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Waldorf largo, User Manual

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Waldorf largo User Manual Download Page 14

Sound Parameter 

Largo User´s Manual 

14 

 

Sound P

arameter

 

Overview of Functions 

The  Waldorf  Largo  consists  of  numerous  sound-shaping 
components. The following pages describe all parameters 
in  detail.  Additional  information  can  be  found  in  the 
Appendix on page 57. 

The Head-up Section 

 

The  Head-up  section  provides  the  global  overview  and 
includes the following elements:  

1. The 

Browse 

and 

Edit

 buttons toggle between standard 

Largo  user  interface  (Edit)  and  Sound  Browser  window 
(Browser).

 

2.  The 

File

  menu  button  opens  a  pop-down  menu 

containing  all  functions  as  loading  and  saving  programs 
and banks. 

3.  The 

Edit

  menu  button  opens  a  pop-down  menu 

containing  various  functions  for  editing  sound  programs 
and parts. 

4. The Sound Selection is for selecting sound programs. 

5. The Information Display shows parameter information. 
In  addition,  MIDI  controller  allocations  and  the  current 
numerical value of the parameter are displayed. 

6.  The  Waldorf  logo  is  clickable  and  opens  a  window 
with vitally important information about the Largo. 

The File Menu 

Left  click  on  the  File  menu  button  to  open  a  pop-down 
menu with the following parameters: 

•

 

Load  Bank

  opens  a  window  to  load  a  Largo 

soundbank.  

•

 

Save  Bank

  opens  a  window  to  save  the  current 

Largo soundbank. 

•

 

Load  Program 

opens  a  window  to  load  a  single 

Largo sound program. 

•

 

Save  Program

 opens a window to save the current 

Largo sound program. 

•

 

Recall  Bank

 recalls all sound edits and recover the 

original soundbank settings. 

Summary of Contents for largo

Page 1: ...C M Y CM MY CY CMY K ...

Page 2: ...cide to read the following manual we promise you a lot of fun while reading about and working with the Waldorf Largo Your Waldorf Team Hint Waldorf Music GmbH is not liable for any erroneous information contained in this manual The contents of this manual may be updated at any time without prior notice We made every effort to ensure the information herein is accurate and that the manual contains n...

Page 3: ...atz Dajan Izzo Till Kopper Dirk Krause Rob Lee Jay de Miceli Niels Moseley Markus Moser Dr Georg Müller Kai Niggemann Don Petersen Holger Steinbrink Dr Stefan Trippler Largo Version 1 5 2 May 2014 w Please visit our website www waldorfmusic de Maybe you can download a newer version for your Largo We would like to thank Christian Bacaj Karsten Dubsch Willie Eckl Joachim Flor Michael von Garnier Fra...

Page 4: ... Basic Operation 10 Worth Knowing about Parts 12 General Operation 12 Control Elements 13 Sound Parameter 14 Overview of Functions 14 The Head up Section 14 The File Menu 14 The Edit Menu 15 Sound Selection 16 The Sound Browser 16 Program Table 17 File Browser 19 Working with the File Browser 20 Oscillator Section 22 Activating an Oscillator 22 Mixer Section 30 The Filter Section 32 The Amplifier ...

Page 5: ... 5 Largo User s Manual The Comb Filter Types 76 Envelope Types in the Largo 81 FM Sources 84 Modulation Sources 84 Modulation Destinations 85 Tips Tricks 86 Controller Numbers 88 Glossary 93 Product Support 99 ...

Page 6: ...Overview Largo User s Manual 6 Overview User Interface a Head up section b Main parameter section c Module parameter section d Virtual Keyboard and Part parameter ...

Page 7: ...hted in bold letters Symbols m Caution The comments that follow this symbol will help you avoid errors and malfunctions w Info Additional information on a given topic Instruction Follow these guidelines to execute a desired function Example Real world examples to try out Highlighted Control Features and Parameters All of the Largo s buttons controls and parameters are highlighted in bold letters t...

Page 8: ...ions Installation under Windows Installation from CD ROM 1 Start your computer and launch your operating system Insert the Largo CD ROM into your DVD CD ROM drive If you have enabled the Autostart function in Windows the Installer will start automatically and you can proceed with Step 5 below If not please proceed as follows 2 Launch the Explorer or open the window My Computer 3 Double click on th...

Page 9: ...h as Steinberg Cubase This must be correctly installed on your computer or An AudioUnit 2 0 compatible host application such as Apple Logic or GarageBand This must be correctly installed on your computer or An AAX compatible host application such as Pro Tools 10 This must be correctly installed on your computer w Please also observe the system requirements of your host application w Largo runs wit...

