Bastl Instruments SOFTPOP SP2 Quick Start Manual Download

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In this manual, we will gradually uncover all the secrets of the Softpop
SP2. Feel free to jump around to the sections that are of the most interest
(see

SECTIONS

) or follow this guide from beginning to end for a full

understanding of SP2’s wily ways.

Regardless of how you use this manual, we suggest you start with the

Quick Start guide before

proceeding.

Here is what the controls are called throughout this manual:

MANUAL

KNOB

GATES

LIGHT

GATES

PITCH

FADER

CUTOFF

FADER

RATE

FADER

PITCH MOD

FADER

PITCH

FADER

LIGHT

PITCH MOD

FADER LIGHT

CUTOFF MOD

FADER

SHAPE

FADER

UP/DOWN

CUTOFF MOD

INPUT

MULTIPLE

FILTER MODE

SWITCH

PITCH MODE

INPUT

SECTION

DRONE/ENV

SWITCH

THE

ORB

PLAY

LIGHT

MIDI

BUTTON

Summary of Contents for SOFTPOP SP2

Page 1: ......

Page 2: ...Softpop also has an external input with enough gain and saturation to process any sound thru its filter and VCA HEART AND BRAIN The heart of SP2 is an analog modular synth replete with lush tones and...

Page 3: ...E Reference Manual ARCHITECTURE PATCHBAY BUTTON COMBOS SECTIONS OSCILLATOR SCALE QUANTIZER FILTER ENVELOPE VCA SAMPLE HOLD INPUTS AND OUTPUTS TEMPO SEQUENCER UTILITY MIDI BANK LOAD SAVE COPY PATCH IDE...

Page 4: ...Regardless of how you use this manual we suggest you start with the Quick Start guide before proceeding Here is what the controls are called throughout this manual MANUAL XY KNOB GATES LIGHT GATES PI...

Page 5: ...cing side panel The envelope is normalized to the CUTOFF MOD so you can use it to control the timbre of the filter by bringing up the CUTOFF MOD fader The envelope also triggers the Sample Hold circui...

Page 6: ...thin the instrument that can be interrupted by plugging new signals into the dedicated normalization jacks These jacks are marked with arrows showing the signal that is normalized to the jack MAIN NOR...

Page 7: ...The envelope gates are normalized to the TRIG trigger input of the envelope generator EDGE SAMPLE the EDGE output is normalized to the Sample Hold trigger input This means the S H will sample the sig...

Page 8: ...GATE press any one gate GATES press multiple gates one after another while still holding the context button PATTERN SLIDE RECORD pitch sequence SLIDE MIDI fix oscillator pitch drift SLIDE MIDI 2s full...

Page 9: ...chain playmodes TEMPO TEMPO tap tempo TEMPO increase decrease tempo TEMPO 1s gradually increase decrease tempo TEMPO GATE select divider multiplier TEMPO learn tempo from looping envelope TRIG trigger...

Page 10: ...10 Sections SEQUENCER OSCILLATOR FILTER INPUT OUTPUT UTILITY TEMPO ENVELOPE MODULATION...

Page 11: ...automatically tuned to speed up the process Put the fine tune fader fully to the right and hold SLIDE MIDI for more than 2 seconds to activate the automatic tuning routine Now your SP2 is in tune wit...

Page 12: ...patched to the PITCH MOD input there will be static semi random voltage from the Sample Hold circuit triggered by the envelope TRIGGER or CYCLE the envelope to hear the changes In default the PITCH MO...

Page 13: ...e Softpop The selected scale defineswhichnotesareavailabletobeplayedbackbythesequencer Ineach bank there are 8 user definable scales that can also be chain sequenced Asshownearlier thePITCHfader thePI...

Page 14: ...by triggering the RESET input Example Make a simple 8 step sequence Keep holding the SCALE button and press the following GATE buttons in this order 8 8 5 4 You have just written down this chord prog...

Page 15: ...alibration implementation is planned for future firmware updates MOD input is a pre Scale Quantizer pitch control input for the oscillator pitch Anything sent to the input will be quantized to the act...

Page 16: ...pop s filter It is the variable pulse output derived from the TRI output It is based on a comparator output internally comparing the TRI and PWM signals Modulate the PWM input to affect the sound of P...

Page 17: ...techniques such as overdriving pinging self oscillation or filter FM The primary control of the filter is the CUTOFF fader that sets the cutoff frequency This frequency tells the filter to remove the...

Page 18: ...You can also feed a signal to the INPUT and drastically amplify it to overload the filter and change its core characteristics Try patching the TRI signal to the INPUT to get more bass boost and satura...

Page 19: ...so plugging in another signal will replace the OSC allowing the filter to be used independently CUTOFF is a voltage input to control the cutoff of the filter It is scaled to be roughly V OCT so it can...

Page 20: ...ecayhappen andSHAPE whichsetstheproportionbetween attack and decay The SP2 s envelope has an exponential shape in both the attack and decay phases which works great for the percussive decay character...

Page 21: ...et by the SHAPE fader You can also activate cycling by a high gate on the CYCLE input Note There is also internal normalization of a small amount of the oscillator TRI signal controlling the RATE of t...

Page 22: ...input of the S H aka the voltage it is sampling is the TRI output of the oscillator The Sample Hold circuit waits for a trigger at the SAMPLE input At that moment it freezes the value of the TRI sign...

Page 23: ...t the final loudness of the Softpop It is designed toworkwellwiththeGATEoutputsfromthesequencertoprovideaccents but you can also use voltages HOLD TRI DYNAMICS to control it Use the XY section to inve...

