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Specifications

8

Kyra Manual

Specifications

•

Processing

: 32x oversampled 32-bit hardware

sound generation. 96kHz floating point sound
processing.

•

Line outputs

: 4 balanced stereo pairs using 32-

bit DAC running at 96kHz sample rate.

•

USB audio

: USB Audio Class 2.0 - 8 stereo 24-bit

streams at 96kHz with 48kHz downsample mode
available. Soundcard mode supporting the return
of a single 24-bit stereo audio stream from host
DAW.

•

MIDI

: USB 2.0 and DIN (5-pin DIN connector)

•

Display

: High resolution 256x64 pixel graphic

OLED

•

Polyphony

: Guaranteed contention-free 128

voice channels. A Dual Mode or Dual Filter Patch
uses two voice channels per note played. Up to 32
notes (single or dual) per multitimbral part.

•

Multitimbrality

: 8 independent Parts each with

dedicated 9 module multi effects with dedicated
audio stream via USB. Each Part can be mixed to
one of the four analogue stereo line outputs.

•

Microtuning

: Full key microtuning capability

with MIDI Tuning Standard (MTS) support.

•

Oscillators

: Two primary virtually alias-free Os-

cillator  Groups  per  voice  each  with  sawtooth,
pulse,  wavetable  and  noise  available  simultane-
ously. Each Oscillator Group also has an indepen-
dent  detunable  oscillator  with  four  selectable
shapes  and  two  selectable  pitches.  Real  Hard
Sync, Ring Modulation and FM (frequency modu-
lation) is available between the Oscillator Groups.

•

Hypersaw

: Six real oscillator hypersaw with ad-

justable geometric detuning and intensity algo-
rithm. In Dual Mode, the hypersaw has twelve re-

al oscillator sources with an additional adjustable
stereo spread.

•

Wavetables

: 4096 18-bit linear PCM single-cycle

32x  oversampled  wavetables  covering  a  huge
range  of  synthetic  and  emulated  sound  sources.
Two  independent  wavetable  sources  per  voice.
Hard sync, Ring Modulation and FM is possible on
wavetables.  Actual  wave  shape  is  shown  in  the
wavetable navigator.

•

Filters

: Accurate emulations of classic analogue

ladder filters with low pass, band pass and high
pass configurations. 2-pole (12dB/octave) and 4-
pole (24dB/octave) responses are available for

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Summary of Contents for KYRA

Page 1: ...USER MANUAL ...

Page 2: ...nel Sections 29 Oscillator Groups 33 Sub Oscillator 1 2 Controls 39 Filter Controls 45 Envelope Generator Controls 49 Amplifier Controls 53 LFO Controls 54 Mod Matrix Controls 57 Effects Controls 61 Arpeggiator Controls 61 Parts and Multis 78 System Configuration 85 Kyra Sound Programming 95 Troubleshooting 125 Kyra USB Interface 130 Kyra Firmware Update 130 Technical Data 135 Glossary 136 Product...

Page 3: ...ilities reliability interactivity and fast response make it eminently preferab le to software synthesizers For studio musicians Kyra offers 8 fully functional and independent multitimbral Parts with the horsepower to back it up relieving your DAW of fickle CPU intensive plugins With a generous and transparent voice allocation algorithm it is realistic to compose for all 8 Parts making Kyra a true ...

Page 4: ...in is accurate and that the manual contains no contradictory informati on Waldorf Music extends no liabilities regarding this manual other than those required by local law This manual or any portion of it may not be reproduced in any form without the manufacturer s written consent Please note that all elements of Kyra its software user interface design synthesis filtering and effects algorithms ar...

Page 5: ...Thomas Brenner Karsten Dubsch Willie Eckl Joachim Flor Roger Keller Jonathan Miller Pierre Nozet Miroslav Pindus Oliver Rockstedt Vladimir Salnikov Winfried Schuld Lukas Schütte Michael von Garnier Kurt Lu Wangard Rolf Wöhrmann Haibin Wu and anyone we have forgotten Kyra s wavetables comprise almost the entire set of wave tables from the AKWF Waveforms set kindly placed into the public domain by K...

Page 6: ...Manual Control Features Connections Front Panel 1 OLED Display 4 Oscillator Groups 7 LFO Section 10 Modulation Matrix 2 Patch Multi Navigation 5 Filters Section 8 Arpeggiator Section 3 Transpose Power 6 Envelopes Section 9 Effects Section ...

Page 7: ...atures Connections 7 Waldorf Kyra Rear Panel Connections 1 Power Supply Jack 2 Headphones Output 3 Audio Line Outputs A D 4 MIDI Thru MIDI Out MIDI In 5 USB 2 0 Connection 6 Kensington Compatible Lock Recepticle ...

Page 8: ...g capability with MIDI Tuning Standard MTS support Oscillators Two primary virtually alias free Os cillator Groups per voice each with sawtooth pulse wavetable and noise available simultane ously Each Oscillator Group also has an indepen dent detunable oscillator with four selectable shapes and two selectable pitches Real Hard Sync Ring Modulation and FM frequency modu lation is available between ...

Page 9: ...trix 6 channels with up to 3 des tinations per channel giving a maximum 18 rou tings Effects Nine module stereo effects unit per Part with a 3 band shelving EQ a Formant Filter 5 mode Distortion module dual Limiters stereo Delay module 6 stage Phaser with dedicated ste reo multishape LFO Chorus Flanger module supporting comb and doubling effects and a Re verb module All 72 effects modules can be u...

Page 10: ...pics of particular interest or significance Important terms are highlighted in bold letters Symbols s Caution The information that follows this symbol will help you avoid errors data loss or malfunctions r Info Additional Information on a given topic g Example Hints for how to get the best results from Kyra and real world examples to try out Highlighted Control Features and Parameters All of the K...

Page 11: ...not expose the device to direct sunlight Do not expose the device to extreme vibrations Power Supply Only use the power cable that came with the Ky ra Unplug the device when you are not using it for longer periods Never touch the plug with wet hands Always pull the plug when unplugging the device never the cable Operation Never place objects containing liquids on or near the device Place the devic...

Page 12: ...to clean the de vice Never use cleaning solutions or similar chemicals They will damage the surface of the chassis Proper Use This device is designed exclusively for musical perfor mance Any other use is prohibited and voids the warranty extended by Waldorf Music Waldorf Music is not liable for damages due to incorrect use s Do not place your Kyra anywhere near children mothers in law or pets This...

Page 13: ...ect Kyra s Out A audio output pair to your mi xing console or your computer audio interface Optio nally connect stereo headphones to the Headphone Output on Kyra or your mixing console 3 If you are using a computer connect the Kyra s USB 2 0 port with a USB cable to your computer Windows or macOS Windows users will need to install the Ky ra USB driver first Once connected Kyra becomes available as...

Page 14: ...be controlled with the Master Vo lume control r If you are not using a mixing console you can connect Kyra s line outputs directly to an a stereo amplifier or an audio interface Please use line level inputs not a guitar phono or microphone level in put r Kyra s line outputs deliver balanced line levels For best results always use balanced inputs on your amplifier mixer or audio interface Use good ...

Page 15: ...don t inadvertently power down Kyra Headphone Output Kyra offers a convenient stereo headphone jack As Kyra has 8 Parts complete with effects and an onboard mixer it is possible to compose a complete song without any out board audio equipment e g a mixer or amplifier purely by using the headphone output In a typical setup though a mixer either analogue or digital in the form of a DAW would be usef...

