Heckmann Audio Repro-1 100B, Operation Manual

Page 1: ...MODEL 100B S N 1 and up Manual Ref HA100B Repro 1 SYNTHESIZER OPERATION MANUAL by Heckmann Audio HECKMANN AUDIO GmbH BERLIN 09 03 17 ...

Page 2: ...MODULATION SECTION 16 2 12 CLOCK 18 2 13 ARP SEQUENCER basic access 18 3 SEQUENCER 20 3 1 PATTERN data 20 3 2 SEQUENCER control 21 3 3 EDIT 22 4 KEYS PERFORM 23 5 EFFECTS 25 5 1 JAWS wavefolder 25 5 2 LYREBIRD delay 27 5 3 RESQ resonator equalizer 28 5 4 DRENCH reverb 29 5 5 SONIC CONDITIONER 30 6 TWEAKS 31 6 1 JUMPERS 31 6 2 SELECTORS 32 7 CONFIGURATION 33 7 1 ABOUT MIDI CC 33 7 2 MIDI LEARN 34 7...

Page 3: ...veral under the hood tweaks more modulation options plus a great collection of cute stomp box effects Enjoy Urs and the team 1 1 INSTALLATION Go to the Repro 1 web page download the latest installer for Mac or Windows Unzip the compressed file open the Repro 1 folder and start the installer application The only demo restriction is a mild crackling at irregular intervals after about two minutes of ...

Page 4: ...versmeier code puns Jan Storm framework more code Sebastian Greger GUI design 3D stuff Rob Clifton Harvey interwebz databases William Rodewald student life support code Howard Scarr presets manuals necessary grump Michael Pettit videos marketing web development Viktor Weimer support presets the voice Thomas Binek QA bug hunting presets Henna Gramentz worldly supervision Oddvar Manlig everything el...

Page 5: ...y Performs several duties Normally it shows the name of the preset Clicking on the triangles steps through all presets while clicking in the middle of the display lets you select any preset from the current folder While editing the name and value is displayed and the preset name reappears after a few seconds UNDO REDO To the right of the data display is a pair of buttons you can use to fix any mis...

Page 6: ...s 20 presets meticulously copied from patch sheets in the printed manual MIDI Programs As well as the categorized factory presets Local also contains a special folder called MIDI Programs which is initially empty When the first instance of Repro 1 starts all presets in that folder will be loaded into memory These presets up to 128 are selected directly via MIDI Program Change messages As they are ...

Page 7: ...ing always necessary after folders or presets have been added or moved using Explorer Finder right click in the folder list and select the first entry from the context menu Note Clicking on any folder name will also refresh the list Create new folder Creates a new folder within the currently selected one Reveal in Finder Open in Explorer Repro 1 s browser is mainly for loading presets and is other...

Page 8: ... to its relatively simple architecture you can operate Repro 1 without having to think about its structure However if you want to make the most of the available options it s best to understand how signals are routed between those modules 2 1 VOICE SIGNAL FLOW On the next page is a flow diagram showing the audio signal paths as well as some keyboard control paths you might like to print it out for ...

Page 9: ...INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS PERF EFFECTS TWEAKS CONFIG NKS 9 ...

Page 10: ... SHAPEs are active the mixture normally has a lower volume than each single shape due to the phase relationship between the saw and pulse To remedy this effect set the P5 option see Oscillator Tweaks on page 31 PULSE WIDTH knob Adjusts the harmonic content of the pulse wave by setting its duty cycle The range is from 0 to 100 Double click on the knob for a 50 pulse a clean square wave which only c...

Page 11: ... in NORM mode KYBD OFF switch Switching this to OFF disables keyboard follow resulting in a constant pitch independent of the played note 2 4 GLIDE MODE Also known as portamento glide is the slurring of pitch between consecutive notes RATE knob How long it takes to move from one note to the next At zero pitch changes are instantaneous while they are very slow at values above 50 AUTO switch In the ...

Page 12: ...l fed from behind the amplifier back into the MIXER this can be used for e g bass boost 2 6 FILTER CUTOFF knob Sets the cutoff frequency for the 24 db octave 4 pole lowpass filter which works a bit like a tone control The Cutoff point is the frequency below which all components of a signal are allowed to pass while most of the higher frequency components are suppressed RESONANCE knob Determines th...

Page 13: ...started whenever a note is played and as long as the key is held down the envelope proceeds through the ATTACK and DECAY stages It then remains at the SUSTAIN level until the key is released after which it drops to zero at a rate set by the RELEASE knob Note The RELEASE stage is initiated as soon as all keys are released If this happens during the ATTACK or DECAY there is no SUSTAIN stage ATTACK k...