Page 24: ...e amp for added character a dedicated AMP output and a DYNAMICS envelope follower output handy for dynamic processing See the Effect Patch Ideas section for more information about audio processing MID...

Page 25: ...op Use the INPUT fader to amplify this signal from inf to 26db x20 gain The signal is also going through a Zener clipping stage so it gives nice smooth saturation After that it is internally routed to...

Page 26: ...ection takes care of clocking the sequencer Press PLAY to start or stop the sequencer When playing the PLAY light blinks each time the tempo section sends a signal to advance the step on the sequencer...

Page 27: ...clock and multiplier divider are engaged If a clock is detected at the SYNC IN jack the internal clock will sync to that If no clock is being input via MIDI or the SYNC IN jack then you can set the i...

Page 28: ...ime the sequencer would be advanced The divider on GATE 5 is the default for both clocking options Use it when unsure When changing the TEMPO divider the sequencer will re synchronize to a step it wou...

Page 29: ...sequences Softpop s sequencer expands on this classic format by adding 8 SCALES of user definable quantization 8 playback modes and 8 performance FX all of which can be independently chained and loope...

Page 30: ...ATE transpose step in quarter tones PLAY STOP AND FADER FREEZING Start the sequencer by short pressing the PLAY button and stop it the same way When the sequencer is playing the PLAY light will blink...

Page 31: ...holding RECORD the pitch of the oscillator during each step of the pattern is being saved Recording stops when RECORD is released and the sequence will begin to loop NOTE The duration of a recorded lo...

Page 32: ...To chain multiple patterns hold the PATTERN button and tap multiple GATE buttons in such order as you want them to play back then release PATTERN to complete your selection For example 1 1 2 3 Now yo...

Page 33: ...encercanbrowsethrough the 8 steps to add variation and randomness The sequence still stays 8 steps per pattern but re maps those steps to a different order or skips specific steps indicated by the num...

Page 34: ...NDOM 5 STEP1 3 6 STEP6 8 TEMPORARY FX Temporary FX bring a few extra possibilities for sound design build ups and sequencing They are utilizing the tight integration of the digital brain and the analo...

Page 35: ...RIG short press of PLAY will reset the temporary FX sequence You can also overdub and add more effects once the sequence is running by holding TRIG PLAY and pressing more GATES SEQUENCING OVERVIEW The...

Page 36: ...ge source depending on how it is patched If neither X nor Y is connected XY output gives voltage based on the position of the knob from 2V to 2V Patch it for example to the PWM input to control the ti...

Page 37: ...the section s output and is 4Vpp if nothing is plugged into X and Y MULTIPLE These four jacks are simply connected together and can be used to split your signals and route them to multiple destinatio...

Page 38: ...MIDI PATTERN activate deactivate CV Out generating Velocity CV Example select 2 select 2 again lights invert and the channel number is incremented by 8 CH 2 8 10 HoldtheMIDIbuttonfor5stoenterMIDILearn...

Page 39: ...ferent octaves will transpose the sequence 2 MIDI PITCH mode is designed for direct monophonic playback To ensurethecorrectfunctionality stopthesequencer Whenthesequencer is running it will have simil...

Page 40: ...when changed Tempo and divider are saved when pressing SAVE SP2 does NOT store Play Mode chains nor temporary FX loops To load a different bank hold SCALE and PATTERN and press one of the 8 GATES to l...

Page 41: ...diverse musical feels of the envelope relative to the pitch sequence 8 Patch SLIDE Gate to REVERSE to invert the shape of the envelope on the sliding steps 9 Patch SLIDE Gate to the RESET input Add sl...

Page 42: ...for even more timbral variation and patch ENV to PWM to get an even richer character out of it Patch PULSE to INPUT and use the INPUT fader to fade in the default Softpop sound Best enjoyed with the...

Page 43: ...MP to X and listen to the XY output Set the INPUT and OUTPUT faders to balance the dry and wet levels and use the XY knob as the dry wet control for processed signal Note This is not technically dry w...

Page 44: ...CCENT to gain control over the amount of ring modulation Use PULSE signal instead or mix it with TRI in XY for an even harsher sound Combine with resonant filtering for more timbral options Use the se...

Page 45: ...mode and check the following Powering via USB and playing audio from the same computer can sometimes cause issues depending on the computer The power source can also affect the update Sometimes changi...

Page 46: ...tivate deactivate CV Out generating Velocity CV FIRMWARE UPDATE Hold MIDI at startup and play wav file into Reset input SEQUENCER PATTERN GATE select a pattern PATTERN GATES chain patterns PATTERN shi...

Page 47: ...unipolar SAMPLE HOLD 5Vpp DYNAMICS 4Vpp unipolar AMP 7Vpp XY 4Vpp Gate Clock outputs 0 to 5V CV output 3 to 3V FEATURES Fully analog signal path with integrated digital control Patchbay with 37 euror...

Page 48: ...analyzer Analog sync Input Tempo section with divider multiplier MIDI input for sync and musical control XY crossfader utility section and 4 way multiple for advanced patches IN THE BOX Softpop SP2 Q...

Page 49: ...uit design manufacturing optimization and circuit layout by Martin Klecl Graphic design by Anymade Studio Beta testing by Juha Kivek s with the help of Felix H esken Tuesday Night Machines Patrik Velt...

Page 50: ...WWW BASTL INSTRUMENTS COM more info and video tutorials...

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