Page 10: ...eLicenser Largo can only run with an activated license m Really important The license code can be used just once and becomes invalid after first use If you have lost your license code by a hard disk crash or renewing your operating system please contact our support support waldorfmusic de Independent of installing Largo on a Mac or Windows computer you will need to activate the software You need t...

Page 11: ...after activation Please consult the eLicenser Control Center Online Help how to perform this optional step w If you want to use Largo on different computers or if you want to remove the soft license from your current computer or if you need to reinstall your computer system you must transfer the Largo eLicense to an eLicenser USB Key Otherwise your soft license will be gone forever w Please note t...

Page 12: ... multimode or surround sound Both Effect units are available for each part without any restrictions General Operation Largo has been optimized for a screen resolution of at least 1024x768 pixels If your resolution is smaller you either have to scroll your window Largo has various on screen controls the behavior of which differs according to the Control Mode settings in the Common menu Auto Linear ...

Page 13: ...while holding the mouse button allows finer adjustment Pop up Menu Click on the corresponding parameter to open a pop up menu where you can choose the desired parameter Switches Switches are represented by LEDs If a function is active its LED will be lit red and all others within the function block will be dark To activate a function click on its LED Display The information display shows parameter...

Page 14: ...pop down menu containing various functions for editing sound programs and parts 4 The Sound Selection is for selecting sound programs 5 The Information Display shows parameter information In addition MIDI controller allocations and the current numerical value of the parameter are displayed 6 The Waldorf logo is clickable and opens a window with vitally important information about the Largo The Fil...

Page 15: ...Init Program initializes the current sound and set all parameter to standard values Copy Part copies the current selected part into the clipboard Paste Part pastes the part from the clipboard to the current part Recall Part recalls all part sound edits and recover the original part settings Init Part initializes the current part and set all parameter to standard values Sort by Name Ascending up to...

Page 16: ...splay shows the name and category of the current sound program Click on the left arrow buttons to step through the sound programs of the current loaded sound bank Click on the right arrow button to open a pop down menu for a faster sound selection Doubleclick on the soundname or the category to change it by entering a new indication The Sound Browser Largo offers a comprehensive window for selecti...

Page 17: ...splayed It allows to quickly access or manage these sounds Managing includes reordering copying and pasting importing and exporting among other functions It offers the following mouse and keyboard functions Click selects a Program Selected Programs are highlighted with a filled background in a different colour 2nd Click renames a Program Double Click switches to that Program Active Programs are hi...

Page 18: ... copies the selected Programs to the ones starting at the drop location Import Drop of a selection of files of known file types from Finder Mac or Explorer Windows imports them into Programs starting at the drop location Dropping Bank Files fxb and Program Files fxp or aupreset Mac at once results in undefined behaviour depending on the order in which the Operating System delivers these files to L...

Page 19: ...s on disk They are called Local Library accessible for all users of the particular computer and User Library accessible only for the current user respectively and are located in the following locations note that folder names might be localized or personalized on your operating system version Those folder names appear in brackets Presets Location on a Mac computer Local Library Library Audio Preset...

Page 20: ...ent access privileges Click selects a file or folder Selected items are highlighted with a filled background in a different color 2nd Click renames a file or folder if possible The root folders cannot be renamed but all subfolders and files can Note that this doesn t change the name of the Sound in that file it only changes the name of the file on disk If a name already exists the file is not rena...

Page 21: ...and the result is added to the File Browser view No files are copied by this command the selected folder is only added to the view tree All added scan folders are stored in Largo s preferences when Largo is closed and they are added to the File Browser automatically on subsequent launches Remove Scan Folder removes the selected top level folder from the list of scanned folders if possible The main...

Page 22: ...ders to the new location Load Drag of selected files to the Program Table loads them into Largo RAM starting at the highlighted location Oscillator Section The Largo offers three oscillators that nearly use the same parameters for editing w A detailled introduction of the oscillators can be found in the Appendix Activating an Oscillator Click on the Active button to switch the corresponding oscill...

Page 23: ...al frequency in descending magnitude It doesn t have any further parameters Triangle selects the triangular waveform The triangle mainly consists of the odd harmonics with very low magnitudes It doesn t have any further parameters Sine consists of the fundamental frequency only It has no harmonics at all It doesn t have any further parameter 68 Wavetables based on classic wavetables of Waldorf syn...

Page 24: ...ed on the length of organ pipes The reference pitch for the oscillator is generated at MIDI note A3 note no 69 when Octave is set to 8 Semitone and Detune are set to 0 Keytrack is set to 100 and no pitch modulation is applied In this case the oscillator s frequency will be the same as set in the global Master Tune parameter usually 440 Hz Set Octave to 16 for bass sounds Set Octave to 8 if you are...

