Waldorf MicroWave II, User Manual

Page 1: ...Bedienungsanleitung User s Manual ...

Page 2: ......

Page 3: ... To ensure your unit has full warranty coverage mail the receipt and the fully completed warranty card back within 14 days of purchase This warranty covers all defects in material and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of original purchase During this time Waldorf Electronics will repair or replace the product without charge for materials or labor provided the product was first ins...

Page 4: ...tabel Schicken Sie uns einen Brief Etwas langsamer dafür jedoch genauso zuverlässig wie ein Telefax Und wenn es ganz dringend ist rufen Sie uns an Wir versuchen Ihre Fragen möglichst sofort zu beantworten Send us an e mail message This is the most efficient and fastest way to contact us Your questions will be forwarded immediately to the resident expert and you will quickly receive an answer Send ...

Page 5: ...23 Selecting Sound and Multi Mode 24 Editing Parameters 25 Edit Buffers 27 The Compare Function 27 Recalling Edits 28 Storing Programs 28 The Play Access Page 29 Panic Function 30 Randomizing a Program 30 Initializing Programs 31 Editing Parameters on the MicroWave XT 31 Switching the Octave Setting on the XTk 32 About Wavetable Synthesis 33 Sound Parameters 38 Overview of Functions 38 Oscillators...

Page 6: ...via Controllers 97 Pitchbending 97 Aftertouch and Poly Pressure 97 System Exclusive Data 97 System Exclusive Data Transmission 98 Sending System Exclusive Data 98 Receiving System Exclusive Data 99 Other Functions 100 Updating the System Software 100 Converting MicroWave Sounds 101 Appendix 102 Technical Data 102 MIDI Controller Assignments 103 System Exclusive Data Format 106 Glossary 117 MIDI Im...

Page 7: ...ameter pages 햶 Power switch with Standby LED 햷 Select key for sound parameters Alternate function Utility 햸 Select key for sound parameters Alternate function Undo 햹 Select key for sound parameters Alternate function Compare 햺 Select key for multi instrument parameters Alternate function Recall 햻 Select key for global parameters Alternate function Store 햽 Play button for selecting the play mode Al...

Page 8: ...Level 2 T ime 3 Level 3 T ime 4 Level 4 Wave 1 4 Instrument Store Instrument Recall Compare Filter Env Utility MIDI Undo Volume Power Standby Sound Multi Multi Global Osc 1 Osc 2 Wave 1 Wave 2 Quality Mix Play Access Arpeggiator Volume Env Wave Env Free Env LFO 1 LFO 2 Modifiers Mod Matrix Name Tempo Controls Name Sound Tune Range Arpeggiator Controls Volume Tables Tune System Play Shift Octave Se...

Page 9: ...r easy program access The items labeled on this page indicate special features that are available on the XTk only Front Panel Rear Panel 쐅 Pedal CV In jacks for connecting foot controllers or analog voltages 쐅 헀 Keyboard Section 헁 Numeric keys for selecting programs 헂 Select key with Hold led 헃 Controller Section with pitchbend wheel modulation wheel and Octave Up Octave Down buttons 헀 헁 헂 헃 User ...

Page 10: ... P Bonni Bonnenberg Frank Müller Hubertus Hubi Weller Sigi Barishi Holger Bahr Jörg Hüttner Piera Caccia Evi Mognol Mike Caroll Steffi vom Berg Cordula Müller Sabine Weiland Achim Flor Thilo Kloft Martin Herbst Alex Sauff Geoff Farr and anyone we have forgotten Very special thanks to the FSF for the GNU Compiler gcc Waldorf Electronics is not liable if this manual contains erroneous information Th...

Page 11: ...is symbol refer to the additional functions of the MicroWave XT Paragraphs marked with this symbol refer to the additional functions of the XTk Highlighted Control Features and Parameters All of the MicroWave II XT XTk s keys pots and parameters are highlighted in bold letters throughout the manual Also every control element has an unique position no 햲 헃 which refers to the diagrams at the beginni...

Page 12: ...re properly grounded Make sure the available power supply has the required rating indicated on the adapter If you have any doubts consult a qualified electrician Never install a different plug If the included cable is not equipped with a suitable plug for your local sockets take it to a qualified electrician Unplug the device when you are not using it for longer periods Never touch the plug with w...

Page 13: ...he device Never use alcohol cleaning solutions or similar chemicals They will damage the surface of the chassis Proper Use This device is designed exclusively to produce low frequency audio signals for the purpose of generating sound Any other use is prohibited and voids the warranty extended by Waldorf Electronics GmbH Waldorf Electronics GmbH is not liable for damages due to incorrect use User s...

Page 14: ...ty card Setup Place the MicroWave II XT XTk on a clean even surface If you choose to take the device on the road we suggest you mount it in a 19 rack or keyboard case The MicroWave II takes up 89mm equivalent to 2 rack spaces the MicroWave XT takes up 222mm equivalent to 5 rack spaces Connections In order to get started with your MicroWave II XT XTk you will need an AC wall socket a MIDI keyboard ...

Page 15: ...o signal use the Main Out Right Mono 쐋 output If you do not insert a plug into Main Out Left Stereo 쐇 then the mono master signal is routed via the right output Before connecting and disconnecting the MicroWave II XT XTk to a power supply source turn your amp s volume control all the way down to avoid damage due to on off switching noise The MicroWave II XT XTk produces a high level output signal ...

Page 16: ...channel 1 is selected To change the setting press the Utility button 햷 The display now shows Use the first value dial 햾 below the display to change the MIDI receive channel Sound Mode In Sound mode the MicroWave II XT XTk can play one sound at a time You can select between 256 Sound programs which are organised in two banks A001 B128 and B001 B128 Selecting Sound Programs 1 Press the Play button 햽...

