10. MORPH MODE
10.1. What is Morph Mode?
Every PolyBrute preset is made up of two sounds (A and B) that are available at the
same time. Both the Morph knob and Morphée controller are able to crossfade seamlessly
between the two sounds, each of which can have entirely different settings for the filters,
envelopes, and LFOs, to name a few things. Morphing is applied to these parameters as
if you were moving all the controls at once. And you are...but you're doing it with a single
control.
No other analog synthesizer has ever had this kind of power: two full-fledged sounds in a
single patch, with gobs of parameters on either side. It's tempting to think of them as layers,
except that PolyBrute also has a Layer mode for stacking voices on top of each other, in
addition to the morph capabilities.
10.1.1. Morph vs. crossfade
Morph is not a crossfade; it's an infinite number of compromises from one setting to the
next. Parameter values change gradually from one state to another state, hitting every
intermediate value between the two.
To illustrate the concept, we invite you to try this example:
1. Initialize the patch and turn the Morph knob to its halfway point, so you can
modify sounds A and B equally.
2. In the Mixer section, set VCO 1 level to zero and VCO 2 level to maximum.
3. Set the Morph knob all the way to B and set VCO 2 pitch to maximum (+7
semitones).
4. Now play a note and turn the Morph knob from A to B: the pitch changes
gradually between the two.
This is what morphing the two values for VCO 2
should do; it's not at all the way crossfading
them would work. To hear both pitches at the same time during a crossfade would require
four VCOs per voice, not two, so that both VCOs on either side could retain their pitch settings
and fade in/out as the knob is turned.
By the way, it's a lot of fun to watch this happen when using the PolyBrute Editor software.
Just a little hint there...please go get it if you don't already have it!
There are a few
parameters that can't morph [p.77]
due to their very nature: these are
mutually exclusive, contradictory, or binary/trinary settings between which no compromise
is possible.
One more thing: sounds A and B share the same set of 32 Mod Matrix routes and 64 mod
connections. But that's usually more than enough! All told, a PolyBrute patch is an animated,
lively thing.
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Arturia - User Manual PolyBrute - Morph Mode
Summary of Contents for PolyBrute
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