Page 16: ...l and use the mixer s trim and fader controls to obtain the correct levels This along with the use of good quality balanced cabling will ensure the best quality signal The line outputs use components often found in high end hi fi including audiophile grade Japanese capacitors and ultra low noise operational amplifiers As a result the outputs are of exceptionally high quality and have a high dynami...

Page 17: ...perates over 30 times faster than DIN MIDI This allows you to perform complex compositions with embedded MIDI Systems Exclusive messages that would be beyond the capability of DIN MIDI without loss of timing Kyra provides full support for DIN MIDI if your setup requires it One good use for DIN MIDI is for simple at the keyboard playing i e no computer As keyboards and sound mo dules including Kyra...

Page 18: ...e Parts are layered and will sound together in response to channel messages You can use Part note rang es splits such that Parts can be restricted to ranges of MIDI notes Kyra supports MIDI via DIN MIDI connectors and USB r You can use USB and DIN MIDI Ins at the same time but it is important not to send MIDI data on the same channel to both ports doing so is likely to cause stuck or missing notes...

Page 19: ...the Parts These can both be modulated smoothly at a much higher resolution than the Master Volume control is able to achieve Patch Banks Kyra has a generous Patch storage capacity of 26 banks A Z each containing 128 Patches That s a total of 3328 The first 7 banks A G are User Patches stored in RAM Random Access Memory which means you can change them quickly and individually using the Store sequen...

Page 20: ...a starts the home page is shown This page shows the status of the currently selected Part Use the Part buttons to select the current Part the display will change to show the status of the selected Part r You can return to the home page at any time using the Exit button Use the Page Up Down and Cursor Up Down buttons to navigate the pages for each of the three Edit Modes Kyra can operate in namely ...

Page 21: ... con trols but if you want a precise value a good strategy is to set the approximate value with the rotary control and then use the Value buttons to nudge the value to exactly the right number The two sets of controls work well with each other System Controls The System control buttons are located at the centre of the control panel beside the display These buttons provide access to the core contro...

Page 22: ...justments to Patch values leaving the rotary controls for larger changes and then nudging the last one or two value changes with the Value buttons The Value buttons select the character under the cursor in Text Edit mode The Value buttons support auto repeat to allow fast changes to parameters Simply press and hold the button for a second or so to engage auto repeat Exit Button The Exit button end...

Page 23: ...r context switching off Follow Mode allows for this When switched off changing a parameter will not cause the page to switch Finally you can move more than one control at the same time but if the parameters are on different pages having Follow Mode on will cause the display to flip between the pages In this situation switch off Follow Mode Almost all Follow Mode page changes will engage Patch Edit...

Page 24: ... mode to memory The Store button will light when the store sequence is in progress The dis play will guide you through the steps involved including the last stage Text Editor Mode which allows you to give a Patch a name up to 22 characters in length r You can press Exit at any time in the process to cancel without storing the changes made are still in the Edit Buffer up until the time you change t...

Page 25: ...you can have all eight Parts with pending changes it makes sense to store them or discard them by recalling the Patch before you move to the next Part If you don t do this it is easy to lose track of which Parts you changed and forget to store them Edit Buffers for Parts and Multis are lost when Kyra is powered down If you edit a Patch that is loaded into more than one Part the changes will be ref...

Page 26: ...the Parts at the time the Multi was stored Changing the Multi will therefore instantly reconfigure all 8 Parts The current Multi is shown on the bottom line of the home page If Shift Mode is enabled the Multi buttons skip by ten rather than by one Part Buttons The Part buttons allow you to select which Part is the current Edit Target In other words which Part will be connected to the Front Panel Y...

Page 27: ...Note that changing Patch using the Patch buttons or via MIDI will discard any changes that were made to the current Patch unless you had stored them using the Store sequence befo rehand If Shift Mode is enabled the Patch buttons will move through the Bank in steps of ten but will not wrap round You can only change Patches including the Bank when the Home page is displayed Press Exit at any time to...

Page 28: ... DAW instead as the front panel transpose feature is intended more as a single Part performance function A benefit to having a transpose for each Part is that you can easily configure Parts to play in different keys or octaves even if they are on the same MIDI channel i e layered Finally note that transposing shifts the pitch notes play at You may have to adjust the filter tracking key of your Pat...

Page 29: ...e Mode Two filters are used in Dual Mode Hypersaw but the second filter is managed automatically Master Volume The Master Volume control sets the over all volume of the line outputs including the headphones output Note that Master Volume is a System Configuration parame ter and the value set is used next time Kyra is powered up Use the Master Volume control to set a comfortable listening volu me o...

Page 30: ...anorama setting controls how far from centre the two voices of a Dual Mode Patch are spread apart In Dual Mode the two voices will be panned apart around the point configured in by the Patch Pan control The width of that panning is set by the Panorama control At zero the Dual Mode sound will be based around a single point in the stereo stage At maximum setting the default the two voices will be pa...

Page 31: ...zero setting is provided so that the Pitch Bend control can be used for alternative purposes via the Mod Matrix Hard Sync r Please see the description of the Hard Syc function Key Mode Key Mode has no physical control and is only available on the Voice Control page Key Mode limits the Part to only play a single note at a time monophonic This is useful for specific sounds such as basses If the Patc...

Page 32: ...ursor Down button twice The Aux Oscillator is in fact two oscillators one located in each of the Oscillator Groups The Aux Oscillator can be configured to produce white noise or a ring modulated product of the wavetables in each Oscillator Group As a result a Patch can have white noise or ring modulation but not both Dual Mode Detune r You can adjust Dual Detune using the EG1 3 Relea se control wi...

Page 33: ...l Filter Mode is not selected two filters are still used for stereo operation but they are con trolled by the settings for Filter 1 so there is one Filter to configure but a true stereo signal path Stereo LFOs can still modulate the two filters independently in Dual Mode If Dual Filter Mode is selected the signal routing is the same but the two filters can be controlled individually using the Filt...

Page 34: ...ual Mode Hypersaw In Dual Mode Hypersaw the two filters are controlled together as Filter 1 Oscillator Group 1 Controls Select The Oscillator Group Select button allows quick access to the Oscillator Group 1 parameters for inspection or modi fication Each press of the button will scroll through the page groups that display the Oscillator Group s parame ters Use the Cursor Up Down buttons to access...

Page 35: ... Oscillator can always be tuned inde pendently Selecting Hard Sync when FM is in use non zero amount is not recommended as the two algorithms are contradictory and do not produce a useful result usu ally out of tune when used together Hard Sync applies only in Wave Mode r There s more information about Hard Sync in the Sound Programming section of this manual Pulse Width In Wave Mode the Pulse Wid...

Page 36: ... Pitch r You can adjust amount of LFO1 to Pitch using the Saw Level control with Shift Mode engaged This control sets the amount of hard wired modulation from LFO1 to Pitch It is only effective in Wave Mode Plea se use the LFO1 to Pitch control in Oscillator Group 1 to apply modulation to the hypersaw Remember that the Oscillator Groups modulations are independent so if you apply a modulation such...

Page 37: ...ing via the Mod Matrix Sawtooth Level r Please see the description of the Oscillator Group 1 Saw Level control Wavetable Level r Please see the description of the Oscillator Group 1 Wave Level control Pulse Level r Please see the description of the Oscillator Group 1 Pulse Level control Aux Noise or Ring Mod Level r You can adjust Aux Level using the Pulse Level control with Shift Mode engaged Set...

