Dave Smith Instruments SYNTHESIZERS

Anu, let me reiterate the thanks I posted at EX5Tech.  I haven't read
your document word for word yet, but I have skimmed it, and from what
I've seen, you did an absolutely wonderful job.

I took the liberty of creating a PDF complete with bookmarks and
hyperlinked Table of Contents.  It has been uploaded to the Files
section here.  Please download it, give it a test drive, and see if it
meets with your approval.

Thanks again for all your hard work, and for sharing it with the
community.  Two thumbs up!


Ski
www.ex5tech.com

Thanks to all that helped out w/ this!  I'm a recent evolver owner, 
and it sounds like this will be of great help!

ao.

--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "ski_ex5tech" <ski@e...> wrote:
>
> Anu, let me reiterate the thanks I posted at EX5Tech.  I haven't read
> your document word for word yet, but I have skimmed it, and from what
> I've seen, you did an absolutely wonderful job.
> 
> I took the liberty of creating a PDF complete with bookmarks and
> hyperlinked Table of Contents.  It has been uploaded to the Files
> section here.  Please download it, give it a test drive, and see if 
it

> meets with your approval.
> 
> Thanks again for all your hard work, and for sharing it with the
> community.  Two thumbs up!
> 
> 
> Ski
> www.ex5tech.com
>

Do you guys/gals think the Evolver community would benefit from having a
dedicated site?  I'm the admin of elektron-users.com, and that site
seems to be valuable to the Elektron community.  We could host files,
have a Web-based, forum, and even live chat.  Your thoughts?

/Scott

On Wed, 2005-10-12 at 14:20 +0000, drew_alley wrote:
> Thanks to all that helped out w/ this!  I'm a recent evolver owner, 
> and it sounds like this will be of great help!
> 
> ao.
> 
> --- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "ski_ex5tech" <ski@e...> wrote:
> >
> > Anu, let me reiterate the thanks I posted at EX5Tech.  I haven't read
> > your document word for word yet, but I have skimmed it, and from what
> > I've seen, you did an absolutely wonderful job.
> > 
> > I took the liberty of creating a PDF complete with bookmarks and
> > hyperlinked Table of Contents.  It has been uploaded to the Files
> > section here.  Please download it, give it a test drive, and see if 
> it
> > meets with your approval.
> > 
> > Thanks again for all your hard work, and for sharing it with the
> > community.  Two thumbs up!
> > 
> > 
> > Ski
> > www.ex5tech.com
> >
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
>

Yes, Anu really lays everything out in layman's terms for those of 
us who've only been doing this for a bit and 'dove in' with the Evo.
If you've got this document in hand you can master this synth!

--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "drew_alley" <stuff@a...> wrote:
>
> Thanks to all that helped out w/ this!  I'm a recent evolver 
owner, 
> and it sounds like this will be of great help!
> 
> ao.
> 
> --- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "ski_ex5tech" <ski@e...> wrote:
> >
> > Anu, let me reiterate the thanks I posted at EX5Tech.  I haven't 
read
> > your document word for word yet, but I have skimmed it, and from 
what
> > I've seen, you did an absolutely wonderful job.
> > 
> > I took the liberty of creating a PDF complete with bookmarks and
> > hyperlinked Table of Contents.  It has been uploaded to the Files
> > section here.  Please download it, give it a test drive, and see 
if 

> it
> > meets with your approval.
> > 
> > Thanks again for all your hard work, and for sharing it with the
> > community.  Two thumbs up!
> > 
> > 
> > Ski
> > www.ex5tech.com
> >
>

--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "drew_alley" <stuff@a...> wrote:
>
> Thanks to all that helped out w/ this!  I'm a recent evolver owner, 
> and it sounds like this will be of great help!
> 
> ao.

That's why I wrote it - I thought it was a shame that so many people
were buying Evolvers and writing messages to the effect that they
didn't "get it" and felt sort of lost.

Scott, the following words are only my own opinions and thoughts, so
take them for whatever they are worth!  :)

First of all, I'm not sure if you are offering to create, host, and
finance such a site, but if you are, many thanks for your kind offer.

I think the obvious answer to your question is usually "yes".  Some
things to consider, though, in the case of the Evolver are (in no
particular order):

- Dave Smith's DSI site has quite a few resources

- This Yahoo Evolver Group also has many resources, and discussion
too.  No, the discussion is not like the average UBB/VBulletin/etc.
web based forum.  However, though I'm personally not one of them, I've
found that many people actually prefer mailing lists to the standard
web based forums.  In addition, the web based views for Yahoo Groups
aren't that bad.

