Alesis Fusion Tutorial page 27

ALESIS FUSION
The Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release phases are often abbreviated to ADSR.
When applied to an amplifier, we can see how it works:
The constant level output from the oscillators/filter is fed to the final amplifier, the output of
which is controlled exclusively by its envelope generator. When the envelope is triggered, it
opens allowing sound to pass through and the 'shape' of the sound at the output of the
amplifier is determined by the control shape of the envelope as set by the ADSR controls.
These four controls allow an astonishing number of permutations of envelope shapes to be
created and it is surprising how a sound can be transformed simply by trying different envelope
shapes - an aggressive bass can become a slow pad whilst a slow pad can be transformed into
a spiky arpeggiator sound. In fact, when wanting to make quick, radical changes to a sound,
the amplifier's envelope is always a good first port of call.... it is surprising how much this can
transform a sound.
Controllers
Attack Decay
L
E
V
E
L
Note-On
ANALOG SYNTHESIS TUTORIAL
Sustain Release
TIME
Note-Off
Page 27