SNAKEBITE SYNTH User Manual
Contents
1. SNAKEBITE SYNTH Rack Extension for Propellerhead Reason User Manual Version 1 2 DLD TECHNOLOGY INTRODUCTION Snakebite is a hybrid digital analog synthesizer with the following features e Triple oscillator with variable shape and morph controls e 18db highly resonant filters e Venom control for filter overdrive e Pre filter bitcrush for extra harmonics e Bucket Brigade Device BBD delay e Binaural sub audio bass 8 15Hz e Flexible matrix LFO CV routing e Low DSP usage DESIGN Snakebite is designed to make sounds that would not normally be possible using a traditional virtual analog VA synth design It is not designed to be an everyday go to synth rather a source of rich and unusual tones especially in the low to mid range Special care has been taken to make the synth work well in the live environment with controls such as mod wheel and aftertouch automatically assigned A simplistic matrix routing system is employed that avoids the use of complex programming Plenty of external CV control is available and the audio path can be broken to insert external audio or pre filter effects ROUTING MATRIX All the lighter coloured knobs can be controlled by the internal routing matrix Knobs are identified by their column and row and all routing sources have two knobs to change their destination column and row Each routing source can control one column and multiple rows at a time so for example you2. ange When listened to on headphones a psychoacoustic effect may cause listeners to feel a deep bass note When using speakers this effect is usually perceived as a pleasant stereo separation Note this effect depends on the user listening apparatus and the note itself Some users may find the effect nauseating or disturbing when used with headphones Please use with care LEVEL VOLUME Controls the final output volume Can be controlled from the routing matrix ACCENT Accent works with the mod wheel to add to the filter cut off filter envelope sustain and amp envelope sustain levels Raising the accent makes the note sound brighter and louder Whatever value this control is set to the mod wheel will make up the rest So setting accent to a low value will give a lot of mod wheel control over the sound setting it to a high value will give minimal control Note Accent control can be used instead of a mod wheel when needed CONTROL VELOCITY Determines what the note velocity controls This can be amplitude filter cut off or both SLIDE Sets the note slide rate Set to zero to disable slides between notes LFO Snakebite has 2 built in low frequency oscillators LFO If your control keyboard supports after touch then this will be fed into LFO2 rate and intensity controls Set LFO2 intensity to zero and LFO2 destination to tuning on all rows for after touch vibrato TYPE Sets the wave type of the LFO This can be Si
3. could control the pitch of all 3 oscillators from a single source LIMITATIONS Snakebite is unashamedly digital at heart and sometimes this can be heard in aliasing noise at high frequencies If this causes problems then just use the mixer LPF or EQ to remove it REVISION HISTORY V1 00 Initial Version V1 01 Changed the graphics due to global outrage and panic Added poly modes V1 10 Added band amp high pass filters Added filter tracking control Added pitch bend amount control V1 1 1 Fixed issue with delay not always working correctly in poly mode Fixed issue with sustain not working on midi key if CV gate attached in poly mode V1 2 Added Unison mode Added wide band filter mode USAGE INSTRUCTIONS FRONT PANEL THE OSCILLATORS There are 3 identical oscillators available with the following features OCTAVE Increases or decreases the pitch of the tone by up to 3 octaves SEMITONE Increases or decreases the pitch of the tone by up to 11 semitones TUNING Smoothly increases or decreases the pitch of the tone by up to 3 semitones This can be controlled from the routing matrix AMPLITUDE Changes the amplitude volume level of each oscillator This can be controlled from the routing matrix SHAPE Each oscillator has 3 defined shapes SINE 0 TRIANGLE 50 and SQUARE 100 This knob allows you to smoothly fade between the 3 shapes and can be controlled from the routing matrix Note that t
4. he oscillator shapes are created using sum of sines so don t look quite like their expected shapes when the time domain waveform is analysed However in the frequency domain they have very similar tones over the audible range and reduce the problem of high frequency aliasing MORPH This morphs the shape so that centre cross over point of the wave is moved backwards or forwards It s like PWM but works with all wave shapes This can be controlled using the routing matrix to introduce extra harmonics in the tone FILTER Snakebite uses an 18dB low pass filter LPF with pre filter bit crush and post filter distortion All variables can be controlled by the routing matrix CUTOFF Changes the cut off frequency of the filter Note that the frequency is also linked to the accent and filter envelop CRUSH Uses a classic bit crush effect to reduce the resolution of the input signal adding artificial digital noise and harmonics VENOM Increases the audio level of the signal past the design limits of the filter This causes the filter to distort internally adding extra harmonics and grit RESONANCE Feeds some of the filtered signal back into the filter causing an increase in volume around the cut off frequency At high values the filter may start to self oscillate DISTORTION Applies a simple digital distortion to the output signal adding noise and harmonics ENVELOPE GENERATORS F ENV Standard ADSR envelope controll
