INSANITY SAMPLES. Presents

Transcription

1 INSANITY SAMPLES Presents A 3 oscillator super synth modelled on a mixture of analogue beasts. Designed to tap into both the classic analogue sound, whilst stepping out into the modern age with a multitude of modulation possibilities. From budding beginners making use of the extensive preset collection, to hardened synth wizards. There is something for everyone. Thank you for your purchase, and welcome to the offensive world of Insanity Samples. 1

2 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Overview.. 3 Oscillators.. 4 Filter & Amp.. 5 Envelopes. 6 LFO s.. 7 ARP, FX & POLY Section. 8 Presets / Snapshots.10 Assigning CC s.12 2

3 OVERVIEW OFFENSIVE SYNTH is a Kontakt based Synth engine modelled on a sampled mixture of analogue synths. Utilising Kontakt s vast modulation, envelopes, effects and arpeggiator in order to endlessly mold and sculpt your unique sound. The only limitations are those you set yourself. The instrument comprises of the usual sections of a subtractive polyphonic synthesizer. Boasting 3 powerful oscillators, with 5 selectable and mixable waveforms. A Sub oscillator and Noise. [More on page 3] A low-pass filter, an amp, and two separate ADSR envelopes for the filter and amp. [More on pages 4,5] 2 powerful multi-waveform LFO s, allowing for maximum flexibility when using modulation. [More on page 6] An arpeggiator, FX section and finally a selectable Polyphonic/Monophonic section. With Unison detune, and up to 8 stackable voices. [More on pages 7,8] Finally there is a multitude of pre-crafted patches within the snapshot dropdown. [More on page 9]. 3

4 THE OSCILLATORS The OFFENSIVE SYNTH boasts 3 separate oscillators along with an additional Sub oscillator and noise. They are as follows: Oscillator 1 Sawtooth wave Square wave (with a pre-defined tight pulse width) Global volume slider for both waveforms (though each waveform can be separately turned on/muted by clicking the waveform). Oscillator 2 Square wave (with a pre-defined wide pulse for a hollow and pure tone). Volume slider for the waveform. Oscillator 3 Triangle wave Sawtooth wave (Both waveforms are slightly detuned from Osc 1&2 for added grit, giving this synth it s unique sound) Global volume slider for both waveforms (though each waveform can be separately turned on/muted by clicking the waveform). Sub Oscillator A sine wave sub oscillator, which has to be clicked and turned bright orange before it can be heard, then the volume can be adjusted via the volume slider below. off on Noise - A noise oscillator that also needs to be clicked before it becomes audible, then can be volume adjusted with it s own slider. Drift - is a slider than will add that retro analogue synth sound to your patches by having the pitch of the oscillators weave in and out of tune. 4

5 FILTER & AMP The OFFENSIVE SYNTH is equipped with the SV LP4 low pass filter. With a powerful and particularly bright resonance section. The filter has 3 sliders. One to adjust the level of the cutoff of the frequency, another to adjust the peak of the resonance, and a final slider to adjust how much the ADSR envelope for the filter actually affects the previous two parameters. Right next door to the Filter we find the Amp. This is literally a volume knob for the instrument. Meaning you can adjust the volume of the synth from within the instrument before needing to do any volume alterations within you DAW. Both the Filter (cutoff & resonance) and the Amp are modulation destinations for the LFO s. [more on page 6]. 5

6 ENVELOPES The OFFENSIVE SYNTH has 2 ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) Envelopes on board. One of which deals with the Filter, the other with the Amp. ADSR Explained For those new to the world of subtractive synthesis, the ADSR filter is a crucial part of the creation of every sound you might choose to try and create. Each letter stands for a separate step in the envelopes process of affecting its destination. A = attack, and is the speed at which the filter or Amp will take to reach its peak. D = decay, and is the speed at which the filter or Amp will take to decline back down from its peak position. S = sustain, and is the only step that is NOT time based. This is the level at which the filter or Amp will remain until the note is released. R = release, and is the speed at which the filter or Amp will take to return to 0. Here are how they both look. Quick tip: Generally, BASS, LEAD, ARP, KEYS patches will all have quick attacks and quick decays/releases. Whereas PADS will have very long and slow attacks and decays/releases. 6

7 LFO S The OFFENSIVE SYNTH has 2 multi-waveform LFO s, and as a result are incredibly versatile and powerful modulators. Here is LFO 1, LFO 2 is exactly the same in design and function. As you can see above, each LFO has 6 waveforms to choose from. With the square wave also having an adaptable pulse width. Though the beauty of these multi-waveform LFO s is that you do not need to choose between any 1 waveform, you can actually mix and blend them together, to create an entirely new waveform. Unique to the particular patch and infinitely customisable for an ever changing sound. Simply grab the % sign below the waveform and drag up/down accordingly. By default, each LFO has a SINE wave selected at 100%. You can also adjust the rate of the LFO at the very top. Modulation destinations CUT = The cutoff frequency of the Filter. RES = The resonance of the FIlter. VCA = The volume of the Amp. PAN = Modulates the placement of the synth in a stereo field. PITCH = Modulates the pitch of the entire instrument. LFO 2 RATE = Modulates the speed at which LFO 2 works. (LFO 2 has the same slider, but for modulating LFO 1 s speed instead). 7

