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Main Features

Thank you for purchasing the Novation V-Station software synthesizer.

The V-Station virtual analogue synthesizer recreates the power and rich sound of the K-Station
synth as a plug-in for Macintosh or Windows.

At the core of the V-Station is Novation’s ‘Liquid Analogue’ synthesis engine, delivering rich,
dense sounds that offer vast creative potential. The plug-in combines these with a clear and
responsive front panel interface with all the key sound shaping controls you need.

Main features

3 audio oscillators deliver a wide range of waveforms.

Noise generator authentically models analogue noise generator circuits.

Ring modulator for clangy, bell-like textures.

FM synthesis for the accurate creation of electric pianos and tuned percussion sounds.

5-channel mixer for combining and balancing the oscillators, noise generator and ring
modulator.

Resonant ‘Liquid Analogue’ lowpass filter  with 12dB/Octave and 24dB/Octave settings.

2 x ADSR envelope generators.

2 x multi-wave, MIDI syncable LFOs.

Portamento with exponential and linear slopes.

Unison mode puts all eight voices (with detune) on one note for a huge sound.

Arpeggiator with variable patterns, range and gate time. MIDI syncable to host sequencer.

6 x simultaneous multi-effects including delay (echo), reverb, chorus/flanging/phasing,
EQ, distortion and panning.

Multiple instances in your sequencer host 

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Transfer sounds to/from a K-Station.

Easy to use ‘knobby’ panels that emulates a hardware synth.

400 memory locations (200 factory presets / 200 user presets).

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The exact number of instances depends on your computer’s processing power. Naturally, the
faster the CPU, the more instances you can use simultaneously.

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Introduction

Summary of Contents for V-Station

Page 1: ...d percussion sounds 5 channel mixer for combining and balancing the oscillators noise generator and ring modulator Resonant Liquid Analogue lowpass filter with 12dB Octave and 24dB Octave settings 2 x...

Page 2: ...RAM or more SEQUENCER HOSTS LOGIC V5 5 SONAR 1 3 1 minimum and a suitable VSTi DXi adapter e g DirectiXer 2 3 CUBASE SX Version 1 05 58 OPERATING SYSTEM Apple Macintosh MAC OSX V10 2 4 HARDWARE 450MHz...

Page 3: ...uencer Most VST applications require you to install VST plug ins into a specific folder for the application in question You should ensure that the correct directory folder is selected The default sele...

Page 4: ...o another computer or if you upgrade your computer you will need to re authorise Please keep your unlocking safe just in case of unforeseen eventualities best to write it down on paper in case of the...

Page 5: ...igit number 100 400 to select a specific program number To select sounds using your computer keyboard s numeric keypad the NUMPAD PROGRAM SELECT preference must be enabled in the GLOBAL page Note Some...

Page 6: ...whatever Now click and hold down the COMPARE button The sound you will hear will now be the originally stored program Releasing the COMPARE button will switch to listening to the edited sound again In...

Page 7: ...n your sequencer and to confuse the issue different sequencers either deal with this differently and or use their own terminology for what is basically the same process At the top level you can save y...

Page 8: ...ncy and tone as timbre Pitch Taking the example of air vibrating the ear drum pitch is determined by how fast the vibrations are For an adult human the lowest vibration perceived as sound is about twe...

Page 9: ...he course of the note Generally sounds start off quite bright and because higher harmonics have less energy they tend to die away first followed by lower frequency harmonics the result is that the sou...

Page 10: ...is OSCILLATOR FILTER AMPLIFIER LFO ENVELOPE ENVELOPE The oscillator generates the basic waveform but can be controlled or modulated from the LFO for effects such as vibrato etc The oscillator s signal...

Page 11: ...le wave is another pure sound but it does contain a few odd numbered harmonics Square wave F 3 5 7 9 11 The square wave is a very bright but hollow sounding waveform not unlike the tone of a clarinet...

Page 12: ...the final waveform Some very interesting new waveforms can be made in this way and used subtly many digital sounding waveforms can be created However by sweeping the frequency of the synchronised osci...

Page 13: ...f a Noise Generator and a Ring Modulator Oscillator 1 Oscillator 2 Oscillator 3 Mixer Noise Ring Mod The Noise Generator produces an unpitched sound suitable for drums sounds sound effects etc The Rin...

