An 1 X Tone Genera Tor - Yamaha AN1x Owner's Manual

AN 1 x Tone Ge ne ra tor
As the AN 1 x Tone Genera tor Block Dia gra m
illustra tes, the VCO m odule genera tes the ba sic
signa l, then pa sses it a long the signa l pa th to
the M IX / VCF m odule, w hich processes the signa l
in a va riety of w a ys before pa ssing it on to the
VCA m odule, w hich a mplifies the signa l before
pa ssing it a long the signa l pa th to the EFFECT
m odule com prised of three multi-effects units
a nd a stereo equa lizer, a fter w hich the signa l is
output from the AN 1 x 's stereo outputs. Along
the w a y, va rious rea l-time a nd other controllers
ca n be a pplied to ea ch module in a va riety of
w a ys.
O scilla tors, Filters And Am plifiers
W hat do es it take to make a so und? And ho w do es the
AN 1 x g enerate so unds?
In the simplest o f terms, there are three basic elements which
make up a so und: pitch, o r ho w lo w o r hig h it is; to ne, o r
what its o verall quality, o r timbre is like; and amplitude, o r
ho w lo ud the vo lume level is.
Synthesizers rely o n three key electro nic co mpo nents to g enerate
so unds and electro nically imitate the so undwaves o f familiar musical
instruments, as well as create entirely unique so unds. In traditio nal
analo g synthesis, the so urce so und pitch is g enerated by an
o scillato r; its to ne is created by a filter; and its vo lume is determined
by an amplifier. W ith the AN 1 x, these three elements are termed
the VCO (vo ltag e co ntro lled o scillato r), the VCF (vo ltag e co ntro lled
filter), and the VCA (vo ltag e co ntro lled amplifier).
VCO VCF
The filter determines the timbre
The oscillator creates the source pitch
The " sig nal path" starts at the VCO , flo ws to the VCF , then
flo ws to the VCA. The sig nal is " pro cessed" at each blo ck, o r
" mo dule" alo ng the way to the final o utput.
VCA OUT
The amplifier determines
the volume
1 V CO
The VCO mo dule is where the o rig inal so und wavefo rm g ets
g enerated. Altho ug h a sing le o scillato r is eno ug h to g enerate
the basic sawto o th, pulse (square) o r o ther waves required
fo r different types o f musical instrument so unds, the AN 1 x's
VCO mo dule is much mo re co mplex.
First, there's a VCO 1 which includes an additio nal saw2 and
mix wave, and which can be co nfig ured with o ne o f three
" sync alg o rithms" that syncs " master" and " slave" o scillato rs
within the VCO 1 , and can be mo dulated by FM acco rding to
the alg o rithm. Thus, when the sync is o n, the VCO 1 is
actually two o scillato rs in o ne, and three additio nal " inner"
waves are available.
The VCO 1 is always fixed as the FM carrier, but the carrier
can either be the master o r slave o scillato r depending o n the
selected alg o rithm. The FM mo dulato r can be selected fro m a
seco nd VCO (VCO 2 ), the PEG , FEG , L FO 1 , L FO 2 o r o thers.
The Pitch Envelo pe G enerato r (PEG ) lets yo u determine ho w
the pitch o f the VCO chang es o ver time, and the L FO can be
used to mo dulate the VCO to create vibrato .
For m ore inform a tion, see a s follow s:
VCO 1 — pag e 6 1
VCO 2 — pag e 6 3
SYN C/ FM — pag e 5 8
PEG / L FO — pag e 5 4
2 M I X / V CF
The MIX/ VCF mo dule is where the mixing o f VCO 1 ,
VCO 2 , Ring Mo dulato r, N o ise and Feedback sig nals
take place, which can then be filtered by the VCF Hig h
Pass Filter (HPF), L o w Pass Filter (L PF), Band Pass Filter
(BPF) and Band Eliminate Filter (BEF). Yo u can
determine the cuto ff frequency o f the VCF , as well as
amo unt o f Reso nance, o r emphasis aro und the
frequency cuto ff po int. The Filter Envelo pe G enerato r
(FEG ) lets yo u determine ho w the timbre o f the sig nal
chang es o ver time, and the L FO 1 can be used to
mo dulate the VCF to create wah.
For m ore inform a tion, see a s follow s:
MIX/ VCF — pag e 6 6
VCF — pag e 6 4
HPF — pag e 6 7
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