Envelopes - Tone2 Rayblaster Reference Manual

4.3 Envelopes

There is one envelope in Rayblaster directly tied in to the relevant section it appears in,
which is the Amp Envelope in the global section, this envelope is used to control Volume
characteristics like volume Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release.
But Rayblaster also offers two auxilary envelopes called ENV1 & ENV2. These aux. Envs.
can be used to control various parameters by assigning them through the modulation
matrix.
Inside the Oscillator section you'll find two ENV1 send knobs; one for each of the two
oscillators. These ENV send knobs determine how much Envelope1 should affect the
Formant function.
What is an Envelope?
An envelope generator allows a synthesizer to mimic acoustic instruments' properties of
changing volume and timbre over time. Traditionally, an envelope generator produced a
control voltage that varied over time which could be used to automatically change the filter
cut off or amplifier volume.There are many different types of envelopes but the most common
one is known as an ADSR which is an acronym for Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release which
describes the four controls of the envelope.
Attack – Is a time value which states how long it takes for the envelope to go from zero to
maximum peak when a key is pressed.
Decay – is a time value which states how long it takes for the envelope to drop to the
sustain level.
Sustain – Is a level value which states the highest value while the key is being held down
after the Attack, Hold and Decay stages.
Release – Is a time value which states how long it takes for the the envelope to drop back
down to zero after the key has been released.