Page 14: ...se harmonics within the shaded area pass through unaffected whilst those above the cutoff frequency are removed and won t be heard With the cutoff set like this i e about halfway the sound will have m...

Page 15: ...ound to change from the normal waa sound to a more distinctive weeow as the individual harmonics are picked out and emphasised As the RESONANCE is increased a whistling like quality will be introduced...

Page 16: ...ote on Note off Level Time A string section emulation attains full volume gradually i e it swells in gracefully with a slow attack when a key is pressed It remains at full volume while the key is held...

Page 17: ...om full volume to the level set by the Sustain control while a key is held down Sustain level Sets the level that the envelope remains at while the key is held down after the decay time has expired No...

Page 18: ...t that because their function is to modulate or control pitch tone and amplitude the effect they have is very different The usual waveforms are WAVEFORM WAVESHAPE Triangle wave The triangle wave will...

Page 19: ...this will cause random repetitive jumps in pitch and when fed to a filter will cause random repetitive changes in tone Another common parameter found on LFOs is a DELAY control This causes the contro...

Page 20: ...rdwired synthesisers where everything was connected together without the need for patch cords This made them easier to use less expensive and also portable However it was still not possible to store s...

Page 21: ...e sound 4 An amplifier that is controlled by an Envelope generator that alters the volume of a sound over time when a note is played 5 LFOs and envelopes that can be used to modulate and control any o...

Page 22: ...rm A modulator is fed into a carrier and as the output of the modulator is increased the waveform of the carrier becomes more and more complex as harmonics are introduced The following diagram illustr...

Page 23: ...uency modulate OSC 3 via a dedicated FM envelope Osc 2 A R envelope Osc 3 It is important that it is realised that the FM envelope is used only for FM purposes and is not one of the envelopes availabl...

Page 24: ...an understanding of what is actually happening in the machine when tweaks to the knobs and buttons are made the process of creating new and exciting sounds will become easy In the next chapter we ll s...

Page 25: ...you have any experience with that synthesizer the V Station will be immediately familiar to you The MAIN panel houses all the main parameters associated with the creation and editing of a sound The s...

Page 26: ...a full octave By setting the pitch of Oscillator 1 to zero and adjusting the pitch of Oscillator 2 and 3 by differing amounts results in some musically pleasing intervals Settings of 5 a perfect 4th 7...

Page 27: ...When modulated by the MOD ENV the effect is most apparent when using fairly long Mod Env Attack and Decay times However the PWM control on the V Station is not limited only to varying the width or sym...

Page 28: ...oscillator from the Mod Envelope In the centre position there is no effect on the oscillator s pitch anticlockwise the effect is negative i e the pitch drops and then rises and clockwise positive the...

Page 29: ...olume of the White Noise Generator White Noise is useful for creating sound effects such as wind and many other unpitched sounds RING 1 2 Controls the volume of the Ring Modulator As we saw in the Syn...

Page 30: ...lly counter clockwise there is no effect Turning clockwise slowly introduces the emphasis Set fully clockwise the filter will begin to self oscillate producing a new pitched element similar to feedbac...

Page 31: ...f frequency Cutoff frequency KEYTRACK Knob Controls the amount of change to the filter cutoff set by the FREQUENCY knob by the pitch of the note played Set fully anticlockwise there is no change to th...

Page 32: ...Envelope may produce audible clicks This is not a faulty condition and may be useful for the creation of certain sounds for example key clicks on organ simulations If this is undesirable increase the...

Page 33: ...very fast instantaneous to the ear increasing exponentially to twenty seconds when set to maximum To shorten release times move this control towards zero and to lengthen release times move this contr...

Page 34: ...ed for delayed vibrato and other effects WAVE LEDs Selects the waveform shape The triangle waveform gives the smoothest continuous change in level to the LFO When routed to pitch it introduces vibrato...

Page 35: ...nting distortion on your sequencer s mixer LCD This virtual LCD allows you to see program numbers and names However when you move the cursor over any knobs and switches after a short delay the paramet...

Page 36: ...lost However it is possible to overcome this In the GLOBAL page there is a preference AUTO WRITE which when enabled will automatically write programs to memory if another program is selected By defau...

