Steinberg Studio Case VST Instruments Operation Manual
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VST InstrumentsD’cota SE 6 – 101 ENGLISH About FM For synthesizers, frequency modulation (FM) means that the frequency of one oscillator (called the “carrier”) is modulated by the frequency of another oscillator (called the “modulator”). •In D’cota SE, Osc 1 is the modulator, and Osc 2 is the carrier. •The “pure” sound of FM is output through the carrier oscillator. This means that you should turn off the Osc 1 output in the Mixer section (see below) when using FM. •The FM button switches FM on or off. When set to on, a new parameter appears named Index. •The “Index” parameter determines the amount of FM. Glide This parameter (sometimes called portamento) makes the pitch “glide” between the notes you play. The Glide slider setting determines the time it takes for the pitch to glide from one note to the next. The avail- able range is 0 to 80 seconds. Voice Mode If activated, this parameter sets D’cota SE to monophonic mode. This means the sound engine runs on one single voice. Monophonic sounds are mainly used for lead and bass lines.
VST Instruments6 – 102 D’cota SE The Mixer section This section contains parameters for setting the output level for each of the two oscillators. The Noise generator and Ring Modulator levels are also set in this section. The parameters are as follows: Ring Modulator Ring modulators multiply two audio signals together. The ring-modu- lated output contains added frequencies generated by the sum of, and the difference between, the frequencies of the two signals. In D’cota SE, Osc 1 is multiplied with Osc 2 to produce sum and difference frequen- cies. Ring modulation is often used to create bell-like sounds. •To hear the ring modulation, you should turn down the output level for Osc 1 and 2, and turn up the RingMod level in the Mixer all the way. •If Osc 1 and 2 are tuned to the same frequency, and no modulation is applied to either the Osc 1 or 2 pitch, nothing much will happen. If you change the pitch of one of the oscillators, however, drastic changes in timbre can be heard. If the oscillators are tuned to a harmonic interval such as a fifth or octave, the ring modulated output will sound harmonic, other intervals will produce inharmoni- ous, complex timbres. •Oscillator Sync should be deactivated when using ring modulation. Parameter Description Osc 1 This sets the output level for Osc 1. Osc 2 This sets the output level for Osc 2. Noise This sets the output level for the noise generator – see page 103. RingMod This sets the output level for the ring modulator – see below.
VST InstrumentsD’cota SE 6 – 103 ENGLISH Noise Generator A noise generator generates all frequencies at equal levels. A typical application is to simulate “wind” or “breaking waves” where the noise is shaped by the filter cutoff parameter – see page 104. Other appli- cations include simulating drum sounds and breath sounds for wind instruments. •To hear the sound of the noise generator, you should turn down the output level for the oscillators, and turn up the Noise level in the Mixer all the way. •The Noise generator level is routed to Envelope 1 by default. See page 115 for a description of the Envelope generators. The Filter section The filter is the most important tool for shaping the overall timbre of the sound. D’cota SE features a multimode filter capable of producing variable slope lowpass and highpass filter types.
VST Instruments6 – 104 D’cota SE The following parameters are available in the Filter section: Filter type By clicking in the field below the Filter label, you can select a Filter type from the pop-up menu that appears. The different Filter types have the following characteristics: Filter resonance (Reso) The filter resonance parameter is used to set the Filter characteristic. For lowpass and highpass filters, raising the Reso value will empha- size the frequencies around the set cutoff frequency. This produces a generally thinner sound, but with a sharper, more pronounced cutoff “sweep”. The higher the filter Reso value, the more resonant the sound becomes until it starts to “ring”, generating a distinct pitch. Filter Cutoff This determines which area of the frequency spectrum the filter will op- erate in. For a lowpass filter, the cutoff parameter could be described as governing the “opening” and “closing” of the filter – the higher the cutoff value the brighter the sound, and vice versa. Drive This can be used to adjust the filter input level. Levels above 0dB will gradually introduce a soft distortion of the input signal, and a decrease of the filter resonance. Filter Type Description 24dB LP Lowpass filters let low frequencies pass and cut out the high fre- quencies. This filter type attenuates frequencies above the cutoff frequency with a 24dB/Octave slope, which produces a warm and fat sound. 12db LP This lowpass filter has a gentler slope (12 dB/Octave above the cutoff frequency), leaving more of the harmonics in the filtered sound. 24dB HP A highpass filter is the opposite of a lowpass filter, cutting out the lower frequencies and letting the high frequencies pass. This filter has a 24dB/Octave slope, giving a bright and sharp sound.
VST InstrumentsD’cota SE 6 – 105 ENGLISH Arpeggiator An arpeggiator basically plays notes in a chord in succession as op- posed to all at once, creating a rhythmic pattern. With D’cota SE’s Arpeggiator, you can change the arpeggio direction, the octave range, and the note value of the arpeggio synchronized to MIDI clock. Basic operation The basic operation of the Arpeggiator is as follows: 1.Click on the button at the left in the Arpeggiator section to activate it. 2.Play a chord on your keyboard. As you can hear, the notes are played in succession as long as the notes are held. 3.Try varying the chords. The arpeggiator follows the changes instantly as you play. Arpeggiator parameters The Arpeggiator has the following parameters: Parameter Description Range By clicking the Range field you can set the octave range of the arpeggi- ated notes. The available ranges are from 1 to 8 octaves. If you play a chord with an octave range set to 1, only the notes you hold down will ar- peggiate. With an octave range set to 2, the arpeggiated notes will play the notes you hold down plus the same notes an octave up, and so on. Clock By clicking in the Clock field you can set the base note value of the ar- peggiated notes. Note values between 1/1 to 1/32; straight, triplet or dotted can be set, as well as 8 “Rhythmic” presets. These produce mixed note values to create rhythmic arpeggios. Mode This sets the direction of the arpeggiated notes. You can select between Up, Down, Alt (alternate up/down) or Rand(om). Hold button When this is activated the notes arpeggiate continuously, even when you release the keys.
