The Effects Section; Distortion; Chorus; Delay - Novation Peak User Manual

The Effects Section

Peak comes equipped with a sound effects (FX) section. FX can be applied to the sound
the synth is generating to add colour and character. All FX parameters are saved with the
Patch.
43
46
44
54
The FX tools comprise analogue distortion and three digital "time-domain" effects: Reverb,
Chorus and Delay. Each has its own set of controls and any or all FX may be used without
restriction.
In addition, the FX Menu provides extensive control of additional parameters for the digital
FX. These may be used in parallel configuration, or arranged in series in any order: the
configurations are set up in the FX Menu.
The FX processing section is active by default: the Bypass button 54 switches the digital
FX processing out of circuit: it does not bypass the Distortion processor.

Distortion

Distortion may be added with the single Level control 43 . A controlled amount of
distortion is added after the VCA, in the analogue domain, and affects the sum of the eight
voices. This means that the distortion characteristic will change as the amplitude of the
signal changes over time as a result of the Amplitude Envelope, and also with the number
of active voices.
The output from the Distortion processor is then routed to the other FX.
Note that "per-voice" distortion may be added by adjusting Post Filter Drive in
the Voice menu.

Chorus

Chorus is an effect produced by mixing a continuously delayed version of the signal with
the original. The characteristic swirling effect is produced by the Chorus processor's own
LFO making very small changes in the delays. The changing delay also produces the effect
of multiple voices, some of which are pitch-shifted; this adds to the effect.
Peak has three stereo Chorus programs (simply numbered 1, 2 and 3), selected by the
Type button 52 . Type 1 is a two-tap chorus, Type 2 uses four taps and Type 3 is an
ensemble effect. The amount of Chorus effect added to the "dry" signal is adjusted by the
Level control 53 . The Rate control 51 sets the frequency of the Chorus processor's
dedicated LFO. Lower values give a lower frequency, and hence a sound whose
characteristic changes more gradually. A slow rate is generally more effective.
There are further Chorus parameters available for adjustment in the FX Menu

Delay

The Delay FX processor produces one or more repetitions of the note played. Although the
two are intimately related in an acoustic sense, delay should not be confused with reverb in
terms of an effect. Think of delay simply as "Echo".
The Time control 44 sets the basic delay time: the note played will be repeated after a
fixed time. Higher values correspond to a longer delay, with the maximum value of 127
equating to approx. 1.4 seconds. If Time is varied while a note is being played, pitch
shifting will result.
It is often desirable to synchronise echoes to tempo: on Peak this can be done by
selecting Sync 45 . The Time control then varies the DelaySync parameter, which
is displayed on the OLED while the control is adjusted. The sync value is limited by the
maximum delay time of 1.4 seconds, consequently some combinations of ClockRate
and DelaySync result in truncating the delay time to the maximum calculated sync rate
permissible, i.e., the delay time will reduce, but it will remain in sync.
51 52
53
47
45
50
48 49
The output of the delay processor is connected back to the input, at a reduced level; The
Feedback control 46 sets the level. This results in multiple echoes, as the delayed signal
is further repeated. With Feedback set to zero, no delayed signal at all is fed back, so
only a single echo results. As you increase the value, you will hear more echoes for each
note, though they still die away in volume. Setting the control in the centre of its range
(64) results in about 5 or 6 audible echoes; at the maximum setting the decay in volume is
almost imperceptible and the repetitions will still be audible after a minute or more.
The Level control 47 adjusts the level of the echoes: at the maximum setting (127), the
first echo is approximately the same volume as the initial, dry note.
There are further Delay parameters available for adjustment in the FX Menu

Reverb

Reverberation (reverb) adds the effect of an acoustic space to a sound. Unlike delay,
reverb is created by generating a dense set of delayed signals, typically with different
phase relationships and equalisations applied to re-create what happens to sound in a real
acoustic space.
Peak provides three reverb presets, selected by the Type button 49 . The presets are
simply numbered 1, 2 and 3, and set the RevSize parameter (see page 32) to values
of 0, 64 or 127 respectively, thus simulating spaces of different sizes.
The Time control 48 sets the basic reverb time of the selected space and sets the time
that the reverb takes to die away to inaudibility. The Level control 50 adjusts the volume
of the reverb.

The FX Menu

The following additional parameters for the three time-domain effects are available in the
FX menu. Two menu pages are dedicated to Chorus (Pages 2 and 3) and two to Delay
(Pages 4 and 5); Reverb has three pages (Pages 6 to 8). There is one further page (Page
1) with "global" parameters affecting all three effects; if you right-page above Page 8 you
will find the four FX Modulation Matrix pages (one for each matrix slot).
CHORUS
Chorus pages:
ChorDepth
ChorFback
CHORUS
ChorDepth
ChorFback
CHORUS
LoPass
HiPass
CHORUS
LoPass
HiPass
Chorus Depth
Displayed as:
Initial value:
Range of adjustment:
The ChorDepth parameter determines the amount of LFO modulation applied to the
Chorus delay time, and thus the overall depth of the effect. A value of zero results in no
chorus effect being added.
Chorus Feedback
Displayed as:
Initial value:
Range of adjustment:
The Chorus processor has its own feedback path between output and input, and a
degree of feedback can be applied to get a more effective sound. Negative values of the
ChorFback parameter mean that the signal being fed back is phase-reversed: High
values – positive or negative – can add a dramatic "swooping" effect. Adding feedback and
keeping the value of ChorDepth low will turn the Chorus FX into a flanger.
2/9
64 H
+0
2/9
64 H
Fig. 5
+0
Fig. 5
3/9
90 H
2
3/9
90 H
Fig. 6
2
ChorDepth
64
Fig. 6
0 to 127
ChorFback
0
-64 to +63
31