Synth question: What’s the difference between eg and amp eg
February 13, 2016 3:08 PM
Just got a Korg monologue and I’m reading the manual but I need help:
What’s the difference between the envelope generator and the amp envelope generator?
Thanks.
minilogue, not monologue, I take it? Yeah, if so andrewcooke beat me, but the signal flow block diagram (p. 3 of the manual) is the way to figure this out for devices like this. The eg looks like it can modulate the filter, the pitch, and/or the LFO.
posted by advil at 3:32 PM on February 13, 2016
posted by advil at 3:32 PM on February 13, 2016
Sorry, can you breaks this down a bit more? What does the final gain mean?
posted by captainscared at 3:35 PM on February 13, 2016
posted by captainscared at 3:35 PM on February 13, 2016
By default one EG changes the tone throughout the life of the note (by changing the cutoff frequency of the filter).
The other EG changes the loudness of the note over time (by changing the gain of the VCA).
Like if you set the attack on the amp EG to high, you will hear the note fade in like a wind instrument. If you set the attach on the amp EG to the minimum you'll her the note start instantly, like a piano or guitar. It may even start with a click on a Minilogue (one of its quirks).
Then if you mess around with the filter EG you can make the tone change over time, in the same way. If you make the brightness fade in at the right speed it can sound kind of brassy.
The Minilogue has two proper ADSR envelopes, so you can set the attack, decay, sustain, release for each of them.
posted by w0mbat at 3:45 PM on February 13, 2016
The other EG changes the loudness of the note over time (by changing the gain of the VCA).
Like if you set the attack on the amp EG to high, you will hear the note fade in like a wind instrument. If you set the attach on the amp EG to the minimum you'll her the note start instantly, like a piano or guitar. It may even start with a click on a Minilogue (one of its quirks).
Then if you mess around with the filter EG you can make the tone change over time, in the same way. If you make the brightness fade in at the right speed it can sound kind of brassy.
The Minilogue has two proper ADSR envelopes, so you can set the attack, decay, sustain, release for each of them.
posted by w0mbat at 3:45 PM on February 13, 2016
The final gain means that all the audio generated up to that point is routed through something called a VCA -- stands for Voltage Controlled Amplifier, and is designed to attenuate the volume levels according to its control signal. This envelope generator is supplying the voltage that is adjusting the levels of this summed audio, and the output of that is what goes directly to the output jack.
That manual isn't really aimed at someone new to synthesizers (I'm guessing) so it might be helpful to read about synthesizer architecture, here are a few overviews: 1, 2.
posted by advil at 3:47 PM on February 13, 2016
That manual isn't really aimed at someone new to synthesizers (I'm guessing) so it might be helpful to read about synthesizer architecture, here are a few overviews: 1, 2.
posted by advil at 3:47 PM on February 13, 2016
I was reminded of this question because someone asked the same thing on another forum, and another user linked to the Minilogue manual . As it turns out, the Minilogue EG is not hardwired to the filter cutoff, but can also modulate VCO 2 pitch or speed or intensity of the LFO. See page 20.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:26 AM on March 2, 2016
posted by ludwig_van at 8:26 AM on March 2, 2016
I'm just telling the guy what the two envelopes are most commonly used for in sound design, since they seem to be starting from scratch, and was deliberately avoiding that kind of complex answer.
posted by w0mbat at 9:18 AM on March 2, 2016
posted by w0mbat at 9:18 AM on March 2, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
(also, lucky you!)
posted by andrewcooke at 3:21 PM on February 13, 2016