Steinberg Studio Case VST Instruments Operation Manual

VST InstrumentsD’cota SE 6 – 111
ENGLISH
About the V-buttons
The Envelope generators and the LFOs have an extra V-button inside 
the corresponding buttons on the Controller strip. This allows you to 
assign parameters to be modulated by an Envelope or LFO according 
to velocity, e.g. how hard or soft you play. Here’s an example:
1.Click the V button for Envelope 2.
2.Assign positive modulation of the filter cutoff, as described above.
3.Play the instrument and vary the velocity (how hard you play).
Now,...

VST Instruments6 – 112 D’cota SE
Modulation example – adding vibrato using the mod wheel
The following example shows how to use two modulation assignments 
to have the modulation wheel control the vibrato, in standard fashion:
1.Click the “C” button to bring up the Controller strip.
2.Click the LFO1 button.
3.Click the Pitch parameter for Osc 1 and drag upwards so that the dial 
becomes partly orange.
As described on page 99, the Pitch parameter is the overall pitch for both oscillators.
Now you have...

VST InstrumentsD’cota SE 6 – 113
ENGLISH
Using external MIDI controllers
Apart from the extensive modulation capabilities available in D’cota 
SE, you can also use an external MIDI controller to adjust parameters. 
There are many dedicated controller units available on the market, and 
most MIDI keyboards feature knobs or sliders that could be assigned 
to a D’cota SE parameter for real-time control.
There are fixed MIDI controller numbers assigned to the available 
parameters:
1.Click the Steinberg logo...

VST Instruments6 – 114 D’cota SE
D’cota SE features two LFOs, each with identical parameters:
About the waveforms
The type of modulation the LFO produces is dependent on the selected 
waveform:
Parameter Value Description
Rate 0.01 - 700Hz 
or
1/32 - 4/1 (straight/
triplet/dotted)This governs the rate of the LFO. If MIDI 
Sync is activated, the available rate values 
are selectable as note values, e.g. beat in-
crements of the sequencer tempo in your 
host application.
Wave Sine/Triangle/Square/
Ramp...

VST InstrumentsD’cota SE 6 – 115
ENGLISH
About the Sync modes
The Sync modes determine how the LFO cycle affects the notes you 
play:
The Envelope section
Envelope generators govern how a parameter value will change when 
a key is pressed, when a key is held and finally when a key is released.
•D’cota SE features 2 independent Envelope generators for each Part.
•Standard synthesizer envelope generators have four parameters; 
Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release (ADSR). 
Sync mode Description
Part In this...

VST Instruments6 – 116 D’cota SE
•By default Envelope 1 is assigned to the master volume, and therefore 
acts as an amplitude envelope. The amplitude envelope is used to ad-
just how the volume of the sound should change from the time you 
press a key until the key is released.
If no amplitude envelope were assigned, there would be no output.
•You can set envelope parameters in two ways; either by using the 
dials or by click-dragging the curve in the Envelope curve display.
The Envelope parameters are...

VST InstrumentsD’cota SE 6 – 117
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Punch (P) button
When the P button is activated, the start of the decay phase is delayed 
a few milliseconds (the envelope “stays” at top level for a moment 
before moving on to the decay phase). The result is a “thicker” attack 
similar to a compressor effect. This effect is mainly audible with short 
attack and decay times.
Volume and Pan dials
Volume
This controls the master volume (amplitude) of the selected Part. By 
default this parameter is controlled by...

VST Instruments6 – 118 D’cota SE
The Effect section
D’cota SE features three separate effect units: Distortion, Delay and 
Phaser. The effects can be applied independently for each Part.
Effects – General
•To activate an effect, click on the corresponding button to the left of 
the effect button.
Clicking the button again deactivates the effect.
•To edit the effect parameters, click the effect button.
This brings up the control panel for the effect (and also activates the effect if it isn’t 
already on)....

VST InstrumentsD’cota SE 6 – 119
ENGLISH
Delay
This effect generates delay and echo effects. It has two separate delay 
lines panned left and right.
The parameters are as follows:
Phaser
This effect generates modulation effects. It uses an 8-pole allpass filter 
to produce the classic phasing effect.
The parameters are as follows:
Parameter Description
Feedback This controls the decay of the delays. With higher settings the echoes 
repeat longer.
Cutoff A lowpass filter is built into the feedback loop of...

VST Instruments6 – 120 D’cota SE
The keyboard
•The on-screen keyboard can be used to audition sounds by clicking 
on a key with the mouse. MIDI note messages are also mirrored by the 
keyboard. 
Notes played on the keyboard with the mouse will not be recorded.
•The Modulation wheel mirrors the movements of MIDI Modulation 
messages sent from a MIDI keyboard (or from a MIDI Track). 
If it is moved with the mouse, it will affect the sound, but no MIDI messages will be 
recorded.
Pitchbend range
•By...