5. ing the filter cut off A ENV Standard ADSR envelope controlling the post filter signal amplitude MOD ENV An ADR envelope generator which acts as an input to the routing matrix ATTACK The rate of attack of the envelope DECAY The rate of decay after the attack phase INTENSITY The percentage of the envelope signal sent to the routing matrix This may be negative RELEASE The rate of decay once the note is released also inversely controls the sustain level COLUMN The destination column of the envelope signal ROW The destination row of the envelope signal set to Off to disable EFFECTS Snakebite comes with a 4096 stage bucket brigade device BBD based delay with resonant anti aliasing filter TIME Sets the duration of the delay longer durations have lower bandwidth and therefore only low tones will be delayed Very short durations may cause unwanted audible effects FEEDBACK Controls how much of the signal goes into the delay circuit Set to 0 to disable delay ANALOG This causes artificial errors in the oscillator tuning and BBD delay times to make the synth sound less digital Note that when returning this control to zero the note must completely stop playing before all oscillators will re sync BINAURAL This sets one or more oscillators into binaural sub bass mode When in binaural mode the synth will detune the left and right channels slightly to create a beat frequency several octaves lower in the 8 15Hz r
6. lied in both cases High Pass HP Uses a high pass variant of the 18dB filter Wide Band Pass WBP Places a high pass filter 1 octave lower than the filter frequency followed by a low pass 1 octave higher This gives a wide band filter with 2 resonant spikes BEND Sets the range when using the pitch bend wheel 100 is original V1 0 operation TRACK Controls how the filter cut off tracks the keyboard 100 is original V1 0 operation Set to 0 to prevent keyboard from controlling cut off frequency USAGE INSTRUCTIONS REAR PANEL SNAKEBITE 1 CV INPUTS GATE CV The synth will respond to gate CV inputs Unlike most synths it does not clamp the CV input to a valid note so you can use this for slides or alternative pitches CV and MIDI data can be used at the same time the synth will use the last note received ACCENT Controls the Accent on the synth This can be used with pattern sequencers to add variations CUT OFF RES DRIVE Controls the filter cut off resonance and drive venom on the synth CV 1 CV 2 CV 3 External inputs that can be used to control most parts of the synth via the routing matrix BREAKOUTS It is possible to insert extra effects into the signal path before the filter section To do this connect an effect between the out and in sockets You can also process external audio by connecting to the in sockets at this point the oscillators audio will be detached A valid note m
7. ne Triangle Saw Square or Random RATE Sets the frequency of the LFO from very slow to fast INTENSITY Sets how much LFO signal is fed into the routing matrix COLUMN The destination column of the LFO signal ROW The destination row of the LFO signal set to Off to disable CV Snakebite has 3 CV inputs which can be routed to any control in the routing matrix COLUMN The destination column of the CV signal ROW The destination row of the CV signal set to Off to disable Note CV level can be controlled using the trim knobs on the back panel EXTRAS VERSION 1 1 POLY MODE Mono M The original V1 0 behaviour Uses a single oscillator and filter bank Pressing a second key will cause the pitch to change but the envelope will not restart LFOs restart when all keys are released Retrig R Single note is played at once but multiple oscillator banks are used to allow the release part of the envelope to carry on playing when a second key is pressed set release to zero to disable Envelope restarts on every key press LFOs do not restart Poly P Full 16 note polyphonic mode Envelopes restart on each key press LFOs do not restart Unison U Plays 8 similar copies of the same note in unison The analog knob controls how much unison is applied FILTER MODE Low Pass LP Original 18dB low pass filter Band Pass BP Uses the low pass filter followed by the high pass filter venom distortion is app
8. ust be played on the synth via MIDI or CV otherwise the filter and envelopes will be off OUT LEFT OUT RIGHT The summed outputs of the 3 oscillators before the filter or envelopes The sound will continue playing after note off IN LEFT IN RIGHT This audio is fed into the filter section Connecting to these sockets will break the link between oscillators and filter GATE OUT A CV signal that is high when Snakebite is playing a note This can be used to trigger external effects LFO or envelope generators DISTORT AND DELAY CRUSH CV input to control the pre filter bit crush effect DISTORT CV input to control the post filter distortion effect TIME CV input to control the delay time FEEDBACK CV input to control the delay feedback OUTPUTS LEFT RIGHT The main stereo audio outputs These will normally auto connect to your mixer FUSE In the event of malfunction unscrew and replace with suitable 10 amp fuse HEALTH WARNING CREDITS Design and coding by Richard Harvie DLD Technology Ltd http www dldtechnology com Graphics by Steven James Chimera Creations http www chimeracreations co uk Patches by Jaun Pablo synclab William Noise Bleed Matt Hammond Simon Balder Okeh Lab Subvert Edsoul Sterio Evo Noel Gonzalez Louis Green Michel Ayello Richard Harvie Thanks to all that have helped test Snakebite and made it what it is
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