Page 38: ...by rolling off the hyper saw partials as they deviate from the root frequency The intensity control sets the rate of that rolloff Higher set tings result in a stronger presence of more partials yiel ding a more intense hypersaw Hypersaw Spread The Hypersaw Spread control sets the spread of the Hy persaw The algorithm operates by deviating detuning the frequency of the hypersaw partials from the fu...

Page 39: ...tial for phatten ing sounds Please be sure to make use of them Note that the Subs and their controls are only used when the voice is configured for Wave Mode they are not related to the Hypersaw sub oscillator Sub Shape Selects one of the four distinctive waveshape options for the Oscillator Group s Sub Oscillator The shapes available are sawtooth square pulse and triangle Sub Level Sets the level...

Page 40: ...e r Please see the description of the relevant Sub Shape buttons Sub Oscillator Detune r You can adjust the Sub Oscillator Detune using the relevant Sub Level control with Shift Mode enabled The Sub Oscillator Detune control sets the amount of detuning relative to the parent Oscillator Group of the Sub Oscillator The amount of detuning can be up to half a semitone either side Negative values will ...

Page 41: ...utton will scroll through the page groups that display the Oscillator Group s parame ters Use the Cursor Up Down buttons to access interme diate pages Tune The Tune control sets the pitch of Oscillator Group 2 in semitone steps from minus two to plus two octaves rela tive to the pitch the note should be for the MIDI note play ed Detune The Detune control sets the pitch of Oscillator Group 2 in sub...

Page 42: ...p 2 Tune control Oscillator 2 Detune r Please see the description of the Oscillator Group 2 Detune control LFO1 to Pitch r You can adjust amount of LFO1 to Pitch using the Saw Level control with Shift Mode engaged This control sets the amount of hard wired modulation from LFO1 to Pitch Unlike most of the controls in the Oscillator Group this parameter applies to Wave and Hy persaw Mode configurati...

Page 43: ...ode engaged Sets the amount of Pulse Width Modulation PWM from LFO2 g Modulating the Pulse Width of a pulse wave using a modulator such as an LFO is an all time classic synthesizer technique Kyra provides a hard wired routing from LFO 1 or a flexible routing via the Mod Matrix Sawtooth Level r Please see the description of the Oscillator Group 2 Saw Level control Wavetable Level r Please see the d...

Page 44: ...the Oscillator Group 2 Select button until the navigator is shown three times from the Home page Use the Wavetable Navigator to select the wavetable required for Oscillator Group 2 The 4096 tables are grouped by type to make selection easier For your refe rence the page also shows the waveform of the wavetable selected ...

Page 45: ...options are low pass 2 pole 12dB LP low pass 4 pole 24dB LP band pass 2 pole 12dB BP band pass 4 pole 24dB BP high pass 2 pole 12dB HP and high pass 4 pole 24dB HP r Please refer to the section on Sound Programming for more information on the filter types Filter Frequency The Filter Frequency control sets the cutoff frequency for the low pass and high pass filter types and the centre fre quency fo...

Page 46: ...tive envelope amount that makes the start phase bright and then closes the filter to get a darker sustain phase String sounds on the other hand usually use a negative envelope amount that gives a slow and dark attack before the cutoff rises in the sustain phase g Kyra s filters come to life when they are modulated A wide range of hardwired modulations are provi ded and you can always add more poss...

Page 47: ...quency r You can adjust the LFO2 to Cutoff Frequency set ting using the EG2 to Frequency control with Shift Mode engaged The LFO2 to Cutoff Frequency setting determines the amount that LFO2 modulates the current filter cutoff fre quency LFO modulation is positive bipolar only If negati ve LFO modulation is required use an anti phase LFO or Mod Matrix routing If unipolar modulation is required use ...

Page 48: ...yed so that the harmonic content of notes similar regardless of the note played Key Follow Root Key This parameter is only available in the Filter page it does not have a physical control Use the Root Key to assign the MIDI note that the filter frequency is tied to and the Key Follow Amount to adjust the slope adjustment to the frequency by MIDI key around that r In most cases you can leave these ...

Page 49: ...r Use the EG Amp and EG Aux buttons to navigate to all three EGs easily To select EG2 just press EG Amp select button twice Attack The Attack setting determines the attack rate for the selected EG This is amount of time it takes for the EG output to go from zero to maximum level Decay The Decay setting determines the decay rate for the selected envelope generator This is the amount of time it take...

Page 50: ... drop from maximum level to reach the sustain level Sustain The Sustain setting determines the sustain level of EG2 This level is held so long as the note is held unless a non zero slope value is set Release The Release setting determines the release rate for EG2 This is the amount of time it takes for the EG output to go from the sustain level to zero after the note is released Envelope Generator...

Page 51: ...ositive values will cause the EG sustain output to gradual ly increase and negative values will cause the sustain out put to gradually decrease Larger values either positive or negative cause an increase in the rate of the slope At lower settings the slope transition can be as long as 60 seconds Bass Delay r The Bass Delay feature is not available on EG1 There s no physical control the parameters ...

Page 52: ...und is very low frequency typically a bass The amplitude attack is extremely fast The modulating attack is extremely fast The modulating decay is short less than 100mS The modulation amount is very high e g filter frequency or wavetable level used for bite If your Patch meets all these requirements enable Bass Delay for the EG 2 or 3 that is being used for the attack modulation This will result in...

Page 53: ...ion its default setting of Medium Stereo Pan This setting determines the Patch Pan position r You can adjust the Stereo Pan setting using the filter EG2 Attack control in the Filter section with Shift Mode engaged LFO1 to Amplifier r You can adjust the LFO1 to Amplifier setting using the filter EG2 Decay control in the Filter section with Shift Mode engaged This setting determines the amount of mo...

Page 54: ...ntrol selects the basic LFO shape of the selec ted LFO 128 shapes are available including basic sine square triangle and sample hold random and other more complex shapes A useful waveform diagram shows the LFO wave shape With 128 shapes available there s a lot of potential for creative modulation You can go beyond the 128 shapes available and achieve complex evolving LFO waveforms by configuring f...

Page 55: ...he LFO runs freely and with no regard to note events This is the default and suitable for modulati ons that should always be in phase and apply to all notes on the Part Polyphonic the LFO phase applied to a new note is reset when the note starts and thus the LFO phase can be diffe rent for each note played This in effect turns the LFO into a repeating mini EG Random Phase the LFO phase is set to a...

Page 56: ...ted stereo effects with Kyra s advanced LFO modes Delay This setting determines the ramp up delay period of the LFO A value of zero means there is no delay higher values will result in a longer ramp up time This parameter is not available for LFO3 Clock The Clock setting configures the timebase for the LFO When set to Internal the LFO operates using the rate con figured with the LFO s Rate control...

Page 57: ...use the Mod Matrix effectively you should be aware of the distinction between monophonic channel or per Part and polyphonic per note agents r An agent is any of the sources or destinations that participate in the Mod Matrix In the case of sources a monophonic source is a source that is generated at the channel level Typical examples of a monophonic source would be channel aftertouch or the mod whe...

Page 58: ... poly phonic destination This makes sense and Kyra supports it What would not make sense is to route a polyphonic source to a monopho nic destination For example consider the example of routing velocity to the wet dry mix of an effects module What would it do if you played a three note chord It would route three different modulation values to the sin gle effects module which would not do anything ...

Page 59: ... depending on the note played Consi der a stereo miked grand piano on certain recordings it is possible owing to the size of the instrument to hear the notes move across the stereo field depending on the note played This routing allows you to emulate that Other uses would include reducing decay and release times for higher notes on a piano and reducing the level of higher notes to balance out reso...

