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Abstrakt Instruments Avalon Reference Manual

Analog bassline synthesizer
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Summary of Contents for Abstrakt Instruments Avalon

  • Page 2 Abstrakt Instruments LLC. All other product and company names used in this manual are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
  • Page 3 9. Care should be taken so that objects do not fall and liquids are not spilled into the enclosure through openings. 10. When transporting the unit, use accessories recommended by the manufacturer or the original box and padding. 11. Abstrakt Instruments is not responsible for any damage caused by improper operation of the instrument. WARNING To reduce the risk of fire, electrical shock or product damage: ...
  • Page 4 This product has been tested to comply with the Low Voltage Directive 2006/95/EC and the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive 2004/108/EC. The product meets the requirements of RoHS 2 Directive 2011/65/EU. This symbol indicates that your product must be disposed of properly according to local laws and regulations. AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    5.6.1 ARP ON/OFF................23 4.1 PRIMARY MODES................13 5.6.2 NOTE ENTRY ................23 4.1.1 CHANGING PRIMARY MODES ..........13 5.6.2.1 VIA AVALON KEYBOARD........... 23 4.1.1.1 BETWEEN PATTERN MODES ........13 5.6.2.2 VIA EXTERNAL MIDI ............ 23 4.1.1.2 BETWEEN TRACK MODES.......... 13 5.6.3 ARP MODE ..................
  • Page 6 10.1 ENTER CONFIG MODE ..............32 APPENDIX B - FILTER & VCA BEHAVIOR..........39 10.1.1 SYNC INPUT ................32 APPENDIX C - AVALON VS. TB-303 SEQUENCER......... 43 10.1.1.1 MIDI SYNC IN BEHAVIOR ........32 APPENDIX D - MIDI IMPLEMENTATION........... 44...

  • Page 7: Introduction

    1.2.3 STEP BUTTONS Thank You for purchasing the Avalon Bassline Synthesizer! The Avalon is a powerful synth and sequencer designed to be equally at home in the studio or in live performance. Be sure to visit www.abstraktinstruments.com for the latest firmware and tutorials.

  • Page 8: Note, Tie, & Rest Buttons

    1.2.7 NOTE, TIE, & REST BUTTONS The note, tie and rest buttons are indicated by musical notation on the control surface of the Avalon. When used in this manual these buttons will be written NOTE, TIE and REST. NOTE =...

  • Page 9: Overview

    TRACK / PATT. BANK selects the current track or pattern bank. [10] TIME is used to enter TIME related parameters and for entering TIME ENTRY mode for step input. [21] MODE selects the sequencer primary mode. AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 10: Rear Panel

    (-2) octave. When the switch is pushed in (-2) octaves is selected. CV & GATE IN are 1/8" mono jacks used for controlling the Avalon keyboard CV and filter/amp envelope gating from external analog gear. 2.3 INITIAL CONNECTIONS CV & GATE OUT are 1/8" mono jacks that output sequencer AUDIO OUTPUTS pitch CV and gate.

  • Page 11: Analog Synth

    TB-303 which greatly expand the capabilities without being cumbersome or overwhelming. Together with the external filter cartridges from the Synth Cartridge System™ the Avalon is an extremely flexible mono synth with capabilities far beyond the TB-303 subset of sound and performance.

  • Page 12: Filter Envelope

    The original TB-303 does not allow the filter envelope modulation to offset is applied to the filter control input. See Appendix B for more be turned all the way off. The Avalon has an internal switch setting that details. allows the filter envelope depth to maintain the TB-303 behavior. See VCA DEPTH has been designed with a progressive voltage offset for Appendix A for details.

  • Page 13: Sequencer Overview

    1/16th note. Pattern steps relate directly to the (16) lighted STEP BUTTONS on the control surface. These buttons are a linear time representation of the pattern: AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 14: Pattern Overall Structure

    Below is a diagram of the overall pattern structure: 4.3 PATTERN SELECTION The Avalon has (112) internal patterns. Patterns are organized into (7) banks with (16) patterns within each bank. The (16) patterns of each bank are further organized into two groups of eight.

  • Page 15: What Is A Track

    4.6 TRACK SELECTION The Avalon has (7) internal tracks. Tracks are selected using the rotary switch and are denoted by the roman numerals I through VII. Tracks are made up of pattern within the pattern bank that corresponds to the track number.

