ASDR Envelopes: How do you use them?

[swardle]

I am an admitted rompler that has traditionally stuck to slightly modified presets (S90-ES).

 

I'm curious to know what ways some of you guys use envelopes (filter, pitch, amplitude) and how vital it is in your MIDI production.

 

It might sound like a dumb question from a noob, but I was hoping some of you woud be willing to share your insights about how you use those things to achieve musical and creative results.

 

Your thoughts:

[TheFoosa]

Um, however you want to?

 

 

Attack - how long it takes to reach full value

Decay - how long to fall to sustain value

Sustain - value it will stick at after A and D stages

Release - value it will have after releasing the keys

 

 

Tweak accordingly.

 

 

 

 

Edit: I have to say that they are essential in synthesizers. Envelope settings determine A LOT about the sound. I can't go into a lot of detail right now but play around and see what results you get, and check out how the settings are on different preset sounds to get an idea of it.

[xavios]

I started my journey to understanding the adsr on romplers by this on the amp env.

 

take a sound and adjust the decay while you strike a couple notes.

 

Do the same with attack, but you will need to sustain the note to hear it with longer attack times.

 

Fun!

[coyote-1]

Nothing like hands-on to grasp how these things work.

 

I couple years ago, Keyboard magazine distributed a free monosynth program. You might find it or something like it on the web.... download it, and play with it!

 

As xavios suggested, amp envelope is a good starting point.

Then check out pitch envelope.

 

After you get familiar with those, start looking at filter envelope.

 

Play with them individually at first, starting with an init patch in all cases. I say that because one envelope will have an effect on how other filters work, and it's good to understand each individually before getting into combined effects.

[asynchro_nous]

This is actually a really great question.

 

What is the context of your musical experience / knowledge?

 

Have you always been primarily a keyboard player or have you had more experience with other instruments like .............

 

........guitar..........?

[J3RK]

The best thing to do with an ADSR is to use it to sweep through wavetables.

[program_insect]

I like envelope -> LFO rate

[J3RK]

That's a good use too.

[Analog Kid]

I like jacking an envelope onto the resonance... too bad so many synths dont have a resonance CV in- why should the cutoff have all the fun?

[swardle]

 

What is the context of your musical experience / knowledge?

 

 

I am mainly a jazzer (trio format). But, you know how it goes, you buy something like the S90-ES and you get curious...what does that button do?...

 

Actually, I understand the definition side of what envelopes do. But I'd like to know more about how some of you experts out there use envelopes.

 

I have only discovered one trick:

 

For more realistic brass tracks, use velocity sensitivity on a pitch envelope to vary the fine tuning on the attack of a brass sample. That sounds more brassy than some of the cheesy stock brass patches out there.

[coyote-1]

The thing that's needed to make brass samples sound real is aftertouch. Horn players rarely play a steady note and then stop; there's almost always a pitch/volume change. A programmed envelope sounds too consistent to sound real.

 

Originally posted by swardle For more realistic brass tracks, use velocity sensitivity on a pitch envelope to vary the fine tuning on the attack of a brass sample. That sounds more brassy than some of the cheesy stock brass patches out there.

 

[Counterpoint]

 

Originally posted by swardle I am an admitted rompler that has traditionally stuck to slightly modified presets (S90-ES). I'm curious to know what ways some of you guys use envelopes (filter, pitch, amplitude) and how vital it is in your MIDI production. It might sound like a dumb question from a noob, but I was hoping some of you woud be willing to share your insights about how you use those things to achieve musical and creative results. Your thoughts:

 

 

ADSR's are a type of envelope generator. There are other types, too. AR, ADR, DADSR, ADDSR, looping, and freely programmable envelopes. All of them can be used in the following ways...

 

There are three obvious uses:

 

(1) Filter cutoff - some synths allow you to apply the envelope to the filter upside down, too. The envelope can create mwah mwah sounds or DEE-oo DEE-oo sounds, etc.

 

(2) Amplifier - Fade in slowly (volume), or hit hard (fast) and sustain, or hit hard and decay quickly for a percussive attack.

 

(3) Oscillator pitch for gliding effects

 

Then there are less obvious applications:

 

(1) Change oscillator pitch in oscillator sync mode - very cool

 

(2) Modify PWM amount or rate over time

 

(3) Panning effects

 

(4) Modigy oscillator pitch while using a ring modulator

 

(5) Vary the amount or speed of LFO's over time

 

(6) Changing the pitch of notes when the key is released (up or down an octave is very cool)

 

Depending on your synth's matrix mod capabilities, you can find many other uses for envelope generators. If possible, try modulating more than one parameter with the same envelope, pitch and amplifier volume, for example.