Page 25: ... Mid ranged settings of 5 are perfect for pads and other fat sounding programs High values of 12 or above will give a strong detune that can be used for accordions or effect sounds Bend Range 24 24 Determines the intensity of the pitchbend via MIDI Pitchbend messages in semitones for the selected oscillator Keytrack 200 196 Determines how much the pitch of the selected oscillator depends on the MI...

Page 26: ...cially if Oscillator 2 is used as FM Source for Oscillator 3 and Sync is activated To avoid unusable detune use a triangular or sine waveform for the FM Source If you want to bias FM over the keyboard so that higher notes aren t modulated as strongly as lower notes use the Modulation Matrix and apply Keytrack to the respective oscillator FM with a negative amount Pulsewidth Wavescan 0 127 Sets the...

Page 27: ...LFO to a positive setting between 50 and 100 To create a Bass sound use a decaying Envelope as Wave Source with negative Wave Amount and a Pulsewidth of around 80 127 This results in a fat attack phase especially when only one oscillator is used for the Bass When you want to create a sound with a wave sweep you should set the startpoint roughly Pulsewidth at the desired wave before you apply any m...

Page 28: ...e Wavetables are using 64 harmonics In this case Brilliance can add harmonics for lower frequencies Higher Brilliance values come close to the sound synthesis process of the earlier wavetable synthesizers as PPG Wave and Waldorf Wave The Waldorf Microwave II XT offers a similar parameter called Quantize Phase free 0 360 Determines the startphase of an oscillator free results in free running oscill...

Page 29: ...ffects may be generated especially when both oscillators are operating at different pitch settings Using additional pitch modulation by envelopes LFO or Pitch bend will lend further movement to sync sounds The following picture illustrates the principle of oscillator synchronization in a simplified way Use Sync for Lead or Solo sounds Set Oscillator 2 to play one octave and 7 semitones higher appl...

Page 30: ...c Level 0 127 Controls the volume of the selected Oscillator Osc Balance F1 64 mid F2 63 Determines the ratio of the selected Oscillator s signal that is sent to the inputs of Filter 1 and Filter 2 If set to F1 64 the signal is sent to Filter 1 only Higher values will increase the amount of signal that feeds Filter 2 and decrease the amount of signal that feeds Filter 1 If set to mid both filters ...

Page 31: ...aying Envelope This creates spacy effect sounds For an E Piano sound you might apply Ring Modulation when one high pitched oscillator s Keytrack is lowered to i e 50 If you turn down the pitch of one oscillator markedly you can get an effect very similar to Amplitude modulation Use this for sounds with a periodic element if you wish RingMod Balance F1 64 mid F2 63 Determines the ratio of the ring ...

Page 32: ...noise signal A value of 0 produces White Noise while positive values lower the bass area Negative values dampens the higher noise frequencies The Filter Section The Largo offers two filter that use the same parameters for editing w A detailled introduction of the filters can be found in the Appendix of this manual Routing parallel serial The Routing function is one of the advanced features of the ...

Page 33: ... from the Oscillators through its dedicated output This setting is equivalent to a serial connection of the two filters When the Routing parameter is set to parallel the whole output signal of Filter 1 is routed to the filter s panning unit This setting is equivalent to a parallel routing of two filters each filtering the input signals independently After passing the panning units both signals are...

Page 34: ...s raised to values above 113 the filter starts to self oscillate generating a pure sine wave This feature can be used to create analog style effects and percussion like electronic toms kicks zaps etc Drive 0 127 Determines the amount of saturation that is added to the signal If set to 0 no saturation will be added or in other words the signal will remain clean Lower values will add some harmonics ...

Page 35: ...filtered character use the 12dB slope if you want to get softer results BP 24dB BP 12dB Band Pass remove frequencies both below and above the cutoff point As a result the sound character gets thinner Use these filter types when programming effect and percussion like sounds HP 24dB HP 12dB High Pass are useful to thin out a sound s bass frequencies This may also give interesting results in conjunct...

Page 36: ...es the amount of influence the filter envelope has on the cutoff frequency For positive settings the filter cutoff frequency is increased by the modulation of the envelope for negative settings the cutoff frequency is decreased Use this parameter to change the timbre of the sound over time Sounds with a hard attack usually have a positive envelope amount that makes the start phase bright and then ...

Page 37: ...eys smoothly only minimal modulation is applied When you hit them harder the modulation amount also gets stronger w The overall modulation applied to the filter s cutoff frequency is calculated as the sum of both the Env Amount and Env Velocity parameters Therefore you should always bear this total in mind especially when the filter does not behave as you expect You can also create interesting eff...