  • Page 16: Pattern Write Mode

    Whenever the sequencer is stopped, or the Pattern Bank or Track is changed, the scratchpad RAM contents are stored to permanent memory. AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 17: Pattern Chaining

    5.2.3.1. Once viewing Changing the scale will not take effect until the pattern loops so the the desired section press [TIME] + STEP BUTTON of the desired last pattern stays in sync. step. AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 18: Shuffle

    To change the pattern direction press [FUNCTION] + [UP]/[DOWN] and select the desired option. Pendulum modes repeats the last step so that the pattern remains at the same time division. AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 19: Pitch Attributes

    This feature is implemented starting with v1.04 software ! The Avalon allows for a Filter CV Offset to be set for each step. This will open or close the filter by the offset value for the duration of the step.

  • Page 20: Gate Length

    De-activating steps will inherently change the 5.2.4.7 GATE LENGTH pattern length. The Avalon allows for (4) different gate lengths per step. Gate lengths For example, to set step 16 as an active step hold [TIME] [ACTIVE] are shown as a percentage of the step length.

  • Page 21: Pitch & Time Step Entry Modes

    (4x scale). The notation is a salute to the original TB- 303 control surface. Double click [PITCH] to enter pitch entry mode. The [PITCH LED] lights up and the Avalon is ready to accept note events in a step entry fashion. 5.4 RECORD MODE To enter note events (pitches) press the keys on the chromatic keyboard.

  • Page 22: Record Transpose

    Avalon MIDI CC#74 messages from an external device. The incoming MIDI data will be sampled and the value set for each step. Filter cutoff data (MIDI CC#74) is also received by the Avalon outside of RECORD MODE for traditional cutoff control (not a per-step parameter lock).

  • Page 23: Arpeggiator

    MIDI input channel is set (see section 10.1.2). The arpeggio initiate the dump. can be played across the entire range that the Avalon responds to (F#0 to D#5). The notes for the arpeggio must be held, they are not latched as they are when entering notes from the Avalon control surface.

  • Page 24: Pattern Play Mode

    Pattern Transpose settings in PATTERN PLAY MODE are saved. This is Patterns are selected using the PATTERN BUTTONS & GROUP A/B the only parameter that can be edited/saved in PATTERN PLAY MODE. BUTTONS as described in section 4.3. AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 25: Realtime Accent & Slide

    To mute modulation envelope triggers to prevent it from being triggered press [FUNCTION] + [PITCH] + [ENV]. 6.3.4 REALTIME MUTE Rests can be played realtime to override the pattern time data. This selectively mutes the pattern. This is done by pressing REST . AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 26: Track Write Mode

    BANK selector..and below indicates TRACK STEP 64: 7.3 NORMAL MODE 7.3.2 LAST TRACK STEP The last TRACK STEP is indicated by the [TIME LED] being lit solid when the NEXT BACK button is held down: AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 27: Track Clear, Copy & Paste

    TRACK press HOME to set the sequence to NORMAL MODE and reset BACK and NEXT buttons to proceed to the previous or next step. the track to TRACK STEP 1. Pressing HOME will always return the track to TRACK STEP 1. AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 28: Last Step

    7.3.4.7 SETTING D.S. AND This feature is not yet implemented as of v1.04 software ! The Avalon uses the musical notation D.C., D.S., and . The use of notation saves panel space and is a salute to the original TB-303 control surface.

  • Page 29: Realtime Mute

    [DUMP] to initiate the dump. When a SYSEX track dump is received over MIDI it is placed into the track copy buffer and must be pasted into a destination track location as described in section 7.3.3. AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 30: Track Play Mode

    Rests can be played realtime to override the pattern time data. This 8.3.1 TRACK STEP INDICATORS selectively mutes the pattern. This is done by pressing REST . The current track step can be viewed on the STEP BUTTON & BUTTON 1-4 LED's as described in section 7.3.1. AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 31: Midi Play

    9.2 SET MIDI INPUT CHANNEL Set the MIDI Input Channel as described in section 10.1.3. 9.3 DISABLE MIDI SYNC In order to play the Avalon as a MIDI sound module MIDI SYNC must be disabled as described in section 10.1.1. 9.4 MIDI RECEIVE PARAMETERS...