Page 60: ...your DAW or master keyboard Most DAWs will allow you to paint in other MIDI modula tors such as polyphonic pressure so you can use these resources even if your keyboard doesn t support them directly g Use the MIDI CC inputs to the Mod Matrix to enab le your DAW or master keyboard to modulate just about any parameter on Kyra ...

Page 61: ...selected To locate these parame ters use the Effects Select buttons to select the effect and then locate the parameter with the Parameter Up Down buttons You can then use the Value buttons to change the parameter The Effects Unit provides considerable opportunity to shape and process the final sound coming from each Part ready for final output Live musicians can use the effects to provide ready to...

Page 62: ... between quickly Configuration Each of Kyra s effects modules can be individually configu red and defeated bypassed However the ordering of the effects is fixed and can t be changed Many effect parame ters are available as destinations in the Modulation Matrix Kyra s comprehensive Effects Unit allows the synthesizer to produce mixes ready for final mastering straight from the output jacks or a mix...

Page 63: ...elay to wild flangers g With effects sometimes less is more Shelving EQ Module The first effect in the Kyra s Effects Unit is the EQ The module provides a 3 band shelving EQ with sweepable mid Use the EQ to shape the sound by boosting or at tenuating cutting certain frequency ranges The EQ pro vides a useful supplement to the Filter whereby for exa mple the latter can leave a sound with a little l...

Page 64: ...ctaves of the lower and upper parts of the audio range and the mid can be swept over the full audio range inclu ding an overlap of the shelves The Mid also has a Q factor setting higher values make the cut or boost more selecti ve narrower To bypass individual EQ bands simply set the relevant gain control to zero Setting all three bands to have zero gain effectively bypasses the effect completely ...

Page 65: ...d limited tube limiter compressor model Gnasher is unique amongst Kyra s distortion algo rithms in leaving low level signals undistorted so it is very useful for longer pad type sounds To apply Distortion increase the Distortion Effect Mix control This will increase the amount of distorted signal in the signal chain At the lowest setting the Distortion mo dule is effectively bypassed At the maximu...

Page 66: ...miter the Input Limiter is located after the Distortion module in the effects chain The second limiter the Output Limiter is located at the end of the effects chain just before the Output Mixer Both Limiters work together to manage the potentially massive dynamic range of signals coming from Kyra s sound sources and effects unit Both Limiters model classic valve tube amplifiers such that increasin...

Page 67: ...el after the Patch level has been set to the level that achieves the distortion or lack of distortion required The Input Limiter has three selectable curves offering increasing levels of compression but note compression is not the same as a volume control the Input Limiter curve setting should not be used to adjust the volume of the Patch The Output Limiter has a fixed configuration and manages an...

Page 68: ...he delay module ranges between 0 and 50 wet rather than 100 The most useful range is around 10 30 which offers a natural balan ce between the initial sound and the echoes The Delay module can be synchronised to the tempo of your song by means of MIDI clock synchronisation When the Delay module is configured to synchronise to MIDI clock a beat setting is available to adjust the ratio of the delay v...

Page 69: ...he Pha ser s frequency control to choose the colouration required The Phaser is also very useful for vocal effects and works well with the Formant Filter Check out some of the vocal preset Patches many have the Phaser frequency wired up to the modulation wheel to adjust the timbre of the effect The Feedback control determines the intensity of the effect The feedback can be positive or negative and...

Page 70: ...ettings otherwise the Output Limiter will kick in to constrain the peaks If you are getting resonant peaks that mean the overall Patch level is too low you may wish to reduce the feedback or filter resonance to regain control of the peaks Chorus Flanger Module Kyra s Chorus Flanger module is very versatile It is able to deliver a range of effects including those associated with comb filters chorus...

Page 71: ...ffect to be mixed in from 0 i e no effect to 100 wet Reverberation Module Kyra features a Reverb module on each Part offering re verberation times up to about 20 seconds The Reverb module does not have presets like many standalone units do but many of the classic reverb parameters are sup ported such that the sound of many classic reverbs can be configured The Reverb module features a pre delay un...

Page 72: ...ou find the reverb is dominating the sound or the Part appears slushy or muddy in the mix look to reduce the dry wet mix and reverb time and or in crease the Damping and Darkness especially if the domi nation is in the higher frequency ranges g Remember sometimes less is more The pre delay feature can be used to give percussive sounds some space g Advanced users may wish to use the Part reverb def...

Page 73: ...iew some of Kyra s preset sounds that feature the Arpeggiator the Category Filter is useful for finding them and experiment with diffe rent sounds to understand its abilities Keyboard velocity is not used by the Arpeggiator the accent given to each beat played is defined by the selected arpeggio pattern g The sustain hold pedal is exceptionally useful for playing live arpeggios Its function change...

Page 74: ...s configured correctly in the MIDI configuration page r If the Arpeggiator is configured for MIDI clock sync it will not start until it receives a MIDI start or conti nue command If the Arpeggiator is not starting check the MIDI sync setting is as expected Mode The Mode button selects between the five operating mo des of the Arpeggiator Up Notes are played in order from lowest to highest Down Note...

Page 75: ...notes depending on the setting of the Range control Adding a range to a random arpeggiation results in a very interes ting effect as notes played are selected randomly from the entire range Tempo The Tempo control adjusts the rate of the Arpeggiator BPM beats per minute from 58 to 185 It has no effect if the Arpeggiator time source is set to MIDI If you require tempos outside this range please adj...

Page 76: ... lot of them advanced users may prefer to use their DAW sequencer for more complex arpeggio pro gramming tasks such as those using unusual time signatures Gate Length This setting configures the length of the notes the arpeg giator plays and is relative to the configured tempo At lower settings the gate length the time the key is active is very short staccato At higher settings the gate length app...

Page 77: ...o nisation Remember that Kyra requires a MIDI start continue command to start the Arp when it is confi gured to use MIDI clock Beat The Beat setting determines the time division for the Ar peggiator tempo when using MIDI clock as a timebase Use Beat to select the ratio between the MIDI clock and the actual Arpeggiator beat as you require This effectively configures the number of beats per bar whil...

Page 78: ...e synthesizer Kyra supports storing 128 Multis Changing the Multi reconfigu res the eight Parts simultaneously thus completely recon figuring the synthesizer ready for performance whether live or from a DAW So think of a Part as a Patch combined with some additio nal Parameters that together make a playable configurati on It s worth remembering a Part has a reference to a Patch but does not contai...

Page 79: ...the Part Select buttons It s worth remembering this as it s common to configure Parts together and being able to flip through the Parts and com pare set values without having to exit Multi Edit mode each time is a definite time saver Once in Multi Edit Mode you can edit the Part parameters in the same way as you edit Patch parameters If you make any changes to one or more Parts be sure to store th...

Page 80: ...ngle and Multi mode A good practice is to adopt Multi 0 as the home Multi where you set up the Parts for general purpose playing In fact for simple at the keyboard playing you only need to set up one Part unless you re setting up layered split con figurations As Multi 0 is loaded when Kyra starts all your settings and the Patch you configure for Part 1 in Multi 0 will be recalled at power up so yo...

Page 81: ...ny Part sent to a different output will not be heard on the headphones USB audio is not affected by the Part output setting as each Part has its own individual virtual stream over USB and the Output Mixer is not used The Output of the current Part is displayed as Out on the bottom line of the Home page MIDI Channel The MIDI Channel setting selects the MIDI channel a Part will respond to Select Off...

