Tuesday, 10 May 2016

Korg PS 3200 - 7. Modulation Balance / Modulation VCA

There is just one knob & one input jack, but this section is very important, as it controls the balance between the modulation signals coming from the MG-1 and the S/H.

The balance between the MG-1 & S/H can be controlled manually  with the knob.
However, it can also be controlled with CVs via the VCA control input jack.
Attack requires a CV between -5V and + 5V.
Release uses a S-trigger (5V)

The MG-1 & S/H CVs are used alot in the PS 3200...such as applying FM to the signal generators.
MG-1 is used for effects like vibrato, and auto wow.
The S/H  uses the MG-1 signal as the clock, and produces a stepped output CV for things such as random notes, and random cut-off frequency.


A trigger from the keyboard sets of the GEG (more about this patch later).

Korg PS 3200 - 6. Total Signal Modifiers (TSM)

This section comprises
1. Keyboard Volume Balance
2. Amplitude Modulation (AM)
3. Ensemble
4. VCA 1/Preset Volume 
5. VCA 2/Preset Volume


1. Keyboard Volume Balance
This is what we perceive as BRIGHTNESS.
It's the difference in tone between the high and low range of the keyboard.... creates volume differences between different sections of the keyboard.

 2. Amplitude Modulation (AM)
This adjusts the intensity of the amplitude modulation.
This is controlled by MG-1
 It's how you produce effects like tremelo.

Level 5 = 100% modulation
Level 10 = 200% modulation (ring modulation??).


3. Ensemble
Creates the effect of many instruments playing together.

 4. VCA 1/Preset Volume 
Controls the volume as determined by the PRE VOL knob or and external CV signal
The position of the PRE VOL knob is stored in the preset memory.

The external CV signal must be 0 to +5V

5. VCA 2/Preset Volume
This is connected to the voltage processors, via the red internal patch switch.


Korg PS 3200 - 2. Signal Generators


There are 2 SGs per voice

The top 4 knobs are pretty standard waveform & octave selectors
The fine tune knob  adjusts only SG2.

Speed & intensity are all about PWM .
Speed adjusts the frequency of the signal modulating the pulse width.
Intensity  controls the sensitivity of modulation.

The pulse width of SG 1 & SG2 can be modulated by either MG-1 or the Sample & Hold

The MG-1 or S/H  knob adjusts the sensitivity to modulation by the MG1 or the S/H,

Notice the two red switches on the bottom of this pic.
The one on the left, marked reverse, .... it reverses the phase of any external modulation signals.
The right switch, turns FM (from any external sources) on or off.

 These lower switches, the two knobs & 6 jacks are for external modulation sources.
Not MG-1 or the S/H. More about this later.

Links
+ Korg - Index

Monday, 9 May 2016

Korg PS 3200 - 1. Intro


Some personal notes re the Korg PS 3200.
This synth was used on the soundtrack for the movie Nighthawks.
It's a good example of it's sounds. The artist was Keith Emerson.


This was the last synth Korg produced in the PS range. The previous being the 3100 & 3300.
It has 48 keys. Each key has it's own IC synthesizer circuit.... thus it's 48 voice polyphony.
That's 96 VCOs 
But the biggest feature is the memory... 16 slots. ... Korg called this memory  the "tone colours".


 eACH of the 16 buttons is for a different "tone" or preset

To cancel a preset, just press the "cancel set " button.
To write a new set, press the write button, and one of the program selector buttons.

Make sure the memory protection switch is on most of the time, to prevent accidently erasing a preset.
Of course, to erase or add a new preset, the switch needs to be in the off position.

Memory is preserved when the synth is turned off.
There are two 1.5V AA  (AM-3) batteries. Change these if the battery indicator lamp glows red.


tHE  battery compartment is at the rear of the synth.

Just unscrew the panel. Make sure the synth is on, while changing the batteries, or you will loose your presets.

There are 32 knobs that can have their settings memorized.
This is quite a feat, when you consider the time .... 1978. The only other synth I can think of where you
can store the knob positions, is a Buchla 200e. ... and that's from 2005.
Not all the knobs positions can be memorized. Those that can  are concentrated in the top left and are marked with yellow writing.
You can quickly override the memory by just pulling out any of the 32 control knobs for temporary readjustment. 

