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Alesis FUSION Manual
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Alesis FUSION Manual

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ALESIS FUSION
EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM
How to edit a VA synth program
To edit a VA synth (analog) program, select one as appropriate in the usual way using the data
wheel, the INC/DEC keys or a combination of the BANK keys and the A-P/1-8 keys.
For example, [ROM preset 1] K-1:
There are other examples in the ROM presets to choose from as the basis for your edit.
Whichever you choose, press the EDIT key located around the data wheel.
To edit the synthesiser parameters, press the SYNTH soft key (highlighted on the left of the
LCD in the screen shot shown below). You will see this screen:
You can now choose to edit the oscillator(s), filter, envelopes and LFO(s) using the soft keys
down the right hand side of the LCD.
Other aspects of the program can be selected using the soft keys down the left of the LCD.
This 'How To' tutorial follows a sequential approach - i.e. oscillators then filters then envelopes
then LFOs, mod matrix, effects. You can use the bookmarks in this PDF to skip directly to the
section you want.
For detailed information about the principles employed in Fusion's VA synth, please refer to
the in-depth analog synthesis tutorial that is also available for download hereabouts
Page 1

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Summary of Contents for Alesis FUSION

  • Page 1 LFOs, mod matrix, effects. You can use the bookmarks in this PDF to skip directly to the section you want. For detailed information about the principles employed in Fusion’s VA synth, please refer to the in-depth analog synthesis tutorial that is also available for download hereabouts...
  • Page 2 NEXT (or PREV) key by the data wheel and select from SAWTOOTH/TRIANGLE, PULSE/SQUARE, SINE and three types of noise. You can also select EXT IN for processing external audio inputs through Fusion’s powerful synth engine. Select other oscillators (they need to be switched on of course) and select the waveforms as required.
  • Page 3 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM How to balance / mix the oscillators Press OUTPUT to see this screen: Move the cursor to the OSC VOLUME field using the NEXT (or PREV) key by the data wheel and use the data wheel to set a value as appropriate.
  • Page 4 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM How to quickly configure the VA synth’s oscillators A quick way of mixing, tuning, selecting waveforms, etc., can be done in the CONFIG page: Using the VIEW parameter (top right and highlighted in the above screen shot) you can select: OSC ENABLE (i.e.
  • Page 5 Select the FILTER row and use Knob 2 to adjust filter resonance in real- time. Fusion’s filter is the key to many of the analogue sounds created in the VA synth. There are no rules to its usage - be prepared to experiment! At any time, press EXIT or SYNTH to return to the main menu.
  • Page 6 2 are always present when a new program is created - Env 1 controls amplitude and Env 2 controls the filter although a Fusion VA synth program can actually contain up to eight envelopes. The envelope to be edited can be selected using the EDIT Env parameter (highlighted in the above screen shot).
  • Page 7 Changing the envelope ‘curves’ Pressing SHAPE shows this screen: Such is the degree of control offered by Fusion, you can set the curve or ‘shape’ of the individual stages of each envelope generator. This allows precise control over a sound’s articulation.
  • Page 8 Pressing LFO will show this page: A Fusion VA synth program can contain up to six separate LFOs (although the norm is usually one or two - one for vibrato and maybe another for, say, filter sweep). The LFO you want to edit can be selected in the EDIT LFO field (shown highlighted in the above screen shot).
  • Page 9 EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM How to make changes to modulation Fusion’s mod matrix is a powerful component in Fusion’s synthesis armoury and allows you to route almost any controller to almost any destination - pitch, timbre (tone), amplitude, panning and more.
  • Page 10 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM How to add a new mod route If you are feeling adventurous, you might want to add your own mod routing. It’s actually not difficult. A silly example perhaps but let’s say you want to route Envelope 1 to pitch to create an octave sweep for a special effect..
  • Page 11 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM Using the INC key (or data wheel), select PITCH: By default, the AMOUNT parameter is automatically set to 100.00% giving a whopping 8 octave+ sweep. Move the cursor to the AMOUNT field and set that to 12.00% (1 Octave): Done! Ok - maybe not the most useful musical example but hopefully one where you can get a feel for assigning controllers to destinations and setting their modulation amounts.
  • Page 12 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM You will note the JUMP MOD key on the right of the ENVELOPE page. Pressing that will take you directly back to the MOD page: This way, you can ‘toggle’ between the two pages quickly and easily to set mod amounts and the source controller’s parameters.
  • Page 13 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM How to add / change effects Fusion has two ‘bus effects’ and (up to) four ‘insert effects’ as shown below: Send 1 Bus FX 1 Bus FX 2 Send 2 FX Return Insert effects...
  • Page 14 NOTE: Many of the presets sounds in Fusion use the assignable front panel knobs to set the effects levels which is a quicker and easier way to govern the amount of effects on the sound.
  • Page 15 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM Bus effects - changing effects settings If you are feeling more adventurous, you might like to actually change the settings of the selected effects type. This is achieved by pressing (not surprisingly!) SETTINGS. You will see something like this screen: Each effect will have a different assortment of parameters depending on the selected effect.
  • Page 16 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM Insert effects To access the insert effects, press INSERT. You will see something like this screen: If the insert effect is not enabled (i.e. it is switched OFF in the INSERT ROUTE field as shown above), the first thing to do is, of course, switch it on.
  • Page 17 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM How to add more insert effects More often than not, one insert effect is enough for most applications. However, there are occasions where more are required. For example, you might want a chain of compressor into an amp simulator into a speaker cabinet simulator into a flanger - four effects in other words.
  • Page 18 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM How to categorise your sound It is very useful to assign a ‘category’ to any sound you edit/create. This is so that if you choose to view/select sounds by category, your sound will be included in the list. This is easily done by pressing the PROGRAM soft key.
  • Page 19 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM How to change program settings There are many ‘global’ program settings that can be applied. The first of these is pitch and related parameters which are accessed by pressing the PROGRAM soft key and then PITCH.
  • Page 20 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM Storing your changes The quickest way to store a sound is to press the STORE key (located by the data wheel) twice in succession - this will save your edited version to the same location as the original (i.e. it will overwrite the original).
  • Page 21 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM Naming / renaming a program At this point, you might want to rename your sound to something more appropriate or more memorable to you. This is achieved by pressing RENAME. You will see this screen: Use the NEXT/PREV keys to move around the name field and use the data wheel and/or INC/DEC keys to select the letter / number / character.
  • Page 22 ALESIS FUSION EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM Creating a new program To start from scratch and create your own program, press UTILITY to see this screen: Press NEW PROG to create the new program. By default, the new program will be of the ‘Analog’...