Page 14: ...he AMP ENVELOPE controls shape the envelope applied to volume pre effects Volume Curve trimmer In the original hardware the VOLUME knob actually controls the amount of amp envelope modulating the final VCA It also affects the curvature of the envelope not by design but as a side effect of how it works As Repro 1 s equivalent OUTPUT knob comes after all effects the only feasible way to implement th...

Page 15: ...ows LFO speed to be freely adjustable via the RATE knob RATE knob Adjusts LFO speed within a range of about 0 1Hz to 30Hz SHAPE switches The same options as in OSC B except that the LFO s pulse width is fixed at 50 Remember that you can add the shapes here e g SAW SQUARE 2 10 MODULATION SIGNAL FLOW Repro 1 offers three modulation sources which can be mixed and routed through two different paths to...

Page 16: ... WHEEL DIRECT switches These route each of the 3 sources into one of two busses the so called WHEEL or DIRECT paths OSC A FREQ OSC A PW OSC B FREQ OSC B PW and FILTER switches The vertical row of switches select either the WHEEL or DIRECT path for each destination Note In the original hardware the signal at each PW input gets inverted when the modulating signal goes up the pulse width goes down We...

Page 17: ...NV amount up to maximum The MOD FILE ENV output is set to the DIRECT bus which is what we want here Now switch OSC A FREQ source to DIR direct Turn the filter envelope SUSTAIN level down to minimum and increase the DECAY until the sweep effect sounds good LFO pulse width modulation PWM Click on the data display and reload INIT In the MIXER section turn OSC B down to minimum In oscillator A switch ...

Page 18: ...1 slowest to 1 64 fastest The trip options are triplets 3 in the space of 2 and the dot options are dotted 2 in the space of 3 i e 50 longer than normal The order of values may appear strange at first e g 1 4 then 1 8 dot then 1 4 trip but you can rest assured that they have been sorted according to length 2 13 ARP SEQUENCER basic access An arpeggiator plays back all held notes one after the other...

Page 19: ...ng some more notes It will soon become apparent that these notes are temporary they disappear as soon as you release them while the latched notes continue Note The SEQUENCER part of this panel contains just enough elements to let you record and play back sequences without switching pages For the complete story please read the next chapter Interesting quirk The arpeggiator will not repeatedly trigg...

Page 20: ...ffer size of at least 128 samples most DAWs set larger buffer sizes by default This doesn t mean it won t work with smaller buffers but we did experience one or two glitches in certain hosts 3 1 PATTERN data A sequence consists of two patterns containing up to 32 steps each STEPS selectors These specify the length of each sequence i e the number of steps to play before returning to step 1 Alternat...

Page 21: ...n the sequence is played back one note per key press ON KEY ALWAYS switch The ALWAYS option causes the sequence to continue playing even if all keys are released simulating a hold pedal ON KEY stops the sequence as soon as all keys are released restarting it when a new key is pressed Please note that this switch is global per instance of the plug in the status doesn t change even when you load a d...

Page 22: ... by rotating parts of existing sequences COPY and PASTE buttons Clipboard functions for each pattern Note that you can copy from one preset and paste into another CLEAR buttons Deletes all data in the pattern and sets the current step to the start 3 4 A FEW TRICKS Start a sequence that contains ties as well as rests then go to the SYNTH page and try performing with your sequence using only the MOD...

Page 23: ... on a key to sustain it until you click on another A note to users of 3 octave MIDI keyboards You might have to transpose your keyboard down an octave to match the range of Repro 1 s touchplate 4 1 PERFORM To the right of the touch keyboard is a little modulation matrix you can use to extend Repro 1 s modulation capabilities To select a source click on the label immediately below each target selec...

Page 24: ...2 doesn t include pitchbend Velocity Aftertouch Wavefolder AR Filter Envelope Amp Envelope Jaws Folds Bias Fold Mod Depth Mod Wheel Pitch Wheel Breath Expression LFO Clock Phase Trigger Gate Key Follow 1 Key Follow 2 doesn t include pitchbend Velocity Aftertouch Wavefolder AR Filter Envelope Amp Envelope Mod Wheel Pitch Wheel Breath Expression LFO Clock Phase Trigger Gate Key Follow 1 Key Follow 2...

Page 25: ...ng effects The signal flows from the top of the block to bottom Click to enable disable effects click and drag up or down to change the order Tip Placing LYREBIRD above JAWS can get interesting 5 1 JAWS wavefolder Hardware wavefolders have already become quite popular in larger modular systems especially amongst West Coast fans A special kind of waveshaper the wavefolder literally folds the wavefo...