Page 38: ...ects the source of the panorama modulation Pan Mod Amount 64 63 Determines the amount of panorama modulation Bass Boost On Off This button activates the typical Waldorf bass emphasis which is located between filter and amplifier The Amplifier Section Level 0 127 Determines the master volume of the sound program To understand the operation of this unit it is important to know that the Amplifier Env...

Page 39: ...unt 0 127 Determines the amount of volume modulation Parameter Module Section The controls for e g envelopes the modulation matrix and the three LFOs can be found in the Parameter Module Section Selection of the Modules Click on the desired Module to open the corresponding area Common Area Glide off on Enables or disables the Glide effect Glide or Portamento describes the continuous gliding from o...

Page 40: ...ed legato Staccato played notes start on the exact pitch of their note Unisono Voices Off Dual 3 6 Controls how many voices are triggered when a note is played Off means that a note triggers one voice This is the standard mode Dual means that a note triggers two voices Both voices have high priority so they can cut off other voices that are played 3 6 means that this number of voices is triggered ...

Page 41: ...stored in an internal list but aren t played As soon as you release the note that is currently played the second last note is played and so on When you play legato only the first note that was played triggers the envelopes All later notes use these envelopes but sound in the pitch you ve played This mode is for sustained sounds like typical 70 s solo sounds w When Allocation Mono is activated and ...

Page 42: ...rag the mouse around the dial in a circle to change values Linear is an alternative knob control Click on the knob hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse up or down to change the value The knob reacts like a fader w We recommend the settings Auto or Linear The LFOs In addition to the main oscillators the Largo is equipped with three low frequency oscillators LFO that can be used for mo...

Page 43: ...te Step is only available for LFO3 and offers an user definable step shape for rhythmical modulation Start Phase free 0 360 Controls the initial phase of the LFO when a new note is started Click in the waveform display of the LFO and drag it to change the start phase of the LFO Free means that the LFO isn t restarted on a new note but runs freely while other values set the LFO phase to the respect...

Page 44: ...When Clock is activated the LFO is synced to the song tempo of the host application The LFO Speed setting changed to offer musically meaningful values Keytrack 200 196 Determines how much the speed of the LFO depends on MIDI note number The reference note for Keytrack is E3 note number 64 For positive settings the LFO speeds up on notes above the reference note for negative settings the LFO slows ...

Page 45: ... the left mouse button you can change more than one step at the time Step Count LFO 3 only 1 16 Determines the number of the LFO steps The Envelopes The Largo envelopes allow you to manipulate sound parameters via rate or timed modulations The Largo offers four independent programmable envelopes for every sound program A Filter Envelope Filter Env This envelope is fixed to control the filter but c...

Page 46: ...tain 0 127 Determines the sustain level which is held until a note ends Release 0 127 Once the note has ended the release phase begins During this phase the envelope fades to zero at the rate determined by the Release value Trigger Multi single Determines the triggering of the Filter Envelope Multi means that every Note starts the filter envelope of its own voice Single means that the envelopes of...

Page 47: ...e envelope types ADS1DS2R One Shot Loop S1S2 and Loop All only The Modulation Matrix A modulation can be described as a signal generating unit s influence upon a sound parameter The terms used in this context are Source Src and Destination Dest The Largo offers 16 independent modulation assignments slots each with individual settings of source destination and amount The Modulation Matrix Mod Matri...

Page 48: ... modulation signals Depending on the function type selected calculation will affect two source signals or a source signal and a constant parameter You can use up to four independent modifier units The result of each operation is not directly audible but is used as input source for the Modulation Matrix Moreover you can use it as source for yet another modifying process The parameter for the modifi...

Page 49: ...ch modifier function in detail Returns the sum of Source A and Source B Returns the difference of Source A and Source B Returns the product of Source A and Source B AND Returns the binary and operation of Source A and Source B OR Returns the binary or operation of Source A and Source B XOR Returns the binary exclusive or operation of Source A and Source B min Returns the minimum value of either So...

Page 50: ...or works If Normal is selected the arpeggiator is active When you press a note or a chord on the keyboard it is split up and repeated rhythmically As soon as you release a note it is removed from the arpeggio rhythm Conversely as soon as you add another note to the existing chord it is inserted into the arpeggio When you release all notes the arpeggiator stops If One Shot is selected the arpeggiat...

