Project 7: Sine wave and saw wave in Sytrus

In this lesson, we will design two synths from the ground up using Sytrus instead of PoiZone. One synth will be based on a saw wave and the other will be based on a sine wave. After we create the waves, we'll add effects and apply a filter to one of them. Then we'll write a pitch envelope and a volume envelope. If you don't know what any of that stuff is, it's okay. You're here to learn.

Adding Sytrus
Start by adding the Sytrus generator to the step sequencer. (Channels, add one, sytrus). Go to presets (the dropdown arrow in the upper left corner of the sytrus window), and choose default (it's the first one in the list). NOTE: I learned a lot about Sytrus by going into the presets and messing around with them to see what the controls do. I encourage you to do the same.

The Waveform
Across the top, you'll see Main, then Operators 1-6, Filters 1-3 and FX. Directly under Main, you'll see a wave. That is a sine wave./ If you right click on it, you'll see a dropdown menu with the four basic wave shapes. Go ahead a play with them and compare them to one another. Then, try using the slider to the left of the wave icon- it's the shape slider. With this controller, you can change the shape of the wave to any of the 4 basic shapes and anything in between. the remaining 4 slider (excluding the noise slider) all affect the shape of the wave. Play with them to see what they do. I gave a more detailed explanation in class and I won't type all of that out here. After you have played around to your satisfaction, select a saw wave and move on.

The Matrix
That area on the right hand side of the Sytrus is the matrix. it even says so in the lower right corner. By default, the output of operator 1 is at 100%- which is fine. Try turning it to the 12:00 position and observe what happens. Notice that at the 12:00 position you are at 0. If you go all the way to the left you're at -100%. More on why it's like this in another lesson. Right next to the output level is the FX control. Set this to 100% in operator 1. Now click on the FX tab in the top row. It's right above the lemon slice graphic.

FX
Sytrus comes with a powerful FX generator for Chorus, Delay and Reverb. By default, the chorus is on and set to an order of 4. You can change this to a value of 0 (off) to 9. The sliders next to the order number control various parameters of chorus which I discussed in class. You can set up your chorus settings anyway you like. next to the chorus is a series of delay banks (D1, D2, and D3) Click on D1 (it should be selected already) and click enable. You have just activated the delay function. You can fine -tune your delay settings with the sliders in the delay band. Under the delay band is the reverb control. Select R, and then click enable to hear the effect.

Filters
In order to use the filter section(s) we have to route the output of operator 1 into the filter section. To do this, go to the matrix and turn up Op1 in F1 (it's the first control on the left next to F1). then turn the FX output and the main output to 100% in the same row. Once you have done that, you can turn the FX and OUT controls in operator 1 (the ones we started with) to 0% because we are mixing in the filter now.
Click on the Filt 1 tab. You'll notice a lot of things in common with the filter project that we did as project 4. There is a State Variable Filter selected by default (you can change it by scrolling over the name of the filter and selecting a different one. There is a cutoff frequency which you can set as well as resonance and filter intensity radio buttons. Ignore the WS (waveshaper) for now. Set up your filter the way you like (I used a Low Pass filter with the cutoff frequency all the way up and the resonance set to about 30%). You now have a fairly good sounding synth. let's move on to the next one

Sine Wave synth
Follow the instructions above to add a new sytrus to the step sequencer and select the default preset. In op 1, select the sine wave (it should be selected already) and then mix it directly into the filter section at 100%. While you're there, mix in op 2 as well, but not at 100%, go a little less (65% or so). A second sine wave in the mix will strengthen the original wave, and we will be changing the pitch of this one down an octave but before we do that lets turn our FX output all the way to 100% and our output to 100% (This is all in the F1 row in the matrix). Now Select op 2, and hover your mouse over the frequency ratio control. It's right under OP5 and 6. Change the value from 2 to 1 and notice the drop in pitch. You can select whatever number you want. What you are doing is telling operator 2 to sound a particular frequency (i.e. pitch) instead of the default along with op1. Cool!
Now that we have this set up, adjust your filter settings the way you want them (or turn the filter off by selecting the off radio button in the filter 1 tab, and set your FX (chorus, delay, reverb) the way you want them as I explained in the section above.