Page 17: ...nd return to the original To do so press the Recall key 햺 while holding the Shift key 햽 Storing Programs After editing the program you have to store it to keep the changes permanent 1 Press the Store key 햻 while holding the Shift key 햽 The display now shows 2 Use the rightmost value dial to select a memory location for the edited sound You can also leave the setting as it is In this case you re go...

Page 18: ...little more brilliant after a while you may raise the cutoff setting to get better results 9 After playing around recall the original sound to get prepared for the next step The heart of the MicroWave II XT XTk are its wavetables They build the sound source from which everything derives In this step we are going to change the sound program s wavetable 1 First call the first parameter page for Wave...

Page 19: ...dial to select the Osc 2 1 page The display now shows 2 Change the Octave setting and play some notes Check out 2 as a value The last thing we want to do in our little tour is to work with the envelopes They determine the time characteristic of the sound program 1 Select the Filter Envelope page You must use the third selection key 햹 to do this The display shows 2 Play some notes on the keyboard a...

Page 20: ...Mode setting changes to Multi The display now looks like this 3 Use the Page Dial 햴 to select other Multi programs Turning the dial clockwise increases the program number turning the dial counterclockwise decreases it On the XTk you can also select Multi mode by pressing the key labeled Multi in the numeric keys section 헁 while holding the Select button 헂 Initializing a Multi Program The best meth...

Page 21: ...en to the sound 4 We are now selecting a Sound program for Instrument 2 You can switch between the Instruments via the fouth value dial Turn the dial one step clockwise The display shows 5 Select Sound program B003 for the second Instrument To change the Bank from A to B use the first value dial 6 To play Instrument 2 ensure that your master keyboard or sequencer is sending on MIDI channel 2 Play ...

Page 22: ...tstanding features of the MicroWave II XT XTk is its arpeggiator In addition to the arpeggiator that can be used in a Sound program each Instrument has an arpeggiator too That makes it possible to use arpeggios in a Multi program without editing any Sound program You can even use the arpeggiator on Sound programs that normally don t use one 1 Select the Arpeggiator 1 page via the Page dial 2 Selec...

Page 23: ...justing the Master Volume You can use the rightmost value dial 햾 to adjust the MicroWave II XT XTk s master volume via the Main Vol parameter This setting is global and therefore valid for all programs The MicroWave XT and XTk has a dedicated Main Volume rotary control 햿 that can be used to setup the overall volume Unlike the other dials this control is made of a potentiometer Adjusting the volume...

Page 24: ...ton 헂 The Hold LED above to the Select button will go on By pressing one of the numerical keys you can select the last digit of the program no E g if program no A021 was selected before you can switch from A020 to A029 by pressing the corresponding numerical key To terminate the Bank Hold function press the Select button 헂 again The LED above the button will go off again Switching Banks By pressin...

Page 25: ... 헂 Switching back to Single mode is done in the same way by pressing the numeric button A or B while holding Select Remember that you still have to enter a 2 or 3 digit program number before the switch is performed Editing Parameters In order to change or edit a sound or multi in the MicroWave II XT XTk you must access the appropriate parameters These parameters are arranged in various pages The f...

Page 26: ... below 2 The display changes to a set of 4 parameters from the first page of the selected group For example if you press the leftmost select button 햻 the parameters for Oscillator 1 will be shown For a few seconds the page name is shown in the upper right corner of the display In our given example Osc1 1 will be displayed for Oscillator 1 Page 1 Some units of the MicroWave II XT XTk e g the oscill...

Page 27: ... the Play mode Edit Buffers Whenever you edit a Sound or Multi program on the MicroWave II XT XTk the program is internally copied to an edit buffer When you use the Store function to save the edits the program is copied back from the edit buffer to the internal memory The MicroWave II XT XTk has 8 separate edit buffers so you can edit up to 8 programs simultaneously without storing them The displ...

Page 28: ...ng Edits You can void edits at any time and return to the original program This is how you recall an edited program 1 Press and hold the Shift key 햽 2 Briefly press the Recall key 햺 3 Release the Shift key 햽 4 The e or c in the the display after the program name is cleared All edits have been recalled and the program is back in its original state Storing Programs After you have finished editing a ...

Page 29: ...factory presets you should dump them to a computer for external storage You now have stored the program When you activate the store function the Edit or Compare status of the stored program is terminated By pressing any key before performing the last step you can discard the Store process at any time Use the Store function also if you want to copy programs There is no need to edit a program before...

Page 30: ...e utility functions Most of them are dump functions Turn the page dial 햴 clockwise until the display shows Randomize 5 Briefly press the Utility key 햷 while holding the Shift key 햽 again The selected program is now randomized When you randomize a program all action takes place inside an edit buffer Therefore no data will be lost until you store the program Initializing Programs The MicroWave II XT...

Page 31: ... edited is shown in the upper right corner of the display for a short period of time If the parameter is already shown in the display only the value change will be displayed In the envelope section you can select the active parameter set via the Env Select button When holding the Shift key 햽 while turning a dial the display changes to the page that contains the edited parameter Instead of the Shif...

Page 32: ...e lowest note on the keyboard C3 is the middle note and C5 is the highest To cover a wider octave range the whole keyboard can be shifted one octave up or down via the corresponding buttons in the Controller Section 헃 This is how you change the keyboard s octave setting 1 Press the Octave Down key The keyboard is shifted one octave down from the normal setting now i e the whole range is from C0 to...

Page 33: ...cations automatically The algorithm producing these imaginary waves uses an interpolation scheme that crossfades the real ones E g when a wavetable cointains entries in entry 1 and 5 the positions 2 to 4 are generated based on interpolation between the existing waves in entry 1 and 5 Please keep the terms wavetable and wave in mind Don t bring them into confusion Introduction Wavetable synthesis g...

Page 34: ...er oscillator but also to walk through the wavetable via different modulations Therefore you can create wavetable sweeps E g an oscillator can start with an sine wave and blend over to a sawtooth wave after some time According to the wavetable used the results can be very drastic much more than any sample playback based system could ever produce That is a unique feature of wavetable synthesis The ...

Page 35: ...ed timbres were especially not realizable with the first generation wavetable synthesizers Wavetable In fact a wavetable does not consist of waves but of references to them The MicroWave II XT XTk stores wavetables and waves separately numbered from 001 128 for the wavetables 000 299 for the waves and 1000 1249 for the user waves In a wavetable up to 64 of these references are combined each pointi...

Page 36: ...nge of the timbre would be noticed It is a little bit oversized to call this continuous when not more than 4 positions are available but imagine no further wave references are stored between position 05 and 60 Then you will get a very smooth timbre change by moving from position 05 to 60 And what about hard timbre changes Now take a look at the classic waveforms on positions 61 63 As there are not...

Page 37: ...ny kind of analog filtering or other processing like FM or ring modulation These individual timbre changes that were different from anything else known at that time made up the typical wave sound The first synthesizers built in the early 80s that used this technique were the PPG 340 380 Wave Computer and the PPG 360 Wave Computer Both models yet without analog filters Wolfgang Düren responsible fo...

Page 38: ...at the end of the signal chain It determines the overall volume and position of the signal within the stereo panorama Modulators LFOs Envelopes Modifiers Modulation Matrix The Modulators are designed to manipulate or modulate the sound generating components to add dynamics to sounds The Low frequency Oscillators LFOs are designed for periodic or recurring waveshapes and Envelopes for modulations t...

Page 39: ...t based on the length of organ pipes Semitone 12 12 Determines the pitch of the oscillator in semitone steps The standard setting for this parameter is 0 but there are cases where different values are required Most organ sounds include a quint therefore one oscillator s semitone parameter must be set to 7 There are also many lead sounds with an interval e g a quart 5 semitones When making ring mod...

Page 40: ... base pitch e g is 1000Hz the subharmonic scale consists of 500Hz 333 3Hz 250Hz 200Hz 166 7Hz and so on The following example illustrates the harmonic and the subharmonic scale for the note C3 Harmonic scale C3 C4 G4 C5 E5 G5 A 5 C6 Subharmonic scale C3 C2 F1 C1 G 0 F0 D0 C0 Please note that the pitches of the harmonic and subharmonic scales differ from the tempered scale in a considerable way If ...

Page 41: ... rises on notes above the reference note for negative settings the oscillator pitch falls up to higher notes and vice versa A setting of 100 correspondes to a 1 1 scale e g when an octave is played on the keyboard the pitch changes for the same amount Other settings than 100 make sense especially when using ring modulation or oscillator synchronisation Try to use values in the range 0 75 or even n...

Page 42: ...oscillator 1 for all modulation matrix settings and pitchbend messages That means whenever a modulation is applied to oscillator 1 it is also applied to oscillator 2 When disabled each oscillator uses its own individual modulation settings Oscillator 1 Oscillator 2 in Sync Time Level Time Level 42 User s Manual MicroWave II MicroWave XT XTk ...

Page 43: ...rameter page The Wavetables are the real power of the MicroWave II XT XTk To make sure that you have access to all this power you should make yourself familiar with the sound and the characteristic of each wavetable The best way to do so is to set up a kind of test sound to 001 Resonant 002 Resonant 2 003 MalletSyn 004 Sqr Sweep 005 Bellish 006 Pul Sweep 007 Saw Sweep 008 MellowSaw 009 Feedback 01...

Page 44: ... one of the PWM wavetables The basic waveforms triangle pulse and sawtooth correspond to entry 61 63 of each wavetable Please notice that these waveforms are also used when an appropriate wave modulation is applied To avoid this you will have to activate the Limit parameter Please read this corresponding topic to get further information Use the basic waveforms to generate traditional analog synthe...

Page 45: ...aveforms triangle square or sawtooth Try it with one of the PWM wavetables The basic waveforms triangle pulse and sawtooth correspond to entry 61 63 of each wavetable Please notice that these waveforms are also used when an appropriate wave modulation is applied To avoid this you will have to activate the Limit parameter Please read this corresponding topic to get further information Use the basic...

Page 46: ...dulation amount is increased for notes above to reference note for negative settings the amount is decreased A setting of 100 corresponds to a 1 1 scale This means that each note above or below the reference note plays a different wave E g when you set Startwave to 29 and Keytrack to 100 it means that E3 plays wave 29 F3 plays wave 30 F 3 plays wave 31 and so on Limit off on This setting prevents ...

Page 47: ...tization is for The wave interpolation is overridden in five steps to get this extra fizziness Note that pitch accuracy is a bit diminished when using a value other than off The audible result of Time Quantization is a very sharp sound character when playing at low pitches Use this e g for sawtooth based sounds Accuracy off on If disabled voices are detuned very slightly to give more vivid sound e...

Page 48: ...lex waveform all harmonic component behave like interacting sine waves resulting in a wide spectral range of the ring modulated sound The following diagram illustrates the ring modulation of two sine waves Noise 0 127 Volume of the noise generator The noise generator produces pink noise and features no other controls Noise is a fundamental source for any kind of analog type percussion Also wind an...

Page 49: ...arameter names are abbreviated to fit in the display area E g AE Attack stands for the Amplifier Envelope Attack parameter The following table shows an overview of the used abbreviations Table 2 Play Access abbreviations Abbreviation Description Osc1 Oscillator 1 Osc2 Oscillator 2 W1 Wave 1 W2 Wave 2 Mix Mixer F1 Filter 1 F2 Filter 2 Amp Amplifier Arp Arpeggiator FE Filter Envelope AE Amplifier En...

Page 50: ...s the selected parameters in the Play Access page 1 Press the Play button 햽 twice to switch back to performance mode and call the Play Access page The display now shows 2 You can now use the value dials 햾 to change each parameter s value Please note that like any usual edits you have to store your modified program to make the changes permanent F1 Cutoff F1 Reso F1 EnvAmt FE Decay 092 000 29 084 Pa...

