GENERATORS
The envelope editor in Sytrus is where you adjust the articulation settings of a module: all envelopes, LFO and mapping charts. The envelopes in Sytrus are highly customizable and each map or envelope segment can be comprised of unlimited number of with customizable tension (acceleration). The articulator also combines the best of multipoint envelopes & the best of simpler ADSR envelopes via special section markers which make ADSR automation possible.
Although there are several types of envelopes and maps in Sytrus, they all share this common functionality:
To use an envelope/mapping, you need to enable it first via turning on the LED at the bottom left side of the editor (see the screenshot above).
Please check the placement of the load/restore button in the screenshot above.
The complexity of the Sytrus envelopes makes the save/restore feature a very handy tool for organizing a library of frequently used envelopes or complex shapes. Please notice that envelopes are previewed live in the editor as soon as you select a preset in the file open dialog box.
The menu also contains copy/paste commands to assist you in replicating an envelope to another property in the patch (however you can not paste one type of envelope to another - for example ADSR to LFO).
Here are several basic operations you can perform to edit the envelope/mapping shape:
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Right-click and a new point will be added.Some of the envelopes/mappings are divided into sections to provide classic ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) envelope functionality.
Sytrus uses special section markers (see the screenshot above) to mark the end of a section and the start of the next one. There are few markers available:
It's not required to use all or any of the provided markers. Without markers the envelope will be played once as a 'static' definition played once from start to finish for each voice. You can also use certain combinations as needed.
Right-click the control point where you want to set the section marker. From the menu select the marker you want to add. If the item you want to add is disabled make sure you're trying to insert the marker at the correct place (a sustain loop start can not be after sustain loop end, for example).
To make a DL marker, simply check both Decay and Sustain Loop Start entries in the right-click menu.
Right-click the control point where the marker is placed and uncheck the item representing the marker name.
Keep in mind that removing some markers might make another marker(s) pointless, so they are removed automatically as well (if you remove the sustain loop end marker, a sustain loop start marker would not have a purpose).
There are few types of envelopes/mappings which define the articulation of a specific property: ENV, LFO, KEY M, VEL M etc. (the only exception, WS /waveshaper/ in the filter module is also covered below):
This is a "classic" ADSR envelope plus the possibility to define a sustain loop section & the power of unlimited spline segments to refine the various envelope sections as you need.
Besides the editable envelope curve, the envelope also provides the regular envelope level controls, so you can lock the curves and still adjust some basic aspects of your envelope. All values are applied relative to the curve defined in the editor:
Note: While adjusting one of those properties you can see a preview of the effect of the knob value on the envelope shape. However once you release the mouse key the envelope is restored to its previous view. The knob still has its effect, though it is not reflected in the curve to avoid distortion and to make editing easier.
For more information on the available envelope sections (attack, decay, sustain, sustain loop, release) and how to define/remove a section marker, please check the Envelope Sections (ADSR) paragraph above.
This unit allows you to vary the controlled property with an LFO. The LFO also includes a full envelope to define its strength in time.
The secondary blue curve you can see behind the envelope is a preview of the LFO "in action" as with the applied envelope, shape speed and settings.
The following knobs are additionally available for this unit:
The mapping units let you map the value of the controlled property to the values of another property (keyboard key, velocity etc.).
The mapping is basically a single continuous curve where the horizontal direction represents the values of the source property used for mapping - min>max = left>right, and the vertical direction represents the values of the controlled property (articulation target) - min>max = bottom>top. By defining the mapping curve you define how the horizontal positions are related to vertical positions, this way mapping the source property to the controlled property.
You can notice a brighter vertical line in the graph - it represents the current value of the source property used for mapping (or the default value, if current is unavailable /such as with velocity/).
The Sytrus graphs cover several mapping sources:
With keyboard mapping you can define how the controlled property is offset depending on the keyboard key (note) pressed to generate a voice. At the bottom of the graph you can see the keyboard range (the highlighted range matches the range displayed by the integrated Sytrus keyboard).
With this graph you can define how the voice's own velocity value relates to the controlled property.
These two graphs allow you to map the values of the integrated X/Y controller (you can find the X/Y Controller in the main module of Sytrus) to changes of the controlled property.
The random mapping lets you define the amount of randomization to the controlled property (one random value per voice is generated). This can be useful to simulate a live performance or the slight innacurracy of old analogue synths.
A random floating point number is selected for each voice, in the range of 0% to 100%. The curve lets you define how the random number relates to changes in the controlled property. So the more curve "dots" there are there for a certain vertical position, the greater the chance is this value will be selected by the random generator, thus allowing you to fine tune the behavior or the random generator and effectively defining the "chances" for certain values to be be selected for each voice.
This mapping is used by the unison feature of Sytrus (see the main module for more information on the unison mode) and it has effect only if the unison mode is enabled for the current patch.
The unison mode works by triggering a user-defined number of subvoices with altered properties for each actual voice in your sequence. The unison mapping lets you define how the controlled property varies across each of the subvoices inside the unison.
By default the unison uses only its global variation levels (if enabled) as specified in its global settings. But defining a mapping curve in this unit you are given a much greater control over which property, in which module is varied and how exactly it varies.
This is the only articulated property defined with a single mapping and is available in each of the filter modules. The curve basically defines how the signal is distorted by the waveshaper features in the filter modules - the original input levels and how they relate to the processed output levels.