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Related Manuals for Kodamo EssenceFM MKII
Summary of Contents for Kodamo EssenceFM MKII
- Page 2 Preliminary Version 12-12-2019 For reference only...
- Page 3 Welcome to the Kodamo EssenceFM! Thanks for purchasing our instrument, which represents another and new vision of FM synthesis. We were always focused on making the EssenceFM “musician oriented”, aiming for reliability and comfort of use in every situation. This manual was written to offer you the best experience you’d get from the EssenceFM. We recommend to read at least the first section and store this handbook preciously in case you want to get further information.
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Page 4: Table Of Contents
Table of Contents Making connections.......................7 Let’s play !..........................7 Introducing the Front Panel....................8 User Interface Elements......................9 First steps..........................10 Introducing FM synthesis....................10 Sound design tips......................11 Voice mode..........................12 Voice List........................12 Voice Editor........................12 Algorithm design......................13 Editing voice/operator parameters................13 Voice settings......................13 Operator settings.....................16 Envelope Edit ......................17 Patch mode..........................18 Patch editor........................18 Layer management....................18... -
Page 5: Making Connections
TouchPiano........................28 Automation..........................29 Effect List..........................29 Troubleshooting........................30 Making connections It’s the moment to plug your EssenceFM! All the back panel connectors are detailed below: Audio Output Pairs 1 to 4 (¼ inch / 6,35 mm TRS phone jacks): Each pair can operate as a stereo bus (cf. -
Page 6: Introducing The Front Panel
The EssenceFM power resides into its structure, smaller elements are stacked to make big ensembles. Let’s familiarize with Voice: The Voice is the smallest element that the EssenceFM uses to make a sound. It’s the basic starting point to make a sound. Patch: The Patch is basically gathering one or more voice(s), by stacking, layering, sequencing them together and adding effects. -
Page 7: User Interface Elements
Copy: Places the focused element into the clipboard for further use. Paste: Places the clipboard content into the focused element. Undo: Discards the last operation, up to 1000 times. Note: leaving a page resets the undo/redo history. Redo: Restores the previously discarded operation. Save: Saves the current element into the internal memory. -
Page 8: First Steps
accessed this way too. (see Architecture Reference chapter to see how the Envelope Editor works) Popup: A window that appears in front of the rest of the page for an action confirmation, or to show you more parameters relative to the button you pressed. Button: Clicking it triggers an action, exactly as a physical key can do. -
Page 9: Sound Design Tips
signal). In FM synthesis, a block generating sound is usually called an Operator, and the Operator arrangement is called an Algorithm. An FM Algorithm is usually represented as below, and is to be read from top to bottom. When an operator is feeding its signal into another one under it (1, 5 and 6) it is called a Modulator -you don’t hear its direct sound-, while operators at the bottommost (2, 3 and 4) are Carriers. -
Page 10: Voice Mode
Voice mode In Voice mode you can organize, play and edit a 6-op FM voice. This mode responds to the Global Channel, see Global > MIDI configuration. Voice List Bank / Voice Lists: Those lists allows you to select the voice you want to play or edit in this mode By Category: Shows the voices/patches sorted by Category instead of sorting... -
Page 11: Algorithm Design
panel displays parameters relative to the selected element. Algorithm design The algorithm on the left side of the screen shows the operators, their output level is displayed in real-time when you are playing, allowing you to clearly see how their envelopes are working. There are several actions you can do on the operators via the touch screen to build your algorithm : - Pressing an operator and releasing it (drag&drop) onto another one will connect them together. - Page 12 LFO TAB : Waveform (0 ~ 23): Selects the waveform you want to use with your LFO. It’s the same waveform set used into synthesis. Mask (0 ~ 12): This mask distorts and reshape the selected LFO waveform. It doesn’t overwrite the original waveform. Phase Offset (0 ~ 31): Here you can set the point where the LFO waveform will start to play.
- Page 13 MODMATRIX TAB : Up to 8 modulation cords can be setup for each voice. Sliders and buttons applies to the current selected modulation line in the list. Offset: Applies an offset (adds, subtracts) to the modulation source Ratio: Scales the modulation source Set Source: Selects the source to use (cf.
