Window Reference Modulation Page |

Tip: The Modulation Page is the Instrument Editor's most complicated page. It can be confusing at first if you're not familiar with the Beatnik Editor, or with music synthesizers in general. For some introductory material to help you figure out what's going on here, see the section For Musicians.
The Modulation Page is different from the other Instrument Editor pages in that it doesn't directly generate or process any audio signals. Instead, it generates control signals that modify parameters all the other Pages. Modulators are LFO's (Low Frequency Oscillators), Envelopes, and combinations of the two - control signal sources that you can edit to make an Instrument sound more dynamic and interesting by varying those parameters over the life of the note, in musically useful ways.
Note: You don't need to use Modulation if your Instrument design doesn't call for it. In fact, Modulation contributes to the synthesizer's CPU processing load - so if you don't need to use Modulation, you should switch it off. To switch Modulation off, set all five Modulators' destinations to Not Used (see below).
Topics:
Modulators in a Nutshell Working with the Modulation Page A Modulation Tutorial Modulators in a Nutshell An Instrument can use up to five Modulators. The Modulators that your Instrument actually uses are indicated in the lower rectangular window, just above the Page selector buttons. If the window shows Not Used five times, then you aren't using any Modulators. To select a Modulator for editing or inspection, click on it in the lower rectangular window. The Modulator will appear in the upper editing display. Each Modulator has a Modulator Type and a Modulator Destination. The Modulator Type determines what kinds of signal the Modulator is able to generate. The Modulator Destination is the Instrument parameter that the Modulator affects: Note: Modulator Types and Destinations are explained in much greater detail in the For Musicians section, starting at the heading Modulation. You may also find the Modulation Tips section helpful. Working with the Modulation Page To Add a New Modulator:
Assigning a Modulator to an actual destination turns the Modulator on. In the lower rectangular window, find a Modulator slot that's Not Used, then click and hold on the words Not Used and select one of the available Modulator Destinations from the pop-up menu that appears.
A thumbnail will appear beneath, and the Modulator Type pop-up menu will appear to the right.
To Delete a Modulator: Removing a Modulator's destination turns the Modulator off. In the lower rectangular window, click and hold on the Modulator's Destination pop-up menu, then select Not Used.
The Modulator's thumbnails will disappear beneath, as will the Modulator Type pop-up menu to the right.
To Change a Modulator's Destination: In the lower rectangular window, click and hold on the Modulator's Destination pop-up menu, then select the destination you want. To Change a Modulator's Type: In the lower rectangular window, click and hold on the Modulator's Type pop-up menu, then select the Modulator Type you want. To Select a Modulator's LFO or Envelope for Editing:
Depending on the Modulator Type, each Modulator will show either one or two `thumbnail' graphs in the lower rectangular window - an LFO thumbnail on the left if it includes an LFO, and an Envelope thumbnail on the right if it includes an Envelope. To select an LFO or Envelope for editing in the large editing window at the top of the page, just click on its thumbnail.
Editing a Modulator's Envelope Part
All Modulator Types except the basic LFO include an Envelope part. Editing an Envelope in the Modulation Page works just the same as editing the Volume Envelope in the Volume Page:
The horizontal axis is Time, and the vertical axis is Modulation Depth. To add a point, click on a segment. To delete a point, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) on it. To move a point in Time or Level, drag it. Or, type into the number fields. To constrain a drag, use the Shift key. To replace your Envelope with a simple preset template, click on one of the Create New Envelope buttons. Note: For the Offset Modulator type, an additional ADSR(%) slider appears just above the Create New Envelope buttons. For details, see the section Modulator Types.
For further operating details, see Working with the Volume Page.
Editing a Modulator's LFO Part
All Modulator Types except the basic Envelope include an LFO part. Editing an LFO in the Modulation Page works just the same as editing the Comb Filter in the Filter Page:
The horizontal axis is Time, and the vertical axis is Modulation Depth. To change the LFO period and depth, drag the handle in the graph, or type into the number fields. To change the LFO waveform, click one of the waveshape buttons below the large window: sine, triangle, square, inverted square, sawtooth, or inverted sawtooth.
For further operating details, see Working with the Filter Page.
To Zoom the Editing Window:
To manually zoom in and out, use the magnifying glass buttons in the upper right corner. If you drag a point off the right edge of the window, the display will automatically zoom out to fit.
A Modulation Tutorial
To add vibrato to an Instrument:
Find an unused Modulator slot in the lower rectangular window. Click and hold on the pop-up menu that says Not Used, and then select Pitch. This will be your Modulator's destination. A thumbnail will appear beneath, and the Modulator Type pop-up menu will appear to the right. Click and hold on the Modulator Type pop-up menu, and then select LFO. This will be your Modulator Type. The Modulator's LFO thumbnail will appear beneath the Pitch label. Click on the LFO thumbnail to select the LFO for editing. The large editing window at the top of the page will now show the LFO's current settings. In the large editing window, drag the LFO graph's control handle (the black square where the two red lines cross) to set a period of about 300 ms, and a depth of about 50%. Now when you play the Instrument in the Player window, you should hear a warbling vibrato. That's the effect of your LFO Modulator on the Pitch.
Many Instruments sound more natural if the amount of vibrato starts at zero, then fades in gradually over a period of a few seconds. That's one of the things the LFO with Depth Modulator modulator type is good for. Here's how to use it:
Click and hold on the Modulator Type pop-up window again, and this time select LFO with Depth Modulator. A second thumbnail will appear next to the LFO thumbnail - an Envelope thumbnail. Click on the Envelope thumbnail. The large editing window will now show the Envelope instead of the LFO. This is the Envelope that controls how the Pitch LFO's depth will change over time. The default Envelope isn't very useful, however, so you'll need to create a better one. Create a simple Envelope that takes 2 seconds to reach a maximum, and then another two second to return to zero: Click the middle Create New Envelope button. Three Envelope Handles will appear in the graph, all at a level of 0%. Drag the rightmost Envelope Handle out to the right, out to around 2000 ms. Drag the middle Envelope handle up to 100%, and then out to the right to about 2000 ms. Now when you play the Instrument in Player window window, you should hear the warbling vibrato increase over two seconds, and then decrease to nothing in another two seconds. That's the effect of the Depth Modulator envelope on your LFO Modulator.

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