Page 51: ...ove the cutoff point will be 12dB or 24dB less than those frequencies of the signal that fall into the pass band The following diagram shows the basic principle of a low pass filter To give you an idea of the extent of damping consider this A reduction of 24dB reduces the original level by approx 94 The damping factor two octaves above the cutoff point reduces the original level by more than 99 wh...

Page 52: ...in the range 0 80 to give more brilliance to the sound At higher values of 80 113 the sound gets the typical filter character with a strong boost around the cutoff frequency and a loss in the other range When the setting is raised to values above 113 the filter starts to self oscillate generating a pure sine wave This feature can be used to create solo sounds like the traditional moog lead or anal...

Page 53: ...ore expressive character to the sound When you hit the keys smoothly only few modulation is applied When you hit them harder the modulation amount also gets stronger The following diagram illustrates the functionality of this parameter The overall modulation applied to the filter s cutoff frequency is calculated as the sum of both parameters Cutoff Env Amount and Env Velocity Amount Therefore you ...

Page 54: ...dB BP and 12dB BP remove frequencies both below and above the cutoff point As a result the sound character gets narrow Use these filter types for programming effect and percussion like sounds 12db High Pass The high pass filter 12dB HP is useful to thin out a sound s bass frequencies This may give interesting results also in conjunction with cutoff frequency modulation By doing this you can e g fl...

Page 55: ... in the user manual The band pass filter s cutoff frequency is the same as the cutoff frequency of the low pass filter cutoff setting except for the extra parameter BP Offset which adds to the band pass filter s cutoff frequency The band pass filter s resonance is equal to that of the low pass filter Filter 1 2 To select a low pass band pass with the latter set to one octave above the other do the...

Page 56: ... a 12dB high pass and a 12dB low pass in parallel By means of the extra parameter Bandwidth the frequency of the high pass can be increased relative to the low pass If Bandwidth has a value of 0 this filter is identical to the 12dB notch filter The resonance setting applies to both filters in the same way Filter 2 The second filter is capable of performing a low pass or high pass The slope is alwa...

Page 57: ...umber 64 For positive settings the cutoff frequency rises on notes above the reference note for negative settings the cutoff frequency falls up to higher notes and vice versa A setting of 100 corresponds to a 1 1 scale so e g when an octave is played on the keyboard the cutoff frequency changes for the same amount If you don t want to use Filter 2 select the low pass and set the cutoff frequency t...

Page 58: ... character For negative settings the volume falls up to higher velocities This gives an untypical character suitable for effect sounds As the Amplifier always works in conjunction with the Amplifier Envelope this parameter actually determines the envelope velocity amount The following diagram illustrates this functionality Keytrack 200 197 Determines how much the volume depends on the MIDI note nu...

Page 59: ...her movement to the sound set this parameter to a basic value and apply some modulation to it e g via an LFO or the Keytrack parameter Keytrack 200 197 Determines how much the pan position depends on the MIDI note number The reference note for Keytrack is E3 note number 64 For positive settings the panning moves to the right on notes above the reference note for negative settings the panning moves...

Page 60: ...ctive obscurity Just have a play with the effects The Mix Parameter Most of the effects have a mix parameter This parameter determines the volume ratio between the original signal and the effect output To further stress the fact that this is a ratio the mix parameter is display as two numbers The first number is the original or dry signal amount The second number is the effect s output amount or w...

Page 61: ...127 Determines the volume ratio of the dry and wet signal AutoWahLP Effect The AutoWahLP is basically a low pass filter of which the cutoff is determined by the signal s strength Sense 0 127 Controls the filter s sensitivity according to the signal s strength Cutoff 0 127 The minimal cutoff frequency of the filter Resonance 0 127 Filter resonance Effect Sense Cutoff Resonance AutoWahLP 065 038 010...

Page 62: ...n is applied Gain 0 127 Determines the output volume of the distortion Amp Type 0 127 Allows one to select the speaker simulation setting These settings are available Setting Type of Simulation Direct No speaker simulation Combo Simulation of a small speaker with small bandwidth Medium Simulation of a larger speaker with medium bandwidth Stack Simulation of an array of speakers with large bandwidt...

Page 63: ...me Delay time This parameter is displayed as a note type followed by a Beats Per Minute number So 1 4 74 means that the delay time is a quarter note at 74 BPM Feedback 0 127 Determines the amount of delayed signal being fed back into the delay Mix 127 0 0 127 Determines the volume ratio of the dry and wet signal Pan Delay Effect The only difference between Delay and Pan Delay is that the delayed s...

Page 64: ... parameters of this effect Time Delay time This parameter is displayed as a note type followed by a Beats Per Minute number So 1 4 74 means that the delay time is a quarter note at 74 BPM Speed 0 127 The speed of the modulating oscillator Depth 0 127 Amount of change in the delay time caused by the oscillator Effect Time Speed Depth Mod Delay 1 4 74 010 108 64 User s Manual MicroWave II MicroWave ...

Page 65: ...otes gliding in semitone steps When fingered or f gliss is selected the portamento or glissando is only applied on legato played notes and so the first note played is not influenced This feature is useful especially for solo sounds when it is often undesireable to slide into the beginning Mode exp linear Selects whether the pitch is changed in an exponential or linear style On classic analog synth...

Page 66: ...is started when the first note is played The sustain phase is held until the last note is released Then the release phase is performed This setting is only valid if Mode is set to Mono Otherwise the envelope works as if normal is selected If retrigger is selected the envelope acts as in single mode except that each note triggers the envelope again from its current value This setting is only valid ...

Page 67: ... to the played notes If normal is selected every played note uses one of the MicroWave II XT XTk s voices If dual is selected every note uses two voices which can be detuned by the Detune parameter described below If unisono is selected all voices are used divided to the notes played That means if you play just one note all 10 voices of the MicroWave II XT XTk are used for this note If you play tw...