Page 37: ...starts at the highest note played and sweeps down through the notes until it reaches the lowest note It then starts at the top again and repeats the sequence UD1 Up Down The arpeggio starts at the low...

Page 38: ...ange is selectable from 1 to 4 octaves ON OFF Button This activates deactivates the Arpeggiator While the Arpeggiator is activated the LED in the button will be lit There are other parameters related...

Page 39: ...etc but is also a rich source of synth sounds and effects not least of which of course is an emulation of the famous Theremin Increasing the portamento TIME control clockwise will slow the time taken...

Page 40: ...from the chain set its LEVEL control to zero i e fully counter clockwise Note The effects use a fair chunk of CPU processing power If you find performance is being affected disabling the V Station s e...

Page 41: ...the first entry in the table This setting sends a delay of equal time to the left and right output channels The number in the left column of the table indicates the ratio of the delay time that will...

Page 42: ...th Triplet 8th Dotted 4th 2nd Triplet 4th Dotted 2nd 1 Bar Triplet 2nd Dotted 1 Bar 2 Bars Triplet 1 5 Bars 2 bars Menu Item MIDI Clocks Synchronised to When a sync interval is selected the delay time...

Page 43: ...l going to the reverb As the control is turned clockwise so you will hear more reverb DECAY Knob This sets the time it takes for the Reverb to die away after the original sound has decayed Very acoust...

Page 44: ...a phaser works is in fact entirely different to the chorus A portion of the audio signal is split off and phase shifted at certain frequencies It is then mixed back with the original signal to generat...

Page 45: ...e delay is at max the other is at min hence the stereo effect The Centre control moves the middle point between the Min and Max values Experiment with this control for the desired effect INIT POS Menu...

Page 46: ...ar T 4bars 3bar D 7bar T 5bars 8bar T 6bars 7bars 5bar D 8bars 9bars 7bar D 12bars 144 192 256 288 320 384 432 448 480 512 576 672 720 768 864 1008 1152 1 5 Bars 2 Bars 4 Bar Triplet 3 Bars 5 Bar Trip...

Page 47: ...d of quality LEVEL Knob Sets the amount of signal going to the distortion As the control is turned clockwise so you will hear more distortion COMP Knob If distortion is added to a sound it will tend t...

Page 48: ...l bars LEVEL Knob The LEVEL control has a different purpose with the EQ effect in that instead of setting the send level to the effect it actually sets the amount of cut boost around the centre freque...

Page 49: ...ncy components are attenuated MOD DEP Knob The real power of the EQ filter is the ability to move the EQ Frequency with the dedicated LFO This control MOD DEP or modulation depth dictates how intense...

Page 50: ...ve its initial position set after a specific MIDI event is received To change the EQ Initial position click on this parameter and drag down and release to select one of the initial positions shown bel...

Page 51: ...bar T 5bars 8bar T 6bars 7bars 5bar D 8bars 9bars 7bar D 12bars 144 192 256 288 320 384 432 448 480 512 576 672 720 768 864 1008 1152 1 5 Bars 2 Bars 4 Bar Triplet 3 Bars 5 Bar Triplet 4 Bars 4 5 Bars...

Page 52: ...from the Left to the Right at a speed determined by this Rate setting Note The panning LFO should not be confused with the two LFOs available on the V Station s MAIN panel MOD DEP Knob The panning ef...

Page 53: ...n sync is set to RIGHT Right after an appropriate MIDI event has been received the sound will begin in the right output audio channel and then move towards the left If set to CENTRE the panning will s...

Page 54: ...4 432 448 480 512 576 672 720 768 864 1008 1152 1 5 Bars 2 Bars 4 Bar Triplet 3 Bars 5 Bar Triplet 4 Bars 4 5 Bars 7 Bar Triplet 5 Bars 8 Bar Triplet 6 Bars 7 Bars 7 5 Bars 8 Bars 9 Bars 10 5 Bars 12...

Page 55: ...pefully gained here and the Synthesis Tutorial you should now be able to make meaningful edits to any of the preset sounds on offer or even create your own sounds from scratch In the next section we l...

Page 56: ...the little extras that add a lot to the basic functionality but are only used occasionally and don t warrant cluttering up the MAIN panel As on the MAIN panel the sections are divided up logically We...

Page 57: ...ce the tone of the output The FM Level control allows you to set how much the FM Envelope affects the FM process The following diagram may help you understand how the two controls interact Osc 2 A R e...

Page 58: ...d to lead type sounds The monophonic settings are often useful when replicating sounds in the real world which would normally be played monophonically for example a bass guitar As their name implies t...

Page 59: ...hase when set to OFF UNI VOICES Knob Unison allows more than one voice to be used for each note played on the keyboard This effect is useful when a very thick sound is required The V Station allows up...

Page 60: ...d by the Arpeggiator Small values of gate time produce a Staccato effect Large values produce a Legato effect Anticlockwise and the gate time is very short clockwise and the gate time is long KEYSYNC...

Page 61: ...6 48 64 72 96 Manual rate 32nd Triplet 32nd 16th Triplet 16th 8th Triplet 16th Dotted 8th 4th Triplet 8th Dotted 4th 2nd Triplet 4th Dotted 2nd 1 Bar Triplet 2nd Dotted 1 Bar Menu Item MIDI Clocks Syn...

Page 62: ...thought of as the gain or trim control for the channel If a sound appears to be distorting unintentionally especially when complex chords are being played reduce the value of this setting FM ATTACK Kn...

Page 63: ...ill become Note With positive values set for this control if the filter cutoff frequency is set quite high you may not notice much difference in the sound even when extreme velocity is used In this ca...

Page 64: ...ys re trigger on each key press regardless of the playing style used Multi triggering is useful where you want every note to have a pronounced attack decay it is also good for emulating older analogue...

Page 65: ...sitively modulate pitch Each time a new key is pressed the pitch would climb from the same point because the LFO waveform would be restarted rather than being at an undetermined pitch position Note If...

Page 66: ...d to create lush pads etc the LFOs should not be locked Setting this to ON will lock the LFO SYNC RATE menu Both LFOs may be synchronised to MIDI Clock As an example a very pleasing audio effect may b...

Page 67: ...will control pitch and so forth However the flexibility of this page means that you can use the modwheel or pitch bend to control the filter and or effects balance whatever If you have aftertouch on...

Page 68: ...el This setting is used to shift the absolute pitch of the all the oscillators up or down in response to the modulation wheel position Values 1 to 63 will result in a higher pitch from 1 to 63 semiton...

Page 69: ...scillator individually The value shown when the controls are adjusted shows the number of semitones the pitch bend wheel will affect the oscillators pitch Under normal circumstances each oscillator sh...

Page 70: ...1 is using a Triangle waveform and its SPEED is set to a value of around 75 This will give a smooth traditional vibrato effect FILTER FREQ Sets the amount that breath control will control the filter s...

Page 71: ...rm and its SPEED is set to a value of around 75 This will give a smooth traditional vibrato effect FILTER FREQ Sets the amount that aftertouch will control the filter s cutoff frequency With values of...

Page 72: ...r a MIDI Program Change or MIDI Song Start Message to synchronise the Panning EQ filter Chorus LFO s and voice LFO s This allows them to have their start position locked in time with the musical piece...

Page 73: ...controls If you want any of the syncable devices to synchronise to the sequencer s tempo they should be specifically set with the device s SYNC RATE parameter Note Most sequencers do not transmit MIDI...

Page 74: ...ore just the currently selected program or all programs Select as appropriate You will then be asked if you are sure you want to proceed Click on the appropriate response Note The RESTORE process will...

Page 75: ...we ll look at how to get that export into the V Station and into a K Station To export click on EXPORT You will receive this prompt You can export the currently selected sound or all programs Select a...

Page 76: ...red option using the DATA knob you have several options CURRENT SOUND PROGRAM BANKS 1 2 3 or 4 or ALL PROGRAM BANKS which can be selected using the DATA knob Select a track on your sequencer and start...

Page 77: ...x dump from the K Station The application will receive the data and will then allow you to save it as a SysEx file which can be imported into the V Station You should consult the application s documen...

Page 78: ...terminology is that is used by your sequencer depending on the host these will only be loaded into the V Station s local memory to store them permanently they need to be written to the V Station s me...

