FutureRetro XS semi-mod lar analog synthesizer, Operation Man Al

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TIPS AND TRICKS
USING CV IN AS AN ADDITIONAL MODULATION SOURCE
Although the CV IN jack is designed for V/Oct control voltages to generate semitone steps of pitch in
the oscillators, you can also use this input as an additional FM input to modulate the internal oscillators.
Make sure you select which oscillator you want to modulate with the external control voltage using the
CV Track control. The drawback to this method is the oscillator you are modulating will no longer
follow pitches played on a MIDI keyboard, and there is no control over the modulation amount. But in
some cases where you are already using the internal modulation on the oscillator and would like to add a
second modulation source, this just might do the trick.
USING THE VELOCITY INPUT AS AN FM SOURCE
You can use the VEL IN jack as a means of frequency modulation for both the filter cutoff frequency
and the amplifier’s amplitude. Try connecting the WAVE B output to the VEL IN jack. Use Oscillator A
as your audio source. You can then turn up the Velocity amount control in the amplifier section to create
tremolo and AM-type effects. Or turn up the Velocity control in the filter to create FM effects in the
filter. Notice that Envelope 2’s shape will affect the amount the external signal modulates the amplifier
while Envelope 1’s shape will affect the amount the external signal modulates the filter.
A/B ENVELOPE SIGNALS ARE VELOCITY-SENSITIVE
The A ENV and B ENV signals used as modulation sources, and output on the ring of the WAVE A and
WAVE B jacks are Velocity-sensitive when the Velocity control is turned up in the filter section.
So as you increase the Velocity setting for the filter, these modulation and audio sources also become
more Velocity-sensitive, providing more dynamics in your modulations and overall sound.
ENVELOPE SIGNALS THAT ARE NOT VELOCITY SENSITIVE
The B ENV 1 modulation source for Oscillator B is not a Velocity-sensitive envelope, nor are the
positive or negative polarity envelopes used to modulate Oscillator A. However the ENV 1 +/- jack does
output Velocity-sensitive envelopes. So if you wish to sweep the pitch of either oscillator using
Velocity-senstive envelopes, simply route one of the outputs from the ENV 1 +/- jack to the OSC MOD
input jack. Then select EXT as the modulation source for the oscillator you want to control, and adjust
the modulation amount to achieve the desired effect. Note that you do need to increase the Velocity
control setting amount in the filter section to make the envelopes Velocity-sensitive.
USING AUDIO TO TRIGGER THE ENVELOPES
Since the envelopes within the XS can be triggered with any voltage higher than +1.5 volts, we can then
use audio signals to trigger the internal envelopes. To do so, connect the line-level audio output of, for
example, a drum machine to the GATE IN jack of the XS. Since audio is always alternating above and
below 0 volts, you need to adjust the attack, decay and release portions of the envelopes within the XS
so they will average the peak levels of audio instead of abruptly turning the envelope on and off at audio
rate.
In some cases you may find that the line-level output of another instrument is still not enough to trigger
the envelopes in the XS, in which case, you could either use a preamp stage before sending the audio to
the GATE IN jack of the XS, or you could route the audio to the AUDIO IN jack of the XS first, as the
AUDIO IN provides an additional gain stage that will boost the external signal. Then select EXT as your
source for WAVE C, and connect the WAVE C jack to the GATE IN jack using a 1/4” mono cable.
This may be the ideal setup anyway if you want to filter the audio through the XS as well as use the
audio to trigger the envelopes. If that’s the case, you can select EXT for Oscillator A’s source, use Level
A in the mixer section to determine the amount of external audio to go to the filter, while WAVE C ends
up boosting the audio signal and feeding the GATE IN jack to trigger the envelopes.
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