use 6 2 2 Creating MIDI Links Every control on the Ultra Analog VA interface can be manipulated by an external MIDI controller through MIDI control change assignments In most cases this is much more convenient than using the mouse especially if you want to move many controllers at once For example you can map the motion of a knob on the interface
77. tch bend The MIDI pitch wheel allows one to vary the pitch of Ultra Analog VA The pitch wheel can be moved with the mouse but it is also automatically connected to the pitch wheel signal received from your MIDI keyboard The range of the pitch bend is 2 semi tones up or down by default but can be changed To adjust the range of the pitch bend open the MIDI configuration window by clicking on the MIDI button located just below the MIDI let in the top part of the interface and use the Pitch Bend Range drop down list to select the range in semi tones 6 2 7 Modulation wheel Ultra Analog VA responds to MIDI modulation MIDI controller number 1 For more details please refer to Section 4 14 4 60 Using Ultra Analog VA as a Plug In 7 Using Ultra Analog VA as a Plug In Ultra Analog VA is available in VST RTAS AAX and AudioUnit formats and integrates seamlessly into the industry most popular multi track recording and sequencing environments as a virtual instrument plug in Ultra Analog VA works as any other plug in in these environments so we recommend that you refer to your sequencer documentation in case you have problems running it as a plug in We review here some general points to keep in mind when using a plug in version of Ultra Analog VA 7 1 Audio and MIDI Configuration When Ultra Analog VA is used as a plug in the audio and MIDI ports sampling rate buffer size and audio format are determined by the host sequencer 72 A
78. ter volume MIDI 57 bank change configuration device link map links pitch bend program change receiving MIDI controller MIDI led minimum system requirements modulation modulation wheel modules multi effect auto wah 47 chorus delay distortion EQ flanger notch filter phaser reverb synchronization wah wah 47 multi mode filter noise noise generator notch filter numerical displays 21 oscillator hard synchronization 24 modulation noise pitch rectangular saw tooth sine square 66 INDEX sub oscillator overdrive panning parameters peak phase 33 phaser pitch bend pitch modulation 24 pitch wheel play view plug in audio configuration 60 automation formats MIDI configuration 60 multiple instances performance saving projects 60 polyphony portamento programs backup bank manager copy factory library move saving sharing rectangular registration reset mode response code 8 restore factory library reverb ribbon sampling rate saturation curve save save as 17 saw tooth SC signal flow sine solid state 41 square standalone start up sub oscillator support sustain pedal switches synchronization synchronization to a host system requirements transpose tremolo tuning unlocking utility section 55 vco 23
79. tern rate rhythmic pattern 53 synchronization audio configuration device latency authorization auto wah 15 87 47 backup band pass filter bank backup create delete factory library rename sharing bank manager buffer size challenge code chorus mono stereo clock coarse compare compressor contact cpu load default MIDI map 58 delay distortion drop down menus 21 edit view effect synchronization effect view 15 effects master clock envelope 34 free run mode legato mode 36 loop mode 36 shape 35 EQ 37 equalizer factory library fade in filter band pass 27 band pass filter 26 drive formant 29 formant filter high pass 27 high pass filter 26 locking 30 low pass 26 low pass filter 26 notch 28 notch filter routing saturation fine tuning 21 flanger formant filter free run mode INDEX 65 fx view glide hard synchronization 24 help 10 12 high pass filter history installation interface drop down menus 21 knobs numerical displays 21 switches key module keyboard monophonic polyphonic priority sustain pedal unison knobs latency legato level level meter Ifo fade in phase rate reset mode synchronization wave shape 32 library restore limiter low pass filter 26 manual master clock 50 mas
80. tion pop up window from which one can adjust parameters such as the pitch bend range enable bank and program changes and manage the MIDI map used by Ultra Analog VA as explained in Chapter 6 5 2 Polyphony The Voices control located in the upper left corner of this section allows one to adjust the number of polyphony voices used by Ultra Analog VA The number of voices is adjusted by clicking on the control and selecting the desired number of voices In general a higher number of voices is desirable but keep in mind that the CPU load is proportional to the number of voices used 5 3 Tuning The Tune control located on the right of the Voices control is used to transpose the frequency of the keyboard This control is composed of two numbers separated by a dot The first number indicates a value in semi tones while the second one indicates a value in cents one hundredth of a semi tone The amount of transposition can be adjusted by click dragging upward or downward on the semi tone and cent controls Double clicking on these controls brings back their value to zero 56 Utility Section 5 4 History and Compare The History control allows one to go back through all the modifications that were made to programs since the application was started In order to travel back and forth in time use the left and right pointing arrows respectively The application will switch between different program states and indicate the time at which they were m
81. to a real knob on a knob box or to the modulation wheel from your keyboard As you use the specified MIDI controllers the controls move on the Ultra Analog VA interface just as if you had used the mouse In order to assign a MIDI link to a controller e On the Ultra Analog VA interface right click Control click on a control knob button and select the MIDI Learn command e Move a knob or slider on your MIDI controller this can be a keyboard a knob box or any device that sends MIDI This links the control of Ultra Analog VA to the MIDI controller you just moved To deactivate a MIDI link simply righ click Control click on the corresponding control on the Ultra Analog VA interface and select the MIDI Forget command 6 2 3 Creating a default MIDI Map It is possible to define a a set of MIDI links called a MIDI map that will be loaded automatically when Ultra Analog VA is launched Once you have defined a set of MIDI links that you wish to save click on MIDI button to open the MIDI configuration window and click on the Save Current as Default button If you make changes to MIDI links after opening the program and wish to revert to the default MIDI map click on MIDI button to open the MIDI configuration window and click on the Load Default button If you wish to deactivate all the MIDI links at once open the MIDI configuration window and click on the Clear MIDI Map button 6 2 MIDI Configuration 59 6 2 4 MIDI Program Changes