Page 68: ... of the Direction parameter This setting allows you to create arpeggios in the sequence of played notes When you use the sound as part of a multi program you can either use the sound s arpeggiator described here or the dedicated arpeggiator of the multi program s instrument Use the instrument parameter Arpeggiator Active to select which one to use As a default the sound s arpeggiator is not activa...

Page 69: ... MIDI Song Position Pointer is also recognized Clock 1 1 1 32 Determines the note value for whole notes to thirty second notes The basis is a 4 4 beat Triplets e g 1 8T and dotted notes e g 1 16 are available for every value Range 1 10 Determines the range of the single notes in octaves Pattern off user 1 15 Determines whether an rhythm pattern is played and which one If off is selected the arpegg...

Page 70: ...rsed is selected the arpeggio is generated in the reverse order of the incoming notes To understand the difference of the individual settings it is nessessary to step input the notes of the chord as described at the beginning of this chapter Velocity root note last note Determines how the velocity values of the generated notes are calculated If root note is selected every generated note inherits i...

Page 71: ...position of the pattern you want to edit Then use the Trigger parameter to define the state of the selected position All active positions are marked with a in the display all inactive positions show a Note that you can also create triplet rhythms by setting the pattern length to 3 6 or 12 and selecting a triplet value for the Clock parameter Arpeggiator User Pattern Position Trigger 03 on User s M...

Page 72: ...e envelope is started by pressing a key It ascends to its maximum value at the rate determined by the Attack parameter It then descends at the rate determined by the Decay value until it reaches the predetermined Sustain value It remains at this value until the key is released The envelope then descends to zero at the rate determined by the Release parameter Filter Envelope This envelope is design...

Page 73: ... the envelope s response Amplifier Env Attack 0 127 Determines the attack rate or amount of time it takes for a signal to go from zero to maximum level Decay 0 127 Determines the decay rate or amount of time it takes for a signal to reach the Sustain level Sustain 0 127 Determines the sustain level which is held until a note ends Release 0 127 Once the note has ended the release phase begins Durin...

Page 74: ...t Time 2 the amplitude moves to the Level 2 value The same procedure is processed for the following segments until the end of the sustain phase is reached In the shown example Level 6 is the last value of the sustain phase The amplitude remains at this value until the key is released The envelope then moves on to process the remaining segments until it finally ends with its last value Level 8 In f...

Page 75: ... No segment beyond the selected number will be used Note that this feature is also valid when Key Off Loop is disabled The loop points are numbered from 1 to 8 Each number represents the end of the corresponding segment e g no 3 means the point of Level 3 after Time 3 As you can see the first loop point is at the end of segment 1 Therefore segment 1 can not be looped The following examples illustr...

Page 76: ... the sawtooth s amplitude 7 Set Time 3 to 0 This causes the envelope abruptly to minimum level after releasing the key and sets the minimum value of the sawtooth s amplitude in the release phase 8 Set Level 4 to 127 This defines the maximum value of the sawtooth s amplitude in the release phase 9 Specify the rate of the sawtooth for the release phase via the Time 4 parameter 10 Set Key Off Loop St...

Page 77: ... the Free Envelope features bipolar levels Therefore it can generate modulation amounts in the range 1 0 1 Free Env 1 Free Env 2 Time 1 3 0 127 Determines the time for the individual segment to reach its end level Level 1 3 64 63 End level that the corresponding segment finally reaches Release 0 127 Determines the length of the release phase when the key is released The envelope then descends to t...

Page 78: ...f retrigger 1 126 Determines the start of the LFO cycle after an incoming MIDI note If off is selected the LFO runs completely free which means its cycle is not synchronised to the note start Use this setting e g when modulating the filter cutoff of a sound that should be different each time you play it If retrigger is selected the LFO starts its cycle after receiving a note This is also known as ...

Page 79: ...disabled the LFO remains at its initial speed preset by the Rate parameter Low settings add a human touch to the sound high settings are useful when creating effect sounds with an irregular character e g a wind sound where the filter frequency is modulated by an LFO The following diagram shows the effect of the Humanize setting LFO 2 The second LFO offers the same functionality as the first one In...

Page 80: ...c off on Selects if the LFO is synchronised If off is selected the LFO runs completely independent If on is selected all LFOs of the MicroWave s voices used by the sound program behave as one Symmetry 64 63 Adjusts the relationship between the rising and the falling edge of the signal When set to 0 the generated waveshape is symmetrical When set to positive values the positive cycle becomes longer...

Page 81: ... LFO 1 signal multiplied with Modwheel LFO1 Prs LFO 1 signal multiplied with Aftertouch LFO2 LFO 2 signal FilterEnv Filter Envelope signal Ampl Env Amplifier Envelope signal Wave Env Wave Envelope signal Free Env Free Envelope signal KeyFollow Same as Keytrack but with pitchbend and glide Keytrack MIDI note number Velocity MIDI note velocity Rel Velo MIDI note release velocity Pressure MIDI aftert...

Page 82: ...rmines which kind of operation will be performed on the selected input sources The following types are available Table 4 Modifier functions The result of a modifier operation always lies within the range 1 0 1 When it is assigned to a parameter in the Modulation Matrix it is scaled to the range of the selected parameter Setting Description Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division XOR Exclusive...

Page 83: ...ed on a definable source Ramp Creates a linear ramp from minimum to maximum The ramp is triggered each time Source 1 has a positive transition The rise time is specified by Parameter You can use this e g to get an additional sawtooth source from an LFO while another waveform is selected Switch Returns maximum if the value of Source 1 is above the value of Parameter Otherwise minimum is returned Us...

Page 84: ... This function is useful when you want to apply a definable modulation over a specified time e g Modwheel controlled ramp for oszillator sweeps filter Performs a low pass filter function on Source 1 The filter frequency is determined by Parameter s value Use this function to smooth a signal diff Performs a differential function on Source 1 The result of this function represents the speed of value ...