Page 51: ...en Length is set to Legato all arpeggio notes are played without pauses between each step and Arpeggiator Length therefore has no effect The Length pop down menu offers a range of usefull musical values Sort Order as played reversed Key Lo Hi Key Hi Lo Vel Lo Hi Vel Hi Lo Sets the order in which the note list is arranged With this parameter you can determine how the notes you originally play are s...

Page 52: ...e octaves are transposed upward The arpeggio starts in the original octave and goes up to the highest octave Then the arpeggio is repeated If Down is selected the note list is played backward and the octaves are transposed downward The arpeggio starts in the highest octave and goes down to the original octave Then the arpeggio is repeated If Alt Up is selected the note list is first played forward...

Page 53: ... Range Direction Resulting Arpeggio C1 E1 G1 1 Oct Up C1 E1 G1 C1 E1 G1 C1 E1 G1 2 Oct Up C1 E1 G1 C2 E2 G2 C1 E1 G1 C2 E1 G1 C1 3 Oct Up E1 G1 C1 E2 G2 C2 E3 G3 C3 E1 C1 G1 E2 3 Oct Up C1 G1 E2 C2 G2 E3 C3 G3 E4 C1 C1 E1 G1 3 Oct Down G3 E3 C3 G2 E2 C2 G1 E1 C1 G3 C1 E1 G1 2 Oct Alt Down G2 E2 C2 G1 E1 C1 E1 G1 C2 E2 Arpeggio results depending on note input Max Notes 0 16 Sets the maximum number ...

Page 54: ...ile the note list restarts after the third step The arpeggio might look like this Pattern Step 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Note C1 E1 G1 C1 E1 G1 C1 E1 Pat Step 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Note G1 C1 E1 G1 C1 E1 G1 C1 Arpeggio with Pattern Reset set to on If on is selected the note list will be restarted as soon as the rhythm pattern is restarted The same arpeggio might now look like this note the two C1s in sequence Pat...

Page 55: ...gs from 1 to 127 increase the shuffling of the notes depending on the setting in the Arp Timing parameter Timing Factor also works on ROM patterns these are set up with standard swing rhythm Same Note Overlap on off Due to the various Length parameters it might happen that two notes having equal pitch overlap e g when you play only one single note on a 16 beat rhythm with lengths set to 1 8 Note t...

Page 56: ...outside of the described areas see above and move the mouse vertically to change the Accent of the corresponding step Click in the left area of a step and move the mouse horizontally to change the Timing of the corresponding step Click in the right area of a step and move the mouse horizontally to change the Step Length Accent miscellaneous step data Sets the accent of a particular step This accen...

Page 57: ...Length legato 3 3 Changes the length of the note of a particular step The overall length of the arpeggio depends on the Length setting If Length is set to legato Arp Length doesn t have any effect at all Also if Length is set to a very small value Arp Length might not have an audible effect when you set it to a negative value You can create very nice staccato and legato effects with this parameter...

Page 58: ... and the last one of the note list This means that you have to play at least two notes to hear the effect Otherwise you would hear only one note anyway The note list is not advanced If Chord ı is selected the Arpeggiator plays a chord with all notes from the note list This means that you have to play at least two notes to hear the effect The note list is not advanced If Random random is selected t...

Page 59: ...are editable separately for each layer FX Active Switches the corresponding FX unit on or off Mix 0 127 The only parameter that is common to all types of effects is the Mix parameter This parameter controls the volume ratio between the original signal and the effect output If set to 0 the dry signal is sent to the outputs only so that no effects can be heard Higher values will increase the effect ...

Page 60: ... 6 3 3 Stage modes This results in a far denser chorus effect perfectly suited for lush string or pad sounds Furthermore it sports feedback which makes the Chorus also act like a Flanger w A Mix setting of 48 to 96 produces the strongest effect because both the unaffected signal and the processed signal are mixed together Stages Dual Quad Hexa Sets the number of Chorus stages Higher settings resul...

Page 61: ... are mixed together Speed 0 127 Sets the LFO speed of the Flanger effect Depth 0 127 Sets the modulation depth of the Flanger effect Delay 0 127 Sets the initial delay that is added to the Flanger delay line Feedback 0 127 Controls the feedback amount of the Flanger signal Polarity positive negative Determines whether the feedback signal is fed back into the Flanger as is or is inverted beforehand...

Page 62: ...ive The Overdrive effect distorts the input signal by amplifying it drastically and clipping the resulting signal to a certain output level The difference between this Overdrive effect and the Drive parameter of the Filter sections is that Drive affects one single voice while this effect type distorts the summed output of the whole instrument Therefore the resulting effect is different as soon as ...