Pitch Envelope
let's add a pitch envelope to this synth. in Op 1, select pitch (it's in the row that says PAN, VOL, MOD, PITCH, etc) and then ENVelope in the row just below. You are now ready to draw your own envelope in the place of the default envelope that you see there in red. If you would like to hear that envelope, just click the circle in the lower left corner of the window above the keyboard (next to the ATT DEC SUS and REL controls). this will enable the envelope. Go ahead and play a note.
You'll notice the pitch takes a wild ride following the shape of the envelope. To clear this envelope away, you could right click each yellow dot and choose delete. You cannot delete the first dot on the left (the point of origin) because the envelope has to start somewhere, but you can drag this dot to any starting point (vertically) that you like. You can also select the step button (in the bottom row), right click in the window and sweep the mouse across the grid to clear it. make sure you unclick the step button before you start drawing your own shape.
When drawing your shape, notice that you can add different curves between the dots that you enter. Just right click on a dot and choose something other than single curve. See if you can make it play a scale using the stairs setting. whatever shape you decide to use, you should copy it to op 2 (remember we mixed in op 2?). To do this, click on the arrow next to the global button and choose copy state. then, select op2 and choose paste state. Voila! Your project 5 must use some kind of pitch envelope.

Volume envelope
The volume envelope works very much the same way as the pitch envelope. Go back to your first synth (the saw wave) and instead of PITCH, choose VOL. for operator 1.
Clear the default envelope the same way we cleared the default pitch envelope above. The point of origin should be at 0%. Enable the envelope (the little circle in the lower left corner- just the same as the pitch envelope). When you play a note with the poiunt of origi8n at zero, you'll hear nothing. Duh. Move the point of origin up a bit and test out a note. You'll hear it getting louder as you approach 100%. Now draw your envelope by putting in a dot. You'll notice that the volume fades in and out to follow the shape you drew. Try drawing a curve that starts at 100% and finishes at 0%. What happens when you hold down the key? Can you make this note sustain? No. You can't. That's because Sytrus is doing what you told it to do- play the envelope you drew from start to finish. You didn't tell it what to do if you held the key down. Fortunately, there's a solution to this.
Put in another point in the middlw of your downward curve. Right click on it and select Sustain Loop End. A line will appear with the letter S. Now try holding down a note. You have split your curve into two parts. the first part tells Sytrus what to do when you strike the key- Start the sound at 100% volume and fade to the Sustain Loop End command. Then, when you let go of the key, Sytrus will play the rest of the envelope. Experiment with this. Most string sounds start at 0% and fade in. Most plucked sounds or drums sounds start with a 100% attack and fade out. The volume at which the sustain occurs is up to you. You can even have the sound get louder when the key is released. Another trick is to draw two or three quick fades from 100% to 0%. The result will sound like two or three separate notes when you hold down the key.

Your assignment is to write a loop using your Saw synth and you Sine synth.

Here's mine:


The melody and accompanying chords come in at :06 The repeated note part has a fast pitch envelope creating the slight scooping sound and is a sine based synth. The chords (with all of the delay) are saw based and have a volume envelope starting with a loud attack and a long decay.
The drums have a healthy dose of reverb, and I created a drum roll and flams using the chop tool.

I learned all of this stuff from this site: http://fav.me/d194ttr

Project 6: ADSR

In this lesson on PoiZone we investigate Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release. Commonly known throughout the music tech world as ASDR. Here's a great video on what ASDR is all about. You'll fins ASDR envelopes in most synths including the 3Xosc and the TS404 in Fl studio. Before going on, take a moment to look in the default step sequencer. Click on any instrument (Kick for example) and open the channel settings. Click the ins (instrument properties) tab. Notice the envelope? The settings are Delay, Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain and  Release. Now go to channels- add one- Envelope controller. See something similar? Howe about Channels- add one- Sytrus. Look in Op.1 at any envelops (Pan, Vol, etc.) You'll see ADSR controls for every one. Even FL keys and the Fruity DX 10 have similar envelope controls.  If you can master this lesson, you can control these parameters on all synths.

In PoiZone, there is no visual graph for the envelope. Rather, there are sliders to control these parameters. Look in the Amplifier section first. Amp pertains only to the volume of the synth. Other sections that follow will deal with ADSR envelopes for other parameters, but let's start with volume because it's very easy to hear the effects of an ADSR envelope as it pertains to volume.

Attack:What happens when you strike the key.
Decay: What happens after the attack.
Sustain: What happens while you hold the key.
Release: What happens when you release the key.

In a volume envelope, all of these parameters deal with time and volume.

Attack: How quickly does the note reach it's attack volume peak?
Decay: How quickly does the peak of the attack volume fade into it's sustain volume?
Sustain: How loud is it while I hold the key down?
Release: How quickly does the note fade away when I release the key?

Think of different instruments and how their attacks differ. A kick drum has a very quick attack. It come to maximum volume right away. A bowed violin takes a while to get to full volume- slow attack.

In your next project, make a loop that exploits the ADSR volume envelope with PoiZone. Make one with a quick attack and one with a slow attack, but feel free to add any other synths and effects that make you happy.