Page 85: ...ng amplitude depends on the type of modulation source you select For the so called unipolar modulation sources the resulting amplitude lies within the range of 0 1 if Amount is positive or 0 1 if Amount is negative These sources are Filter Envelope Amplifier Envelope Wave Envelope all MIDI controllers including Modwheel Foot control etc Velocity Release Velocity Aftertouch Polyphonic Pressure and ...

Page 86: ...modulation level Noise Mix Mixer noise level Cutoff Filter 1 cutoff frequency Resonance Filter 1 resonance Filter 2 Filter 2 cutoff frequency Volume Amplifier master volume Panning Amplifier pan position FE Attack Filter Envelope attack FE Decay Filter Envelope decay FE Sustain Filter Envelope sustain FE Release Filter Envelope release AE Attack Amplifier Envelope attack AE Decay Amplifier Envelop...

Page 87: ... modulation source in the Modifiers or the Modulation Matrix If global is selected the corresponding settings made in the global parameter section are used MIDI Send global specific This setting determines the MIDI channel used for sending notes generated by the XTk s keyboard If global is selected notes are sent on the basic channel selected in the global parameters section If specific is selecte...

Page 88: ...ti or Global parameters When editing an Instrument s Sound program you can also switch among the Instruments by turning the rightmost value dial 햾 when the Shift key 햽 is hold Sound Sound 1 Sound 2 Sound 3 Bank A B Selects the bank from which the sound program is taken Sound 001 128 Selects the instrument s sound program Channel global omni 1 16 Determines the MIDI receive channel for the instrume...

Page 89: ...se panning modulation is done as before but the modulation signal is negated and as a result the stereo sides are exchanged Output Main Out Sub Out Selects the audio output on which the instrument s signal will appear Main routes the instrument to the main outputs Main Out Left Stereo 쐇 and Main Out Right Mono 쐋 Sub routes it to the sub outputs Sub Out Left Stereo 쐏 and Sub Out Right Mono 쐄 Tune T...

Page 90: ... Every Instrument in a Multi mode program is capable of using its own arpeggiator The settings made in this section override the settings defined in the Instrument s Sound program All Instruments will use the tempo setting defined in the Multi Arpeggiator Tempo parameter because it makes no sense to use different settings for each Instrument Alternatively you can use the original settings of the S...

Page 91: ... back down If random is selected the arpeggio plays any of the notes in a random order NoteOrder by note note rev as played reversed Determines the sequence of generated notes according to note order If by note is selected the arpeggio sequence is sorted by the MIDI note number This is the standard mode used by most arpeggiators If note rev is selected the arpeggio sequence is sorted in the exactl...

Page 92: ...e last and over again regarding the sequence determined by Direction and Note Order If the setting is enabled the arpeggiator only plays the number of chord notes that correspond to the pattern length Then it starts with the first chord note at its basic octave again The result is similar to pressing the chord again each time the pattern restarts 92 User s Manual MicroWave II MicroWave XT XTk ...

Page 93: ... XT XTk This setting is valid for all Sound programs and for Instruments of a Multi program whose Channel parameter is set to global If omni is selected the MicroWave II XT XTk sends on channel 1 and receives on all channels Display timeout Contrast 064 100 Master Tuning Transpose 440 Hz 00 Main Volume Input Gain 100 2 Main Volume 100 Pedal Type closing KB Send Vel Curve R Vel C Prs Curve 8 lin of...

Page 94: ...ther devices but cannot send it itself This function is limited to special computer software Par Control Send off Ctl only SysEx Ctl SysEx Determines which type of data is sent from the MicroWave II XT XTk via MIDI If off is selected no data is sent If Ctl only is selected only controller messages are sent Parameters without dedicated controller assignment are not sent at all If SysEx is selected ...

Page 95: ...e dynamic response curve of the XTk s keyboard velocity By selecting one of the fix values the dynamic velocity will be disabled and all notes are sent with the same velocity E g if you select fix100 each note played on the keyboard will have a velocity of 100 R Vel C off exp2 exp1 lin log1 log2 fix32 fix127 Same as Vel Curve but determines the response of the keyboards release velocity If off is ...

Page 96: ... doing You will have to adjust all your other instruments too Don t forget to set it back again Transpose 12 12 Allows one to set a global pitch transpose for all programs of the MicroWave II XT XTk Display timeout 0 127 Determines how long the page names are displayed in the upper right corner when calling a parameter page via the page dial 햴 You may want to decrease the value or set it to 0 afte...

Page 97: ...iers and the Modulation Matrix Changing Sound Parameters via Controllers Every important parameter is assigned a controller number through which the parameter can be changed If a parameter is changed at the device then this change is sent along with the appropriate controller number via MIDI This is especially helpful when you want to record changes you made at the MicroWave II XT XTk to a sequenc...

Page 98: ...s sent Use this function to dump all settings of a Multi This function is only available in Multi mode If All Sounds is selected all Sound programs of the MicroWave II XT XTk are sent If All Multis is selected all Multi programs of the MicroWave II XT XTk are sent If All Wavetables Waves is selected all Wavetables Waves are dumped If Global Parameters is selected all Global parameters are dumped I...

Page 99: ... the sender and receiver setting coincide Make sure none of the MicroWave II XT XTk s programs are in Edit mode All edit buffers are cleared via data transmission and therefore all edits that were not stored prior to the dump will be irretrievably lost After activating the dump command at the sender device the MicroWave II XT XTk will receive data and store these in its memory When the MicroWave I...

Page 100: ...k with several sysex messages within Make sure that this track is assigned to the MicroWave II XT XTk so that it can receive the data 3 Start the sequencer to play the file and send the track data to the MicroWave II XT XTk 4 The MicroWave II XT XTk will display a message that informs that update is in progress 5 Wait until the operation is completed If updating was successful the MicroWave II XT ...

Page 101: ...first MicroWave uses analog circuits which may differ from device to device its impossible to make programs sound exactly the same The MicroWave II XT XTk uses a Modulation Matrix with 16 slots Theoretically it is possible that an old program uses more modulation assignments so that some entries would get lost Actually there is only a little chance to get into trouble The Filter Envelope of the Mi...

Page 102: ...c Range n a 86dB 86dB Frequency Range n a 5Hz 20kHz 5Hz 20kHz CV Inputs Pedal n a n a 0 5V CV In n a n a 0 5V Power Supply Nominal voltage DC 12V DC 12V AC 100 240V Maximum current consumption 1A 1A 1 2A Maximum power consumption 12W 12W 30W Dimensions and Weight Width 483mm 483mm 830mm Height 89mm 2HE 223mm 5HE 115mm Depth w control features 220mm 102mm 350mm Total weight 3 4kg 4 5kg 11kg 102 Use...

Page 103: ...portamento 1 fingered port 2 glissando 3 fingered gliss 23 0É1 Glide Mode 0 exp 1 linear 24 0É127 LFO1 Rate 0É127 25 0É5 LFO1 Shape 0 sin 1 tri 2 square 3 saw 4 random 5 S H 26 0É127 LFO2 Rate 0É127 27 0É127 LFO2 Delay 0 off 1 retrigger 2É127 1É126 28 0É5 LFO2 Shape 0 sin 1 tri 2 square 3 saw 4 random 5 S H 29 0É2 Filter Env Trigger 0 normal 1 single 2 retrigger 30 0É127 LFO1 Delay 0 off 1 retrigg...

Page 104: ...Sustain Switch 0É127 65 0É127 Glide on off 0É127 70 0É127 Wavetable Wavetable 001É128 71 0É63 Wave 1 Startwave 00É60 61 triangle 62 square 63 saw 72 0É127 Wave 1 Phase 0 free 1É127 3 É357 73 0É127 Wave 1 Env Amnt 64É 63 74 0É127 Wave 1 Env Vel Amnt 64É 63 75 0É127 Wave 1 Keytrack 200 É 197 76 0É1 Wave 1 Limit 0 off 1 on 77 0É63 Wave 2 Startwave 00É60 61 triangle 62 square 63 saw 78 0É127 Wave 2 Ph...

Page 105: ...ote Order 0 by note 1 note rev 2 as played 3 reversed 109 0É1 Arp Velocity 0 root note 1 last note 110 0É1 Arp Reset 0 off 1 on 111 0É15 Arp Pattern Length 1É16 112 0É3 LFO 1 Sync 0 off 1 on 3 Clock 113 0É127 LFO 1 Symmetry 64É 63 114 0É127 LFO 1 Humanize 0É127 115 0É3 LFO 2 Sync 0 off 1 on 3 Clock 116 0É127 LFO 2 Symmetry 64É 63 117 0É127 LFO 2 Humanize 0É127 118 0É127 LFO 2 Phase 0 free 1É127 3 ...

Page 106: ...bit seven cannot be used Following dump types are currently defined Label Value Description xxxR 0xh Request xxxD 1xh Dump xxxP 2xh Parameter Change xxxS 3xh Store command xxxL 4xh Recall Command xxxC 5xh Compare command Not all combinations of dump types and data types are currently supported only those given below Request xxxR 0x Dump xxxD 1x Parameter Change xxxP 2x Store xxxS 3x Recall xxxL 4x...

Page 107: ...s with indices 0 to 127 See 3 1 for a detailed list of parameters and indices So the actual Format is Index Label Value Description 0 EXC F0h Marks Start of SysEx 1 IDW 3Eh Waldorf Electronics GmbH ID 2 IDE 0Eh Microwave 2 ID 3 DEV Device ID 4 IDM 20h here SNDP Sound Parameter change 5 LL see above Location 6 HH see above Parameter index high bit 7 PP see above Parameter index 8 XX see 3 1 New Par...

Page 108: ...Ex 1 IDW 3Eh Waldorf Electronics GmbH ID 2 IDE 0Eh Microwave 2 ID 3 DEV Device ID 4 IDM 02h here WAVR Wave request 5 HH see Text Location 6 LL see Text Location 7 XSUM HH LL 7Fh Checksum 8 EOX F7h End of SysEx 2 32 WAVD WAVD 12h Wave Dump A wave dump is used to transfer wave data from and to the Microwave 2 The location is given in two bytes with following conventions HH LL Location 00 00 00 7F RO...

Page 109: ...X F7h End of SysEx 2 53 GLBP GLBP 24h Global Parameter Change Upon reception of a valid Global Parameter Change dump the specified parameter will change its value immediately according to the given value See 3 6 for a detailed list of parameters and indices The actual Format is Index Label Value Description 0 EXC F0h Marks Start of SysEx 1 IDW 3Eh Waldorf Electronics GmbH ID 2 IDE 0Eh Microwave 2 ...

Page 110: ... 03 Encoder 4 04 Encoder 5 big red one 05 Play Shift button 06 Soundpar 1 Store button 07 Soundpar 2 Recall button 08 Soundpar 3 Compare button 09 Multipar Undo button 0A Global Utility button 0B Power button Annother byte defines the movement to be simulated MM Encoder Button 00 encoder left turn 64 released 01 encoder left turn 63 pressed 2 63 encoder left by MM pressed 64 no encoder move presse...

Page 111: ...st 3 11 Play Param 4 62 0 127 0 127 Filter 1 Cutoff 63 0 127 0 127 Filter 1 Resonance 64 0 9 see List 3 15 Filter 1 Type 65 0 127 200 197 Filter 1 Keytrack 66 0 127 64 63 Filter 1 Envelope Amount 67 0 127 64 63 Filter 1 Envelope Velocity Amount 68 reserved 69 reserved 70 0 127 Context Sens Filter 1 Special Parameter 71 reserved 72 reserved 73 0 127 0 127 Filter 2 Cutoff 74 0 1 6dB LP 6dB HP Filter...

