Problems Related To Parameter Control - Access Virus Rack XL User Manual

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Step sequencers let you assign a new cutoff
value for every note. You can create the same
effect on a conventional sequencer. To this end,
all you have to do is program a cutoff controller
in the sequencer for every note in the arrange-
ment. However, be aware that conventional se-
quencers can throw a spanner in the works: If
the timing of this type of controller coincides
precisely with the timing of a note, the sequenc-
er will first send the note command so that the
overall timing is not skewed by controller com-
mands. For the purposes of our example, this
means that the new cutoff value doesn't arrive
until just after the note has been played. This
can generate incidental artifacts. We recom-
mend that you record the controllers separately
to a track other than the one containing the
notes of a given sequence (make sure that the
track addresses the same MIDI channel) and
that to assign a touch of predelay to this track
(e.g. set Track Delay to -1). Then the cutoff val-
ue is updated just before the new note arrives.
Incidentally, this phenomenon is not unique to
the Virus, it is a design-related "flaw" inherent in
all synthesizers.
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PROBLEMS RELATED TO
PARAMETER CONTROL
If you enjoy experimenting with recording pa-
rameter changes, sooner or later, you will run
into the following problem: When controller se-
quences are recorded to a sequencer, the last
recorded value remains valid until another value
is sent for this controller. For example, if you
gradually open a filter for a sound in the middle
of the song and record this parameter change,
the filter will stay open until the end of the song
if you not close it manually or close it via con-

Problems Related to Parameter Control

trollers. Moreover, when you start the song from
the top, you'll again hear the sound with the fil-
ter open because the Virus hasn't received a
command at the beginning of the song to close
the filter. Not until the song arrives at the posi-
tion where the recorded event begins does the
Virus receive the first controller value for the fil-
ter. If, on the other hand, the song is started
with the stored and unedited version of the filter
sound, everything will be fine: The filter is
closed and won't be opened until the recorded
event tells the Virus to do just that.
If you understand this connection between re-
corded parameter changes and the current pa-
rameter status of the Virus, you'll find it easy to
come up with solutions for these kinds of prob-
lems. Sticking with our example, you could
send a controller value to the Virus that closes
the filter again in a suitable position within the
song, for instance, at some point after the filter
opens or at the beginning of the song. However,
this procedure can become tedious rather
quickly if you have recorded many parameter
changes – after all, what you're actually doing is
literally copying the original values of different
parameter in order to enter them into the se-
quencer. You could of course simply activate
the sound at the beginning of the song via a
program change message, which resets the pa-
rameters to their original stored values. What if,
however, you change or replace the sound in
the Virus at some point? The program change
message in the song would call up the wrong
sound. The more reliable and certainly more el-
egant solution would be to store the sound(s) in
the song. The Virus then receives all settings for
sounds at the beginning the song, and you'd
prevent hiccups such as the wrong sounds,
"stuck" values and jumps from the get-go. In
the next section, you'll find out just how you
can do this.
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