Page 79: ...100 400 Note Some sequencers use the numeric keypad for play stop locating and other functions Some sequencers allow you to re assign these so that you can use the keypad for other purposes Others ho...

Page 80: ...e automated so that they play back every time you run the sequencer Which leads us neatly onto Automating control movements on the V Station One powerful aspect of synthesizer plug ins is that control...

Page 81: ...by Logic for a variety of functions within Logic such as transport window selection etc At the time of writing it is not possible to re assign these functions to other keys to allow the keypad to be...

Page 82: ...width position parameter is 64 meaning 0 MIDI SPECIFIED USE V STATION USE 0 bank msb IGNORED 1 modwheel msb MODWHEEL receive only 2 breath msb BREATH CONTROL receive only 3 undefined msb ARP PATTERN...

Page 83: ...e double wave 54 undefined lsb OSC2 LFO2 PULSE WIDTH MOD 55 undefined lsb OSC2 MOD ENV PULSE WIDTH MOD 56 undefined lsb OSC3 SEMITONE 12 12 57 undefined lsb OSC3 CENT 50 50 58 undefined lsb OSC3 BENDW...

Page 84: ...100 rpn lsb 101 rpn msb 102 undefined FILTER FREQUENCY LFO2 MOD DEPTH 103 undefined FILTER Q NORMALISE 127 zero filter drive at max resonance 104 undefined FILTER OVERDRIVE 105 undefined FILTER FREQU...

Page 85: ...e 1 0 1 2 bit 6 osc1 2 sync 1 on 5 LFO 1 2 WAVEFORM DELAY MULTI MODE bit 0 lfo1 delay multi 1 on bit 1 lfo2 delay multi 1 on bits 2 3 2 bit lfo1 waveform tri saw square s h bits 4 5 2 bit lfo2 wavefor...

Page 86: ...EYBOARD OCTAVE bits 0 2 0 Delay 1 reverb 2 chorus 3 distortion 4 EQ 5 panning 6 vocoder bit 3 4 5 6 Signed value 0 Nominal Octave where middle C is 261Hz 4 Lowest Octave 5 Highest octave 12 OSC SELECT...

Page 87: ...ILTER BREATH LFO2 FREQUENCY DEPTH 18 AMPLITUDE MODWHEEL DIRECT DEPTH 19 AMPLITUDE AFTERTOUCH DIRECT DEPTH 20 AMPLITUDE BREATH DIRECT DEPTH 21 EFFECTS TYPE CONTROL see packed parameter 8 22 EFFECTS GLO...

Page 88: ...29h NOVATION ID 3 01h DEVICE TYPE 41h K STATION SyCh SYSEX CHANNEL 7Fh or current receive channel 42h MESSAGE TYPE Program pair dump request C CONTROL BYTE Reply will copy this value for C Vv SOFTWARE...

Page 89: ...OL 0 off 1 kill notes send midi all notes off 23 255 may be used in future software releases Zeros are transmitted Use zeros for future compatibility DATA BLOCKS USED IN SYSEX MESSAGES See Midi Contro...

Page 90: ...INGMOD LEVEL to filter 42 EXTERNAL INPUT to filter 43 FILTER OVERDRIVE 44 FILTER RESONANCE 45 FILTER Q NORMALISE 127 zero filter drive at max resonance 46 FILTER FREQUENCY 47 FILTER KEYBOARD TRACKING...

Page 91: ...CT DEPTH 84 ARPEGGIATOR GENERAL SYNC RATE 64 191 bpm 85 ARPEGGIATOR SYNC SETTING 0 15 32Triplet 1 bar 86 ARPEGGIATOR GATE TIME 100 GIVES TIED NOTE IN MONO MODE 87 ARP PATTERN 0 5 up down ud1 ud2 order...

Page 92: ...OL 0 off 127 on 4 MIDI RECEIVE CHANNEL 0 15 5 MIDI TRANSMIT CHANNEL 0 15 6 9 may be used in future software releases 10 MIDI CLOCK SOURCE 0 internal 1 external 11 may be used in future software releas...

Page 93: ...ch Bend O 8 Bit data Control Change 1 3 5 10 See Controller NRPN 12 37 40 65 tables for full details 67 85 87 89 91 95 98 100 102 112 114 127 Program 0 99 Change True System Exclusive O Program Global...

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