To listen to the saved presets, make sure all the "32 programmable knobs" are pushed in.
Then, view each preset by pressing the 16 programming buttons.

To program a new preset:
1. program the sound with the 32 knobs pulled up.
2. When you are ready to save your preset flick the Memory Protect switch to off
     Don't push the knobs in. (When you push a knob back in, it changes back to
     the setting programmed into the memory).
3. Press the cancel set switch.
4. Press Write & one of the 16 tone buttons.
5. Flick memory protect back on.


The 3200 is made up of these components:
A. Signal Generators (SG)
B. Dynamic Lo-pass Filters (DLPF)
C. Envelope Modifier (EM)
D. Equalizer (EQ)
E. Total Signal Modifiers (TSM)
F. Modulation Balance / Modulation VCA
G. Sample & Hold (S/H)
H. Modulation Generator-1 (MG-1)
I. Modulation Generator-2 (MG-2)
J. General Envelope Generator (GEG)
K. Voltage Processors (VP)
L. Adding Amp
M. Volume outs (D vol,P vol,F vol).
N. Keyboard PS 3010



Saturday, 7 May 2016

Access Virus - Basic models

This is a basic introduction to the Virus.
It's a very underrated synth. You can still pick up second hand ones on ebay
for under 1,000 AUD. 
I think it's a classic and should be part of any studio.
 

I have a rack TI dating I think between 2005 & 2009, but the general layout applies to all the different models.
Access have evolved their synthesizer over the decades. 
This can make it confusing if you are trying to decide which one to buy.
The latter synths share the same architecture of the earlier versions, and can do what the earlier ones can do and more. This is not to say that the first version isn't good. It's fabulous and can make really good 303 basslines.
 
They all use the same synth engine and hail from Berlin, Germany.
The Virus is a digital synth - not analog. The sound is processed with DSP. 
There is no sampler or sequencer (but there is a arp). Most of the synths in my studio
are analog, but this is one worthy exception. 
I reckon I can make "analog patches" with this synth that would fool the fussiest analog snob.

Virus A

 
The first Virus synth, now referred to as the virus A, came out in 1997. It had 12 voices and 16 multitimbral parts. 20bit ADC
 It has 32 knobs and 27 buttons.
The two oscillators have the basic analog waveforms from sawtooth to pulse with PWM.
There are two filters, two LFO's with sample-and-hold and on-board arpeggiators 
and two ADSTR envelopes per voice.

Virus B


The Virus B came out in 2000. It had 24 voices.
It came with a 32-band vocoder, and loads of new effects like delay, phasers, flangers, chorus, ring mods, distortion and envelope followers.
It had the same black/red colour scheme as the Virus A
There are 3 LFOs with 68 waveforms.
There were a few rack & keyboard versions of the B 

Virus Indigo 1

 
In late 2000, Access released the first Indigo with it's new grey/blue styling. 
This had a 37-note keyboard 

Virus C

 
In 2002, Access released the Virus C.
This had a new Grey colour scheme.
 

The Virus C had 32 voices. 
There are 3 Osc per voice. Access added a 3 band EQ per patch.
3 LFOs, 2 filters, 2 ADSTR envelopes.
The mod matrix has 6 sources , 9 destinations.
There are now 98 effects - wow.
Again there are 16 multi-timbral parts. 

Virus Indigo 2


The Indigo two was also released around this time (2002).
This shared the Virus C synth engine. 

 
It had the grey white colour and a lovely 37 note keyboard.
The keyboard now responds to aftertouch.
32 knobs, 35 buttons and 69 lovely blue LEDs
This has more mod routings than the original Indigo.
 

Virus TI

 
Finally, in 2005, the TI was introduced.
The user-interface comprises 32 knobs and 42 buttons, and a elegant LC display
 

It's a huge leap from the Virus C.
The Virus TI has a 24bit I/O & between 20 to 100 voices of polyphony.
(The voice count varies from one sound to the next, depending on which features are being used).
TI = Total integration. This means you can plug it into a computer and access the settings
through a plugin on your DAW. 
This combination of hardware & software is wonderful.
All audio and MIDI data can be streamed into and out of your compatible software host via USB.

