46
Chapter 10
EG Basics
Shape the volume, shape the tone. Use the EG (Envelope Generator) section
to control how your sound moves, grows and evolves.
As you work through the Tips in this chapter, keep in mind that the actual sound and the effects
of the suggested tweaking may widely differ depending on the selected Patterns, the LFO settings
(see Chapter 9), and the current EG settings. If the sound doesn't change or changes unexpect-
edly, try selecting a different Pattern.
36
Shaping the sound with EG
One of the most important aspects in analog synthesizer sound is how that sound is controlled over time.
The DX200 gives you some very powerful and flexible ways to do this. One of them is the EG section.
EG stands for Envelope Generator — “envelope” here being the control that shapes the sound as it evolves
over time. The EG effectively tells the synthesizer when to bring the volume up or down.
Like most analog synthesizers, the DX200 has four EG controls: Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release. The
DX200 also lets you use the EG to control the filter — to shape the tone in time.
Let’s take a look at how these work — and hear them in action.
1 Call up a Pattern, and press [KEYBOARD] to enable
the keyboard buttons.
2 Press the [SELECT] button in the EG section so that
the AEG lamp lights.
Doing this lets you control only the AEG (Amplitude EG), which affects the volume.
3 As you play the buttons, turn the [ATTACK] knob. Try setting it to around
2:00 and tap the buttons repeatedly.
Notice how the attack of the sound is a little slow? Now, set the knob to its minimum (7:00), and hear
how the attack is instantaneous. Next, try setting the knob to around 4:00 or 5:00 and hear how the
sound very slowly grows louder as you hold the key.
4 Let’s try the [SUSTAIN] knob now.
Keep in mind that Sustain is the ONLY level control in the bunch — the rest of the knobs control time or
rate.
Start with [SUSTAIN] set to around 9:00 (a value of 15 - 20). Then play and hold down a note. Do the
same with successively higher settings as well — 12:00 (
64
), 2:00 (
95
), and 5:00 (
127
).
Hear how the sustain or “held” sound of the Voice gets louder with each setting above? For the 5:00 set-
ting, the volume reaches maximum and stays there as long as you hold the note.
Indicates AEG
is selected.