Page 63: ...ay output to half of the delay time maximum Leftmost and rightmost settings create a typical ping pong delay Speed 0 127 The delay effect can be modulated in ist delay time with the integrated LFO Speed dtermines the frequency of this LFO Depth 0 127 Controls the modulation depth when delay time is changed by means of the LFO The depth ranges from no delay to the amount set by the Delay parameter ...

Page 64: ...l signal The predelay determines this delay so that the reverb is separated from the original sound Lower settings connect the reverb more to the original signal while higher settings separate the effect signal to produce a more spatious sound Size 0 127 Determines the length of the longest room side in meters Lower settings simulate a normal room while higher settings simulate a big hall or churc...

Page 65: ...dback loop of the late reverb Determines how fast the room simulation dampens the higher reverb frequencies This phenomenon makes a natural echo sound somewhat hollow Higher values of the Damping parameter mean more high frequencies will be dampened Low Cut 0 127 Determines the frequency where the lower frequency parts are divided from the effect signal This parameter works in the same way as the ...

Page 66: ...ton to choose this part for editing button lights red Only one part can be edited in time A click on the Part activation button activated the corresponding part button lights red Keep in mind You can choose inactive parts for editing but you won t hear anything Outputs Stereo Multi Largo offers up to four independant stereo outputs Stereo mixes down all four layer signals to one single stereo outp...

Page 67: ...the sine wave also part of every other waveform Now you probably know how these waveforms look and sound but the following chapter gives you a small introduction into the deeper structure of these waveforms Let s start with the most basic one The Sine Wave The Sine Wave is the purest tone that can be generated It consists only of one harmonic the fundamental and has no overtones The following pict...

Page 68: ...ly consists of harmonic partials The harmonic with the lowest frequency is dominant and therefore called fundamental All other harmonics are called overtones The Sawtooth Wave The Sawtooth Wave is the most popular synthesizer waveform It consists of all harmonics in which the magnitude of each harmonic descends by the factor of its position This means that the first harmonic the fundamental has fu...

Page 69: ...eans that the positive part of the waveform has equal length to the negative part The pulse waveform can have other pulse widths as you will read later For now we ll talk about the square wave as a unique waveform The square wave consists of all odd harmonics in which the magnitude of each harmonic descends by the factor of its position This means that the first harmonic has full magnitude the thi...

Page 70: ...rtions are called pulses hence the name pulse width The width of the first pulse is used to distinguish between different pulse waves and it is measured in percent The following picture shows several pulse waves with different pulse widths Additive components of Pulse wave with different pulse widths The first thing you probably observe is that the lower part of the wave has a narrower excursion T...

Page 71: ... acoustic instruments i e a guitar or bass guitar an e piano or even a flute The most powerful feature of the pulse wave is the ability to change its width while sounding This is called pulse width modulation When the pulse width is changed the waveform starts to sound thicker This happens because the effect is very similar to what you hear when you have two oscillators running with slightly diffe...

Page 72: ...totally different Each of the wavetables contain up to single 128 waves m Please keep the terms wavetable and wave in mind Don t confuse the two The following overview explains how the Wavetable Synthesis works A wavetable into the Largo is a table consisting of up to 128 waveforms Each waveform is classified by its own special sound character The main difference of wavetable synthesis in comparis...

Page 73: ... the following sentence in mind A wavetable is a list with up to 128 waves among which you can move at will w If you like the sound and possibilities of wavetable synthesis you should try out the virtual instrument Waldorf PPG Wave 2 V which is part of the Waldorf Edition plug in bundle List of the Largo Wavetables No Wavetable No Wavetable 1 Alt 1 35 SawSync1 2 Alt 2 36 SawSync2 3 Resonant 37 Saw...

Page 74: ...n the Largo s sound characteristics For a detailed description of the different filter types that are available in the Largo see the section Filter Types For now we ll explain the basic function of a filter discussing the type used most commonly in synthesizers the low pass filter The low pass filter type dampens frequencies that lie above a specified cutoff frequency Frequencies below this thresh...

Page 75: ...s means this portion of the signal is no longer audible The Largo s filter also features a resonance parameter Resonance in the context of a low band or high pass filter means that a narrow frequency band around the cutoff point is emphasized The following picture shows the effect of the resonance parameter on the filter s frequency curve If the resonance is raised to a great extent then the filte...

Page 76: ...lly a very short delay that can be controlled in length and feedback The delay time is so short that you can t hear its individual taps but a colorization of the original signal created by peaks or holes in the frequency spectrum The frequency of the colorization is set by the delay length which is controlled in the Largo through Cutoff while the amount of colorization is set by the Comb filter fe...