Page 82: ... Exit and adjust this parameter using the Bank and Patch buttons whilst on the Home page You can then re enter Multi Edit mode and continue editing the Multi parameters and then save the Multi Changing the Bank and hence the Patch will stop any notes currently playing on the Part r You can select the bank using a MIDI Bank Select message CC 32 but remember it won t take effect until a MIDI Program...

Page 83: ...rt will ignore MIDI notes sent to it Useful for split keyboard setups in live play situations Note the key shown and the filtering done is the original MIDI note and does not ac count for any transposition added using the Transpose feature The setting can t be higher than the Upper key range Upper Key Range The Upper Key Range sets the key above which the Part will ignore MIDI notes sent to it Use...

Page 84: ...eceive Program Change in the MIDI Configuration page must also be configured for MIDI Program Change to work on a given Part Enable Delays Enables or disables defeats the Digital Delay module for the Part Enable Chorus Enables or disables defeats the Chorus module for the Part Enable EQ Formant Enables or disables defeats the EQ and Formant Filter module for the Part Enable Reverbs Enables or disa...

Page 85: ...phones It does not affect the USB audio streams If you re using an external mixer or amplifier set the Master Volume control to its maximum value and trim the levels on your mixer or amplifier Mas ter Volume can also be set by a MIDI Universal SysEx De vice Control message In both cases the value set takes effect immediately and is stored r Remember that Master Volume control does not affect the U...

Page 86: ...ather than an adjustable parameter It shows the rate at which Kyra has been asked to stream audio to and or from the host your computer If Kyra isn t streaming the status will be Inactive Kyra allows the host to select streaming at 48kHz or 96kHz Kyra al ways streams 24 bit audio but most host drivers can re duce this to 16 bit if required for legacy DAWs For best quality results configure your DA...

Page 87: ...lower values to reduce glare in low light studio or stage settings or higher settings in brightly lit outdoor areas MIDI Configuration Display Pages MIDI SysEx Device ID The MIDI SysEx Device ID used for MIDI Systems Exclusi ve SysEx communications either between two Kyras or a Kyra synthesizer and a DAW MIDI Editor librarian Unless the transmitting device sends on the all devices ID the Device ID...

Page 88: ...g in the individual Parts is ignored You can select whether the messages will be received via DIN MIDI USB or both MIDI Clock Source The MIDI Clock Source setting determines whether MIDI Clock messages will be received via DIN MIDI or USB MIDI There s no disable option as MIDI Clock can be used by several modules with Kyra each of which has an individual MIDI clock configuration Multi Program Chan...

Page 89: ...vanced users can use manual dumps to record Patches and Multis in their DAW or custom MIDI applications Transmit Arp Clock The Transmit Arp Clock setting enables or disables the transmission of MIDI Clock for the Arpeggiator on Part 1 To save MIDI bandwidth switch this off if it isn t required The option allows Kyra to send the MIDI clock via DIN MIDI USB or both r As MIDI can only support one clo...

Page 90: ...d via the Mod Matrix These CCs can come from your DAW or master keyboard s assignable controls Bulk Send Receive Bank The Bulk Send Receive Bank option configures which of Kyra s Patch banks will be sent and received by manual MIDI SysEx messages Be sure to have this set correctly when sending bulk Patch dumps to Kyra an incorrect setting could result in a whole bank of valuable Patches being over...

Page 91: ...page r Send Current Edit Buffer will never overwrite a stored Patch in the receiving Kyra Send Selected Bulk Bank When Send Selected Bulk Bank is activated using the Value Up button Kyra will immediately send the whole bank selected by the Bulk send receive bank option as a series of SysEx messages Owing to the amount of data involved it takes about ten seconds to complete if DIN MIDI is being use...

Page 92: ... units connected ensure everything is confi gured correctly and your Multis are backed up Unli ke Patch Dumps there s no Bank setting as there s only one bank of Multis so the overwrite will always occur Patch Storage Copy Patch Bank The Copy Patch Bank feature allows you to copy whole banks of Patches between any of Kyra s 26 memory banks Recall each Bank comprises 128 Patches You can copy betwee...

Page 93: ...es Copy after it has completed the copy operation The Copy Patch Bank feature is the only way you can write Patch Banks to ROM Banks i e banks in the range H Z you ll need to configure it to transfer to a RAM Bank first and then use the Copy Patch Bank feature to copy the Bank to ROM subsequently Patch Control Initialise Patch Initialise Patch reverts all the settings in the current Part s Edit Bu...

Page 94: ...tegory If there are no Patches of the filtered category the Patch buttons step through all the Patches in the Bank and the Bank buttons can be used To disable the Category Filter change it back to no filter in the Patch Control page r The Bank buttons do not have a function when a Category Filter is active The Category Filter does not affect MIDI Program changes they operate as before and are able...

Page 95: ...generation architecture of Kyra The diagrams in this section detail the configurati on and signal routing of sound generation modules in Kyra Don t worry if they seem daunting in the first instance it will become clearer as you read and experiment A good understanding of the architecture is important for getting the best sounds from Kyra As you saw in earlier sections Kyra s sound generators opera...

Page 96: ...not shown in the diagram so there are two Oscillator Group pairs a total of 20 oscillator sources and each pair is routed to a separate filter with a true stereo signal path However the filters can t be adjusted individually other than using stereo LFOs If individual filter control is requi red select Dual Filter Mode In either case you can detune the two Oscillator Group pairs g Remember in Dual ...

Page 97: ...ux Oscillator is present in both groups but has a common Mode and Level setting As a result the output of the Aux Oscillator will always be presented to both Filters This is not the case for the other oscillators which allow individual control per Oscillator Group g Dual Filter Wave Mode offers the maximum flexibi lity in designing advanced Patches Rememer the two filters can be configured complet...

Page 98: ...twelve oscil lators and two filters are used for a true stereo signal path The diagram shows the signal flow for Hypersaw Mode in single and Dual Mode configuration Remember Kyra manages the two filters for you in Dual Mode Hypersaw Dual Filters Mode isn t available in Hypersaw Mode g In Hypersaw Dual Mode Kyra interleaves the par tials and spreads them across the stereo stage re sulting in some v...

Page 99: ...f controls and the only diffe rence between the two groups will be when stereo LFOs are used This is to permit a true stereo signal path Wave Mode Sound Sources Within each oscillator group you ll find the following independent sound sources Sawtooth A harmonically rich tone ideal for modeling with subtractive synthesis Pulse A basic tone featuring odd harmonics that can be adjusted from a square ...

Page 100: ...fect and a sound source itself the Aux Oscillator It operates on the wavetables of both Oscillator Groups to produce its output Note that even though each Oscillator Group does in fact have its own Aux Oscillator there is only a single level control for both which is the Aux Level control in Oscillator Group 1 s control page As a result in Dual Filters Mode Ring Mod audio will be presented to both...

Page 101: ...Hard Sync configurations are harmonic and getting to a useful sound does not take nearly as much effort as it does with FM The best effects are achieved when the frequency ratio between the Oscillator Groups is up to one octave either way It is worth noting that Sub oscillators are not part of Hard Sync and they operate independently of Hard Sync As Hard Sync tends to produce very tonally pure sou...

Page 102: ... most effective for use on wave table sources Hard Sync is not available in Hypersaw Mode and has no effect on the Aux and Sub Oscillators g Avoid using Hard Sync with FM they are contradic tory and the result is rarely musical Wave Mode Frequency Modulation Frequency Modulation referred to as FM is a technique to make one oscillator the modulator to modulate the frequency of another the carrier J...

