An advanced Voltage-Controlled Envelope Generator which includes a Delay and an optional timed Sustain stage, as well as the normal Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain and Release stages.
The Hold Level can be set within the limitation that it must be the same or more than the Sustain Level, the Sustain Time can be controlled for both minimum and fixed length operation, and all these settings can all be controlled using CV inputs.
Basic Operation (Free Running Mode)
In “free running” mode the times are all set in milliseconds/seconds. The Gate In, Sustain In, CV In 1 and CV In 2 have default inputs from the I/O Panel for when no jack is connected. For the Gate and Sustain inputs these are switchable (these switches default to OFF for previous saves/presets).
The module fully supports setting the mid-point of the log-scale time controls (from the “options” cog-wheel button) and setting the minimum attack and delay/release times to either 0ms or 2ms. There are also manual controls for minimum times (0ms-10ms) for the Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain and Release stages (subject to the 2ms minimum from the settings page) allowing more flexibility in setting up complex scenarios to avoid pops due to 0ms timings, especially useful for voltage-controlled scenarios or looping.
There are gate outputs from each stage of the envelope and looping options that can include the Delay stage, the Attack/Hold/Decay stages, or (with timed Sustain) the whole Delay, Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain, Release cycle. Together with a Manual Trigger button, a re-trigger (Attack stage) input and latching of the gate, this can be used for complex envelope and other rhythmic purposes.
The Inverted Envelope output supports multiple inverted and offset modes including e.g. inversion around the sustain level (similar to the Korg MS-20’s EG2), offsets as well as normal inversion around 0V.
Modes of Operation
There are a number of ways that the Voltage Controlled Envelope can be used: traditional Gated Mode, a Minimum Sustain Time mode (similar to the Korg MS-20’s EG2 Hold behaviour), a Fixed Length mode and a series of Looping modes. The following details the gated/sustain modes available:
BPM Sync’d Mode
The BPM/Host Sync option allows you to sync the timings of the envelope to the DAW, a gate input BPM rate or the BPM CV input (100bpm/V, used widely across Andew Macaulay Modules).
When in any of the BPM sync’d modes, the envelope also has a /32 setting for the overall external sync’d timings (clock, host or CV) and /16 setting for each of the sync’d times for much faster sync’d envelopes.
CV Inputs
There are two general CV inputs which can control multiple aspects of the envelope, typically used for Keyboard Following changes to envelope times, and Velocity changes to times and levels, as well as individual CV inputs for each control. The time-related CVs can be set to be 1ms/V (legacy mode), 10ms/V, 100ms/V, 1sec/V and have x100 time multipliers for the general and individual CVs.
Advanced Features: Envelope Curves
The attack, decay and release stages now support envelope curve controls. These curves allow you to change how quickly or slowly the stage “starts” with options for Exponential through to Logarithmic behaviour as well as Linear modes. Each stage can be set individually and can have CV control over the setting.
Advanced Features: Retrigger Mode/Damper and Limiters
The retrigger mode switch, damper knob and limiter switches provide even more flexibility to the module: the retrigger damping and mode switching allows control over how a retrigger will work with the existing envelope state, for example providing the original return to zero approach or the analogue continue from existing level; the time limiter switch allows Unlimited times to be set using CVs or BPM-based timing, especially useful for ambient and generative patches.
