Loom: User Guide, v1.0
Contents
1. partials that combine to create the single voice that you hear e Per Voice This drop down menu lets you set the maximum number of partials each voice can contain e Current This indicator displays how many partials are currently being synthesized by the Loom sound engine e Synced This parameter is On by default and synchronizes the start of each partial when you play a note This results in a tight and focused sound Switching this parameter Off lets the partials run freely without re synchronizing when a note is triggered The result is more phasing among the partials and a less focused more blurry sound that may be pefect for certain applications There is no correct way to set this parameter it depends on the sound you wish to achieve Sir Note The Per Voice parameter sets the number of partials available for each voice Increasing this parameter places greater demands on your CPU but allows you to construct certain types of sounds sounds that require a large number of partials in order to be heard correctly for example bright bass sounds with lots of high frequency partials If you would like to use a large number of partials while minimizing CPU load you can try switching on Eco Mode described in the Settings Page section of this guide 3 Octave This parameter lets you shift the synthesizer up or down by four octaves 4 Poly Loom is a polyphonic instrument and can play up to six notes at the2. MER Ei FH nal H j ae he a0 TERT Wid de in HAN n n User Guide li In g am O Additive synthesis has historically been seen as a very technical type of music synthesis requiring deep knowledge and understanding if it is to be used effectively This is because it uses many hundreds of individual sine waves to construct sounds with extremely complex spectra Creating and editing such sounds has been a very tedious and laborious process requiring microscopic attention to detail However by combining additive synthesis with an innovative modular approach Loom retains the power of additive synthesis while providing a user friendly interface with broader macroscopic controls The additive synthesis engine in Loom uses up to 512 different sine waves to create different spectra This is why Loom is able to generate incredibly complex and musical waveforms Loom features 30 different modules which can be freely combined into any of the 10 cells There are over 350 patches included in Loom or you can quickly create your own patches by using the intelligent randomization features The Morph Page not only allows for quick editing and modification of the preset parameters it can also be used as a live performance tool to visually add motion and movement to your tracks Loom is a modular additive virtual instrument available as a 64 bit VST 64 bit AU and RTAS plug in for Mac OS X and Win
3. Macro knob is carefully and automatically mapped to any control that relates to the parameter you wish to change For example turning the Length knob will only affect parameters on the Edit page relating to the length of the sound Other elements such as tone or modulation will not be affected The on off buttons above the Dist Mix Mod Mix Delay Mix and Reverb Mix controls switch the corresponding effects also located on the Edit page on and off 10 all The Apply Button When working with the Macro controls you are always imparting modifications to the parameters of the base sound without actually overwriting those parameters As you work with the Macro controls you may come across a heavily morphed sound that you wish to use as a starting point for even more morphing To do this simply click the Apply button When you click the Apply button all of the temporary modifications being imparted from the Macro controls become permanently imprinted into the base sound The Macro controls are then reset to their baseline settings You can then save the new base sound or continue using the Macro controls for even more modification 11 all Morph X Y Pad 1 Variations A B C D The Morph X Y Pad can hold up to four variations of a base sound in the corners labeled A B C and D To store a variation 1 Use the Macro Controls to create a sound that you prefer 2 Right click either A B C or D and select Sto
4. DI device If you have several different MIDI controllers that you wish to use with Loom for example a small lightweight keyboard for live performance and a large master keyboard for studio use use the Save and Load buttons to quickly save or load learned MIDI mappings for each controller The Reset button removes all custom mapping and returns Loom to its default state 21 au O Support eee For technical support please contact us through the Support page of our website airmusictech com support Trademarks and Licenses VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH RTAS is a registered trademark of Avid Technology Inc in the U S and other countries Mac and OS X are trademarks of Apple Inc registered in the U S and other countries Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries All other product or company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners airmusictech com Manual Version 1 0
5. any modules require sub functions which are controlled by up to four sliders to the right of the main knob These sub functions cannot be automated by envelopes or LFOs Modulation Controls These controls allow you to use Modifiers such as envelopes or LFOs explained in the next section of this guide to control the main knob of a module The drop down menu lets you select the source of the modulation and the slider directly below the drop down menu lets you set the intensity of the modulation Modifiers Users that are familiar with synthesizers will recognize the envelope LFO and global pitch controls at the bottom of the Edit page If these concepts are new to you there are many great resources on the Internet to help you understand the purpose of these controls it is beyond the scope this guide to describe the functions in detail Envelopes Loom has four envelopes and any envelope can be applied to a module by selecting it the left drop down menu The Env Mod slider directly below the drop down menu determines the amount of modulation that is applied e _LFOs Loom has three LFOs Any of these LFOs can be connected to a module using the center drop down menu The LFO Mod slider below sets the amount of modulation Pitch The Pitch section lets you connect an envelope or LFO to the global pitch of your instrument The Env and LFO drop down menus select which envelope or LFO respectively you would like to