Page 77: ...ral Comb filters so this is an easy task to set up manually To set up the Comb filter to produce a Chorus 1 Select the Comb filter type for the desired filter 2 Set Cutoff to a medium value 3 Set Resonance Drive Filter Keytrack and any other modulation to 0 4 Select an LFO as Mod Source 5 Set Mod to a medium positive or negative amount 6 Adjust the LFO to generate a slow triangle oscillation 7 Fin...

Page 78: ...hen you change LFO Keytrack or Filter Keytrack Now each voice sounds with a different Chorus speed or frequency You have full control over MIDI of all parameters that make up the Chorus effect by using Control messages The Comb filter as a Flanger A Flanger is almost the same as a Chorus The only difference is that it has feedback circuitry to change the depth of the Flanger effect To set up the C...

Page 79: ... to trigger the Comb filter somehow When you play with the Comb filter you can hear that it emphasizes or attenuates certain frequencies depending on the setting of Cutoff and Resonance When you set Resonance to a very high value you will notice that the Comb filter oscillates heavily and that s the key to using it as a tone generator When you set Filter Keytrack to 100 you can play the Comb filte...

Page 80: ...e Comb filter with a signal of any kind The incoming signal s pitch isn t important for the resulting tuning but both pitch and timbre of the input signal affect the timbre of the Comb filter output sound greatly Try to experiment with all kinds of input signals i e different oscillator settings noise combinations of both and the like Also try to set up envelopes to control the levels of the input...

Page 81: ...lope ADSR Envelope The envelope is started by pressing a key It ascends to its maximum value at the rate determined by the Attack parameter It then descends at the rate determined by the Decay value until it reaches the predetermined Sustain value It remains at this value until the key is released The envelope then descends to zero at the rate determined by the Release parameter ADS1DS2R Envelope ...

Page 82: ... to set a level breakpoint This allows creation of One Shot envelopes with a very percussive attack or with a Gate effect Some parameters of the Envelope section have no function so they can not be edited One Shot Envelope Loop S1S2 Envelope The Loop S1S2 envelope type loops the envelope between Sustain 1 and Sustain 2 as long as a note is held after has been through the Attack phase once This mea...

Page 83: ...as long as a note is held This means that it goes through all envelope stages first and if it ended with the Release phase the envelope restarts from zero and goes through all its phases again As soon as the note is released the looping stops and the envelope goes into its Release phase Loop All Envelope 0 123 4 0 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 17 8 1 1 7 2 0 123 4 0 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 17 8 1 1 7 2 ...

Page 84: ...O 2 Signal shaped by Aftertouch LFO3 LFO 3 Signal FilterEnv Filter Envelope Signal AmpEnv Amplifier Envelope Signal Env3 Envelope 3 Signal Env4 Envelope 4 Signal Keytrack MIDI note number Velocity MIDI Velocity Rel Vel MIDI note release velocity Pressure MIDI channel pressure Poly Pressure MIDI polyphonic pressure Pitchbend MIDI pitchbend signal Modwheel MIDI modulation wheel contr 1 Sustain Ctrl ...

Page 85: ...Level of Oscillator 1 3 O1 Balance O2 Balance O3 Balance Filter 1 2 Balance of Oscillator 1 3 Ring Level Mixer ring modulation level Ring Balance Filter 1 2 Balance of Oscillator 1 Noise Level Mixer level of Noise Noise Balance Filter 1 2 Balance of Noise F1 Cutoff F2 Cutoff Cutoff of Filter 1 2 F1 Reson F2 Reson Resonance of Filter 1 2 F1 FM F2 FM FM Amount modulation of Filter F1 Drive F2 Drive ...

Page 86: ...utput whose character can be changed with FM Amount the oscillator waveform and the pitch of the oscillator Use Envelope 3 or 4 to blend in one of the oscillators E g if you need a small blip in the attack phase just use a free oscillator and a short percussive envelope to create this effect You can do that in the Modulation Matrix by setting the source to Env3 or Env4 the destination to Osc1 Osc2...

Page 87: ...s For extremely wide sounds you can do the following Create a sound that uses only Filter 1 with the desired settings Now set Routing to serial so that both filters are routed to the panning stages with equal volume Set Filter 2 to a comb filter type with middle or low cutoff and no resonance Now set the Pan parameters of the filters to opposite directions and you should get a very fat sound You c...

Page 88: ...used 1 0 127 Modulation Wheel 0 127 2 0 127 Breath Control 0 127 3 not used undefined not used 4 0 127 Foot Control 0 127 5 0 127 Glide Time 0 127 6 not used Data Entry not used 7 0 127 Layer Volume 0 127 8 not used Balance not used 9 not used undefined not used 10 0 127 Pan L64 R63 11 not used Expression not used 12 0 9 Arp Octave Range 1 10 octaves 13 0 15 Arp Length 1 16 steps 14 0 3 Arp Active...

