Overview

This document introduces cesSynth5, a VST2 plugin which models a flexible analogue drum synthesiser. The synth offers the following features:

 

A free version of the plugin can be downloaded from here for Macintosh and here for PC. The plugin comes with a default sond bank. The free version is released under the feedbackware licence agreement. In addition, a version can be purchased for $20 from here which adds sample accurate sync.

If you have any comments of this documentation, or the plugin, please contact me.


In Use

This synth is unusual in the way it responds to note information. The synth does not respond to the note value, only the note velocity. To select different sounds, you must use the multi-timbral feature of the synth. By default, the 16 midi channels map to programs 1 to 16 in the loaded bank.

The unusual part of the synth is that changing the program in the bank through the GUI does NOT change the program which the channel is using. This allows you to change the settings you are viewing without affecting the sound which is being played.


Controls

The right hand panel provides control over the envelopes for each of the three oscillators. The controls are as follows:

Time

Selects the total envelope time for the oscillator. Maximum time is 1000 milliseconds

1 to 4

Indicates the envelope value at note start, and three other equally spaced points in the envelope. If the envelope time was 1000ms, 1 would be at 0ms, 2 at 250ms, 3 at 500ms and so on.

Vol

The output level of the oscillator to be fed to the filter section.

The top left control panel provides facilities for editing the Start and End frequencies for the first two oscillators, and the rate at which the frequency sweeps between these values. There are no controls for the third oscillator, as it is a white noise source.

The bottom left control panel provides facilities to affect the output sound. The top row contains High and Q, which are the cutoff frequency and resonance controls for the low pass filter. The Vel control alter how much variance there is in the cutoff frequency with different note intensities. The Solo button indicates that if a second note is triggered for this program, the previous note will be stopped. The Dist control affects the shape of the waveform used for the tuned oscillators.

The bottom row of controls affect the output volume and pan for the resulting sound within the stereo image.

 


Polyphony

This synth is multi-timbral, and polyphonic. It is limited to 32 notes of polyphony, and will play back separate sounds on each midi channel. By default, the 16 midi channels select the 16 different programs in the sound bank. If you send a channel a program change message, the channel will honour this, and use the newly selected program.