CHAPTER 4 – STANDALONE APPLICATION ............22 CHAPTER 5 – ELEMENT 1 AND ELEMENT 2 MODES ..........22 Element 1 Mode ....................23 Element 2 vs. Element 1 ..................24 CHAPTER 6 – WaveSystem Toolbar................25 Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION 1.1 Welcome Thank you for choosing Waves! In order to get the most out of your new Waves plugin, please take a moment to read this user guide. To install software and manage your licenses, you need to have a free Waves account.
Anyone acquainted with synthesis – especially classic ’80s-style polyphonic subtractive synthesis – should feel right at home with Element 2.0. You’ll be able to dive right in and start programming immediately. For novice synthesists, Element 2.0 is an ideal place to learn the basics of synthesis theory.
Components Element 2.0 has one component: Element 2.0 Stereo Element 2.0 is a virtual instrument plugin and will appear under the related selection menus for virtual instruments under all supported DAW host applications. Waves Element 2.0 also works as a standalone application, using ASIO (Windows) or Core Audio (Mac) drivers to play through your audio device of choice.
CHAPTER 2 – QUICK START GUIDE 1. Open Element 2.0 on an instrument track in your DAW of choice, or launch the Element 2.0 standalone application. 2. Select a preset from Element 2.0s factory presets. 3. Play! Use the next/previous preset arrow controls on the toolbar to scroll through presets.
CHAPTER 3 – INTERFACE AND CONTROLS 3.1 Interface 3.2 Controls The Element 2.0 interface is arranged into four sections grouped according to function, each highlighted in a different color: Voice generation and subtractive elements (blue) Modulation sources and patches (purple) ...
3.2.1 OSCILLATORS Element 2.0 has two modeled analog oscillators which are labeled OSC 1 and OSC 2. OCT determines the pitch range. Options: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 (from highest to lowest pitch) TUNE determines the pitch. Range: -12 to +12 semitones FINE fine-tunes the pitch.
SUB mixes in a triangle wave one octave below OSC 1. Range: 0–100 NOISE mixes in white noise. Range: 0–100 RING controls the ring modulation of OSC 1 and OSC 2. Range: 0–100 Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
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Options: Off, 2 Voices, 4 Voices PORT determines the glide time (portamento) between notes. Range: 0.5–2500 ms (0–2.5 seconds) LEGATO determines whether glide will always occur, or only when the previous note is still held. Options: Legato, Always Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
Options: 2-pole/12 dB per octave, 4-pole/24 dB per octave CUTOFF controls the VCF cutoff frequency. Range: 0–100 (20 Hz–20 kHz) RES controls the amount of filter resonance. Range: 0–100 ENV determines the envelope’s cutoff modulation depth. Range: -100–100 Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
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SHAPE determines the contour of the envelope time constants. Range: -50–50 At 0, time constants are linear; at positive values, the envelope slopes become more logarithmic for a response more similar to analog envelopes. Negative values result in an exponential curve. Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
VEL sets the envelope depth in relation to the Note On velocity. Range: 0–100 SHAPE determines the contour of the envelope time constants. Range: -50–50 PUNCH controls the dynamic transient enhancer which makes for a “snappier’ attack. Options: On, Off Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
3.2.5 LOW-FREQUENCY OSCILLATORS (LFOS) Element 2.0 features four identical LFOs that can be either free-running or synced to both MIDI clock and Note On commands. TYPE controls the LFO waveform shape. Options: Sine, Saw Down, Saw Up, Triangle, Pulse, S&H (random) RATE controls the frequency of the free LFO.
3.2.6 ENVELOPE 3 In addition to the filter and the VCA envelopes, Element 2.0 includes an envelope generator that can be freely assigned to selectable destinations via the modulation matrix. A (Attack): 1–10,000 (1 millisecond–10 seconds) D (Decay): 1–10,000 (1 millisecond–10 seconds) S (Sustain): 0 to 100% amplitude R (Release): 1–10,000 (1 millisecond–10 seconds)
RATE sets the arpeggiator rate when TIME is set to Free. Range: 1–50 Hz GATE determines the length of each sequencer step as a percentage of its note length. Range: 5–100% STEPS determines the number of steps in the current sequence. Range: 1–16 Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
PRE/POST is a toggle control which determines the placement of the distortion effect in the signal path, either pre-VCF or post-VCF. Options: Pre, Post CRSHR is a distortion-like effect which simulates a reduction in the bit-depth and resolution of the sound. Range: 0–100 Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
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REVERB controls both the amount and size of the virtual plate reverb sound. In addition to increasing the amount of reverb, higher values also increase the reverb size and time. Range: 0–100 CHORUS determines the amount of chorus modulation. Range: 0–100 Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
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Range: -30 to +30 dB 600 controls equalization at 600 Hz. Range: -20 to +20 dB 1500 controls equalization at 1500 Hz. Range: -20 to +20 dB 9000 controls equalization at 9000 Hz. Range: -25 to +25 dB Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
BEND determines how far the pitch-bend controls will increase/decrease the pitch in semitones. Range: 0–12 GAIN sets Element 2.0’s overall output volume, after all generators and processors. Range: -80 to 0 dBFS METER displays Element 2.0’s overall output energy. Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
The standalone application’s menu file contains 3 items: All Notes Off – Sends an All Notes Off MIDI command to the Element 2.0 synthesizer: useful in cases of “stuck” sustaining notes. Preferences – Displays the preferences dialog for Audio, MIDI, and User Choices configurations.
CHAPTER 5 – ELEMENT 1 AND ELEMENT 2 MODES 5.1 Element 1 Mode Waves Element 2.0 includes a fully features version of its predecessor, the original Element synth. A dedicated control at the top left corner of the interface, labeled Element 1 and 2, lets you freely switch between the two versions.
5. Element 1 features an HD switch that improves the overall sound of the instrument at the expense of increased CPU usage. Element 2 is always HD. 6. Element 1 has neither the ARP/SEQ ‘Hold’ nor the ‘Retrigger’ functionality of Element 2. Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
Loading presets may set the tempo to a different value or to the value determined by your host computer. To ignore tempo settings saved with other presets, uncheck the Tempo box, and your current tempo setting will remain in place when other presets are loaded. Waves Element 2.0 User Guide...
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