Parameter Control Insides - Access VIRUS CLASSIC User Manual

The Control Smooth mode parameter setting is considered a component part of a SINGLE sound
and is thus stored with it.
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 arrangement. However, be aware that conventional sequencers can
throw a spanner in the works: If the timing of this type of controller coincides precisely with the tim-
ing of a note, the sequencer will first send the note command so that the overall timing is not
skewed by controller commands. 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 recommend 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 value 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.

Parameter Control Insides

If you enjoy experimenting with recording parameter changes, sooner or later, you will run into the
following problem: When controller sequences 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 controllers. Moreover, when you start
the song from the top, you'll again hear the sound with the filter 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
position 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 recorded parameter changes and the current parameter
status of the Virus, you'll find it easy to come up with solutions for these kinds of problems. Sticking
with our example, you could send a controller value to the Virus that closes the filter again in a suit-
able 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 sequencer. You could of course simply activate
the sound at the beginning of the song via a program change message, which resets the parame-
VIRUS CLASSIC MANUAL 153
The Virus And Sequencers