Page 89: ...Delay 0 127 27 16 28 40 112 Osc 1 Octave 128 1 2 28 52 76 Osc 1 Semitone 12 12 29 0 127 Osc 1 Detune 64 63 30 0 127 Osc 1 FM 0 127 31 0 66 Osc 1 Shape pulse saw triangle sine wavetables 32 0 n Bank Select LSB Bank A 33 0 127 Osc 1 PW 0 127 34 0 127 Osc 1 PWM 64 63 35 16 28 40 112 Osc 2 Octave 128 1 2 36 52 76 Osc 2 Semitone 12 12 37 0 127 Osc 2 Detune 64 63 38 0 127 Osc 2 FM 0 127 39 0 66 Osc 2 Sh...

Page 90: ...7 59 0 127 Osc 3 Balance F1 64 mid F2 63 60 0 127 Noise Level 0 127 61 0 127 Noise Balance F1 64 mid F2 63 62 0 127 Noise Colour 0 127 63 0 127 Filter 1 Level 0 127 64 0 127 Sustain Pedal off on 65 0 127 Glide Active off on 66 0 127 Sostenuto off on 67 0 127 Routing serial parallel 68 0 10 Filter 1 Type See Filter types 69 0 127 Filter 1 Cutoff 0 127 70 0 127 Filter 1 Resonance 0 127 71 0 127 Filt...

Page 91: ... 64 63 90 0 127 Filter 2 Level 0 127 91 0 127 Amp Velocity 64 63 92 0 127 Amp Mod Amt 64 63 93 0 127 FX 1 Mix 0 127 94 0 127 FX 2 Mix 0 127 95 0 127 FE Attack 0 127 96 0 127 FE Decay 0 127 97 0 127 FE Sustain 0 127 98 0 127 FE Decay 2 0 127 99 0 127 FE Sustain 2 0 127 100 0 127 FE Release 0 127 101 0 127 AE Attack 0 127 102 0 127 AE Decay 0 127 103 0 127 AE Sustain 0 127 104 0 127 AE Decay 2 0 127...

Page 92: ...27 119 not used undefined not used 120 0 All Sound Off immediate silence 121 0 Reset All Controllers resets all controllers 122 not used undefined not used 123 0 All Notes Off releases all voices 124 not used Omni Mode Off not used 125 not used Omni Mode On not used 126 not used Poly Mode On Off not used 127 not used Poly Mode On not used ...

Page 93: ...oming chord into its single notes and repeats them rhythmically Most arpeggiators feature different sequence modes to cover a wide range of applications Typical controls for an arpeggiator are the octave range the direction the speed and the clock which means the repetition interval Some arpeggiators also feature preset or programmable rhythm patterns Attack An envelope parameter Attack is a term ...

Page 94: ...for the Sustain value Envelope An envelope is used to modulate a sound shaping component within a given time frame so that the sound is changed in some manner For instance an envelope that modulates the cutoff frequency of a filter opens and closes this filter so that some of the signal s frequencies are filtered out An envelope is started via a trigger usually a fixed trigger Normally the trigger...

Page 95: ...O can be used to modulate a sound shaping component Low Pass Filter Synthesizers are often equipped with a low pass filter A low pass filter dampens all frequencies above its cutoff frequency Frequencies below the cutoff point are not affected MIDI The acronym MIDI stands for musical instrument digital interface It was developed in the early 80s so that diverse types of electronic musical instrume...

Page 96: ...processes based on time Modulation A modulation influences or changes a sound shaping component via a modulation source Modulation sources include envelopes LFOs or MIDI messages The modulation destination is sound shaping component such as a filter or a VCA Note on Note off This is the most important MIDI message It determines the pitch and velocity of every generated note The time of arrival is ...

Page 97: ...level of an envelope that remains constant after it has run through the Attack and Decay phases Sustain lasts until the trigger is terminated Trigger A trigger is a signal that activates events Trigger signals are very diverse For instance a MIDI note or an audio signal can be used as a trigger The events a trigger can initiate are also very diverse A common application for a trigger is its use to...

Page 98: ...Appendix Largo User s Manual 98 in shape the result will sound smooth and pleasant If however the shapes are completely different the result will have wild spectral changes and may sound harsh ...

Page 99: ...elow 1 Send us an email message 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 support waldorfmusic de 2 Send us a letter It will take a bit longer but it is just as dependable as an email Waldorf Music GmbH Lilienthal Str 7 53424 Waldorf Germany ...

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