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Page 14: Operator Settings
Operator settings BASE TAB : Waveform (0~23): Sets the waveform used as base oscillator for the selected operator. See Waveforms section in Global mode to know how to edit and customize those waveforms. Phase (0~31): Sets the initial phase where the waveforms starts at. -
Page 15: Envelope Edit
never stop playing. Don’t forget to press the panic button if a note is stuck ! MOD TAB : Velocity Sensitivity (-127 ~ +127): Sets how the operator volume is affected by the note on velocity. LFO AM: Sets how much the LFO affects the current operator’s volume. -
Page 16: Patch Mode
Sustain Point: Attach sustain to the selected point. The envelope level will be locked at it until Note Release. Skip on Release (only shown when Sustain Point is selected): If checked, when the note is released before reached the sustain point, the envelope value will jump to this point. Segment Loop A / B: Sets the Loop Start and Loop End points of a segment loop, which can take in several segments. -
Page 17: Patch Settings
Add Layer (+): Adds a new layer based on the previous element. Assign Layer: Assigns a voice to the selected layer. Edit Layer: Opens the selected layer in Voice Editor. You can edit the voice and hearing it in context, but BEWARE, any modification is reflected on ALL PATCHES which are using the edited voice. -
Page 18: Voice Sequencer
T AB 2 : Pan (0 ~ 127): Sets the selected layer pan position. Transpose mode: In this mode, selected layer will respond to the incoming MIDI note pitch Fixed mode: In this mode, selected layer will ignore the incoming MIDI note pitch Transpose [Transpose mode only] (-36 ~ +36): Sets the incoming note pitch offset... -
Page 19: Performance Mode
Layer List: Selects the layer you want to work on. Sequencing Grid: As explained above, this grid is the main space in which you place events to build your sequence. Loop: If checked, the sequence will play indefinitely until you release the note. MIDI Sync: If checked, the Voice Sequencer will lock to an external MIDI clock, instead of internal tempo. -
Page 20: Manager
Manager On this page, you can manage all 256 performances stored in the synth. You can also see several information about current and selected performances, especially the patches assigned to the 8 first parts. Performance List: One among the 256 performances can be selected here Swap Perf: Swaps the selected performance with another you select via the shown dialog. -
Page 21: Effects / Routing
Effects / Routing Effect levels and output routing are configured here. For each part, you may configure: - Output pair (1~4) - Dry level (0~127), the amount of original sound from the FM engine - Fx1 send level (0~127), the amount of signal sent to the first effect DSP - Fx2 send level (0~127), the amount of signal sent to the second effect DSP... -
Page 22: Global Mode
Global mode All the global parameters of the EssenceFM are accessible through this mode. When entering the Global mode, the current active mode (Performance, Patch or Voice) keeps running in background without any sound interruption. MIDI and Display settings are automatically saved when leaving the page. For most other elements (Scales, Waveforms, Categories) they will appear with an asterisk when modified, so they need to be saved manually by pressing the “Save”... -
Page 23: Global > Tuning
IP/Port Settings: Selects the IP mode (Fixed/DHCP), IP settings (IP, Mask, Gateway) if the IP mode is Fixed, and Port number. P REVIEW TAB : Here you can configure the notes played when ♪ pressing the [ ] button. For each note there are 3 parameters: Time (0~127): Selects the timing for the note to be triggered... -
Page 24: Waveform Editor
Name: Renames the waveform Edit: Goes to the waveform edition page Show voices: Shows which voices use the selected waveform. This is very useful as the waveforms are global to the synth - they are shared between voices. You need to be careful when modifying one, as all voices using it will be impacted. -
Page 25: Display
Display GENERAL TAB : Screen Backlight Intensity (0~100): Adjusts the backlight brightness Screen Backlight Dimming (Never/Adjustable Delay): Selects a delay before the display is dimmed to extend its lifetime/reduce power usage. Turn off: When checked, if Dimming is not on “Never”, the display will be completely turned off instead of being dimmed Touchscreen Calibration: Begins the calibration process if the touchscreen default settings aren’t optimal for your usage Touchscreen Sound Feedback: When checked, the internal buzzer will emit a “click”... -
Page 26: Audio
Audio This page provides a monitoring of the allocated voice channels in the FM engine and vu-meters for monitoring the audio output. Notes currently playing are represented by a green dot, they carry an instance of the Voice Sequencer. Then, each allocated voice is represented by a white square (or grey if its sustain state has finished) Main Audio Output: Selects the audio output used for Patch and Voice modes. -
Page 27: Automation
Automation When you make a track using the EssenceFM you want to be able to save its patch/routing/effects settings and recall them automatically when needed. To do so, save your performance into one of the 256 slots, then use the MIDI CC 39 and CC 40 to load the desired performance. CC 39 Selects the performance bank : 0 (performances 0 to 127) or 1 (performances 128 to 255) -
Page 28: Troubleshooting
Feedback (0 ~ 120), Cutoff (0 ~ 127) Chorus Speed L (0 ~ 127), Speed R (0 ~ 127), Depth (0 ~ 127) Distorsion Saturate, Fold-Back, Halved Threshold (0 ~ 127), Gain (0 ~ 127), Cutoff Negative, Positive, Abs (0 ~ 127) Bitcrush Frequency (0 ~ 127), Bit Reduction (0 ~ 127), Cutoff (0 ~ 127) - Page 29 I found a software issue and Alright! Please describe the problem and how to reproduce it want it to be fixed by writing at contact@kodamo.org. A fix may be released for the next firmware version, so you can upgrade it when available.
- Page 30 Memo...
- Page 31 Normal wear and damage caused by the user are not covered: water damage, impacts, electrical surges, use of the wrong wall adapter, use in high-temperature environments (>40°C). If you need to return the product under warranty, please send us an email ( contact@kodamo.org) describing what happened and we’ll send you the procedure.
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