Page 112: ...see List 3 14 Modifier 3 Type 191 0 127 0 127 Modifier 3 Param 192 0 31 see List 3 12 Mod 1 Source 193 0 127 64 63 Mod 1 Amount 194 0 33 see List 3 13 Mod 1 Destination 195 0 31 see List 3 12 Mod 2 Source 196 0 127 64 63 Mod 2 Amount 197 0 33 see List 3 13 Mod 2 Destination 198 0 31 see List 3 12 Mod 3 Source 199 0 127 64 63 Mod 3 Amount 200 0 33 see List 3 13 Mod 3 Destination 201 0 31 see List 3...

Page 113: ...r 1 Special 78 90 Glide Time 79 Control W 80 Control X 81 Control Y 82 Control Z 3 12 Modulation Sources Index Modulation Source 0 off 1 LFO1 2 LFO1 Modwheel 3 LFO1 Aftertouch 4 LFO2 5 Filter Envelope 6 Amplifier Envelope 7 Wave Envelope 8 Free Envelope 9 Key Follow 10 Keytrack 11 Velocity 12 Release Velocity 13 Aftertouch 14 Poly Pressure 15 Pitch Bend 16 Modwheel 17 Sustain Control 18 Foot Contr...

Page 114: ...ty 13 1 127 1 127 Highest Velocity 14 0 127 0 127 Lowest Key 15 0 127 0 127 Highest Key 16 0 2 off on hold Sound Arp Arpeggiator Active 17 0 15 1 1 1 32 Arpeggiator Clock 18 1 10 1 10 Arpeggiator Range 19 0 16 off user 1 15 Arpeggiator Pattern 20 0 3 up down alt random Arpeggiator Dir 21 0 3 note n rev played p rev Arpeggiator Note Order 22 0 1 root note last note Arpeggiator Velocity 23 0 1 off o...

Page 115: ...p1 lin log1 log2 fix32 fix64 fix100 fix127 Velocity Curve 20 0 9 off exp2 exp1 lin log1 log2 fix32 fix64 fix100 fix127 Release Velocity 21 1 5 exp2 exp1 lin log1 log2 Pressure Curve 22 reserved 23 0 127 1 128 Startup Multi Number 24 0 16 off Chnl1 16 Arpeggiator Note out Channel 25 0 1 off on MIDI Clock output 26 0 3 off Ctl SysEx Ctl SysEx Parameter send 27 0 1 off on Parameter receive 28 0 3 1 4...

Page 116: ...ect 1 0 Digital input 1 1 Digital input2 Dream 9407 Output assignments out1 ESSI0 TX0 digital out 1 Bit 3 Bit 2 Bit 1 Bit 0 In1 In2 9407 MW Main MW Sub ESSI0 Rx ESSI1 RX out2 ESSI1 TX0 digital out 2 Bit 3 Bit 2 Bit 1 Bit 0 In1 In2 MW Main MW Sub ESSI0 Rx ESSI1 RX out3 ESSI1 TX1 Dream Input Bit 3 Bit 2 Bit 1 Bit 0 In1 In2 MW Main MW Sub ESSI0 Rx ESSI1 RX So a complete routing dump is F0 3E 0E DEV 1...

Page 117: ... clock which means the repetition interval Some arpeggiators also feature preset or programmable rhythm patterns Attack An envelope parameter Attack is a term that describes the ascent rate of an envelope from its starting point to the point where it reaches its highest value The Attack phase is initiated immediately after a trigger signal is received i e after you play a note on the keyboard Band...

Page 118: ... the frequencies below the cutoff The band pass filter allows only those frequencies around the cutoff frequency to pass all others are dampened A band stop filter does just the opposite i e it dampens only the frequencies around the cutoff frequency The most common type is the low pass filter Filter Cutoff Frequency The filter cutoff frequency is a significant factor for filters A low pass filter...

Page 119: ... At the time a communications standard for heterogeneous devices did not exist so MIDI was a significant advance It made it possible to link all devices with one another through simple uniform connections Essentially this is how MIDI works One sender is connected to one or several receivers For instance if you want to use a computer to play the Pulse then the computer is the sender and the Pulse a...

Page 120: ...ged via program change messages Release An envelope parameter The term Release describes the descent rate of an envelope to its minimum value after a trigger is terminated The Release phase begins immediately after the trigger is terminated regardless of the envelope s current status For instance the Release phase may be initiated during the Attack phase Resonance Resonance is an important filter ...

Page 121: ...the filter parameters via control voltages Volume The term describes a sound s output level Wave A wave is the digitally stored image of a single wave cycle From this point of view a wave is identical to a sample that is looped exactly after one cycle The difference to a sampler or ROM sample player is that all waves have the same length and they are played at the same pitch Wavetable A wavetable ...

Page 122: ...o Panning 32 x o Bank Select 64 o o Sustain Pedal Prog x o Change True 0 127 System Exclusive o o System Song Pos x o Song Sel x x Common Tune x x System Clock o o Start Stop Real Time Commands o o Continue Aux Local ON OFF x x Mes All Notes Off x o sages Active Sense x o Reset x x Note See MIDI Controller Assignments for more information Mode 1 OMNI ON POLY Mode 2 OMNI ON MONO o Yes Mode 3 OMNI O...

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Page 124: ...se try to eliminate the problem by using one of the following measures Relocate either this product or the device that is being affected by the interference Utilise power outlets that are on branch Circuit breaker or fuse circuits or install AC line filter s In the case of radio or TV interference relocate reorient the antenna If the antenna lead in is 300 ohm ribbon lead change the lead in to co ...

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Page 126: ... Waldorf Electronics 1999 Printed in Germany Waldorf Electronics GmbH Neustraße 12 D 53498 Waldorf Germany http www waldorf gmbh de ...