Modifying sound with envelopes

The ARIA tool lets you set sustain loops, release loops, release points, and other attributes for the envelope simply by editing its graphic representation.

The section below shows you how to add an envelope to a simple patch. A tips and tricks section gives some advice from our developers.

Preparing a patch with an envelope

• Adding an envelope to a patch
• Editing an envelope

Adding an envelope to a patch

1. Select the envelope block in the Tool bar and drag an envelope block in front of the item (waveform or sampler) you want to modify and after the attribute you want to modify (see Figure 1 below for a complete patch with an envelope).

2. Cut the wire connecting the waveform or sample and its knob by Option-dragging, as explained under "Connecting and disconnecting blocks."

3. Connect the knob, the envelope, and the waveform or sampler by dragging the lines from the output of one to the input of the other.

Figure 1: Patch using an envelope.

Envelope editor overview

Figure 2: Envelope Editor.

The Envelope Editor window has several tools available. They are, from left to right:

• Magnifying glass to zoom in/zoom out.

• Tool to set/clear sustain or release loops and set loop back time.

• Tool to set/clear a release jump point, that is, a point where the sound will continue if you jump out of a loop.
• Checkbox for the FLS (Fat Lady Sings) bit, which clears all memory allocated to the patch after the system exits it.

Editing an envelope

1. Click on the envelope's Edit button.

2. Move the start point in the top-left corner further down as desired.

   Note: The start point is initially invisible. Just grab the top-left corner and you will find you can move the point.
   

3. Add more points by holding the Option button and clicking or dragging the line.

4. To set a sustain loop, drag out a marquee by holding the Shift key and select all points over which you want the loop, then click Set and type in the loop- back time-if you don't provide one, you'll hear a click. Sustain loops are indicated by bright red lines.

   The same technique can be used for release loops. Just click the Rel radio button instead of the Sus radio button.

   Note: To delete a point, Option-click it.
   

5. To set a Release Jump Point, select a point and click on the Set box in the RJP area. The letters "rp" next to the point indicate you have set it. Note that the point will not go away when you clear the RJP, but the letters disappear.

6. In most cases, you will also want to set the FLS bit.

   When an envelope or sample finishes, if the FLS bit is set, then the instrument is considered finished and it will be stopped. Once stopped, the instrument is more eligible to be used by other voices. For example, if you have three envelopes on one instrument: pitch, filter, and amplitude, the sound is considered over only when the amplitude goes to zero. You should therefore set the FLS bit in the amplitude envelope but not in the others.

Figure 3: Example of a complex envelope.

Tips and tricks for working with envelopes

Sustain and release loop points

The aiff file format supports two loops: sustain loops and release loops. The audio folio takes advantage of this by interpreting the first set of loop points as the sustain loops and the second set as the release loop. These loop points can be set to be the same, cover separate data, or mark overlapping data in the sound file.
Most audio applications support the first set of loop points but not the second. You can, however, use SoundDesigner to edit the sound file and set loops. SoundDesigner does not support sustain loops and release loops explicitly, but if you use "loop 1" as the sustain loop and "loop 2" as the release loop, things will work. The loop points show up in SoundHack if you want to adjust them further.

Heuristics for using loop points

Remember that loop points have to be set on even-numbered samples for the audio folio to play them back correctly.
When preparing loop samples, keep the loops short and set both the sustain and release loops to the same point. This results in a relatively small sample file. Remember that if a release loop is set in the sample, you probably have to use an ARIA instrument with an envelope that contains a release jump point to play back the sample correctly.

Samples and dsp ticks

In some cases, the DSP may not have enough ticks available to handle all the notes with envelopes it is asked to play. To remedy this, the following trade-off can be made: First, substitute sampler.dsp instruments (the default) for ARIA instruments where feasible. Doing this means removing release loop points in the affected aiff files-these are identical to the sustain loops-and then adding release data to the sample after the sustain loop data occurs. The release is generally a few iterations of the data found in the sustain loop that are faded out quickly. This means that the compiled instruments' data take up more memory (because of the extra release data) but save on ticks due to the lack of an envelope generator in the instrument. Since this solution requires more memory, it is not optimal, but it does cut down the number of ticks used fairly well.

Building an envelope for a patch

There is currently no rate-scaling for envelopes built into the audio folio or into ARIA. The shape and duration of an envelope therefore always stays fixed, no matter how far a sample played into it gets transposed up or down from its original pitch. This is not quite how instrumental sounds behave in the real world.

There is not necessarily any correlation between the loop points set in the aiff sample file and the sustain loop set in the envelope. They are set independently and are not compared during compilation; it is up to you to make sure that the two sets of points work together in a useful manner.

In an envelope, the Release Jump Point is jumped to when a Note-Off command is received, but in an aiff file with a sustain loop, the data in the loop is played to the end when a Note-Off is received before going on to play any data beyond the loop. Therefore, in playing an instrument that contains both an envelope with a sustain loop and an aiff file with loop points set in it (particularly if the loop is long), it is possible that an envelope could close down a note before any release data is played or even before the current iteration of the data in the sustain loops finishes playing.