- EX5Tech has a dedicated (UBB) web based forum for the Evolver, plus
some Evolver resources (including the "Evolutionaries" soundset).

- Member Carbon111 also has a very nice site for the Evolver.  No
discussion forums, but many resources.

- There's also plenty of Evolver discussion in the generic keyboard
forums at Musicplayer Keyboard Central, and Harmony Central KSS.

Bottom line is that it seems all or at least most of the needs are
already being met.  Would it be better if most everything were to be
consolidated on one site?  Absolutely(!), though it might be tough to
effect that change now that it has been a few years since the
introduction of the Evolver and the existing sites/groups.

Other opinions, anyone?


Ski
www.ex5tech.com


--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, Scott Kellogg <glaive@g...> wrote:
>
> Do you guys/gals think the Evolver community would benefit from having a
> dedicated site?  I'm the admin of elektron-users.com, and that site
> seems to be valuable to the Elektron community.  We could host files,
> have a Web-based, forum, and even live chat.  Your thoughts?
> 
> /Scott
> 
> On Wed, 2005-10-12 at 14:20 +0000, drew_alley wrote:
> > Thanks to all that helped out w/ this!  I'm a recent evolver owner, 
> > and it sounds like this will be of great help!
> > 
> > ao.
> > 
> > --- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "ski_ex5tech" <ski@e...> wrote:
> > >
> > > Anu, let me reiterate the thanks I posted at EX5Tech.  I haven't
read
> > > your document word for word yet, but I have skimmed it, and from
what

> > > I've seen, you did an absolutely wonderful job.
> > > 
> > > I took the liberty of creating a PDF complete with bookmarks and
> > > hyperlinked Table of Contents.  It has been uploaded to the Files
> > > section here.  Please download it, give it a test drive, and see if 
> > it
> > > meets with your approval.
> > > 
> > > Thanks again for all your hard work, and for sharing it with the
> > > community.  Two thumbs up!
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Ski
> > > www.ex5tech.com
> > >
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >  
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >
>

most definitely. it's kind of sad that the davesmithinstruments site
doesn't feature some kind of a community portal for evo users already.
not that there was much wrong with yhgroups but a dedicated site would
also let the people who are considering purchasing an evolver to see
that there are people really into the beast (and that now there is a
good, well written manual available for the damn thing!)

about the manual; after printing it out i realised that i would gladly
have bought it as a book version if it were available - it's at least
as well written as wizoo guides and would be really useful for someone
who had accidentally bought evo as their first synth, too!

t.. // polyfonken
http://www.polyfonken.com/stash


--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, Scott Kellogg <glaive@g...> wrote:
>
> Do you guys/gals think the Evolver community would benefit from having a
> dedicated site?  I'm the admin of elektron-users.com, and that site
> seems to be valuable to the Elektron community.  We could host files,
> have a Web-based, forum, and even live chat.  Your thoughts?
> 
> /Scott
> 
> On Wed, 2005-10-12 at 14:20 +0000, drew_alley wrote:
> > Thanks to all that helped out w/ this!  I'm a recent evolver owner, 
> > and it sounds like this will be of great help!
> > 
> > ao.
> > 
> > --- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "ski_ex5tech" <ski@e...> wrote:
> > >
> > > Anu, let me reiterate the thanks I posted at EX5Tech.  I haven't
read
> > > your document word for word yet, but I have skimmed it, and from
what

> > > I've seen, you did an absolutely wonderful job.
> > > 
> > > I took the liberty of creating a PDF complete with bookmarks and
> > > hyperlinked Table of Contents.  It has been uploaded to the Files
> > > section here.  Please download it, give it a test drive, and see if 
> > it
> > > meets with your approval.
> > > 
> > > Thanks again for all your hard work, and for sharing it with the
> > > community.  Two thumbs up!
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Ski
> > > www.ex5tech.com
> > >
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >  
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >
>

> 
> First of all, I'm not sure if you are offering to create, host, and
> finance such a site, but if you are, many thanks for your kind offer.

I am offering to create, host, and finance the site.  It would be along
the lines of http://raza.suso.org (alpha elektron-users.com version 2
site).

> 
> - This Yahoo Evolver Group also has many resources, and discussion
> too.  No, the discussion is not like the average UBB/VBulletin/etc.
> web based forum.  However, though I'm personally not one of them, I've
> found that many people actually prefer mailing lists to the standard
> web based forums.  In addition, the web based views for Yahoo Groups
> aren't that bad.
> 

The proposed site is in no way a replacement for the Yahoo group.  This
was a concern voiced by the elektron-users Yahoo group, but over time
both sites have co-existed peacefully.

