Alternate Volume Envelope - E-Mu Vintage Keys Operation Manual

PRACTICE PROGRAMMING
Percussion
Organ
String
Plucked
••• The generalized volume
envelope shapes of a few
types of sounds are shown
above.

ALTERNATE VOLUME ENVELOPE

Every sound you hear, be it a piano note, a drum, a bell or whatever,
has a characteristic volume curve or envelope, which grows louder or
softer in various ways during the course of the sound. The volume
envelope of a sound is one of the clues that our brain uses to deter-
mine what type of sound is being produced.
Every instrument in Vintage Keys has it's own volume envelope which
is used when the Alternate Envelope parameter is turned Off. By
turning the Alternate Envelope On, we can re-shape the instrument's
natural volume envelope any way we want. By reshaping the volume
envelope of a instrument, you can dramatically change the way the
sound is perceived. For example, by adjusting the envelope param-
eters, you can make "bowed" pianos or backwards gongs. The dia-
grams at the left show the volume envelopes of a few common
sounds.
In preparation for this experiment choose a fairly "normal" preset (like
an organ or piano) which continues to sustain when the key is held
down. Go to the Secondary Instrument screen and set it to "None".
Next go to the Alt. Volume Envelope screen and turn the Primary
Volume Envelope On.
Now move on to the next screen:
Increase the Attack time and play a note. The attack controls the time
it takes for the sound to reach full volume when a key is pressed and
held.
Now increase the Release time and note the effect as you release the
note. The Release time controls the time it takes for the sound to die
away when a note is released.
• Anatomy of an Envelope
When a key is pressed, the envelope generator starts increasing at the
Attack rate. When it reaches full level, it Holds at that level for the
Hold time. After the Hold time has elapsed, the envelope begins to
Decay back down at the specified Decay rate until it reaches the
Sustain Level. Note that all the other parameters are Times, but the
Sustain is a Level.
72 Vintage Keys Operation Manual
ALT VOL ENVELOPE
pri:On sec:Off
P: A H D S
00 00 10 99 10
R