User manual NATIVE INSTRUMENTS ABSYNTH 5

[. . . ] Getting Started ABSYNTH 5 ­ Getting Started ­ I ENGLISH ABSYNTH 5 Germany Native Instruments GmbH Schlesische Str. 28 D-10997 Berlin Germany info@native-instruments. de www. native-instruments. de USA Native Instruments North America, Inc. 5631 Hollywood Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90028 USA sales@native-instruments. com www. native-instruments. com Table Of Contents 1 Welcome to ABSYNTH 5!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1. 1 What's New in ABSYNTH 5?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1. 2 The ABSYNTH 5 Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1. 2. 1 In this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1. 2. 2 Other Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1. 2. 3 Formatting Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1. 3 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2 Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2. 1 Setting up ABSYNTH 5 in Stand-Alone Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2. 1. 1 Audio and MIDI Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2. 1. 2 About Latencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2. 1. 3 The MIDI Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [. . . ] This is because as the slider gets higher, the Mutator algorithm ismorelikelytoloadawholeChannelforapatch, whichmeansthattheEnvelope, FilterandOscillatorwillhavebeencraftedforeachother;italsomeansthatthe patch is less "origiRolling the dice and doing a full Mutation on all modules in the Mini-Patch view often gives interesting results. · The Retry button and Finetuning controls are especially useful when you want to stickwithresultsonlyinthecategoryyouhaveintheBrowser. · A useful feature: Your Macro Control assignments stay mapped during the Mutations. TrymakingapatchwithassignedMacroControlsforatypeofSound thatyouliketoplaylive, thenmutate. Inmostcasesyoustillhavethecontrols you want. ABSYNTH 5 ­ Getting Started ­ 33 ENGLISH 4. 3 Creating Sounds: the Good Old Way ABSYNTH 5 comes with an extensive selection of different Sounds. In the previous QuickStarts, youhavelearnedhowtoloadandplaytheSoundsfromtheexisting Library and how to mutate them to give them some characteristics of other Sounds. This method has the following advantages: · Youknowexactlywhatyouaredoing, andwhy. · YouknowtheroleofeverysinglepartofyourSound, thusallowingyoutoshape your Sound very precisely. · In addition, you will learn about the basic principles of audio synthesis!You will learn how to add and combine modules in the Patch window, how to adjust some of their parameters, and how to implement a parameter modulation with an Envelope. 4. 3. 1 Preparations Startupthestand-aloneversionofABSYNTH5. Letusbeginworkingonanew empty Sound: 1. ClickonthetheFilemenu, located at the far left in the upper Navigation Bar: The File menu. 2. You can alsosetupanewSoundbypressingthekeycombination[Ctrl]+[N](Windows)or [Cmd]+[N](MacOSX). As mentioned in the introductory section 3. 1. 1, "Semi-Modular Design", the Patch window is used for creating the foundation for any Sound within the semi-modular design of ABSYNTH 5. Let us show this Patch window: InthesameNavigationBar, clickonthePatchtab: WejustclickedonthePatchtab. The Patch window is now displayed underneath the Navigation Bar: 34 ­ ABSYNTH 5 ­ Getting Started The Patch window for a new Sound. At least one Oscillator module must be active for ABSYNTH 5 to produce an audio signal. As you can see on the picture above, the Oscillator module in Channel A should be already activated when you call up an empty Sound, with its Waveform set to Sine. AlltheotherModuleSlotsarefree(remember:ModuleSlotsaretheframedareasin thePatchwindowinwhichyoucanputthemodules). Thismeansthat, fornow, the remaining Module Slots are not active. YoushouldnowbeabletoplaythisOscillatormodule:whenyoupressakeyonyour MIDIkeyboard, thesinewaveproducesasoundcorrespondingtothefrequencyof the note played. % IfnoMIDIkeyboardorcontrollerisavailableinyoursetupatthemoment, youcanuse yourcomputerkeyboard(QWERT)instead, ortheVirtualKeyboard, which is available ineverywindow. ToactivatetheVirtualKeyboard, clickonthelittlekeyboardicononthetopright cornerofABSYNTH5'swindow(belowtheNIlogo). Itappearsatthebottomofthewindow, and youcanplayyourinstrumentbyclickingonthekeys. ABSYNTH 5 ­ Getting Started ­ 35 ENGLISH 4. 3. 2 Configuring the First Module The sound of a dry sine wave is not very powerful indeed. We want to have a stronger leadsound. Forthat, wewillfirstchangetheWaveformusedinthatOscillatorA(for moreinfoontheconceptofWaveform, pleasereadthesection"Waveforms"). To do this: ClickontheWaveformSelector in the Oscillator A, next to the small waveform diagram: The Waveform Selector of our first Oscillator, currently displaying Sine(theloaded Waveform). A Waveform Selection dialog(labelledSelect or Create a Wave)openscontaining a list of all available Waveforms. You will notice that, when selecting another Waveform in the list, the little waveform representation changes accordingly, both in the dialog and in the Oscillator module. YoucanplaytheselectedWaveformimmediatelythroughyourMIDIkeyboard(orcomputerkeyboard, orVirtualKeyboard), thusallowingyoutohearwhethertheresulting soundmeetsyourexpectationsornot. Thisway, youcanquicklyfindaWaveform thatfitsyourneeds. You can already hearhowsharpandassertivethisWaveformsounds. Therefore, itwilleasilymakes astrongleadsoundwhichwillnotgetlost, eveninadensemix. Soletustakeit: 1. The dialog is closed and the Waveform Square_real is now sitting in your Oscillator A. 36 ­ ABSYNTH 5 ­ Getting Started 4. 3. 3 Adding other Modules Adding a Second Oscillator We will now add another Oscillator to give the sound more character. To do this: OntherightsideofourOscillatorA, clickonthethickleftborderofthedimmed Module Slot B displaying Osc B. [. . . ] But in fact, the Aetherizer gives the best results when adjusting its parameters in a more subtle, sensitive way. 4. 5. 4 What Is Next? ThiswasonlyabriefintroductiontowhatyoucandowiththeAetherizereffect(by theway, theAetherizerisonlyoneofthesixavailableEffectsinABSYNTH5). We invite you to play further with its parameters and to listen carefully to the way they affect the sound. Next, onecouldthinkofmanyinterestingthingstodowithit: · Apply the Aetherizer on different audio material: We used here a rather simple continuoussound(our"MyLeadSound"), buttheAetherizercanproduceterrific sounds on rhythmic material, for example. Almost every Effect parameter can be modulated by ABSYNTH 5's internal modulation sources, or assigned to a Macro Control to control it from an external MIDI device or via the host automation. · You could use the Surround section, thereby enhancing the spatial presence of the Effect. [. . . ]