6. apply to the global pitch The Env Depth and LFO Depth knobs directly below the drop down menus determine the amount of modulation that is applied 19 Settings Page The Settings page contains several global parameters that affect all areas of Loom This page is accessed by clicking the wrench icon at the right of the Master section 1 Eco Mode Setting this parameter to On engages Economy Mode and can reduce CPU load by up to 35 This is achieved through a slight usually unnoticeable reduction in the sampling rate of the Loom sound engine If you have an older or less powerful computer we recommend engaging this mode in order to play complex sounds with high polyphony or a large number of partials 2 Pitch Bend Range This parameter sets how many semitones up or down your note will be shifted when you use your MIDI controllers pitch wheel If this parameter is set to 0 Loom will ignore pitch bend MIDI messages 20 Sir D 3 Show Tooltips Tooltips are helpful hints that appear when you hold the mouse over an on screen control for one second If you re already familiar with the instrument you can hide the tooltips by setting this parameter to No 4 MIDI Assignments Nearly all of Loom s controls can be re mapped MIDI learned to the buttons knobs or sliders of your MIDI controller This is done by right clicking the on screen control and selecting Learn MIDI CC and then using that control on your MI
7. dows all System Requirements and Product Support For complete system requirements compatibility information and product registration visit the AIR website airmusictech com Installation Windows O O OOO O 1 Right click the zip file you downloaded and select Extract All 2 Follow the on screen instructions By default Windows will show you the extracted files when it has finished extracting them 3 Double click the exe installer file 4 Follow the on screen instructions Note Vocalizer Pro uses PACE copy protection so it will install the PACE InterLok driver on your system if you do not already have it As most audio software uses PACE copy protection though this is probably already installed on your system 1 Double click the zip file you downloaded The archive utility will extract the files and put them in a folder in the same location as the zip file 2 Open the Loom folder 3 Double click the pkg installer file 4 Follow the on screen instructions au o D Loom has a very straightforward user interface despite its incredibly powerful sound engine The instrument has a small Master section across the top and only two pages Edit and Morph These three sections contain all of the powerful features of Loom MASTER SECTION e Master Section This section gives you high level global features such as loading saving sounds or switching between the Morph Edit pages If you just want to play t
8. ge contains two separate sections a bank of sound generation and effect processing modules on the top and smaller bar of modifiers along the bottom The modules generate and process the sounds that you hear while the modifiers envelopes LFOs pitch controls can be used to modulate the various parameters of the modules 15 all Sound Modules Overview SPECTRAL lt BET MODULE 5 eee nv Mod LFO Mod Ctri Mo iii aus St si ECTAB fini LE Mi iii wiii Witte le Wi Whi pist FR MASTER MODULE wl WN MN FIXED The Edit page contains 12 separate modules Each module is capable of adding an element to the overall sound The first and last modules are special and cannot be changed The middle 10 modules are user selectable and can be swapped out to create a very wide variety of sounds These user selectable modules described in the next section of this guide First Module The first module of Loom lets you distort and modulate the distribution of frequencies among all of the partials The user selectable modules that follow this module impart their effects on the distorted modulated output of this first module This is a unique feature no other synthesizer offers this type spectral control e Last Module The last module contains four effects that can be individually switched on off and dialed in to achieve your desired sound This section also contains a master output level knob and a width c
9. he amazing sounds that ship with Loom you only need to understand how this section works exploring the Morph or Edit pages is optional The Master Section is described in detail in the next section of this guide all Morph Page If you re comfortable with the Master section and would now like to tweak some of the standard sounds to better fit your needs the Morph page has a variety of macro level controls to help you do this This section lets you dial in both subtle and extreme changes to the sound without affecting the base sound of the instrument The section also contains the innovative Morph X Y Pad Please see the Morph Page section of this guide for more information Edit Page If you love sound design and want to create entirely new Loom sounds from scratch or make major changes to the existing sounds the Edit Page is for you This page contains all of the building blocks of Loom sounds At first glance this page may seem intimidating but not to fear once you understand the page layout you ll realize its actually fun and easy to create new sounds This section is covered in detail in the Edit Page section of this guide al O The Master Section 1 Morph Edit Select These buttons select whether the Morph or Edit page is displayed below the Master Section 2 Partials Each time you play a note the additive synthesis engine of Loom can generate hundreds of individual sounds called
