Chapter 7: Preset Programming 73
PRESET PROGRAMMING
ENVELOPE GENERATORS
An envelope can be described as a “contour” which can be used to
shape the sound in some way over time. There are two different enve-
lope generators on Morpheus. The Alternate Volume Envelope genera-
tor controls the volume of the primary or secondary instrument over
time and has 5 stages: Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain, and Release. There
is also an Auxiliary Envelope generator which is a general purpose
envelope and can be routed to any realtime control destination. The
Auxiliary Envelope has an additional delay stage before the attack. The
time of each stage can be adjusted to create myriad envelope shapes,
which in turn shape the sound over time.
•␣ The way the volume of a sound changes over time determines how
we perceive that sound. For example, a bell struck with a hammer is
instantly at full volume, then slowly dies away. A bowed violin sound
fades in more slowly and dies away slowly. Using the Alternate Vol-
ume Envelope, you can simulate different types of instrument volume
envelopes by programming them appropriately. By routing the Auxil-
iary Envelope to control the pitch (realtime control screen) you can
easily hear the shape of the envelopes you are creating.
The envelope generator parameters can be described as follows. Refer
to the diagrams on the following page.
• Delay
The time between when a key is played and when the attack
phase begins.
•␣ Attack
The rate at which the envelope will go from zero to the peak (full)
level.
•␣ Hold
The time the envelope will stay at the peak level before starting
the decay phase.
•␣ Decay
The rate at which the envelope will go from the peak level to the
sustain level.
•␣ Sustain
The level at which the envelope remains as long as a key is held
down.
•␣ Release
The rate at which the envelope will fall to the zero level after the
key is released.
••• The generalized envelope
shapes of a few types of
sounds are shown above.
••• Shortening the release
times of the Alternate
Envelope can alleviate
channel “ripoff” problems.
Morpheus examines the
Alternate Envelope to deter-
mine if a channel can be
reused.
Percussion
Piano
Organ
Strings
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