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Using Offset and Level Knobs
The
Level
and
Offset
knobs control the amplitude and DC level of the signal output from the
Env Out
jacks. They do not effect the VCA or the audio signal (unless you patch
Env Out
to
VCA CV
). Being
independent of the VCA allows you to modulate something with
Env Out
and control the modulation
with
Level
and
Offset
without disrupting the VCA.
The
Level
knob controls the amplitude of the envelope. When the knob is centered, no envelope will be
output. Turning it to the right of center makes the envelope rise upward in voltage and fall downward
(this is the most common setting for an envelope). If you turn
Level
left of center, the envelope will be
inverted: it will rise downward and fall upward. The farther from center (in either direction) that you turn
Level
, the greater the amplitude. At fully clockwise or counter-clockwise, the amplitude will be about
10V.
The
Offset
knob shifts the envelope output up and down. With the
Offset
knob in the center, the
envelope will rest at 0V and then rise to the voltage set by the
Level
knob (at most +10V if
Level
is fully
clockwise, or -10V if
Level
is fully counter-clockwise). If
Offset
is turned left of center, the envelope will
rest at a negative voltage. When
Offset
is fully counter-clockwise, it will rest at -10V. Going the other
way, if
Offset
is turned to the right of center, the envelope will rest at a positive voltage, with +10V
being the maximum.
The
Env Out
jacks clip at about -10V and +10V. Using
Level
and
Offset
at their extremes, you can
easily cause clipping which results in a steady -10V or +10V output (and is not typically very interesting
in a patch). If you’re ever unsure where to set
Level
and
Offset
, a good starting place is to set
Offset
to the center, and
Level
to around 3:00 or higher.
RETRIG Jumper
The
RETRIG
jumper on the back of the module changes the
Dual EnvVCA’s
behavior when it receives a trigger while an envelope is already running. When
the jumper is not installed (factory default), triggers received as the envelope is
rising will be ignored, and triggers received while the envelope is falling will
make it begin rising again from its current voltage.
When the jumper is installed, the
Dual EnvVCA
will immediately restart the
envelope when it receives a trigger, regardless of whether the envelope
is rising or falling. When this happens, the envelope will immediately fall
to 0V and begin to rise again. This sharp transition to 0V can cause
clicking when used with the audio VCA section.
See the Creating Envelopes section on page 13 for more details.
VCA Min Gain Trim pot
On the back of the module is a trimpot that can adjust the minimum
VCA gain. Typically, you will want to set this so that you do not
hear any audio bleeding through when the envelope is not running.
However, setting the minimum gain too quiet means that when the
Dual EnvVCA
is cycling, there are longer gaps between notes.
That is, there is more time between envelope peaks where the
sound is inaudible or barely audible.
At fully counter-clockwise, the VCA will provide -90dB of
attenuation when the envelope is not cycling. This is the maximum
amount of silence between notes when cycling and minimum amount of bleed. In the middle position
(factory default), there is -80dB of attenuation. It provides a short amount of silence between envelope
cycles, and low amount of bleed. Turning the trim pot all the way clockwise provides -30dB of
attenuation when the envelope is stopped. This may be useful if you wants less silence between cycles,
and don’t mind hearing some audio when the envelope is not cycling.
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