8 ARP, FX & POLY SECTION The final 3 stages of the synth are: The Arpeggiator. This allows you to hold down 1 or more notes (up to any amount), and have the synth play through them in an arpeggiated way. The arpeggiator has 6 key sections: LATCH: This is the OFF/ON/HOLD function. Off and On will literally turn the Arpeggiator off or on. Whilst the HOLD function allows you to play a group of notes and let go of them whilst the synth continues playing them. Allowing you to have your hands free for modulation and craftin your sound in real time. DIRECTION: This is the way in which the synth with play the notes you have chosen. From UP each note is played in sequence from lowest to highest pitch. DOWN each note is played downward in sequence from highest to lowest pitch. UP/DOWN each note is played in sequence first up in pitch then down. RANDOM notes are chosen at random based on your initial note selection. CHORD all notes chosen will play at the same time as a chord. SWING: This allows you to set the amount of swing. Which in simple terms is the lengthening of one note followed by the shortening of the next. This gradually gets more extreme as the slider goes up. OCT: This allows you to have the notes you selected to play up or down by as many as 6 octaves. RATE: This defines the speed at which the arpeggiator runs. This is linked to the internal clock of your DAW. GATE: This defines how short and detached each note is from one another, or how long and legato each note is. 8

9 The FX section to the instrument is the final bit of polish. Adding either CHORUS, DELAY or REVERB. CHORUS has ON/OFF, Speed and Depth as customisable sections. DELAY has Feedback and Time. Reverb has ON/OFF and Size. Finally in the bottom right hand corner, the synth also has a section dedicated to voice counts. POLY/MONO is a switch that allows you to change between the synth being a polyphonic instrument (able to play multiple notes at the same time like a chord), and a monophonic instrument (the instrument will only be able to play 1 note at a time). You click the word and drag up or down to change this. UNISON is a way to stack up the voices to create a really big and fat sound (up to 8 stacked voices). DETUNE is related to UNISON in the sense that it takes those stacked voices and detunes them against each other, to enrich and deepen the sound. GLIDE makes the notes sweep smoothly from one pitch to another. The slider below changes the time in which each note takes to rise or fall to the next. 9

10 PRESETS/SNAPSHOTS The synth comes preloaded with a plethora of preset patches to choose from. Either to use out of the box, or to use for inspiration before moulding your own unique sound (as all presets are fully customisable just like the initial patch that loads with the instrument). This is particularly useful if you are only just starting out with synthesis and need to study the fader positions to learn what each section does. Before you are able to access the presets, you need to move the.nksn files from the supplied presets folder you received on download, into the relevant Native Instruments folder on your computer. Below is a detailed walkthrough of the easiest way to set this up. 1. Open Kontakt and load the OFFENSIVE SYNTH - Also have the folder presets (from the instrument folder you downloaded) open. You ll need this later as it has all factory presets within it. 2. Press the spanner icon in the top left hand side. 3. Click on Instrument Options and navigate to the Snapshots tab. 4. At this point there may not be a file path in place for this instrument, and you will be asked to create one. Choose YES. 5. This will create an empty folder within your computers NI file directory. At this point 10

11 you can select all presets from the presets folder you opened earlier, and drop them into the newly created snapshots folder for the instrument. 6. You are now able to save all future presets and access all factory presets from within the main GUI of the instrument. You re done! Once the presets have been moved to the correct folder within your computer, loading presets (snapshots) within Kontakt is easy. Snapshots are captured moments in time that allow you to recall parameter settings and load them within seconds onto the already loaded instrument. When you first load the instrument, you will have loaded the INITIAL patch. This patch is just the first sawtooth wave of oscillator 1, with all other parameters either fully off or fully open. This is then ready to create a patch from scratch. However, if you would prefer to listen through to our pre-made patches, you will need to click on the little camera button located next to the highlighted i, as shown in the above picture. Clicking this button with change the view from what you see above, to this: You can now see the snapshot that is currently loaded. INITIAL PATCH. By clicking on that writing you will entre a drop down menu, where you can now choose from our presets. This is also where you would save a patch once you have made your own. By simply clicking on the floppy disc image. You can also delete as patch using the bin. 11

12 ASSIGNING CC s As with all Kontakt instruments and libraries, assigning midi CC s so you can control a fader or parameter by using a fader/dial/knob/button on your midi controller couldn t be easier. With the instrument loaded, simply right click on any of the faders/buttons/dials etc and click on learn MIDI CC#. Here is a picture of the cut off fader being assigned to a CC on a midi controller. Once the assigning has worked, you will see in the right clicked drop down menu the name of the CC that you have now assigned. With the option to remove the mapping. And that is it! You are MIDI d up and ready to use your hardware to play this synth with the feel of a real analogue machine. Thank you and happy sculpting! - Insanity Samples. 12