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I used to be really impressed by synths with multi-stage envelopes and all this modulation power like absynth, but these days I don't care about that. This business of going to macros first I don't like.
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And I can't stand synths that don't directly expose parameters to automation. Pages upon pages of stuff buried under menus accessible from some small button somewhere. I really am not a fan of the layout and design though. I love absynth's sounds and the fact that it is nice and light on cpu. It certainly confused the fuck out of me at first! This is functionally very different than the cutoff knob / filter + envelope relationship on the vast majority of other synths, in which the envelope always causes a value change -starting- from the current cutoff value via use of an "envelope amount > filter" control, which you'll note Absynth lacks, because its method doesn't require one.Īctually, this approach to modulation is pretty much consistent across all of Absynth's controls (and envelope modulation specifically is like 70% of Absynth's sound design functionality), not just filter cutoff, so understanding that relationship is key to understanding the synth. Most notably: the value for "cutoff frequency" of any filter module does not represent "current value" or "base value" (like with most all synths) but rather it means "maximal value possible." So regarding the filter + envelope relationship, the "top" of the envelope = maximal value = value you've currently set the cutoff to, and the "bottom" of the envelope always = zero, and logically the span of the envelope covers this value range, from zero to maximal. That is generally true, but in Absynth's case there are a few important exceptions, which if misunderstood can really make programming it confusing. Eddiex wrote:but it seems once you get the hang of those things, you can pretty much apply it to any synth.