82. ts from the multi effects module compression and equalizer on and off and to rapidly adjust their main parameters 77 Pads PROGRAM COMPARE SAVE SAVE AS HISTORY 1 Evolving Figure 4 The Play view 2 2 Interface 15 2 2 2 The Edit View The Edit view gives access to the synthesis parameters described in details in Chapter 4 The two oscillators modules appear on the left of this view The middle section includes the two filters and amplifier modules One can easily switch from one to the other by clicking on the two numbered tabs The main envelop and LFO parameters are also included in this section for most required ad justments The right part of this view allows one to view and adjust the complete set of parameters for all synthesis related modules One can switch from one module to the other using the small tabs on the left of this section T AM Pads PROGRAM COMPARE SAVE SAVE AS HISTORY 1 Evolving O KEY eg 5 3 EN 70 50 16 Figure 5 The Edit view 2 2 3 The FX view The FX view includes an equalizer a compressor a multi effects and a reverb module The multi effects module consists in two effects in series The effect list includes a delay distortion chorus flanger phaser wah Wah auto wah and a notch filter The functioning of the effect modules is described in details in Chapter 4 16 Architecture of Ultra Analog VA VOICES 32 v BANK Pads PROGRAM TUNE
83. ule The LFO module can also be synced to a triplet or a dotted note Note that when the Sync control is depressed the Rate knob has no effect 4 7 The LFO Module 33 4 7 3 Phase and Reset Mode The LFO module behaves in a polyphonic way which means that a low frequency oscillator is associated with each voice of the polyphony This allows the LFO module to control notes played on the keyboard individually The gate signal received from the keyboard is used to reset the LFO waveform when a note is played on the keyboard The specific point in the waveform where the LFO module starts generating signal is determined by the position of the Phase knob and whether or not the LFO is in reset mode The reset mode is enabled by clicking on the Reset button In this mode the phase of the output signal of the LFO corre sponding to a polyphonic voice is fixed and adjusted with the Phase knob This means that every time a note is depressed on the keyboard and a gate signal is received from the Key board module the LFO module starts generating signal for this specific voice starting at a specific point in the cycle of the waveform The initial phase of the signal is determined with the Phase knob which enables one to select values over a full period of the waveform The value of the phase lag is increased by turning the knob clockwise and is equal to from 0 to 100 0 to 360 degrees This feature enables for example the triggering of filter sweeps
84. utomation Ultra Analog VA supports automation functions of host sequencers All parameters visible on the interface can be automatized except for the Polyphony Bank Program and History commands 7 3 Multiple Instances Multiple instances of Ultra Analog VA can be launched simultaneously in a host sequencer 7 4 Saving Projects When saving a project in a host sequencer the currently loaded program is saved with the project in order to make sure that the instrument will be in the same state as when you saved the project when you re open it Note that banks of programs are not saved with the project which implies that if you are using MIDI program changes in your project you must make sure that the bank you are using in your project still exists on your disk when you reload the project The programs must also exist and be in the same order as when the project was saved 7 5 Performance Using a plug in in a host sequencer requires CPU processing for both applications The load on the CPU is even higher when multiple instances of a plug in or numerous different plug ins are used To decrease CPU usage remember that you can use the freeze or bounce to track functions of the host sequencer in order to render to audio the part played by a plug in instead of recalculating it every time it is played License Agreement 61 8 License Agreement IMPORTANT CAREFULLY READ ALL THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREE MENT BEFORE OPENING THIS PACK
85. ve the programs to a special bank called Trash which is located below the regular list of banks This means that deleted programs can always be recuperated as long as they are not deleted from the Trash bank The content of the Trash bank is viewed by clicking on its name the different programs can then be moved to the other banks as explained above The Trash bank can be emptied by clicking on the Empty Trash button which appears below the program list when the Trash bank is selected Be careful as this command can not be undone 3 4 Using MIDI Bank and Program Changes Banks and programs can be changed using MIDI bank and program change commands For more information on how to use these commands please refer to sections and 3 5 Backups of Banks and Programs User banks are stored on disk as simple text files located in the following folders On Mac OS Users user name Library Application Support Applied Acoustics Systems Ultra Analog VA 2 Banks On Windows AppData Applied Acoustics Systemsl Ultra Analog VA 2 Banks The bank files saved by Ultra Analog VA are named using the following convention name of bank VA 2 Bank These file contain all the information corresponding to the programs they include These files can be displayed directly from Ultra Analog VA by opening the Bank manager and clicking on the Show Files button This will open an Explorer or Finder window on Windows or Mac OS respectively at the right location The simp
86. which the different voices are detuned The frequency of the modulation is fixed with the Rate knob The Fat button is used to control the number of voices in the chorus effect Switching this button on increases the number of voices The Spread knob is used to adjust the amount of dispersion of the different voices in the stereo field When in its leftmost position there is an equal amount of left and right output signal on each channel In other words the signal is the same on both channels In its rightmost position there is complete separation between the channels the left output from the chorus is only sent to the left channel while the right output of the chorus is only sent to the right 4 9 TheFX View 43 channel Finally the Mix knob allows one to mix the dry and wet signals In its leftmost position there is no output signal from the chorus and one only ears the dry input signals In its rightmost position one only ears the wet signal from the chorus module In its center position there is an equal amount of dry and wet signal in the output signal from the module Note that Ultra Analog VA includes a second chorus algorithm called vintage chorus which sounds differently and has been kept for preset compatibility reasons 4 9 6 Flanger The Flanger module implements the effect known as flanging which colors the sound with a false pitch effect caused by the addition of a signal of varying delay to the original signal The algo

USER MANUAL - Just Music

Contents

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents