SH-009 Monosynth

VST Plugin

by Postdawn Nurseries

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Introduction

The SH-009 Monosynth contribution is a Roland SH-09 clone in VST plugin format, including the following features:

Random step voltage that can be applied to oscillator pitch, pulse width, lowpass filter cutoff frequency, and envelope triggering.
Audio input filtering when used as an insert effect.
4 oscillator types.
Switchable suboscillator to 1 or 2 octaves.
Self-oscillating lowpass filter.
Filter envelope polarity switch.
3 LFO types, with up to 1.5 second delay.
Multiple gate modes.
5 octave range switch.
plus more!

This program is free software;

You cannot, however, redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of this Public License
without permission from the developer;

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

VCO

The VCO is the primary sound source of the synthesizer and generates the basic waveforms.

1. Tuning This control the overall pitch of the SH-09. The tunable range is +/- 65 cents.

2. MOD (Modulator) With the mod slider high, the VCO is modulated by the output signals of modulaor (LFO).

3. Range switch This switch changes the VCO range in one octave jumps from 2' to 32', for a total range of five octaves.

4. Waveform switch This switch selects the VCO output waveform.
The sawtooth waveform is particularly suitable for brass and string sounds, and for sounds which only the synthesizer can produce.
The pure square wave has a sound quality very much like a clarinet. The clarinet and xylophone are common sounds synthesized with this waveform.
Pulse wave.
When the top and bottom portions of the square wave are unequal, the result is what is called a pulse wave.
Noise
Noise is the hissing sound produced by the random combination of all frequences.

5. Pulse width and pulse width modulation Pulse width refers to the ratio of the widths of the top and bottom portions of the pulse wave. 10% pulse width produces a sound very rich in harmonics and is often used for synthesizing sounds as the oboe, bassoon and human voice.
Using the LFO to modulate the pulse width produces chorus-like sounds. The output of the envelope generator can be used to modulate the pulse width to produce sounds very much like those of pizzicato strings.

6.PWM Mode mode switch With this switch at MANUAL, the pulse widths may be set manually by means of the PULSE WIDTH MOD slider. In LFO, the pulse width will be modulated by the LFO output, and in ENV, by the output of ENVELOPE GENERATOR.

VCA / Envelope

VCA
The VCA is an amplifier whose gain is controlled by a control voltage. In other words, the varying control voltage acts much like a volume control to any sound passing through the VCA. Setting the VCA switch at HOLD will hold the VCA open so that the synthesizer produces sound continuosly. At GATE, the output sound will be turned on and off directly by depressing keys on the keyboard. At ENV, the output sound will be shaped by the envelope generator.

Envelope Generator
Depressing a key on the keyboard triggers the envelope generator into action. The envelope generator generates a control voltage which varies with time according to the control settings. This control voltage can also be used to control the VCF cutoff frequency point so as to vary the tone color during the production of a note, and/or it is used to control the VCA to give the output sound its loudness contour.

1. A (Attack time) This slider controls the amount of time which is required for the voltage to reach its maximum level after a key is depressed.

2. D (Decay time) This slider controls the amount of time required for the voltage to fall to the level set by the SUSTAIN control.

3. S (Sustain level) This slider determines the level to which the voltage will fall at the end of decay time. Once this level is reached (at the end of decay time) it will be held until the key is released. Note that if the SUSTAIN control is set at maximum, there will be no decay time since the voltage level cannot fall to maximum. With the SUSTAIN control at maximum, then, the DECAY control has no effect.

4. R (Release time) This slider determines the amount of time required for the voltage to fall to minimum level after the release of the key.

5. Gate selector switch This switch determines the source which will trigger the envelope generator into action. At GATE + TRIG, the envelope generator will be triggered each time there is a change in pitch. At GATE, the envelope generator will not be re-triggered for changes in pitches which are played legato. In the LFO position, depressing a key will cause the envelope generator to be triggered by the LFO. This is useful for producing rapidly repeating notes such as those sometimes used in mandolin playing. The speed of the repetitions will be determined by the MODULATOR section RATE control.

Sub Oscillator / Filter

Sub Oscillator / Audio mixer
The Sub Oscillator / Audio mixer is actually a part of the VCO and generates a pitch one- or two-octaves lower than that of the VCO. Three types of waves are available: a square wave one octave lower , a square wave two octaves lower, and a 25% pulse wave, also 2 octaves lower. Mixing the sub-oscillator output with the VCO output will give new dimensions to your sound, as if two VCO's were used.The audio mixer mixes outputs of the VCO, Sub-oscillator and the external input signal.

VCF (Voltage Controlled Filter)
The VCF is a low pass filter whose cutoff frequency can be controlled by means of a control voltage. The VCF is used to alter tone colors by cutting or boosting harmonics in the signals sent from the VCO.

1. Cutoff Freq Control This control determines the frequencies which will be removed by the VCF. At its highest position, all sound passes through the VCF without change, thus this may by considered its normal position. If the control is slowly lowered, it will begin to shave off the upper harmonics of the sound passing through the VCF.

2. Resonance Control This control accents the frequencies at the cutoff point of the VCF. At "0", this control has no effect. The effect will become stronger the higher the control is raised. With the control at a high position, moving the CUTOFF FREQ slider will produce sounds peculiar to the synthesizer. At maximum, and just below on some sounds, the filter begins to oscillate, which might damage speakers.

3. Envelope This switch determines the source of envelope control for the VCF. In the center position, the VCF cutoff frequency point will rise, following the shape of the envelope, each time the envelope generator is triggered. In the lower position, the cutoff of the VCF will fall, following the envelope pattern. In the upper position, the VCF cutoff point will follow the envelope of any audio signal appearing at the EXT IN plug on the left (input) side of the plugin.

The LFO is an oscillator which generates waveforms of a low frequency. The range is from about 0.2 Hz to about 25 Hz. The output of the LFO can be used for modulating the VCO of VCF, and for triggering the envelope generator.

The S/H produces random signals by sampling the output from the noise generator at a rate determined by the LFO.

4. Envelope Control With this control raised, the cutoff point of the VCF will change during the production of each note. This type of VCF modulation is very often used with brass sounds.

5. MOD Control This control allows the VCF cutoff point to be controlled by the MODULATOR (LFO) section. Using the sine wave output of the MODULATOR produces swoop and growl effects. This control is also effective for processing of external input signals. Continous wah wah effects can be added to electric guitar or other keyboards.

Modulator (LFO)

Modulator
The RATE slider controls the frequency of the modulator output. Raising the control increases the frequency. The frequency can be visually checked by means of the LED. For vibrato-like effects, this control is normally set at about "0".

The modulator includes an LFO (Low frequency oscillator) and an S/H (Sample and hold).

The LFO is an oscillator which generates waveforms of a low frequency. The range is from about 0.2 Hz to about 25 Hz. The output of the LFO can be used for modulating the VCO or VCF, and for triggering the envelope generator.

The S/H produces random signals by sampling the output from the noise generator at a rate determined by the LFO.

1. Sensitivity slider (VCO) This slider controls the pitch variation range induced by the bender. At maximum, it is possible to get a +/- one octave variation. Set at around "2" for normal bending.

2. Sensitivity slider (VCF) This slider controls the tone color variation range induced by the bender. At the upper position, wah pedal effects are imitated by moving the bender lever. If the VCF CUTOFF frequency is set high, however, the tone color variation may be poor.

3. Portamento Portamento is the sliding of a note from one pitch to another. This controls the time required for the change of pitch. The maximum is 10 seconds.

4. Mode switch This switch determines which waveform will be used for VCO and VCF modulation. Controlling the VCO, it produces vibrato effects, or pitches which waver or sweep up and down. Controlling the VCF, it produces growl effects (with faster LFO rates) or tone color vibrato, which occurs in some instruments in conjunction with pitch vibrato. The top position is a sine wave, the second a square wave, and the third a sample-and-hold or random wave. These are more often used for special effects. For example, using the square wave to modulate the VCO pitch will produce thrills.

5. Rate control The RATE slider controls the frequency of the modulator output. Raising the control increases the frequency. The frequency can be visually checked by means of the LED. For vibrato-like effects, this control is normally set a little above "0".

Using the advanced features

External Audio Input If you load this plugin in a modular VST host, or as an insert effect in regular linear hosts, you can use the audio input feature. If you use a modular VST host like Audiomulch or Synthedit, you can see that there is an audio input on this plugin. This allows you to run audio through the filter as well as use the built-in envelope follower to create custom on-the-fly envelopes for the filter. In the VCF section, switch the mode switch to Env Fol'r to enable custom envelopes from audio input. Otherwise, you can use the EXT slider in the Audio Mixer to control the input audio volume.

Connect external sources such as microphone, electric guitar, electric piaon, or strings to this plug. As the SH-009 incorporates an envelope follower, the VCF can be controlled by the level of the signal from the exteranl source to use the SH-09 as a kind of effects unit like automatic wah.

Keyboard This only works when a sound engine has been turned on, such as hitting PLAY on your host!
This will turn on a 5 octave keyboard for GUI triggering with a mouse. Note, this will not record MIDI notes in your host, just allow you to test the sound of the plugin without an external controller present. In the top left corner of the keyboard is a small button that, when turned on, acts as a HOLD feature for the keyboard alone. This can be used in tandem with or without the HOLD feature on the VCA. Note that only one note will sound no matter how many you have selected, and it will always be the lowest note on the keyboard.

Velocity This only works when a sound engine has been turned on, such as hitting PLAY on your host!
This will allow incoming MIDI notes' velocity to be used. The original SH-09 was not velocity-sensitive, but this is now such a common feature on just about every keyboard that it would be a pain in the ass not to have it available on the SH-009. When this is turned off, velocity is at full volume.

THIS IS RELEASED WITH NO WARRANTY WHATSOEVER!
Use at your own risk!!

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