Page 103: ...nents often called opera tors but they typically only generated very simple wave forms such as sine waves On Kyra even though there are only two components participating in FM the two Oscilla tor Groups recall that the carrier can be any of the VA waves or any wavetable and the modulator can be any wavetable FM on these complex waveforms can result in some very interesting tones but as mentioned y...

Page 104: ...ssical effect and has been used in countless productions for decades Like FM Ring Mod is contradictory to Hard Sync and using Ring Mod with Hard Sync is unlikely to be useful On the other hand Ring Mod works exceptionally well with FM and can add considerable grit to the sound As with FM you ll need to experiment to get great sounds and Ring Mod Experiment with the wavetable shapes and the semiton...

Page 105: ...e used Once enab led the Aux Level control in Oscillator Group 1 will set the level of the Ring Mod output You can modulate this in the Mod Matrix as required g Routing velocity to Ring Mod EG modulation amount using the Mod Matrix is a great technique to bring up additional harmonics during the attack phase of a note as notes are played harder Several of the factory presets use this technique ...

Page 106: ...the Wavetable level controls and then select the wavetable itself Beyond static wavetables you can apply modulators to the wavetables so adjust their relative levels as there s two wavetables one in each oscillator group you can use modulators to smoothly cross fade between the two tables to generate interesting evolving timbres Remember to make use of the Subs for additional bass sub mode or detu...

Page 107: ...d Built entirely out of multiple harmonical ly rich sawtooth waves referred to as partials each adjusted according to a special algorithm the Hypersaw provides characteristic soundscapes ideal for a range of uses from high impact lead sounds through to lush ani mated pads Bringing It All Together The two Hypersaw parameters are available as destina tions in the Mod Matrix for some truly wonderful ...

Page 108: ...tor Group 1 This applies to Mod Matrix routings as well Remember to consider the overall Patch Level when in creasing the Hypersaw intensity as increasing the intensity adds significant energy to the signal If Hypersaw Patches get too loud the limiters will kick in This may or may not be desirable depending on the sound you re trying to achieve g As hypersaws are so harmonically rich they provi de...

Page 109: ... but the results can be outstanding By setting the Wavetable to a square wave or similar and the Sub Oscillator to a root pitch square or pulse you can configure a Hypersquare a variation of a hypersaw that uses square or pulse waves You can mix and match to combine the two the possibilities are endless Even though Kyra doesn t allow Hypersaw and Wave Mode to be used at the same time you can achie...

Page 110: ... Dual Mode Detune as it will improve the sound considerably With no detuning at all Dual Mode Patches can sound synthetic and mechanical even a slight amount will be effective even for Patches where you don t want an obvious detuning effect g We recommend you always add some Dual Mode Detune for Dual Mode wave Patches to avoid a ste rile mechanical sound Add a little Dual Mode Detune even for a no...

Page 111: ...f itself perhaps with some detuning Kyra doesn t offer a polyphony robbing unison mode as there s really no need for it with up to 20 sound sources per note in Dual Mode combined with extensive detuning capabilities If you feel the need to stack more sounds up layer Paches in a Multi Layering is far more flexible than unison as the Patches loaded into the component Parts of the layer need not be t...

Page 112: ...ion sounds radically different and will impart distinctive sonic characteristics on the sound from the Oscillator Groups g Take the time to get familiar with the six different filter types offered by Kyra They each offer dis tinctly different sounds Once you ve mastered that learn how to use the various modulation possibili ties to create dynamic filter effects The type and configuration of a synt...

Page 113: ...sulting output onto one of the stereo busses that represent Kyra s 8 Parts As a result each note can be panned anywhere in the ste reo field by means of a modulator Part Mixer The Part Mixer allows you to set the relative levels of the 8 Parts Note that its design and location give it a different purpose to the level parameter in a Patch The Part volume parameter sets the level for the Part post e...

Page 114: ...e original 8 stereo Parts from the Part Mixer Note that it is highly unusual but possible to overload the Output Mixer if several Parts are assigned to a single Out put and the levels on those Parts are very high If you hear clipping when routing multiple Parts to a single output use the Part Mixer s levels to moderate the Part levels such that the relative levels are the same but the overall leve...

Page 115: ...hat it doesn t have this constraint the song must be in the specified key to be correctly tuned r Kyra will ignore a request to play MIDI note zero but it can and must be present in the MTS bulk dump message Realtime Per Key These messages tune individual keys in real time as the song plays This offers the most flexibili ty as the tunings can be changed during the song Hermo de Tuning is an exampl...

Page 116: ...nd support for real time tuning varies widely amongst the various DAW applica tions Check the user manual of your DAW for microtuning and MTS support Bulk tuning can be achieved with any software capable of sending MIDI SysEx messages Check the user manual and FAQs for your DAW for more infor mation Microtuning is a fascinating topic it opens up new possibilities for your compositions and is an es...

Page 117: ...s also known as fixed mods can be forgotten about as everything they can do Mod Matrix can do better There are two problems with that The first is that using Mod Matrix to do what the hard wired modulators can do simply wastes Mod Matrix slots There are six slots but you can run out if you use slots on routings that can be had for free using the hardwired mods The second more interesting reason is...

Page 118: ...i nation parameter The ordering of destinations in each channel is not rele vant A source can appear in more than one channel e g if you want to use it for more than three routes and a desti nation can appear in more than one route even within a channel In that case the total modulation value is deter mined by adding up all the routes accounting for the fact some modulations can be negative This c...

Page 119: ...name LFO2 unipolar see Source name LFO2 bipolar see Source name LFO3 unipolar see Source name LFO3 bipolar see Source name On velocity Velocity value Random per note Random value per note MIDI note MIDI Note number Polyphonic Press Polyphonic Keyboard Pressure Data Off Velocity Release velocity value g Remember you don t have to use modulation sources for their original purposes With Kyra if you w...

Page 120: ...OSC2 FM see destination name OSC1 LFO1 to pitch see destination name OSC1 LFO2 to pulse width see destination name OSC1 sawtooth level see destination name OSC1 wavetable level see destination name OSC1 pulse level see destination name OSC1 aux oscillator level see destination name OSC1 sub level see destination name OSC1 sub detune see destination name OSC1 pulse width see destination name OSC2 t...

Page 121: ...2 sustain see destination name EG2 release see destination name EG3 attack see destination name EG3 decay see destination name EG3 sustain see destination name EG3 release see destination name LFO1 speed see destination name LFO1 delay see destination name LFO2 speed see destination name LFO2 delay see destination name LFO3 speed see destination name DDL mix see destination name DDL delay see dest...

Page 122: ...estination name EQ mid frequency see destination name Formant filter gain see destination name Formant filter tune see destination name Distortion mix see destination name Distortion drive see destination name Final level post effects see destination name Dual Detune amount see destination name ...

Page 123: ...on is to use MIDI Continuous Controllers CCs You can use the fixed CCs or for more flexibility use the Mod Matrix to map CCs to the parameters you want to automate and then configu re these on your master keyboard The DAW can record these and they will be editable in the DAW as they are standard MIDI messages rather than system exclusive messages MIDI CCs use considerably less MIDI bandwidth than ...

Page 124: ...ram Change message in the song preroll to set the automated parameters to their default values If the Patch doesn t contain the correct defaults edit the Patch or send automation messages in the song preroll only the final message is required the others can be deleted r We recommend the use of MIDI Continuous Control ler and the Mod Matrix to solve your modulation re quirements Only resort to Cont...