> - EX5Tech has a dedicated (UBB) web based forum for the Evolver, plus
> some Evolver resources (including the "Evolutionaries" soundset).

What's the url for this?  I'd like to check it out.

> 
> - Member Carbon111 also has a very nice site for the Evolver.  No
> discussion forums, but many resources.

Agreed.  It's a great resource.


> Bottom line is that it seems all or at least most of the needs are
> already being met.  Would it be better if most everything were to be
> consolidated on one site?  Absolutely(!), though it might be tough to
> effect that change now that it has been a few years since the
> introduction of the Evolver and the existing sites/groups.

In addition to consolidation, the proposed site offers an easy way for
Evolver users to upload and share not only sysex files, but mp3 music
files.  The content management system I am using, Drupal, acts as a
giant blog.  This allows individuals to set up their own webspace.  I
think this is a great feature for people who might not have the
resources to do this otherwise.

/Scott 

> 

>  
> 
> 
> 
>

Scott, here's the URL to the Evolver forum at EX5Tech, which is also
on the DSI "Links" page, and on this Yahoo Group's "Links" page if you
ever need to find it again:

http://www.ex5tech.com/ex5ubb_cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=23

(Note:  The Yahoo Groups web view and/or your email client may chop
this link onto two lines.  If so, you'll of course need to copy/paste
the two pieces into the Address bar in your browser.)

In all fairness, the EX5Tech discussion forums are of course focused
on the EX5.  However, in addition to the Evolver specific forum, we
have forums for other synths as well.  There are also forums for
computers/software, music, classifieds ads, and other off-topic stuff.
 Here's the top level link to the discussion forums, which are
subdivided into three categories ("EX5 Discussion", "Other Synths,
Equipment, & Software", and "Members Lodge"):

http://www.ex5tech.com/ex5ubb_cgi/ultimatebb.cgi

Again, thanks for the offer to help support the community.  Take a
look at everything, see what you think, maybe gather some other
opinions, and do what you feel is best.


Ski
www.ex5tech.com


--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, Scott Kellogg <glaive@g...> wrote:

> 
> > - EX5Tech has a dedicated (UBB) web based forum for the Evolver, plus
> > some Evolver resources (including the "Evolutionaries" soundset).
> 
> What's the url for this?  I'd like to check it out.
>

> 
> Again, thanks for the offer to help support the community.  Take a
> look at everything, see what you think, maybe gather some other
> opinions, and do what you feel is best.

I'll let it simmer for a few weeks and gather feedback.  

/Scott


> 
>

What's the technique to get those really tight plucked sounding patches? 
  They have a real snappy attack to them.  What's the synthesis 
technique involved... anyone?

Robert -
Without knowing the name or patch location, I can't be certain about 
which sound you're talking about.

For "snappy" envelopes, make sure your envelope type parameter is set to 
  "EXPonential" and not "LINear".  Then just set your decays to be 
fairly short, your sustains low-to-0, and your releases similar to decay.

When you ask about synthesis, I'm assuming you're talking about the 
Karplus-Strong synthesis patches.  You can learn how to do that by 
reading the "Definitive Guide" I recently uploaded.

A quick summary:
Rather than using the oscillators to generate sound, Karplus-Strong 
synthesis uses a feedback/delay line.

It's similar to how mic or guitar feedback works - you introduce a small 
"impulse" to "excite" the feedback channel, which starts the feedback 
process.

For Evolver, you need to do the following things:
* Decide on a feedback/delay path - you can use the "feedback" channels 
or the delay line (I think "feedback" sounds better myself, and that's 
what the "factory" Karplus-Strong patches use).
* Crank up the feedback level (80-100 per your taste)
* Create an impulse - use ENV 3 to control noise level and make just a 
little "snap" - a very short decay, no sustain, 0 release.
* Assign something to control feedback frequency (otherwise your patch 
will only play one pitch - the one determined by the feedback frequency 
parameter).  The best control mechanism is probably MIDI note number. 
You need to set up *2* modulation slots to control it - set them both to 
have a SOURCE of MIDI note number, a DESTINATION of Feedback Frequency, 
and an AMOUNT of +99.
* Set Feedback Frequency to 0 (you can use this to transpose the patch 
if you need later).
* Add some LPF/HPF to taste