The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

> Jim,
> 
> At 12:50 a 6/2/2001 +0200, you wrote:
> >----- Original Message -----
> >Fra: Bruce Wahler <bruce@...>
> >I have only briefly played with the ribbon controller and meant to get 
> >back to it but have been busy with other, mostly using the modulator 
> >wheel. What is the advantage of the ribbon? Why is it (or is it?) more 
> >natural for example than a mod wheel....in what kinds of cases do you 
> >prefer the ribbon over the mod wheel?
> 
> It's not necessarily more "natural" than the wheel, but it is a lot faster, 
> and more closely coupled to the player's hand movements, IMHO.  It also has 
> the advantage of an automatic return-to-zero as soon as the hand is removed.
> 
> I prefer the wheel when I plan to add a constant amount of modulation for a 
> fairly long time -- opening a filter, or panning/morphing from one sound to 
> another -- or when I need greater accuracy.  I prefer the ribbon for quick 
> stabs, or when I want to modulate two things at the same time.  (The 
> two-mod technique is tricky at first, but it comes in handy!)  As with all 
> human interfaces, whether you agree or not is a matter of personal taste.
> 
> >While we're at it, I know I can assign most (if not all) parameters to a 
> >controller...but if anyone had a list over the TOP best things to assign 
> >to the mod wheel, and also to the ribbon controller I bet it would 
> >help....Anyone?
> 
> It's really personal taste, but here's my $0.02:
> 
> Mod Wheel -- vibrato, if it's used in an on/off sort of way; VCF cutoff or 
> resonance; slave VCO frequency on sync patches; morphing
> 
> Ribbon X -- pitch bends:  I like to set it up so that up OR down movements 
> from center cause the same change (both up or both down); slave VCO 
> frequency (for talking sounds)
> 
> Ribbon Z -- very heavy vibrato, for quick stabs
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> -BW
> 
> --
> Bruce Wahler
> Design Consultant
> Ashby Solutions"
> www.ashbysolutions.com
> CloneWheel Support Group moderator
> 978.386.7389  voice
> 978.964.0547 fax
> bruce@...
> 
> 
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>

> > But your statement here was interesting too. I have only briefly 
> played with the ribbon controller and meant to get back to it but 
> have been busy with other, mostly using the modulator wheel. What is 
> the advantage of the ribbon? Why is it (or is it?) more natural for 
> example than a mod wheel....in what kinds of cases do you prefer the 
> ribbon over the mod wheel?
> 
> >>>>>>For me, the big difference is that you can attack the ribbon, 
> anywhere along it's length. You don't have to slide up from zero or 
> 64 to get there. This makes it great for trills, if it is assigned to 
> pitch for example. As bruce said its good for fast stuff. The only 
> weak point of it, is that it has only a 128 step resolution, so you 
> have to keep the pitch range pretty small, if you are using it for 
> pitch (the pitch wheel, by comparison has much more steps, I think 
> 128 times 128 according to the midi spec, so you can do huge sweeps 
> without a stepping sound). I find that for other things, the ribbon 
> is pretty good, but again, you have to keep the range small, or the 
> sound gets grainy.
> 
> 
> > While we're at it, I know I can assign most (if not all) parameters 
> to a controller...but if anyone had a list over the TOP best things 
> to assign to the mod wheel, and also to the ribbon controller I bet 
> it would help....Anyone?
> 
> >>>>>>>>>The mod wheel - I tend to use very traditionally. For more 
> lead and bass typs sounds I use it for vibrato/tremolo application 
> and for patch morphing. For pads, I sometimes program a timbral 
> change (filter cutoff, pulse width, etc) so I can control the mood of 
> the song.
> 
> On the ribbon - I have a couple of tricks that are particular to the 
> An1x. Basically the ribbon on the AN1x is great for triggering things 
> like envelopes. One thing I like to do is create a pitch envelope of 
> about 20-30 and a pitch depth of zero. Then I assign pitch depth to 
> the ribbon (X axis). I set this value to "direct" so that the 
> midpoint is no envelope, the left-hand-side of the ribbon is a sweep 
> up and the right-hand-side of the ribbon is a sweep down. Now if you 
> just control the pitch of both oscillators with the pitch envelope, 
> you get regular results, but remember that the more synthetic-
> sounding features of the AN1x can be modulated by the pitch envelope 
> also (FM, Oscillator sync etc). I usually just have one oscillator 
> swept by the pitch envelope, so that the oscillators 'grind' against 
> each other. So now when playing, your patch sounds normal (because 
> the pitch envelope depth is zero), but if you tap the ribbon, you 
> hear an explosion, as the pitch envelope creates FM, or other 
> interesting sounds. Where you tap on the ribbon, determines the pitch 
> and direction of the explosion. So you can have a lead sound and when 
> you reach a climax, you can trigger these noises. A pretty cool 
> synth, because it sounds like a modular with these effects.
> 
> Also the Z axis is great for wah things like opening the filter. 
> Especially if you have a lot of amplifier feedback (try the BEF 
> filter with a lot of feedback), you can make it scream when you press 
> the ribbon (Z pressure). Remember you don't have to use the LPF all 
> the time, as you can control the brightness of the sound with the osc 
> edge. Don't hurt your ears doing this. It can be really nasty.
> 
> My $0.01. I hope these ideas help. I myself am learning a lot from 
> these discussions.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Jerry
> 
> 
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