Page 125: ...ed audio Hum A background hum indicates the likely presence of a ground loop in your overall system Use headphones connected directly to Kyra to confirm the hum is not present at that output Solving ground loops is very much dependent on the set up of your studio and is beyond the scope of this manual although removing connections in your setup not just on Kyra one at a time in your system is a go...

Page 126: ...only hear Parts as signed to Output A Soundcard mode is disabled so that instrument audio is routed to Output A rather than USB audio Distortion If the sound is distorted first check if this is a feature of the selected Patch It is possible to add intentional distortion to a Patch by a variety of means so be sure to check this first Next check that the level of the Patch isn t too high If a Patch ...

Page 127: ...ular if you use a step editor to create a sequence of the same note and quantize the notes back to back sequencers occasionally will send the MIDI note on event of one note before the note off event of the previous one As Kyra can only play one instance of a note on a given Part this will result in the note not being heard To fix this shorten the event so there is a definite gap between the end of...

Page 128: ...N MIDI on Kyra Note that sending SysEx messages during a song is not recom mended especially if using DIN MIDI If you re feeding Kyra s audio back into your DAW and have other tracks using VST instruments or other instru ments you will need to adjust the settings on your DAW to match these This is referred to Delay Compensation Kyra is extremely responsive to MIDI but you must ac count for the del...

Page 129: ...iceable If you are using USB MIDI and or audio connect Kyra directly to your computer Do not use hubs They are often non compliant and will introduce additional latency and other problems Use good quality cables r The line outputs are still active when you use USB audio but we recommend you don t use the line out puts when you re using USB audio except in the case of Soundcard audio from Output A ...

Page 130: ...ring a CD at 44 1 kHz Note that Kyra can t stream at 44 1 kHz only 48 kHz and 96 kHz are available If you are mastering for CD run your project at 48 kHz or better still 96kHz and resample to 44 1 kHz when you produce your final master g We recommend you stream Kyra s USB audio at 96kHz 24 bit and only resample when you produce your final mixdown for mastering Consider 48kHz only if your DAW is no...

Page 131: ...cations are for 8 stereo pairs in order left then right for example source channel 0 is the left channel of Part 1 source channel 1 is the right channel of Part 1 source channel 2 is the left channel of Part 1 etc r You should only need to configure the USB audio mappings once in your DAW Please refer to the ma nual for your DAW on how to do this mapping Re member to include mappings for the retur...

Page 132: ...er being too slow to keep up especially once you start multi track record and playback SSDs solid state drives are an ideal solution for the scratch disk for your DAW s audio When using USB audio with Kyra avoid running other applications on your computer whilst you are using your DAW Seemingly innocuous applications such as browsers instant messaging tools and office applications can tie up CPU c...

Page 133: ...DAW and route it out via Output A and correspondingly the headphone out put ASIO will not allow you to load a second driver for a soundcard on your computer although there are work around solutions such as asio4all for Windows users You can find the Soundcard Mode option in the first System Edit page switch this to Enabled to route audio from your DAW to Output A This will replace the synthesizer ...

Page 134: ...ronly recommend to use USB MIDI Do not use a USB hub for connection r Keep in mind to install the Windows USB driver before using Kyra s USB port with a Windows opera ting system Make sure that your computer has an active internet connection Start the Kyra Manager application On the left side of the application window the checklist guides you through the firmware update process Start with Step 1 a...

Page 135: ...Total weight 5 7 kg Kyra Factory Bank List Bank Name Description A RAM Selection 1 Best of Factory B RAM Selection 2 Best of Factory C RAM Factory 1 D RAM Factory 2 E RAM Factory 3 F RAM Factory 4 G RAM Empty bank for storing own patches H ROM Selection 1 Best of Factory I ROM Selection 2 Best of Factory J ROM Factory 1 K ROM Factory 2 L ROM Factory 3 M ROM Factory 4 N ROM Factory 5 O ROM Factory ...

Page 136: ...utput An audio interface driver protocol for Windows audio specified by Steinberg Allows low latency direct access to audio hardware Attack The first of the four segments in an ADSR style envelope generator Faster attacks are associated with more percus sive sounds and slower attacks with gentler pads and string type sounds The attack segment starts when a key is pressed If a note is retriggered t...

Page 137: ...ifica tions a Bank Select message does not cause the Patch to change only the subsequent MIDI Program Change messa ge does that and when it does it uses the Bank selected from the previous Bank Select message Battery Kyra has a internal rechargeable battery that maintains Patch Multi and Configuration data when the system is switched off at the mains The battery is charged up whenever mains is app...

Page 138: ...cursion and is hard limited clipped The result is an unpleasant clicking buzzing or cracking sound Clipping is rare but possible on Kyra Typically it can only occur if excessively loud Parts are mixed together onto the same analogue output Coarse Tune The ability to tune an oscillator over a wide range typical ly at least one octave Kyra offers coarse tuning in semito ne steps in addition to detun...

Page 139: ...rom its pass band to its stopband The Cutoff Frequency is often modu lated and combined with resonance to provide dynamic sounds DAC Digital to Analogue Converter The DAC convers the digital audio into analogue audio such that it can be mixed using an analogue mixer and rendered by an amplifier Kyra features a high quality 32 bit stereo DAC running at 96kHz for studio quality sound Daisy Chain A f...

Page 140: ...nts are in perfect time synchronisation If you find audio from Kyra is out of sync with your software instruments find out how to adjust the delay compensati on on your DAW Detune The technique of varying the pitch interval between two oscillators by a relatively small amount typically just a few cents Two oscillators playing the same pitch will sound flat and hollow and in fact may cancel out com...

Page 141: ...quietest to the loudest without undesired distortion A limited dynamic range will mean quieter sounds can be noisy and louder sounds suffer distortion or clipping A larger dynamic range provides for a larger range of levels without sacrificing audio quality due to excessive compression Effects Often shorted to FX These are algorithms used to alter and shape sounds usually towards the end of the si...

Page 142: ...ery difficult to predict what the sound will be in advance and good settings are often more a matter of trial and error rather than by design For this reason pure FM synthesis has fallen out of favour in recent years but it still has its uses certain sounds are very hard to achieve using other techniques Kyra supports FM between its two Oscillator Groups Kyra also has a large wavetable bank of pre...

Page 143: ...ising The practice of making music sound like it is being per formed by human musicians rather than computers This usually involves subtle randomization of timing pitch and loudness of notes and beats Kyra provides Mod Matrix agents particularly the Random per Note source to help with this and most DAWs offer timing variation features Hypersaw A sound generation technique using banks of oscillator...

Page 144: ...Part The first is located after the EQ module and before the Distortion module in the effects chain and has three programmable settings The second is located at the final Part output and has a fixed configuration LFO Low frequency oscillator An oscillator with sub sonic frequency typically below 20Hz used to provide modula tion effects Kyra has a total of 6 distinct LFOs three for general synthesi...

Page 145: ...pable of affecting another in some way Modulation Matrix Often shorted to Mod Matrix The facility provided by synthesizers to allow flexible routing of modulation sources to modulation destinations Originally most syn thesizers had fixed modulation paths which limited possi bilities The Mod Matrix offer almost unlimited modulation possibilities although not all of them are useful In addi tion to a...

