More 'Getting Started' with the AN1x Control Matrix By Jon Levinson from JDLX-Musique.com Originally posted Summer 2000; Revised Winter 2001.

August 9, 2000 ~ A good question found it's way to the AN1x mailing list recently: How to use the AN1x Control Matrix? The AN1x Control Matrix happens to be my number one, favorite feature of the AN1x Synthesizer. Consequently, my reply to this question is a hands on tutorial/example piece: The Ctrl Matrix is my favorite AN1x feature! It's the entire reason I like this board so much. There's a lot of ground to cover here so I'm just going to jump in and describe how to alter some settings so you get your head wrapped around it. We'll get into more detailed stuff later. For this example, I'm using Factory Default voice #10 Legato. Back up your user Voices and reset the AN1x to the factory settings. Did I mention to back up your user Voices before you reset the AN1x? Well, back up your user Voice before you reset the AN1x to the factory settings. Don't blame me if you lose your voices because you didn't back up them up first! Here we go... From the VOICE/SCENE SETUP Menu - under Ctrl Matrix - use the Set No. 'down' rocker button so the display reads PB^ Use the Depth 'up' rocker button to increase the depth amount from +2 to +6. Now play a chord and use the Pitch Wheel - hear how the pitch is now changed by 1/2 an octave? Use the Set No. button to choose PBv and then the Depth button to adjust from -2 to -12. Use the Pitch Wheel and you'll hear the pitch drop an octave. Cool, huh?! Great on D&B bass sounds, BTW. Keep in mind that the PB^ and PBv assignments don't have to be strictly +/- You can have either, or both, set to +/+ or -/- or -/+ or good old +/-. Now, keep in mind that the PB^ and PBv setting for Scene 1 are independent from Scene 2 - heh heh heh ;-) Try layering Scene 1 and Scene 2 with the same voice but different PB settings and you can get pretty far out Pitch effects! I love this synth :-) Here's another example using the same voice #10 Legato: Use the Set No. button to scroll until the display reads VCF Cutoff Set 3; now hit the Source button and the display should read A.Rbx; move your thumb or forefinger across the Ribbon Controller while playing a chord and you hear the filter cutoff change; use the Depth button to increase the Dp amount from +10 to +63. Hear the difference in how wide open the Filter is? Hit the VCF Knob Parm Group button and use Assign Knob 5 to display the VCF Cutoff amount programmed in this voice (should be +65); reduce the amount to +0 - play a chord and use the Ribbon Controller - hear a subtle difference? Now use Assign Knob 7 to reduce the FEG Depth amount to +6 and play another chord while using the Ribbon Controller. You should hear a more pronounced difference in the sound. See how Cutoff and FEG Depth interact and how you can modify one or the other (or both) from a Control Matrix assignment? Try tapping (heavily) on the Ribbon Controller as your fingers move from left to right and back again. I like that effect. If you now go back to the Control Matrix and scroll to Set 10 you'll see that Resonance is assigned to Knob 6! Hit the Assign Knob Param Group button and twist Knob 6 while playing and you'll here the effect of altering the Resonance amount in real time - try playing with Ribbon Controller and make some not too subtle adjustments with Knob 6 - very, very cool IMHO.