  • Page 32: Configuration Mode

    The minor version number is shown by a dim STEP BUTTON INDICATOR. If a MIDI start is received after the internal clock is started, the Avalon will automatically switch to MIDI sync, and then back to internal clock when MIDI stop is received without stopping the sequencer.

  • Page 33: Inputs & Outputs

    Avalon filter(s) from external gear. FILT CV is 1V/octave. The Avalon Filter CV input is non-standard due the nature of the TB- 303 compatibility. The resting voltage of the filter control input is 3.28V. See Appendix B for details.

  • Page 34: Specifications

    Feet: Filter/Amp Output  Weight: 5.2lbs (2.36kg) Control Inputs & Outputs  Gate/CV In  Gate/CV Out  Filter CV In  Accent Sweep Out   MIDI In & Out  DINSync In & Out AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 35: Tb-303 Settings

    TB- attributes. 303 subset of controls. To limit the Avalon sound capabilities to that of the TB-303 use the settings as shown above and described below: 13.2.1 PATTERN WRITE MODES 13.1.1 OSCILLATORS...
  • Page 36 AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 37: Appendix A - Calibration

    To access these switches the bottom cover of the synth needs to be removed. To remove it unscrew the (6) M3 metric screws. A Phillips #2 JIS (Japanese industrial standard) screwdriver should be used. AVALON - Reference Manual...
  • Page 38 SWITCH 3: ENV MOD maximum amount. This switch sets the maximum filter envelope modulation amount when the control is at the maximum setting. When enabled the maximum modulation depth is doubled versus the default setting.  OFF: TB-303 setting (*default)  ON: Extended amount AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 39: Appendix B - Filter & Vca Behavior

    1 FILTER CONTROL INPUT BEHAVIOR Because the Avalon filter control input is based on the TB-303, and the TB-303 is a battery powered 'single supply' instrument, the resting state of the filter control input is set to a positive voltage in order to allow for negative modulation. This value is 3.28V. Because of this, a control voltage input less than 3.28V will decrease the filter cutoff frequency and an input greater than 3.28V will increase the cutoff frequency.
  • Page 40 AVALON - Reference Manual...
  • Page 41 (-) modulation a positive offset is applied to the VCA control input. For example, when VCA Depth is set to a negative amount and the modulation envelope is not triggered, the VCA will remain open (drone). The plot below shows the behavior of (-) modulation for (4) settings of negative VCA DEPTH. AVALON - Reference Manual...
  • Page 42 VCA. When the switch is in the 'out' position the frequency response rolls off at 70Hz. When the switch is pushed to the 'in' position the frequency response extends down below 30Hz. AVALON - Reference Manual...

  • Page 43: Appendix C - Avalon Vs. Tb-303 Sequencer

    1 AVALON VS. TB-303 PATTERN STRUCTURE The pattern structure of the Avalon and TB-303 differs in the way that pitch & time data are stored. The Avalon saves pitch & time attributes together as a pattern step. The TB-303 has independent pitch and time steps for each pattern, they are not saved 1-to-1 as a pattern step.

  • Page 44: Appendix D - Midi Implementation

    2 STEP BUTTONS The Avalon has several pattern write modes as detailed in sections 5.2 - 5.5. All of these pattern write modes make use of the STEP BUTTONS. This is a major addition to the traditional TB-303 style step sequencer, as these button indicators are used for parameter entry and visual feedback. The STEP BUTTONS correspond 1-to-1 with the pattern steps.
  • Page 45 Manufacturer: ABSTRAKT INSTRUMENTS Model: AVALON Version:1.0 Date: JULY 7 2015 Transmit/Export Recognize/Import Remarks 1. Basic Information MIDI channels 1 -16 1 - 16 Channel settings can be set independently. Note Numbers 18-75 18-75 Valid note range F#0 to D#5. Other notes ignored.
  • Page 46 AVALON - Reference Manual...
  • Page 47 Abstrakt Instruments 1010 Ocean Dr Hermosa Beach CA 90254 © 2015 Abstrakt Instruments www.abstraktinstruments.com 00193-001 06-2015 AVALON - Reference Manual...

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