 2005 seems a lifetime away, but this synth still holds its own.
It has three oscillators with a total of 64 source waves- including "supersaw" mode, which allows you to generate up to 9 sawtooth waves in parallel... great for HUGE sounding patches.
 
It now has a dual-DSP configuration of faster processors than previous models. The Virus' A-D converters are now 24 bit.
 
The Virus TI uses OS5
 
The Virus TI can also act as an audio recording device for your computer. The module is a soundcard. It can act as a midi interface for you computer.
It has USB plus the usual MIDI In/out/through.
The Virus Control has 2 available USB outs. USB 1.1
 
The Virus TI Keyboard has a 61-note keyboard with mod and pitch wheels.

The Virus TI contains 4 banks of RAM, followed by 26 banks of ROM for storing sounds or ‘patches’, with each bank containing 128 sounds. It is possible to flash a ROM bank with a customised bank using the Virus Control Center.
 
---------------------------------------

Virus TI2


The Virus TI2 series started in 2009
Physically, the TI2 looks very similar to the TI1
However, the TI2 has more rounded styling.
 
It can do 16 parts at once (Multitimbral). 
Virus TI2 has more dsp power. ... about 25%
This extra grunt might be useful if you intend to use it multitimbrally.
The Virus Control now has 3 available USB outs whereas the old TI software was just 2 USB outs.
USB 1.1
Virus TI2 is still OS5 and has more filters/envelopes etc. The TI2 just out performs the first TI's although the sound of both units are amazing.
 

Virus Polar 

 
The Virus Polar belongs to the TI line. There are both TI & TI2 versions.
This is a TI2 polar.

 It has Total Integration using the Virus Control 3.0 plug-in.
The keyboard has 37 keys .
There are 3 main oscillators and one sub-oscillator per voice.
It has HyperSaw™ oscillators with up to 9 sawtooths - each with parallel sub oscillator per voice (that's over 1800 stereo oscillators @100 voices!).
It boasts two fully independent miltimode filters and a 2-dimensional modulation matrix
There is independent delay and reverb for all 16 multi mode slots.
129 parallel effects.  6 balanced outputs 
3 LFOs with 68 waveforms to choose from.  
2 super fast ADSTR envelopes.
Compatible with USB 2.0 specifications, USB and High-Speed USB devices.
 

Virus Snow

 
The Virus Snow is also a TI synth. It's desk top size with fewer knobs and buttons.
It can only do 4 parts.

It's polyphony is limited to 50.
 
Links
 
 
 
 

Sunday, 24 April 2016

Buchla 216 & 114 Keyboard

Some musings on the 216 & 114... before I forget.

This site is my online diary where I sometimes jot down ideas. Please write to me if this is of help
to anyone else (or if this is downright BS).

Anyway, these keyboards aren't your usual Buchla type touch controllers.

The left 3 keys of the 216 are totally different to the right section.
They might as well be separate keyboards.
The right side has your standard two CV outs per key (with respective pots to set the CV level).
There is just one (double) CV pulse out for the 8 keys.

The left 3 keys each have separate CV outs (set by the lower pot) and a separate pulse out.
So we have 3 keys that that are not connected to each other .
The lower knob sets the initial CV level & the upper knob sets the decay slope for that voltage.

How does one use such a device & why would Don B make such a controller?
I think the answer lies with his early interest in music concrete & in the playing back of recorded tape loops.

When each key is patched into a VCA the lower pot will open & close the gate, and the upper pot
will control the duration length of the sound. A three key controller like the 216, will allow you
to "play" 3 sounds.

A 10 key controller like the 114 will allow access to ten sounds.
This is why I believe Don also produced the 107 - voltage controlled mixer.


 It's not just a mixer. It's really 10 VCAs.


The 10 keys on the 114 & the 10 inputs on the 107 seem to match and make a lot of sense.

If you are using a 216, with only 3 such keys a 292 is a good alternative VCA to match.

Philae Temple - Egypt

This is now a island, but it was once a temple complex located near the expansive First Cataract of the Nile River in southern Egypt.




 This place is amazing for many reasons.
The building of the Aswan Dam would have flooded the ancient site completely. So the engineers moved this entire temple complex to higher ground.
A breathtaking feat.

Philae was said to be one of the burying-places of Osiris.









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