Page 146: ...ndamental rate and use other techniques as well to all but eliminate aliasing The filters and effects units are two times oversampled The result is a system with a clean bright top end that can support techniques particularly prone to aliasing such as hard sync FM ring modulation and wavetable playback Systems that are not oversampled often suffer from aliasing and or have muddy or noisy top end p...

Page 147: ...to add it in many DAWs Kyra can receive poly pressure informati on the data is fed into the Mod Matrix and can be used to modulate any polyphonic destination Poly pressure can generate a lot of MIDI information so use it sparingly when using DIN MIDI Polyphony The maximum number of simultaneous notes supported by an instrument Kyra supports 128 notes of single voice polyphony with up to 32 notes p...

Page 148: ...the RAM are maintained when the system is switched off either in standby or completely powered down RAM is however limited in size and Kyra supports 7 Banks of Patch storage each containing 128 Patches along with 128 locations for Multi storage ROM storage can be used to extend the capacity please see ROM Release The fourth and final of the segments in an ADSR style envelope generator The release ...

Page 149: ...toff frequency Kyra offers two pole filters with a relatively gentle 12dB octave rolloff and four pole filters with a more aggressive 24dB octave rolloff ROM Read Only Memory In the context of Patch storage ROM allows you to store several Patch banks which are stored indefinitely without the need for the battery that is used to maintain RAM On the other hand you can t store Patches individually in...

Page 150: ... chance of damage to the OLED display if you forget to switch off your instrument as the screensaver will protect it The instrument remains fully functional even if the display has switched off Mani pulating any front panel control will restore the display Disabling the screensaver is not recommended as leaving it on for very long periods may shorten its lifetime Note that the screensaver will act...

Page 151: ... Song Position Pointer A feature of MIDI used by DAWs to specify where a song is being played from Kyra uses this information to start and synchronise its arpeggiator Often shortened to SPP Sostenuto A variation of note sustain whereby only notes played whilst the sostenuto pedal is down are sustained Not as common as the sustain pedal but often used by classically trained pianists Useful for hold...

Page 152: ... standard information to be exchanged between MIDI devices Kyra uses System Exclu sive messages to allow the saving configuration and resto ring of Patch Multi and System configuration data Kyra also supports certain universal SysEx messages these are detailed in the MIDI implementation chart Timbre The tonal quality of a sound Tremolo Amplitude level modulation by a periodic source typical ly an ...

Page 153: ... time signal processing to emulate classic analogue synthesis Voice Stealing The algorithm used to decide how to deal with a request to play more notes voices than supported by a synthesizer The algorithm used by Kyra within a Part is to steal reas sign the oldest longest playing note from a Part when a request to play a 33rd note arrives each Part can support up to 32 notes subject to a system to...

Page 154: ...out your Waldorf product feel free to contact us using one of the three options listed below We re here to help a Use the support form at our website This is the most efficient and fastest way to contact us Your questions will be forwarded immediately to the resident expert and you will quickly receive an answer https support waldorfmusic com b Send us a letter It will take a bit longer but it is ...

Page 155: ... column Yes 0 25 Modes supported Mode 1 Omni On Poly Yes No Mode 2 Omni On Mono Yes No Mode 3 Omni Off Poly Yes No Mode 4 Omni Off Mono Yes No Multi Mode Yes No No Always Omni Off Poly Note On Velocity Yes No Yes Yes Arpeggiator can transmit note events Note Off Velocity Yes No No Yes Channel Aftertouch Yes No No Yes Poly Key Aftertouch Yes No No Yes Pitch Bend Yes No No Yes Active Sensing Yes No ...

Page 156: ...ion Yes No Key based Instrument Ctrl Yes No Master Fine Coarse Tune Yes No Other Universal System Exclusive No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No Yes No No No No No No No No No Yes No Setting is persistent Fine only 430 to 450Hz in 1Hz steps persistent Manufacturer or Non Commercial System Exclusive Yes Yes NRPNs Yes No No No RPN 00 Pitch Bend Sensitivity Yes No RPN 01 Chann...

Page 157: ...Song Select Yes No No No Start Yes No Continue Yes No Stop Yes No No No No Yes Yes Yes MIDI Time Code Yes No No No MIDI Machine Control Yes No No No MIDI Show Control Yes No If yes MSC Level supported No No General MIDI compatible Level s No Is GM default power up mode Level No No No DLS compatible Levels s No DLS File Type s No No No Standard MIDI Files Type s No No No XMF Files Type s No No No S...

Page 158: ... MSB No Yes 6 Data Entry MSB No Yes 7 Channel Volume MSB No Yes Configures Part level 8 Balance MSB No Yes 9 No Yes 10 Pan MSB No Yes Configures Part Pan 11 Expression MSB No Yes 12 Effect Control 1 MSB No Yes 13 Effect Control 2 MSB No Yes 14 No Yes 15 No Yes 16 General Purpose Controller 1 MSB No Yes 17 General Purpose Controller 2 MSB No Yes 18 General Purpose Controller 3 MSB No Yes 19 General...

Page 159: ... 23 No No 24 No No 25 No No 26 No No 27 No No 28 No No 29 No No 30 No No 31 No No 32 Bank Select LSB No Yes 33 Modulation Wheel LSB No No 34 Breath Controller LSB No No 35 No No 36 Foot Controller LSB No No 37 Portamento Time LSB No No 38 Data Entry LSB No No 39 Channel Volume LSB No No 40 Balance LSB No No 41 No No ...

Page 160: ...4 Effect Control 1 LSB No No 45 Effect Control 2 LSB No No 46 No No 47 No No 48 General Purpose Controller 1 LSB No No 49 General Purpose Controller 2 LSB No No 50 General Purpose Controller 3 LSB No No 51 General Purpose Controller 4 LSB No No 52 No No 53 No No 54 No No 55 No No 56 No No 57 No No 58 No No 59 No No 60 No No 61 No No 62 No No ...

Page 161: ... default Release Time No No 73 Sound Controller 4 default Attack Time No No 74 Sound Controller 5 default Brightness No Yes Maps to Filter 1 Cutoff Frequency 75 Sound Controller 6 GM2 default Decay Time No No 76 Sound Controller 7 GM2 default Vibrato Rate No No 77 Sound Controller 8 GM2 default Vibrato Depth No No 78 Sound Controller 9 GM2 default Vibrato Delay No No 79 Sound Controller 10 GM2 def...

Page 162: ...90 No No 91 Effects 1 Depth default Reverb Send No No 92 Effects 2 Depth default Tremolo Depth No No 93 Effects 3 Depth default Chorus Send No No 94 Effects 4 Depth default Celeste Detune Depth No No 95 Effects 5 Depth default Phaser Depth No No 96 Data Increment No No 97 Data Decrement No No 98 Non Registered Parameter Number LSB No No 99 Non Registered Parameter Number MSB No No 100 Registered P...

Page 163: ...o No 106 No No 107 No No 108 No No 109 No No 110 No No 111 No No 112 No No 113 No No 114 No No 115 No No 116 No No 117 No No 118 No No 119 No No 120 All Sound Off No Yes 121 Reset All Controllers No Yes 122 Local Control On Off No No 123 All Notes Off No Yes 124 Omni Mode Off No No 125 Omni Mode On No No ...

Page 164: ...MIDI Implementation Chart 163 Waldorf Kyra Control Function Transmit ted Y N Recognized Y N Remarks 126 Poly Mode Off No No 127 Poly Mode On No No ...

Page 165: ...Waldorf Music GmbH Lilienthal Straße 7 D 53424 Remagen 201 Waldorf Music GmbH All rights reserved www waldorfmusic com ...

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