10. int double click on an existing point 3 You can add a point to a sound path by double clicking on the line 4 Points can be moved by clicking and dragging Tip You can use your MIDI controllers modulation wheel to move the Now Sound point along the Morph Path To do this right click anywhere in the Morph X Y Pad and select Assign Path to Mod Wheel This lets you play the morphing of the sound using the modulation wheel 4 Sync On Off This parameter synchronizes the movement of the Now Sound point along the Morph Path to your DAW s digital audio workstation s master tempo When this parameter is set to Off the Now Sound point still moves but it is not synchronized with your DAW s master tempo 13 all 5 6 T 8 Speed This knob determines the speed at which a note moves along the Morph Path Mode This parameter sets the direction of movement along the Morph Path Retrigger When set to All Notes the morph will start from the beginning of the Morph Path each time a note is played When set to Off the Now Sound point moves along the Morph Path regardless of what is played It is also possible to assign any of the C notes on your keyboard from C 2 to C7 to retrigger the Morph Path AutoMorph On Off This switches the AutoMorph feature on and off 14 Sir O D SOUND MODULES MODIFIERS The Edit page is where all of the amazing base sounds of Loom are created The pa
11. ng the shift key while clicking this button randomizes all parameters but keeps the modules that have been selected on the Edit page 8 Configuration This button brings up a page containing several global parameters affecting the operation of Loom This is described in detail in the Settings Page section of this manual alu O Ez The Morph Page The Morph page gives you macro level control of the sound This makes it easy to take any existing base sound and quickly modify it to suit your needs This page also contains the innovative Morph X Y Pad which lets you transform any static sound into a complex evolving sound in seconds The page is broken down into three separate sections Macro Controls Morph X Y Pad and a Graphic Display MACRO CONTROLS GRAPHIC DISPLAY Sir O D Macro Controls All of the knobs in the Macro Control section automatically connect themselves to the appropriate controls that are available on the Edit page This means that turning one Macro knob will cause several of the controls on the Edit page to change simultaneously For example if you turn the Tone knob a variety of settings on the Edit page will change in order to modify the tonality of your sound This saves you from having to go to the Edit page and manually locate and modify individual parameters relating to tonality Note that the mapping of Macro Control knobs to the controls on the Edit page is not arbitrary each
12. ontrol knob that allows you to reduce the stereo sound field if necessary Finally there is an LED next to the Level knob that indicates if Loom s output limiter is active This limiter is always on but it only affects signals when they exceed the maximum output level This is included as a safety mechanism since additive synthesis can unexpectedly become very loud 16 Sir i User Selectable Modules in Detail While Loom has 30 different modules the layout of knobs sliders and drop down menus is exactly the same on all of them This makes learning and using modules very easy 1 Module Selector The name of the module is displayed at the top You can change the module by clicking this area and picking another module from the menu that appears 2 On Off Switch This control switches module on or off 3 Information Icon Clicking this icon brings up a prompt describing the module and all of its controls 4 Graphic Display This area displays the spectrum of the sound as it leaves the module 17 Sir O D 5 Module Controls The controls of each module are shown here The layout of the controls is the same across all modules however the text and function of the controls will vary depending on what is selected Note that each module has a main knob in the top left corner This knob controls the primary function of that module and can be automated with envelopes and LFOs Additionally m
13. re State 3 Repeat the steps above for the other corners morphing requires at least two stored variations 12 Sir D 2 Now Sound Point Clicking and dragging the diamond allows you to freely morph the sound between the different variations that you have created For example if you have stored variations into all four slots dragging the diamond closer to A will make the sound more like variation A and less like variations B C or D Tip You can move the Now Sound point with your MIDI Controller by using MIDI Learn functionality To do this right click anywhere in the Morph X Y Pad and select either Morph X gt Learn MIDI CC or Morph Y gt Learn MIDI CC then move a knob or slider on your MIDI controller Your chosen knob or slider will now move the Now Sound point along the X or Y axis respectively You can also do this by selecting the associated MIDI CC parameters in your DAW s automation lane and drawing them in using a mouse 3 Morph Path Points One of the most powerful features of Loom is the ability to create a Morph Path that the Now Sound point follows automatically This lets you create complex and evolving sounds quickly To create a Morph Path 1 Double click anywhere within the Morph X Y Pad If the pad does not include any points one will be created If the X Y pad already includes one or more points your new point will be connected to the previously created point 2 To delete a morph path po
14. same time This parameter lets you limit the number of notes the instrument will play Tip If you wish to play Loom as a monophonic instrument set this parameter to Mono 5 Glide Time This slider determines the amount of time in seconds it takes for a monophonic sound s pitch to portamento or slide from one note to another For example if this parameter is set to 0 the pitch will instantly jump from one note to another as you hold one note and press another note if you set this parameter to 3 it will take three seconds to transition from the first note to the second Note Glide Time only applies to monophonic sounds i e if the Poly parameter is set to Mono If the Poly parameter is set to a value of 2 or greater Loom becomes a polyphonic instrument and the Glide Time parameter is ignored 6 Save Load Section This section lets you load and save sounds e Loading Sounds To load a sound click the screen to bring up a categorized list of Loom sound patches You can also use the arrow buttons to to the right of the patch name to quickly shift between sounds e Saving Sounds To save a sound click the Save button If you wish to quickly overwrite the file you are currently working on without changing the file name or bringing up the file browser you can do so by shift clicking the Save button Sir ei 7 Random This button creates a unique new Loom sound by randomizing all of the modules and parameter settings Holdi
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