TRAX RetroWave Owner’s Manual
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level then follows the contour of that waveform, to give the final sound its
envelope,
or dynamic shape.
The same waveform (or an inverted version of it) can also be used to control the VCF cutoff frequency.
The four phases of an ADSR cycle are described below:
ATTACK
Once a gate signal is
received, the output of the ADSR
rises at a rate determined by the
setting of the ATTACK control.
DECAY
When ATTACK has
reached its peak, the output of the
ADSR begins to decrease at a rate
set by the DECAY control, to settle
at a voltage level set by the
SUSTAIN potentiometer.
SUSTAIN
The ADSR output
remains high at the “sustain level”
until the gate signal is removed.
RELEASE
In this final phase, the
output drops back down to zero, at
a rate set by the RELEASE control.
The ADSR is then ready to accept
another gate signal.
O/P LEVEL
This is a simple volume
control, for setting the output level
of the unit. Useful if the synth is to be used with amps that have different input level requirements.
The
RANGE
switch allows you to select between short and long ranges for the time parameters
ATTACK, DECAY and RELEASE (SUSTAIN is a voltage level, and is not affected by the setting of the
range switch).
Use the
Low
range for shorter sounds like snare drums, electronic blips, organs, machine-gun fire, etc,
and the
High
range for sounds with longer decay times, such as pianos, thunderclaps, drones, etc.
The
Trig. Mode
switch lets you choose between
Normal
triggering (by MIDI gate or external source),
and
LFO1 Repeat
, which as its name suggests, enables the LFO 1 square wave output to trigger the
ADSR continuously, for interesting effects like amplitude modulation (tremolo), repeating chimes, and the
chopping and strumming of musical notes.
VCA MODE
switch enables you to select between the normal ADSR function, and VCA bypass.
In
Bypass
mode, the VCF output signal goes straight through the VCA without being affected by the
ADSR (this is useful for setting up the sounds you want, without having to keep a key depressed on a
keyboard, etc).
OVERDRIVE
is a special feature which, when selected, applies distortion to the VCA output signal,
giving scope for some chaotic special effects not normally heard from an analogue synthesizer! You can
create some awesome, “ripping” bass, screaming lead lines and dirty-sounding effects with this feature.
It is very effective on white noise, giving it a rougher sound that is great for explosions, etc.
DECAY
TIME
SUSTAIN
LEVEL
RELEASE
TIME
GATE
ON
GATE
OFF
ATTACK
TIME
Time
Amplitude
