Some Notes On Playing The Portamento; Inverting Envelopes And Getting The Most Speed Out Of Envelopes; Use Envelope Delay To Add A Percussive Snap; Use Freerun Envelopes To Improve Drum Sound Clarity - Alesis Andromeda A6 Tips And Tricks Manual

17.3 some notes on playing the portamento:

When using Unison Detune, set the portamento to Chord mode.
Also, portamento only works on the active voice, as described below by a mail that Michael
Caluroso replied to:
Changes to portamento time don't seem to work on an active voice. Meaning if I start with a long
slide and want to land on the destination note/chord on a beat, I can't just throw the knob back and
have it affect the voice(s) that are sounding. I don't know if it's possible but I would like to be able
to do that. Now that I think about it, would there be a way around this by modulating the port. time
by something like aftertouch or the mod wheel? It still would be nice to be able to do this with the
time knob also.
There is a MIDI Continuous Controller message assigned to portamento, I forget the CC #. I haven't
tried it but that is another way to modulate portamento time.
You could also assign the footswitch jack on the rear panel to modulate portamento, IE off=zero
seconds, on=(x) seconds. Ditto with the CC pedal jack on the rear panel.

17.4 inverting envelopes and getting the most speed out of envelopes:

The envelopes are on the fastest cycle of the Andromeda' s CPU. Typically for drums you
need an envelope quickly going down in pitch on a self-oscillating filter. It is therefore NOT
RECOMMENDED to use modulation in order to achieve your goals. Stick with the ENV 2
AMOUNT knob for each filter, and the ENV 1 AMOUNT knob for each oscillator.
Inverting an envelope is simple. The only envelopes that can be inverted are envelopes one
and two. Simply view the envelope, then click on soft button 2 to go to the LEVEL page if
necessary. Soft knob 8 controls whether the wave is a POSWAV (the default, a positive wave,
meaning that the affected sound will open up or go up in pitch, then go down) or a
NEGWAV (meaning that an affected sound will go down and then go up in pitch.)
For more tricks and tips, there is an entire section in this guide devoted to envelopes. If you
are not familiar with the envelopes, I would suggest reading this tips and tricks section!

17.5 use envelope delay to add a percussive snap:

Colin wrote:
Kept forgetting to mention it, But yeah use the delay feature on the Filter envelope to get a nice
percussive snap - 2 or more ms does the trick

17.6 use freerun envelopes to improve drum sound clarity:

Mike Peake wrote:
Try the Freerun mode on the envelopes, and Freerun-Sustain if you need a sustain segment. In
Mono mode, this is key to getting "machine drum" sounds. I know that this has probably already
occurred to you..
Also, it is best if the envelope resets are on normal. Don' t use ANALOG MODE, elsewise
you might get clicks!
17.7 getting a better kick out of the filters (take advantage of slower
mod routes!)
This technique is good for zaps; this also can help you debug short little " glitches" that
sometimes you hear in the filter modulation, I imagine!
Colin wrote: