DOEPFER Dark Energy Owner's Manual
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DOEPFER Dark Energy Owner's Manual

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Dark Energy
Owners Manual
DOEPFER MUSIKELEKTRONIK GmbH

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Summary of Contents for DOEPFER Dark Energy

  • Page 1 Dark Energy Owners Manual DOEPFER MUSIKELEKTRONIK GmbH...
  • Page 2 Safety Instructions Please follow the given instructions for use of the instrument carefully because this will guarantee correct instrument operation. Due to the fact that these instructions touch on Product Liability, it is absolutely imperative that they be read carefully. Any claim for defect will be rejected if one or more of the items was observed.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    DOEPFER Dark Energy Owners Manual Content: 1. Introduction 3.4. Linking / Stacking of several 1.1. Preface…………………………..4 Dark Energys…………………… 25 1.2. Preparations……………………... 5 3.5. Modifications……………………. 25 1.3. Check it out………………………. 6 3.6. Firmware-Update………………. 25 2. Overview……………………………………. 8 4. Basics of Soundgeneration…………… 26 3. Functionality 5. Example Sounds………………………….31 3.1. Signalflow……………………….. 10...

  • Page 4: Introduction

    Introduction Dark EnerGy DOEPFER 1. Introduction 1.1. Preface Welcome to Dark Energy. As you expect without any doubt, your recently purchased Dark Energy is not a tool for space research, neither suitable for astrophysical studies. Nevertheless we find these topics as fascinating as music technology – reason enough to celebrate Hubble & Co‘s amazing discoveries a bit and to call our brandnew synthesizer Dark Energy. Doepfer says „Thank You!“ First of all we would like to thank you for purchasing Dark Energy! We really appreciate your decision and promise you an exemplary support, including useful information, easy service and innovative product deve- lopement. Hopefully, your Dark Energy will be an importand source of creative power for a long time. What‘s that? Dark Energy is a monophonic analogue synthesizer with USB- and MIDI interface. The entire soundgene- ration as well as all it‘s modulationsources are 100% true analogue. Only the USB/MIDI interface uses, of course, digital components. Dark Energy is housed in a rugged black steel case with wooden sidepanels. Only high quality potentiometers with metal shafts are used. Each poti is screwed to the chassis. The space between the knobs ist larger as with the A-100 modular system and we used knobs with a neat vintage look. So Dark Eneryg is as beautiful to see as to hear and well made for extensive live tweaking. You get all the advantages of a true analogue soundgeneration as well as direct access to all soundparameters – for- get about confusing menues and small sized displays. Nevertheless Dark Energy is a modern soundgene- ration tool and, thanks to it‘s built in MIDI/USB interface, it can easily be linked to every modern computer based studio or live setup. Hooking up Dark Energy to classic analogue vintage equipment or to a Doepfer A-100 modular system is also easy. R.t.f.m.! We guessed it: User manuals are your first choice in literature. Congratulations – we talk the same langua- ge! If you might have any doubts about the entertaining qualities of this manual, please consider that it‘s study will become quite useful, since it will highly increase the entertaining qualities of your new synthesi- zer. So please do us – and yours – a big favour: Read (and understand) the f... manual. Thank you! In the first section you will find all neccessary information to hook up Dark Energy into your setup. Next to this you will find a brief overview of it‘s functionality. Synthesizer experts may use this as a quickstart guide. Nevertheless you should not miss the complete description of the entire functionality in the next chapter – Dark Energy hides some interesting features. Next to this, you will find useful soundsetting examples. If...

  • Page 5: Preparations

    Introduction Dark EnerGy DOEPFER 1.2. Preparations When you first put Dark Energy out of the box, please check if everything is complete. You will find the following components in the box: • Dark Energy Synthesizer • Power adapter 12-15V AC/min. 400mA • Instrument cabel with 3,5mm and 1/4“ plugs • USB cabel (A-B type) • Two A-100 patch cabels • This owners manual You will also need: • A suitable audiosystem (mixer, amplifier, speaker or keyboard amp) To run Dark Energy via MIDI-DIN socket you will also need: • A MIDI cable to connect suitable a MIDI controlling device / keyboard / computer and Dark Energy. • A MIDI-keyboard and / or computer with suitable MIDI sequencer application To run Dark Energy via CV/Gate connections you will also need: • At least two 3,5 mm plug patch cabels and a suitable sequencer (e.g. the Doepfer sequencer module A-155) or a CV/Gate keyboard (e.g. the Doepfer model A-100). Setup: Use Dark Energy in a lying or stand up position. Please use a suitable support. The wooden sidepanels can be dismantled in order to connect two or more units mechnically to one big device. More information on this can be found later in this manual. Connections: To run Dark Energy, you do not need necessarily all it‘s built in sockets. For a basic setup, you will need just the ones shown in the picture below. Make use of the additional connection facilities and you will expand Dark Energy‘s sonic capabilities a lot. They will be described together with the corresponding modules later on in this manual. Computer...

  • Page 6: Check It Out

    Introduction Dark EnerGy DOEPFER • Power supply: Connect the included power adaptor to the 15V AC socket in the rear panel of Dark Energy. Importand: Only use this power adaptor or an equal one with exactly the same specs! A powersupply via USB is not possible since the internal analogue circuits of Dark Energy run with +/-12V. If two or more units run in parallel, each units needs it‘s own power supply with power adaptor. If there will be a demand, we may consider offering a bigger power adaptor with several connections. • USB: Connect Dark Energy‘s USB socket to your computer. Any configuration work or driver installation is not needed. • MIDI: To run Dark Energy in a conventional MIDI setup without USB, please connect Dark Energy‘s MIDI-in so- cket to the MIDI-out socket of your MIDI controller device (e.g. masterkeyboard, synthesizer, sequencer). The default setting of Dark Energy‘s MIDI channel is Channel 1. Changing this setting is described on page 19 in the chapter „USB/MIDI interface“. • Audio: Connect the Audio output socket on Dark Energy‘s frontpanel to the audio input of your mixer, amp, etc.
  • Page 7 Introduction Dark EnerGy DOEPFER As soon as the power adaptor is connected, Dark Energy is powered on. The LEDs in both LFO sections should now light up and toggle between red and green. The LED on the back panel should flash for approx. 2 seconds and light up permanently. First contact: Turn the volume control of your amp / mixer fully OFF, BEFORE powering it up. Turn up volume control of your mixer / amp slowly and play a note on your keyboard. You should now hear a static tone. Choose a comfortable volume. And now – Ladies and Gentlemen, have a warm welcome to Dark Energy! The currently generated sound depends on the setting of all knobs and switches. It will be most easy to create musically useful patches, if you start at this basic setting and „compose“ your sounds step by step from that point on. We will now take a brief look at Dark Energy‘s sound generation and sound manipulation modules. A detailed description of all functions follows later on. Now that you brought all knobs and switches into their basic settings, you will hear a simple and static tone. The oscillator generates a simple squarewave, that is audible at the audio output, yet without being manipu- lated in any way. Now move the VCO tune knob and the octave switch. You can control the tuning and the pitchrange of the tone. As soon as you crank up the FM knob, you will notice an „automatic“ change in tuning: LFO1 is selected as a modulation source and it‘s control voltage generates a periodic change in tuning, resp. VCO frequency. Now turn the LFO1 Freq. knob. You will hear a change in the modulation speed resp. LFO1 frequency. Now let‘s take a brief look at the filter section (VCF): Turn it‘s Frq. knob slowly counterclockwise. You will hear the sound becomming more and more „dull“ until it gets inaudible. Now turn the Freq. knob in 12 o‘clock position and crank up the XM knob slowly. You will hear a periodic modulation of the timbre, done by LFO2. Again, you can alter the modulation speed with the LFO2 Freq. knob. Play a couple of notes and change the settings of the envelope section. You wil notice a change in the loudness contour of the notes. If you switch the Source switches in the VCO and VCF section into the ADSR position (the knobs FM and XM have to be cranked up at least to 10 o‘clock position), the envelope will control not only loudness but also...

  • Page 8: Overview

    Dark EnerGy Overview DOEPFER 2. Overiew Dark Energy‘s architecture ties up with a classic monophonic modular synthesizer. It‘s signal paths are wired internally, thus Dark Energy is very compact and easy to use. The most importand modulation paths can be set via toggle switches, additional sockets deliver control voltages and allow the connection of external modulation sources. The internal MIDI/USB interface allows the easy use within a MIDI setup. Dark Energy can also be used as a MIDI to CV/Gate interface. triangle waveform based VCO 24 dB lowpass VCF - amplitude knob - tuning knob - cutoff knob (freq.) - AM (amplitude modulation) knob - range switch -1 / 0 / +1 octave...
  • Page 9 Overview Dark EnerGy DOEPFER DOEPFER DARK ENERGY ANALOG SYNTHESIZER Outputs 15V AC (Audio Out) 400mA Gate Learn Midi In power supply (12-15V AC, min. 400mA) CV outputs (for MIDI via USB) CV1: controlled by MIDI note messages, 1V/octave, 0...+5V (internally routed to the VCO frequency input) MIDI input CV2: controlled by MIDI pitchbend data (centered approx.

  • Page 10: Functionality

    Dark EnerGy Functionality DOEPFER 3. Functionality In this section, we will explore all of Dark Energy‘s modules and functions in detail. We will also have a close look on the modules interaction and finally the MIDI functionality. 3.1. Signalflow Envelope Gate Signal Generator (ADSR) Envelope Control Voltage Audio Audio Audio MIDI / CV Oscillator Amplifier Filter (VCO) Interface (VCA) (VCF) Audio MIDI In Output LFO Control Pitch Control Voltage...
  • Page 11 Functionality Dark EnerGy DOEPFER DOEPFER Dark Energy...

  • Page 12: The Modules

    Dark EnerGy Functionality DOEPFER 3.2. The Modules 3.2.1. VCO The VCO, or alternatively the external audio input, is the source of Dark Energy‘s „raw“ soundmaterial. The VCO provides the basic waveforms triangle, sawtooth and square with variable pulswidth. The module has modulation inputs for frequency (pitch) and pulswidth. The frequency range covers approx. 10 Hz to 12 kHz. The VCO provides the following controls: • Manual tuning knob This knob is used for sharp or flat finetuning of the pitch. An internal jumper selects the range between approx. +/- 1/2 octave or +/- 2,5 octaves. The default setting is +/- 1/2 octave. • Range switch -1 / 0 / +1 octave This switch selects the tuning range. • FM (frequency modulation) knob This knob is located in the pitch control input of the VCO. It adjusts the pitch modulati- on depth of a selected modulation source (LFO1 or envelope/ADSR). This knob uses an exponential characteristic to achive a higher resolution in the lower pitchrange. • FM Source switch This switch selects the frequency modulation source of the VCO. The choices are LFO1, envelope (ADSR) or no source (off). The ADSR generates an „one shot“ pitch contour, which is characteristic for e.g. certain drum- and percussion-sounds. LFO1 forms a periodic and continous modulation. Low LFO1 frequency settings will result in vibrati. If LFO1 runs in the audiorange (high), the VCO generates very noisy textures. • Manual Pulswidth knob This knob changes the pulswidth of the square signal. Altering the symetry of the waveform from square to sharp peaks changes it‘s harmonic content and thus the timbre of the signal. In center position, the VCO provides a rectangular (square) signal (a). Turning clockwise resp. counterclockwise first narrows the pulses until, at it‘s extre- me positions, the VCO stopps oscillating and no pulswave signal is audible. • PWM (Pulswidth modulation) knob Modulating the pulswidth provides very interesting textures. This knob is located in the pulswidth control input of the VCO.
  • Page 13 Functionality Dark EnerGy DOEPFER • PWM Source switch This switch chooses the source of the square wave‘s pulswidth modulation. The switch toggles between LFO2, envelope (ADSR) and no source (off). The ADSR generates an „one shot“ pulswidth modulation, LFO2 forms a periodic and continous modulation. Low LFO2 frequency settings will result in „wide“ and „lush“ textures which are very useful for huge pad sounds. If LFO2 runs in the audiorange (high), the VCO generates noisy textures that will differ sonically from FM-effects. • Waveform switch (saw / off / triangle) Next to the squarewave, the VCO generates a triangle- and sawwave. The sum of the squarewave sig- nal and the waveform, selected with the waveform switch, is fed into the input of the filter. To disable the squarewave, move the PW-knob in fully clockwise or fully counterclockwise position and shut off PWM by turning the PWM knob into fully counterclockwise position. Now, only the saw- or triangle wave is audible, depending on the setting of the waveform switch. To disable the VCO completely, set the waveform switch into off-position, the PW knob into fully clockwise or counterclockwise position and the PWM knob into fully counterclockwise position. Use this setting, if you e.g. want to feed an external audiosignal into the filter of Dark Energy. • VCO F Input Usually, the VCOs internal pitch CV input is connected to the output CV1 of the built in MIDI/USB interface. This VCO-input uses the standard 1Volt/Octave scaling which is commen for most of all analogue synthesi- zers. This enables you to play Dark Energy just like any other keyboard instrument with temperated tuning resp. in half tone steps. You do not have to scale or tune anything. In case you want to use Dark Enery without MIDI, but connected to a CV/Gate sequencer or a Doepfer A-100 modular synthesizer, you will make use of Dark Energy‘s CV-inputs. The VCO F socket provides an external CV-input for the VCO frequency (tuning). As soon as you plug in a cable, the VCOs pitch is cont- rolled via this input. Please note that this socket is not normalised. This means that the connection between the MIDI/USB interface and the VCO is not disabled when a cable is plugged in. The external CV is added to the value, provided by the MIDI/USB interface. This is very useful to e.g. transpose a sequence, which is played by an A-155 stepsequencer, with the help of a MIDI/USB keyboard in realtime. Instead a CV/Gate sequencer or a keyboard, you may also use any other suitable CV or even audiosignals as modulation source. • VCO PW Input If you wish to control the pulswidth of the squarewave signal with an external CV, use this input socket. A...

  • Page 14: Vcf

    Dark EnerGy Functionality DOEPFER 3.2.2. VCF Filters are a very importand tool in every analogue synthesizer. Filters modify sounds by rejecting some frequencies while allowing others to pass through in order to manipulate the harmonic content of the sound. There are different types of filters; the most common and most musically useful filter type is the 24 dB ‘low- pass’, which is used in Dark Energy. According to this termination, a lowpass filter passes all frequencies below the so called „cutoff frequency“ and rejects frequencies above the cutoff. This point can be controlled by a knob or modulated by a control voltage in order to achieve dynamic timbres. Another importand filter term is ‘resonance’. The resonance function emphases the overtones (or harmo- nics) close to the cutoff frequency. The sound becomes more and more „sharper“. At a certain level, the filter starts to self oscillate and generates a waveform close to a sine wave. Dark Energy‘s VCF can also be driven into self oscillation in oder to use it as an additional signal source to provide certain, very popular sound effects. Resonance 0 db Frequency Thecutoff frequency of alowpass filter de- The resonance characteristics of a lowpass Resonance changes the lter characteristics pending on the control voltage filter The VCF provides the following controls: • Manual frequency knob (Freq.) This knob manually controls the cutoff frequency of the VCF. In other words you „open“ and „close“ the pass-through „window“ of the filter. At fully clockwise position, the filter is completely opened and the entire frequency range of the incomming signal is passed through. At fully counterclockwise position, the filter is closed so far, that all...
  • Page 15 Functionality Dark EnerGy DOEPFER • XM Source switch This switch selects the source for exponential modulation of the cutoff frequency. The switch toggles bet- ween LFO2, envelope (ADSR) and no source (off). Controlling the cutoff frequency with the ADSR is one of the most commen modulations, since it provides simulation of the typical characteristics of most acoustic instruments timbres from bright to dull. Of course Dark Energy‘s envelope generator provides much more ways to shape the timbre. LFO2 forms a periodic and continous modulation. Low frequencies provide vibrati in timbre. Using the LFOs high range, XM generates very noisy sounds that cannot be played tonally. This way of modulation is great for unique and interesting soundeffects. Feel free to experiment with the settings of cutoff frequency, LFO2 speed and XM knob. • LM knob This knob sets the modulation depth of the linear frequency modulation - a very special feature on analogue synthesizers. Modulation source is always the VCO trianglewave signal. In contrast to exponential FM, linear FM allows tonally playable sounds, as long as VCF cutoff and VCO signal run in certain frequency proportions. Highly interesting sounds can be achieved with the selfoscillating filter (high resonance set- tings). Feel free to experiment with cutoff frequency, resonance, VCO tuning and LM knob setting. Please note that even small parameter changes can result in drastic new timbres. • Resonance knob (Res) This knob sets the resonance intensity of the filter. This effect depends a lot on the cutoff setting and is most intense at Freq. knob settings between 1 and 5. At high resonance settings, the filter starts to self oscillate and generates a waveform close to a sine wave. It can be used as an additional signal source to provide certain popular sound effects, e.g. typical synthesizer percussion sounds when the cutoff is modu- lated with a suitable ADSR setting. • When the filter is self oscillating (high resonance) and the VCO is disabled (waveform switch in center po- sition and PW knob in fully clockwise or counterclockwise position), the filter runs as a sinewave oscillator and can be linear modulated by the VCO and exponential modulated by LFO2 at the same time! The VCO frequency can follow the filter cutoff. Very complex sounds are possible. • Tracking switch The tracking switch has the positions „half / off / full“. It determines, if or how much the filter cutoff depends on the played notes (resp. VCO pitch). When set to „full“, higher notes sound more and more brighter, lower notes more and more dull. This fits to the typical character of acoustic instruments. When set to „half“, this effect is weaker. If the filter is self oscillating and should be played tonally as an oscillator via MIDI key- board, this switch has to be set to „full“. So it recieves the same control voltage as the VCO. This setting is also useful when linear frequency modulation (LM) is used with the self oscillating filter. • VCF F Input To modulate the filter cutoff frequency with an external control voltage or an external audiosignal, please use this socket. This input also uses an (exponential) 1V/Oct scaling. So the self oscillating VCF can be...

  • Page 16: Vca

    Dark EnerGy Functionality DOEPFER When using an external audiosignal please note: To disable the VCO, put the waveform switch to „off“ (center position), move the PW-knob in fully clockwise or counterclockwise position and shut off PWM by turning the PWM knob into fully counterclockwise position. To make a connected audiosignal audible, Dark Energy‘s VCA has to be opened. Crank up the VCA knob and / or play a note on your keyboard, which will open up the VCA via gate signal and ADSR control voltage. Of course you can use the external input and the VCO in parallel. So you may add a second VCO (e.g. Doepfer A-110, controlled by the CV1 socket) or a noise generator (e.g. Doepfer A-117 or A-118) as an additional soundsource. 3.2.3. VCA The VCA provides dynamic control over a third importand parameter – the loudness. A VCA is a voltage controlled amplifier. Dark Energy‘s VCA is somewhat special: It‘s characteristics are exponential from...

  • Page 17: Adsr

    Functionality Dark EnerGy DOEPFER Up to this point we studied modules that generate or process the audiosignal itself. The following modules generate control voltages in order to modulate the soundforming parameters of VCO, VCF and VCA in a dynamic way. 3.2.4. ADSR Release Attack Decay Dark Energy‘s envelope generator (or „ADSR“) forms a se- Time Time Time ca. +8 V quence of four control voltages, everytime a key on a connected keyboard is pressed and Dark Energy generates or receives a MIDI note-on command or a gate signal. The envelopes control Sustain voltages are used to give the sound a dynamic shape.

  • Page 18: Lfo1 And Lfo2

    Dark EnerGy Functionality DOEPFER 3.2.5. LFO1 and LFO2 A Low Frequency Oscillator produces a pulsating signal, mostly in the subaudio range, which can be used to generate periodic changes of several soundparameters. Dark Energy provides two identical LFOs. The LFOs provide the following controls: • Frequency knob This knob controls the LFO frequency resp. modulation speed. • LFO range switch This switch provides three different ranges for the LFO frequency: „Low“ (periods of up to a minute) / „Audio“ (above 5 kHz) / „Medium“ (usual LFO range – several seconds up to some 10th Hertz). Since Dark Energy‘s LFOs produce frequencies up to the audiorange, they can be used to generate FM-effects with VCO-pitch, VCO-pulswidth and VCF-frequency as well as AM-effects (VCA). Use this feature to create interesting and noisy soundeffects. • Dual coloured LED (yellow/red) show positive and negative waveform halfs. Abo- ve frequencies of approx. 30 Hz, the LEDs seem to light orange. • Waveform switch This switch selects the waveform of the LFO signal (triangle / off / square) or shuts the LFO off. Triangle suits soft modulations, square generates „jumps“. • LFO1 Output socket The inverted output signal of LFO1 is provided at this socket. You may use it for additional modulation paths. Internal jumpers provide the non-inverted signal of LFO1 or the ADSR control voltage at this socket. You may configure this jumper to your needs, but please keep in mind that opening Dark Energy‘s casing needs some basic skills in handiwork. If you cannot cope with this, please feel free to contact Doepfer anytime. You will find some more information in the section 3.5. „Modifications“ on page 25.

  • Page 19: Usb/Midi Interface

    Functionality Dark EnerGy DOEPFER 3.3. USB/MIDI Interface 3.3.1. Connection / MIDI channel Quite likely, you want to play your Dark Energy via MIDI – there are two easy ways to do so: • MIDI via USB or • the „classic“ MIDI-connection via DIN socket. • USB: To hook up Dark Energy in your MIDI-setup via USB, simply connect the included USB cable to Dark Energy and to a free USB port on your Mac or Windows PC. Mac OSX, Windows XP (SP2 or higher) and Windows Vista provide the necessary drivers and Dark Energy will be mounted as soon as it is connected. You will find a new MIDI port in your MIDI application, named „USB audio device“ (Windows XP) or „Dark Energy“ (OSX, Windows Vista) and you are ready to go. If this message is missing or an error message is shown, e.g. „USB device not found“, the necessary driver is most likely not installed or not working properly on this computer. In this case, Dark Energy‘s USB port unfortunately cannot be used on this specific computer. We apologize for not being able to support this pro- blem, since there will be multiple causes, very specific and depending on the computer. Of course you can run Dark Energy in such a case via the MIDI DIN-connection without any problem. The same goes if you use an older Windows or Mac System that does not provide the necessary drivers. • DIN socket: You may connect Dark Energy alternatively via MIDI cable to a MIDI interface, a MIDI key- board or a MIDI hardware sequencer.Simply connect the MIDI output of your MIDI device to Dark Energy‘s MIDI port. Please do not use USB and DIN connections in parallel. • MIDI channel selection (Learn button): In order to enable Dark Energy to receive incomming MIDI data, the MIDI channel of both the MIDI device and Dark Energy have to be identical. You may select Dark Energy‘s MIDI channel like this: – Select the desired MIDI channel on your MIDI device / software application. Please refer to their user manuals. – Press the Learn button on the back of Dark Energy and keep it pressed down for at least one second.

  • Page 20: Midi To Cv Interface

    Dark EnerGy Functionality DOEPFER 3.3.2. MIDI to CV/Gate interface Since Dark Energy‘s soundgeneration works entirely real analogue and real analogue control voltages and gate signals are used internally, the unit features a complete USB/MIDI to CV/Gate interface. This integrated USB/MIDI to CV/Gate interface generates not only a pitch control voltage and a gate signal to trigger the envelope, it also provides several control voltages derived from incoming MIDI velocity and MIDI controller data. The MIDI to CV interface also features a simple but useful arpeggiator and a so called reference tone. You have met the reference tone before to select the MIDI channel – it is the MIDI note, that sets Dark Energy‘s pitch CV1 to 0 Volts and thus becomes the lowest note of Dark Energy‘s note range. All CVs and gate signals are provided via sockets on the backpanel of Dark Energy. Use patch cords to connect them with the module inputs on Dark Energy‘s frontpanel. So you can control the most importand soundparameters dynamically via MIDI velocity and a MIDI controller.

  • Page 21: Learn-Mode / Midi-Functions

    Functionality Dark EnerGy DOEPFER 3.3.3. Learn Mode / MIDI Functions In learn mode you decide, how Dark Energy processes incomming MIDI data. Next to this, you control the settings of the internal arpeggiator and set the reference tone, which determines the lowest note in Dark Energy‘s note range. You may access each function via MIDI program changes. The table below lists all functions. The notes (1) to (10) explain all functions in detail. Count Count Note Function MIDI-Message Short Explanation 1-128 0-127 MIDI-Channel/Reference Note on note (CV1=0V) CV3 Velocity off Program Change CV3=Volume CV3 Velocity on Program Change...
  • Page 22 (6) CV1 Key Assign Mode (Note Priority) These program change messages adjust the type of assign modes for CV1. If highest note is selected the highest key pressed on the MIDI keyboard is used to calculated CV1 if more than one key is pressed down. In the last note mode always the last note (chronological) is taken for CV1. Reference note means that only the reference note is accepted. This feature is useful if you want to trigger different devices on the same MIDI channel using two or more Dark Energy. In this case you have to set the reference notes for Dark Energy‘s to different values. Stack note means that Dark Energy is filtering out the note event that is used by Dark Energy to generate CV1. The note event in question is not transmitted to the (internal) MIDI Thru output of the interface. Stack mode is used to control more than one synthesizers on one MIDI channel and enables polyphonic control of different synthesizers on the same MIDI channel. Please note that using this mode needs the internal Link-interface of Dark Energy. It is only accessable via an internal hardware modification. please refer to page 25 for further infos. (7) Arpeggiator Dark Energy offers an internal arpeggiator. An arpeggiator splits the notes of a played chord into a suc- cessive pattern of single notes. In music, the split of chords into a pattern of successive notes is in general named „arpeggio“. Dark Energy‘s Arpeggiator uses the following parameters: • Tempo of the arpeggio can be determined by Dark Energy itself or synced to an external MIDI device. • Direction is defined like this: The notes are played back in the same order, they have been played on the keyboard.
  • Page 23 Functionality Dark EnerGy DOEPFER • Playback Mode: On/off: Enables the arpeggiator. Set to on, a key has to be pressed down to become part of the arpeggio. As soon as a key is released, the note is deleted from the arpeggio pattern. In other words: Only pressed down keys are played back as arpeggio. • Hold: In opposite to the „On“ mode, notes are still played back, after the corresponding key has been released. The notes are deleted from the pattern, as soon as they are played a second time. You can picture this function as a „toggle switch“. • Overwrite: Again, the notes are played back in the same order, they have been played on the keyboard. After the sixth note (maximum capacity) has been reached, the arpeggio starts all over again. This mode „collects“ played keys, selective deleting of notes is not possible. If the arpeggiator is stopped, the whole pattern will be deleted. (8) Arpeggiator Sync – intern Dark Energy‘s arpeggiator generates it‘s own clock signal. The tempo can be controlled via MIDI Modwheel data. Since a modwheel can be found on almost every MIDI keyboard, it is a useful controller to set the arpeggiators tempo in realtime (see below). (9) Arpeggiator Sync – extern (MIDI clock) The arpeggiator receives tempodata from an external device via USB/MIDI input. It processes the so called MIDI realtime events: MIDI Start, Stop, Continue, Clock. Please note: The arpeggiator will only run, when...

  • Page 24: Reset

    Energy corresponds from now on to these controller no. The controller message must be sent on Dark Energy‘s MIDI channel (see section „MIDI channel / Learn mode“ on page 17). Controller 0 and 32 (Bank Change) will be ignored and cannot be „learned“. Whenever Dark Energy receives one of the MIDI messages listed in the table above, the parameter in question is changed and Dark Energy returnes to the normal play mode, i.e. the LED stops flashing. Pay attention that not unintentional MIDI messages appear while beeing in the learn mode (e.g. from a sequen- cer) as you change the settings of Dark Energy with such MIDI messages. All parameter changes made while beeing in the learn mode are stored non volatile in Dark Energy parameter memory. When Dark Energy is turned on next time the parameter settings are taken from this memory. 3.3.4. Resetting Dark Energy To obtain the factory settings for all parameters one has to reset the device. This might be useful if you e.g. do not remember the last parameter settings (e.g. MIDI channel, reference note, controller # for CV4, key assign mode) or if they are misadjusted. If your Dark Energy seems to behave strange and you do not know how to solve the problem resetting the device may help as the values of all parameters are known after the reset. To reset the device press down and hold the learn button while the power supply is plugged in. The LED will turn on and one has to keep down the button a few seconds until the LED starts to flash. Pressing the button again leads to the normal operation mode and the LED will turn off. After the reset Dark Energy‘s parameters are set to these default values: - MIDI channel 1 - Reference note 36 (i.e. the lowest „C“ on a standard 5-octave keyboard)

  • Page 25: Dark Energys

    The use of these internal link-connectors needs some hardware modifications, that are described in an additional technical documentation of Dark Energy. Please download this documentation from our website here: www.doepfer.de -> Products -> Dark Energy -> Additional technical documentation Importand: Please do not tinker around with your Dark Energy without having read and fully under- stood this additional technical documentation! Otherwise you may damage your instrument, loose your warranty, risk your health etc. 3.5. Modifications Dark Energy provides several hardware modifications to customize the unit to your specific needs. Besides...

  • Page 26: Basics Of Soundgeneration

    Dark EnerGy Basics of Soundgeneration DOEPFER 4. Basics of Soundgeneration In case analogue synthesizers or synthesizers in general are new to you, please read this section. You may learn some basics about analogue / subtractive soundsynthesis that will help you to fully understand Dark Energy’s little secrets. Sound is, very generally spoken, a change of air pressure. If these chang- One Cycle ein Schwingungsdurchgang es happen continously and with a certain frequency, they can become an audible noise or tone. Frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz). The human ear percepts frequencies approx. between 20 Hz and 20.000 Hz. The frequency of an audible signal determintes it’s musical pitch. Time Zeit Schwingungen Cycles Frequency in Hertz (Hz) = Frequenz in Hertz (HZ) = Seconds Sekunde Another basic parameter that is percepted by our ears is loudness resp.
  • Page 27 Basics of Soundgeneration Dark EnerGy DOEPFER The symmetrical pulsewave (or “squarewave”, pulsewidth = 100% 50 %) contains odd harmonics only (see Fig.). An unsymmetrical pulsewave (often simply called “pulsewave”) contains all harmon- ics with their amplitudes being dependant on the pulsewidth. The more the pulsewidth differs from the symmetrical 50 %, the stronger the higher harmonics emboss the sound, i.e. its timbre becomes more “nasal”. Harmonics The width of a pulsewave can be modulated by a low frequency oscillator (LFO) or, less common, by an envelope generator. Then the overtone spectrum of the pulsewave continuously changes. The resulting sound is similar to a beat wave which is the result of two, nearly equally tuned oscillators. The modulation frequency f / 1 f / 1 must be very low (approx. 1 Hz or lower) since the oscillator seems detuned otherwise. 100% The triangle and sine waveforms have only a weakly pronounced harmonic structure resp. no harmonics at all (sine). The triangle waveform contains only the odd harmonics like the sawtooth but their amplitudes decreases by the power of two while with the sawtooth they are decreasing linearely in their numerical order and therefore much slower.
  • Page 28 Dark EnerGy Basics of Soundgeneration DOEPFER frequency. For the given example this would result in: 1000 Hz, 1400 Hz, 11800 Hz, 200 Hz, etc... Strictly speaking this only applies to pure sine wave frequeny modulation, i.e. if both, VCO and LFO, are sine wave oscillators. With other wave forms additional (non-)harmonics will be added. Unhar- monic sounds, similar to frequency modulation, are also produced by pulse width modulation with high frequencies. In practice this priciple is used for creating extreme, unharmonic sounds. The de- gree of being unharmonic depends on the strength (amplitude) of LFO modulation as well as on the frequency ratio of VCO and LFO. “Practice is better than theory” applies here. You should try various settings for LFO frequency and LFO amplitude. Most probably the resulting wave forms are not suited for sweet, “beautiful” sounds but can be used for extreme, “vigorous” sounds instead. Filters With subtractive sound synthesis the further processing of the tonal “raw material” (VCO signal) will be done by a voltage controlled filter (VCF) first which is usually followed by a voltage controlled amplifier (VCA). There are different types or characteristics of filters. The basic types are lowpass, bandpass and highpass while the types notch and allpass are less common. The filter types differ in how they feed the frequency through resp. which frequency ranges are rejected. A lowpass passes all fre- quencies that are below the cutoff frequency and cuts off all frequencies above. The highpass works just the opposite way since it passes all frequencies that are above the cutoff frequency and cuts off all frequencies below. A bandpass passes all frequencies within a certain range (band) and Charakteristics of a lowpass filter rejects all frequencies outside this range. A notch cuts out a certain frequency range (inverse function of the bandpass). An allpass passes all frequencies but it performs a phaseshift dependant on the frequency. For musi- cal purposes the lowpass is by far the most efficient filtertype, thus it is used in Dark Energy. Next to the filtertype, another important parameter of a filter is slope which is measured in dB/Oc- tave. It describes how steep the transition from passing to recection occurs. The “ideal” filter would have an infinite slope, i.e. the transition occurs immediately (e.g. 999 Hz would pass totally while 1000 Hz would be supressed totally). In reality this transition is not a jump but a gliding, depending...
  • Page 29 Basics of Soundgeneration Dark EnerGy DOEPFER There are several ways to control the filter’s cutoff frequency. First, it can be adjusted manually with the Freq. knob. Furthermore the ADSR as well as LFO 2 can influence the cutoff frequency with any intensity. The intensity is set by the XM knob. Additionally, the filter is controllable via MIDI, i.e. its cutoff frequency can be controlled by any MIDI controller and / or by the velocity data of the incoming MIDI notes. Finally, using a switch, you can determine whether the VCF cutoff frequency tracks the VCO frequency fully, half or not at all (keyboard tracking, keyboard follow). Filter resonance can be adjusted until self oscillation of the filter occurs. Similar applies to the VCO-LFO (LFO 1) with regard to the LFO for the filter (LFO 2). LFO 2 can also produce frequencies up to the audio range. The tonal results of VCF frequency modulation with audio frequencies are similar to those of the VCO. You can create typical FM metallic sounds especially with high frequencies whether you use tonal base material (VCO / external audio signal) or not. You can even create voice-similar sounds when setting the VCF to the appropriate setting and using slowly pro- gressing ADSR envelopes. The sound will become realy extreme, if you use frequency modulation with au- dio frequencies for both VCF and VCO. The tonal results are nearly unpredictable. There is only one way: try it out; very often the results are totally surprising. Very unusual in analogue synthesizers but musically useful is the linear frequency modulation, featured by Dark Energy. Here the VCFs cutoff frequency is modulated in a linear matter by the triangle wave of the VCO. Intensity is set by the LM knob. This feature is very useful for FM sounds with the filter working as a sinewave oscillator (self oscillating) that keep their harmonic content while the sound is e.g. played by a sequencer, keyboard or USB/MIDI interface. Amplifiers The voltage controplled amplifier (VCA) emphases the sound between the factor 0 and 1, depending on a control voltage, usually provided by the envelope generator and/or the LFO. The VCA controls the loudness contour of the sound, resp. their articulation, to use a musical term. The above described components VCO, VCF and VCA generate resp. process the audiosignal itself. Next to this, we already mentioned components that do not generate any audible signals, but provide control voltages to modulate the parameters of the soundprocessing modules. These are the envelope generator (or ADSR) and the Low Frequency Generator (LFO).
  • Page 30 Dark EnerGy Basics of Soundgeneration DOEPFER Low Frequency Oscillators An LFO is a Low Frequency Oscillator which generates frequent control voltages over a wide range. It can provide several waveforms. Both LFOs of Dark Energy provide triangle and square waveforms. The latter can be used for “jumps” in modulation while the triangle wave creates continous modulations. The LFOs can be used as modulations sources for all of Dark Energy’s importand sound parameters. Interaction The following figure shows the interaction of all the above mentioned components. It shows the audiosignal path (darker coloured) with oscillator (“raw sound”, pitch), filter (timbre) and amplifier (loudness). Next to these modules you see the modulating or controlling elements (envelope generator, LFO) which provide the necessary control voltages to control the parameters of the aforementioned components. Envelope- Gate Signal Generator (ADSR) Envelope Control Voltage Audio Audio Audio Keyboard /...

  • Page 31: Example Sounds

    Example Sounds Dark EnerGy DOEPFER 5. Example Sounds This section shows some example sounds of Dark Energy with a short description of the parameter settings. You may try out and modify these examples in order to get familiar with Dark Energy‘s sonic capabilities. Have fun! 1. Start Up The first example shows a very typical and simple synthesizer sound. It is musically useful and a good star- ting point for your own creations. The VCO provides a mix of saw- and squarewave signals. The last-named gets a slight pulswidth modu- lation by LFO2 in order to make the sound richer. The evelope generator controlls both VCF and VCA i.e. timbre and loudness of the sound. If you connect the CV4 socket in the backside with the VCF F input, you may additionally controll the filter cutoff with the modwheel of your MIDI keyboard. DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Attack Tune Frequ. Track Octave half medium down full Decay Source Source Source...
  • Page 32 Dark EnerGy Example Sounds DOEPFER 2. Basic Bass The second example is a simple and useful bass sound. Again, the VCO provides a mix of saw- and squarewave signals. The last-named gets a slight pulswidth modulation by LFO2 in order to make the sound richer. Experiment with the parameter settings, especially with VCF Freq and resonance as well as with the ADSR parameters. With very short decay values and low cutoff settings, slight but clearly audible pops may occur. This is nor- mal. If not desired, simply increase these values a bit. If you connect the CV4 socket in the backside with the VCF F input, you may additionally controll the filter cutoff with the modwheel of your MIDI keyboard. Raise filter cutoff and resonance and crank up the LFM knob (linear FM) slowly to maximum. The sound becomes sharper. Experiment with the filter settings and the range switch of the oscillator. DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Tune Attack Frequ. Track Octave half medium down full Decay Source Source Source LFO1 LFO2 LFO1...
  • Page 33 Example Sounds Dark EnerGy DOEPFER 3. Energy Pad A simple but classic pad sound. If you record and overdub several voices with slightly different settings, you will get very rich pads. A slow envelope controls both loundness (AM) and filter cutoff frequency (VCF XM). The VCO provides a mix of saw- and squarewave signals. The last-named gets a slight pulswidth modulation by LFO2 in order to make the sound richer. Different ADSR and VCF settings can change the sound into a brassy-like cha- racter. If you connect the CV4 socket in the backside with the VCF F input, you may additionally controll the filter cutoff with the modwheel of your MIDI keyboard. DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Tune Attack Frequ. Track Octave half medium down full Decay Source Source Source LFO1 LFO2 LFO1 ADSR ADSR...
  • Page 34 Dark EnerGy Example Sounds DOEPFER 4. Metallic Lacquer Now Dark Energy goes for some metallic percussion sounds. They feature frequency modulation in the audiorange. As you already know, this fits best for inharmonic and noisy timbres. This sound is partly tonal playable. The filters resonance is fully cranked up, i.e. the filter runs as an oscillator. It‘s frequency / pitch is controlled by the LM knob. The modulation source is the VCO, which itself is modulated by LFO1 in the audiorange. This corresponds to a 3-operator-FM. The frequency values of VCF, VCO and LFO1 as well as the modula- tion depths (VCF-LM and VCO-FM) have to be adjusted very carefully to make the sound tonally playable at least over a range of two octaves. The modwheel (CV4 to VCO F or VCF F) provides wild noise effects. DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Tune Frequ. Attack Track Octave half medium down full Decay Source Source Source LFO1 LFO2 LFO1 ADSR...
  • Page 35 Example Sounds Dark EnerGy DOEPFER 5. R2D2 On Acid Here, Dark Energy‘s LFOs generate some kind of mini-sequence. The oscillator generates only the puls- wave (pulswidth = 0), which is heavily modulated by LFO2s squarewave. The modulation depht exceeds its maximum and the sound gets dropouts within the speed of LFO2. In addition, LFO2 modulates the filter and generates jumps in timbre. LFO1 modulates the VCOs pitch in a way, that it‘s squarewave performs octa- ve jumps (adjust VCO-FM carefully). The modulation speeds of both LFOs is adjusted in a way, that they generate a simple rhythmic pattern. The cranked up VCA knob provides a static output level, the ADSR is not in use. Connect the LFO1 output to the VCF F input and listen how the sound changes. Play with the filter parameters. DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Tune Frequ. Attack Track Octave half medium down full Decay Source Source Source LFO1...
  • Page 36 Dark EnerGy Example Sounds DOEPFER 6. Almost Sync This example sound does a good job as a bass or – in higher ranges – as a powerful keyboard/lead sound. The pulswidth of the squarewave is modulated in the audiorange by LFO2. Result is a sound, that slightly reminds of the classic „oscillator sync“ effect. Filter and VCA are controlled in the usual way by the envelo- pe with a percussive setting. Importand for the sonic characteristics are the settings of all filter parameters, LFO2 frequency and the modulation depth of the pulswidth PM. If you use the trianglewave instead of saw as a second VCO signal, the sound becomes much softer. If you connect the CV4 socket in the backside with the VCF F input, you may additionally controll the filter cutoff with the modwheel of your MIDI keyboard. DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Tune Frequ. Attack Track Octave half medium down full Decay Source Source Source LFO1 LFO2 LFO1 ADSR ADSR...
  • Page 37 Example Sounds Dark EnerGy DOEPFER 7. Perco Bass A modified version of the sound above can be found here. The envelope has a very short and percussive setting, the high resonance value increases the percussive character even more. If you use the ADSRs „hi“ range, the envelope parameters can be cranked up a bit more. The envelope setting keeps it‘s percussive character but unwanted „pops“ will be avoided. Pulswidth modulation (PM) and a bit of linear frequency modulation of the filter cutoff (XM) with LFO2 add an interesting timbre. If you connect the CV4 socket in the backside with the VCF F input, you may additionally controll the filter cutoff with the modwheel of your MIDI keyboard. DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Tune Frequ. Attack Track Octave half medium down full Decay Source Source Source LFO1 LFO2 LFO1 ADSR ADSR...
  • Page 38 Dark EnerGy Example Sounds DOEPFER 8. Popcorn This admittedly very simple sound is a classic. It shows again the „abuse“ of the filter as an oscillator: Resonance is fully cranked up, i.e. the filter oscil- lates. The „full“ position of the VCF-tracking switch provides tonal scaling of the VCF and thus playing the filter in halftones over your keyboard. The VCO itself is not in use. The very short envelope only uses a simple AD setting. If you modulate the filter cutoff (crank up slowly XM and/or LM), the sound looses it‘s tonal qualities and you get some very typical synthie percussion sounds. DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Tune Frequ. Attack Track Octave...
  • Page 39 Example Sounds Dark EnerGy DOEPFER 9. Disco Drum Let‘s stay a bit in the 70th sound asthetics and dial in a drum synthie on your Dark Energy. Depending on the cutoff setting, Dark Energy produces a typical „piuuh“ or a soft bassdrum. The envelope modulates the VCO pitch (FM) and the filter cutoff (XM). A bit of linear filter modulation adds some noisy tonecolour. Filter tracking is disabled since this sound does not need to be played in halftones. The decay parameter of the envelope influences also the sound. Again, use the modwheel via CV4 socket. DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Tune Frequ. Attack Track Octave half medium down full Decay Source Source Source LFO1 LFO2 LFO1 ADSR ADSR ADSR LFO1 Frequ.
  • Page 40 Dark EnerGy Example Sounds DOEPFER 10. Bright Energy This sound fits perfect to a step sequencer and makes a good job in „modern electronic dance music“. Most effective sound parameters are all filtersettings (Freq., XM and Reso) as well as the decay parameter of the envelope. Careful adjustment of these parameters provides a number of typical sounds. Here, puls- width of the VCO squarewave is modulated by the envelope. The effect is quite subtil but adds some cha- racter to the sound. The AM knob is fully cranked up. This adds some slight saturation to the output signal and makes the sound a bit „phatter“. Again, use the modwheel via CV4 socket. DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Tune Attack Frequ. Track Octave half medium down full Decay Source Source Source LFO1 LFO2 LFO1 ADSR ADSR ADSR LFO1 Frequ.
  • Page 41 Example Sounds Dark EnerGy DOEPFER 11. Processing external audiosignals You may use the input socket „external audio“ to process audiosignals of other soundsources within Dark Energy. Connect e.g. a drumcomputer or an output of your soundcard to Dark Energy‘s external audio input. Start e.g. a drumloop. The signal runs through Dark Energy‘s filter and is, depending on the Freq.-knob setting, changed in timbre. Since the VCA knob is cranked up, the VCA is open without getting a control voltage from the envelope resp. you do not have to play a note on your keyboard. Use linear frequency modulation of the filter cutoff (LM) to change timbre and add noise to the drumloop. If you play a note on your keyboard, the envelope opens the VCF and VCA and the loop gets a contour. Loudness can be controlled with the VCA knob. Program notes in your MIDI sequencer „in parallel“ to the drumloop or play precise enough on your keyboard to achieve rhythmic effects in sync with the loop. Instead of the envelope, you can also use Dark Energy‘s LFOs as modulation sources. The squarewaves provide interesting gate-effects, however perfect syncing the effect to the tempo of the external source is not possible. So this works well for non-rhythmical sounds. Of course you may use an external soundsource together with Dark Energy‘s internal VCO. A second ex- ternal VCO (e.g. Doepfer A-117 or A-118 controlled by CV1 of Dark Energy‘s USB/MIDI-CV interface) or a noise generator (e.g. Doepfer A-183-1) can also be used. These additional modules can easily mounted in e.g. a Doepfer A-100 mini-case. DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Tune Attack Frequ. Track Octave half medium down...
  • Page 42 Dark EnerGy Example Sounds DOEPFER Archieve your own sounds Congratulations – you did a good job, you read and understood the entire manual, explored all functions of Dark Energy, checked out example sounds and learned a bit about the basics of soundgeneration. Now you are ready to go and explore Dark Energy further. Now you should be able to let your creativity flow freely and to create your own accurate sounds without any problem. Experiment – there‘s still a lot to explore. If you found a soundsetting you wish to „save“, please use the figure below. Copy this page and draw in the settings of the knobs and switches as well as the patchcords. Soundname: Category: Note: DOEPFER DARK ENERGY Envelope ADSR Range Tune Frequ. Attack Track Octave half medium down full Decay Source Source Source LFO1 LFO2 LFO1 ADSR ADSR ADSR LFO1 Frequ.

  • Page 43: Warranty

    D-82166 Gräfelfing / Deutschland EG Conformity Für das als Doepfer Musikelektronik GmbH „Dark Energy“ bezeichnete Produkt wird hiermit bestätigt, dass es den Schutzanforderungen entspricht, die in der Richtlinie 89/336/FWG des Rates zur Angleichung der Rechtsvorschriften der Mitgliedsstatten über die elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit festgelegt sind. Es entspricht außerdem den Vorschriften des Gesetzes über die elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit von Geräten (EMVG) vom 30.
  • Page 44 Dark Energy doepfer Musikelektronik gmbh...

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