Moog Music SUB PHATTY - Manual (Page 19)

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ENVELOPE CONTROLS CONT.
FILTER RELEASE: Use this knob to specify the time it takes the filter cutoff to descend from its sustain
value to the
CUTOFF knob’s manual setting. Its value ranges from 1 millisecond to 10 seconds.
When you use the filter envelope to modulate pitch or wave amount, the RELEASE knob specifies the
time it takes the control level to descend from the sustain value to zero.
AMPLIFIER ATTACK: Use this knob to specify the time it takes the mixer output’s amplitude to ascend
from zero to its maximum value. Its value ranges from 1 millisecond to 10 seconds.
AMPLIFIER DECAY: Use this knob to specify the time it takes the mixer output’s amplitude to descend
from its maximum level to its sustain level. Its value ranges from 1 millisecond to 10 seconds.
AMPLIFIER SUSTAIN: Use this knob to specify the mixer output’s amplitude once the decay stage is
complete. The sustain stage is held until the envelope receives a Note Off command or the gate ends.
Its value ranges from zero to 100 percent, calibrated 1 to 10.
AMPLIFIER RELEASE: Use this knob to specify the time it takes the mixer output’s amplitude to
descend from its sustain value to zero. Its value ranges from 1 millisecond to 10 seconds.
TRY THIS
NOTE ARTICULATION
Load your favorite melodic preset. For both envelopes, turn the attack to just under one
second and the release to just over one second. Play the keys staccato, making sure to lift
your fingers between each note. Notice that you can hear the release stage after every note,
especially when you pause long enough for the envelope to return to zero. Now play legato,
making sure you don’t lift you fingers between notes. Hear the difference? After the first
note, the envelopes bypass their attack, decay, and release stages when you play legato and
maintain their sustain levels until you lift your fingers. Playing with a combination of staccato
and legato articulations adds to the expressivity of your performance.
CLASSIC ELECTRONIC KICK DRUM
One of the simplest sounds you can synthesize is a kick drum, also called a bass drum.
Perhaps the best example of an electronic kick drum comes from a classic analog drum
machine, the 808. It uses a sine wave and a 2-stage envelope generator to create the sound.
The Sub Phatty lets you re-create this vintage sound with just a bit more thump.
Although synthesizing most percussion begins with the noise generator, the kick drum is an
exception. After initializing the patch, turn up the mixer level on oscillator 1. Turn oscillator
1’s
OCTAVE knob to 16’ and the WAVE knob to triangle. On the amplifier envelope, turn
the ATTACK and SUSTAIN knobs all the way down. Now adjust the DECAY and RELEASE
knobs to exactly 1 second. Because triangle waves have a few weak overtones, you’ll need to
filter those out to approximate a sine wave. Turn the filter
CUTOFF knob to 320Hz and the
MULTIDRIVE knob to 9 O’clock. On the front panel’s left side, press the left OCTAVE button
to lower the pitch an octave, and strike the low C key. If necessary, slightly adjust the
CUTOFF
and DECAY to taste. And there you have it: a sound that’s propelled millions of people out on
the dance floor.