NONLINEAR LABS C15 - Using Hardware Sources

Synthesis Engine
Synthesis Engine
108 109
5.4 Using Hardware Sources
General Aspects
The eight Hardware Sources of the C15 can be seen as special controllers, which are
designed for live performance. While playing a certain sound, the Hardware Sources can
be used for modulations, changing the sound character.
Four dierent types of Hardware Sources are provided, each type having its individual
aspects (four Pedals, two Ribbons, one Bender, one Aertouch). As for the (external) Ped-
als, their aspects strongly depend on the type of Pedal that is used. The following section
contemplates all relevant aspects of Hardware Sources and external controllers in general.
Continuity
Controllers can essentially behave in two dierent manners. There are switches (like a
„Sustain Pedal“) and there are continuous controllers (like a „Volume Pedal“). Although
continuous behavior may be preferred in most use cases and can be seen as a general
recommendation, switches can also be used when integrating external Pedals (providing
only two states: on and o). All four integrated Hardware Sources are continuous.
Continuous controllers, on the other hand, can be unipolar (the usual case, providing one
direction of possible movement: up or down) or bipolar (like a „Pitch Bender“, providing
two directions of movement: up and down).
Directionality and Polarity
Controllers with a switch behavior can behave in two dierent manners as well. There
are opener switches (like a „Sustain Pedal“) and there are closer switches (like a „Mute
Pedal“ or „Damping Pedal“). The dierence between these two types is the direction they
are taking: opener switches go from minimum to maximum, closer switches operate in
a reversed manner. Commonly (but misleadingly) this is referred to as „Pedal Polarity“.
However, regardless of the direction of a controller, it can be integrated and directions
can be manipulated by modulation amounts.
Return Behavior
Some controllers (like a „Sustain Pedal“ or a „Pitch Bender“) return to a certain position
aer using them (usually, the position would be zero or the center), whereas other con-
trollers may remain at their position aer releasing them. Controllers that are returning
to their center position usually are bipolar (and the center position equals zero in this
case). The return behavior aects the type of modulation amount of the corresponding
Hardware Source, which can be either continuous (for a returning Hardware Source) or
switch-like (for non-returning Hardware Sources, providing only „on“ and „o“).
Integration and Recall Behavior
Dierent Hardware Sources can behave dierently when a new preset is recalled. When
a preset is recalled while using Hardware Sources, a well-defined behavior is not guar-
anteed for now (as it is still in development), so we recommend to leave the Hardware
Sources untouched when loading a new preset.
In addition, only the two integrated Ribbons can successfully load their states in a preset
recall, if they are in Non-Return mode. Returning Hardware Sources can lead to the
described eects, if they are not in their return position when a preset is loaded.
On the other hand, the (external) Pedals can not be aected by loading new presets. So,
they could be at a position that is not expected and produce a jumping behavior when
used. A so takeover option is planned to be implemented in the future and for now, we
recommend to set the (non-returning) Pedals to their zero position before saving and
loading presets. This way, the behavior of the C15 will be well-defined and predictable
throughout.
Additional Settings
There are more settings provided for each Hardware Source in the Setup menu, depend-
ing on the type of source. The Bender and Aertouch provide a curve, weighting the
movements, whereas the Ribbons provide a „Relative Factor“, amplifying movements on
the Ribbons when using relative mode.
Operation Modes
Except for the Ribbons, all Hardware Sources operate in absolute mode. Ribbons on
the other hand, can operate in both absolute and relative mode (the relative mode can
amplify drag gestures on the Ribbon).