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, the harder you play, the more the filter cutoff will be affected by the envelope. 
This is different from assigning the envelope directly to the filter cutoff, or assigning 
velocity directly to the filter cutoff.
•Note that the V-button assignment is totally independent from the “direct” 
modulation assignment.
In the example above, you could have Envelope 2 control any parameters directly (re-
gardless of velocity) as well. You could even assign Envelope 2 to control the same pa-
rameter (filter cutoff) directly, and have velocity make this effect more or less pronounced 
(by assigning positive or negative cutoff modulation for the V-button).
This is just one example, but by experimenting with other permutations 
of the same principle, many interesting and expressive modulation ef-
fects can be produced according to how hard or soft you play! 
						

							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 assigned LFO1 to modulate the overall pitch. However, 
you want the amount of modulation to depend on the modulation wheel 
setting – when this is fully down, there shouldn’t be any vibrato at all.
4.Make sure the Level control in the LFO 1 section is at its minimum 
value (fully left).
To adjust this without having to close the Controller strip, press [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Shift] 
and move the dial as usual.
5.In the Controller strip, click the ModWheel button.
6.Click the Level parameter for LFO 1 and drag upwards so that the dial 
becomes partly orange.
Now, the Level (amount of modulation from LFO 1) is controlled by the modulation 
wheel – just what we wanted.
7.Play the instrument and try using the modulation wheel.
Raising the modulation wheel should add vibrato. You may need to adjust the amount 
of modulation (LFO 1 to Pitch as well as ModWheel to LFO 1 Level) to taste. 
						

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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 in the upper right corner of the panel.
Now, value fields with MIDI controller numbers are shown for all parameters that can 
be remote controlled.
2.To hide the controller fields, click the Steinberg logo again.
LFO section
To try out LFO modulation, a destination parameter has to first be as-
signed. The general principle of assigning a controller to a parameter is 
described on page 107.
A low frequency oscillator (LFO) is a special type of oscillator. It is not 
used as a signal generating source, but for modulating parameters. A 
LFO can be used to modulate the pitch of an oscillator (to produce 
vibrato), or for any parameter where cyclic or random modulation is 
desired. 
						

							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 up/Ramp 
down/S&H/RandomThis sets the LFO waveform. See below for a 
description.
Sync mode Part/MIDI/Voice/Key This sets the sync mode for the LFO. See 
below for a description.
Level 0.000 - 1.000 Level controls the amount of modulation ap-
plied by the LFO. If set to zero, no modula-
tion is applied.
Waveform Description
Sine This produces smooth modulation cycles, suitable for normal 
vibrato.
Triangle Similar to Sine.
Square This produces a cycle that abruptly changes between two values.
Ramp Up Produces a Ramp up cycle. If applied to an oscillator’s pitch, the 
pitch would sweep up to a set point, after which the cycle imme-
diately starts over.
Ramp Down Same as Ramp Up, but inverted.
S&H In this mode, the LFO actually makes use of the other LFO as 
well. For example, if LFO 2 is set to “S&H” the resulting effect 
will also depend on the rate and waveform of LFO 1. The result is 
a kind of pseudo-random stepped modulation.
Random A random waveform. 
						

							VST InstrumentsD’cota SE 6 – 115
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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 mode, the LFO cycle is free running and will affect all voices 
of a Part in sync. “Free running” means that the LFO cycles contin-
uously, and doesn’t reset when a note is played.
MIDI In this mode the LFO rate is synced in various beat increments to 
MIDI clock.
Voice In this mode each voice in the Part has its own independent LFO 
cycle (the LFO is polyphonic). These cycles are also free running, 
i. e. each key down starts anywhere in the LFO cycle phase.
Key Same as Voice except that it is not free running – for each key 
down the LFO cycle starts over. 
						

							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 as follows:
Attack
The attack phase is the time it takes from zero to the maximum value. 
How long this should take, depends on the Attack setting. If the Attack 
is set to “0”, the maximum value is reached instantly. If this value is 
raised, it will take time before the maximum value is reached. Range is 
from 0.0 milliseconds to 91.1 seconds.
Decay
After the maximum value has been reached, the value starts to drop. 
How long this should take is governed by the Decay time parameter. 
The Decay time has no effect if the Sustain parameter is set to maxi-
mum. Range is from 0.0 milliseconds to 91.1 seconds.
Sustain
The Sustain parameter determines the level the envelope should rest 
at, after the Decay phase. Note that Sustain represents a level, whereas 
the other envelope parameters represent times. Range is from 0.000 to 
1.000.
Release
Release determines the time it takes for the value to fall back to zero 
after releasing the key. Range is from 0.0 milliseconds to 91.1 seconds. 
						

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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 Envelope 1, to generate an am-
plitude envelope for the oscillators. 
Pan
This dial controls the pan (the position in the stereo spectrum) for the 
selected Part. 
						

							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). To close the control panel, click anywhere outside it.
Distortion
The Distortion effect provides hard clipping distortion.
The parameters are as follows:
Parameter Description
Drive Sets the amount of distortion by amplifying the input signal.
Range is from -12 dB to +48 dB.
Cutoff This parameter sets the crossover frequency of the distortion filter. 
The distortion filter consists of a lowpass filter and a highpass filter 
with a cutoff frequency equal to the crossover frequency. 
Tone This parameter controls the relative amount of lowpass and high-pass 
filtered signal. 
Level This controls the output level of the effect. Range is from 0.00 to 
1.00. With a value of 1.00, the output is a 1:1 mix of the original and 
the effect sound. 
						

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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 the delay. This pa-
rameter controls the cutoff frequency of this feedback filter. Low set-
tings result in successive echoes sounding darker. Range is 345Hz 
to 21.4kHz
Delay 1 Sets the delay time ranging from 0 ms to 728 ms. If MIDI sync is ac-
tivated the range is from 1/32 to 1/4; straight, triplet or dotted.
Delay 2 Same as Delay 1.
MIDI Sync This switches MIDI sync of the delay times on or off.
Level This controls the output level of the effect. Range is from 0.00 to 
1.00. With a value of 1.00, the output is a 1:1 mix of the original 
and the effect sound.
Parameter Description
Rate Sets the rate of the LFOs modulating the delay time. The adjustable 
range is from 0.011 Hz to 75 Hz. If MIDI Sync is activated, the rate 
will be synced to various beat increments.
Delay This parameter sets the delay time of the four delay lines. The adjust-
able range is from 0.1 ms to 93 ms. For a typical Phaser effect, use 
values in the 50 - 80 ms range.
Depth This parameter controls the depth of the delay time modulation. 
Feedback The feedback parameter controls the amount of positive or negative 
feedback for all four delay lines. The adjustable range is from -1 to 1. 
						

							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 clicking in the value field to the right of the keyboard, you can set 
the up/down range of the Pitchbend wheel from a pop-up menu. Val-
ues between +/- 0 to +/- 36 semitones can be set.
MIDI Sync This switches MIDI sync of the Rate parameter on or off.
Level This controls the output level of the effect. Range is from 0.00 to 
1.00. With a value of 1.00, the output is a 1:1 mix of the original 
and the effect sound. Parameter Description