VST Instruments6 – 106 D’cota SE The modulation and output section In the following sections, the parameters in the modulation and output section in the lower half of the D’cota SE window are described. These are the following: •Controller strip (“C” button). This is the modulation “nerve center” of D’cota SE, where you assign parameter desti- nations for the available controllers, as described below. You can also control parame- ters in D’cota SE from an external MIDI controller. This is described on page 113. •Two Low Frequency Oscillators (LFOs). See page 113. •Two Envelope Generators. See page 115. •An Output section with three separate effect units: Distortion, Delay and Phaser (see page 118) and Master Volume and Pan controls (see page 117). •The Keyboard. See page 120.
VST InstrumentsD’cota SE 6 – 107 ENGLISH The Controller strip To follow any of the examples in this section it is recommended that you use an empty default Program. The Controller strip is the most important part of D’cota SE. The avail- able controllers can be assigned to virtually any of D’cota SE’s para- meters, via a very flexible, yet easy to use modulation routing system. Assigning controllers to parameters Here follows a description of the basic method used for assigning controllers to parameters. In this section, the available controllers are described. 1.To open the Controller strip, click the “C” button. The Controller strip appears, with the available controllers shown as buttons. Click here… …to open the Controller strip. Any Controller on the strip can be assigned to modulate (virtually) any parameter, either in the synthesis section (the upper half of the D’cota SE window), or in the modulation and output section (lower half of the window). Parameter dials marked with a red “X” cannot be assigned to a controller.
VST Instruments6 – 108 D’cota SE As an example of the general method, let’s use one of the LFOs to modulate the Filter Cutoff parameter in the synthesis section. LFOs (low frequency oscillators) are used for cyclic (or random) modulation – see page 113 for a description of the LFO parameters. 2.Click the LFO 1 button on the Controller strip. Make sure that the LFO button is selected – not the circular “v” inside the button. 3.Click and hold inside the Filter Cutoff dial (in the Filter section to the right in the synthesis section) and move the pointer slowly upwards. As you can see, the dial gradually becomes colored orange. 4.Clicking and moving the pointer downwards gradually removes the or- ange color until it reaches a transition point where the dial starts to gradually become blue until the whole dial is covered.
VST InstrumentsD’cota SE 6 – 109 ENGLISH •The orange color signifies positive modulation, the blue color signifies negative modulation. Positive and negative values represent the polarity of the modulation. If an oscillator parameter for example is assigned positive modulation by a controller so that the pitch would rise when playing a note, applying negative modulation (by the same controller to the same parameter) would produce the inverse result, i.e. cause the pitch to be lowered. If the modulation is applied from a free running LFO (see “About the Sync modes” on page 115), and the LFO waveform is set to any except Ramp up or down, the polarity doesn’t matter – the result would be the same. •The size of the orange or blue area represents the modulation amount. When a dial is fully colored, this represents the maximum amount of modulation by the controller. 5.Set the pointer so that roughly half the Cutoff dial is colored orange. This approximately represents 50% positive modulation. The positive/negative amount is also displayed numerically in the value field on the far right of the Controller strip. 6.Click anywhere outside the Controller strip to close it. 7.Play a few notes and you should hear the Filter Cutoff parameter being modulated by the LFO. Try lowering the Filter Cutoff parameter and raising the Filter Resonance for a more pronounced effect. 8.By using the same method outlined in these steps, you can basically assign any controller to any parameter! •To remove a controller assignment, first select the controller on the strip, then [Ctrl]/[Command]-click the parameter dial assigned to the controller. •To change a parameter value when the Controller strip is open (without adding or adjusting modulation), press [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Shift] and adjust the parameter as usual.
VST Instruments6 – 110 D’cota SE The controllers The following controllers are available in D’cota SE: Controller Description AfterTouch Aftertouch, or channel pressure, is MIDI data sent when pressure is applied to a keyboard after the key has been struck, and while it is be- ing held down or sustained. Aftertouch is often routed to control filter cutoff, volume, and other parameters to add expression. Most (but not all) MIDI keyboards send Aftertouch. ModWheel The modulation wheel on your keyboard can be used to modulate D’cota SE parameters. KeyTrack This can change parameter values linearly according to where on the keyboard you play. Velocity Velocity is used to control parameters according to how hard or soft you play notes on your keyboard. A common application of velocity is to make sounds brighter and louder if you strike the key harder. Env 1 This lets you control parameters with Env 1. By default, Env 1 is as- signed to the master Volume dial, to provide the amplitude envelope for the oscillators. See page 115 for a description of the Envelope gener- ators. The envelope can also be applied to a parameter according to how hard or soft you strike a key – see the section “About the V-but- tons” below this table. Env 2 This lets you control parameters with Env 2. See page 115 for a de- scription of the Envelope generators. The envelope can also be applied to a parameter according to how hard or soft you strike a key – see the section “About the V-buttons” below this table. LFO 1 This lets you control parameters with LFO 1. See page 113 for a de- scription of the LFOs. The LFO can also be applied to a parameter ac- cording to how hard or soft you strike a key – see the section “About the V-buttons” below this table. LFO 2 This lets you control parameters with LFO 2. See page 113 for a de- scription of the LFOs. The LFO can also be applied to a parameter ac- cording to how hard or soft you strike a key – see the section “About the V-buttons” below this table.