Page 26: ...and that extreme BIAS settings can result in silence anyway especially if FOLDS is set relatively low B MOD switch Bias modulation LFO rate Setting this to OFF disables the LFO F MOD knob The depth of folds modulation from the wavefolder s own envelope A and R knobs Attack and Release times for the wavefolder envelope TRIGGER switch Determines how the envelope reacts with the following 3 options A...

Page 27: ...mpare results MODE switch Affects the ratio between delays in the left and right channels Echo has equal delay times in both channels so the effect is monophonic unless modulated Pingpong alternates evenly between the left and right channels Swing creates triplets and Groove does dotted times MODULATION switch Time modulation LFO rate Switching to OFF disables the LFO TIME knob Scales the Delay Sy...

Page 28: ...follows LOW 45 Hz to 3 kHz MID 55 Hz to 9 kHz HIGH 130 Hz to 10 kHz GAIN knobs EQ mode Centre zero controls for cutting or boosting the level of each band by up to 18dB In EQ mode LOW and HIGH are shelving filters as indicated by the labels VOLUME knobs RES mode The amplitudes of three resonant bandpass filters The knobs are not centre zero in RES mode but positive only Q quality RES resonance kno...

Page 29: ...ining the presence of the dry signal while simulating larger spaces DECAY knob The length of the reverb tail At the maximum setting it can take several minutes for the decay to reach silence TONE knob A tilt filter from very dark at 100 to very bright at 100 Simulates the softness hardness of surfaces Note At those extremes the wet signal almost but not quite disappears INTRO SYNTH SEQUENCER KEYS ...

Page 30: ...ove zero the centre will saturate the signal a useful effect in its own right You can compensate for high GAIN by turning Repro 1 s main OUTPUT level down TRANSIENT knob Bipolar control over the percussive elements within a signal Try setting negative values to reduce clicks or positive values to add punch WIDTH knob A stereo spread control Especially useful for keeping delay or bias modulated wav...

Page 31: ...MPERS LFO inversion In the N normal position the LFO is a rising sawtooth just like the audio oscillators while in the INV position it is a falling sawtooth The new option is arguably more useful than the original LFO DC offset With the jumper in the DC position both the square and saw waves are positive only unipolar The NO DC option makes them both bipolar Note that the LFO triangle wave is alwa...

Page 32: ...Crispy Rounded or Driven The first two options accurately model the filters in the hardware synths we bought especially for Repro 1 analysis Most obviously the cutoff in Rounded is a few semitones lower than it is in Crispy and there are also significant differences in the behaviour of the resonance The Driven model is the result of balancing internal filter parameters in search of a novel 3320 fl...

Page 33: ...28 CC numbers undefined a few of them were given specific meanings that are also recognized by Repro 1 01 modulation wheel 02 breath controller 11 expression pedal 64 sustain pedal You don t actually need a physical breath controller or expression pedal to make use of control change messages those names are just convention You can use anything that can send a definable CC e g a couple of knobs on ...

Page 34: ...the cogwheel button and select MIDI TABLE Parameter The first field displays selects one of Repro 1 s parameters sorted into sub menus according to module Click on the ADD button at the bottom left and experiment with this field then delete the assignment again by clicking on the small X to the right of the line you just created Channel Controller The next two fields are for the MIDI channel and C...

Page 35: ... This setting only takes effect when the host allows e g on playback after switching sample rates or after reloading Repro 1 HQ default Set whether HQ should be on for each new instance of the plug in MIDI Control Slew Adjusts the amount of smoothing for Pitch Bend Modulation Wheel Breath Expression and Aftertouch While set to Off Repro 1 responds more quickly to modulation wheel for instance but ...

Page 36: ...nth sound genres Each category has its own list of suitable subcategories Categories are different from the Type tags in Komplete Kontrol Maschine we wanted to keep them as synthesizer specific as possible However when presets are converted to NKS Repro 1 automatically maps the Categories to the closest corresponding Type The FEATURE tags offer a more technical classification CHARACTER tags are pa...

Page 37: ...ty you will need to reinstall Repro 1 with the correct VST path and the NKS option checked Here are the preset folder locations Mac Macintosh HD Library Application Support u he Repro 1 NKS Repro 1 Win Vstplugins Repro 1 data NKS Repro 1 Or perhaps the XML File is missing from this path Mac Macintosh HD Library Application Support Native Instruments Service Center u he Repro 1 xml Win C Program Fi...

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