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Introduction
page 2
Introduction
Carbon Electra is a powerful and intuitive synth built
by producers, for producers. Its a four-oscillator
subtractive synth with a modern feature set. It has
been developed as an advanced learning tool
whilst also being a powerful and easy to program
synth. It is based on vintage analogue routing and
features flexible modulation options including an
editable stepper and note performer. The graphical
displays act as a comprehensive information tool
and as an accurate guide to each parameter
change. The digital display also offers precise
information on every editable parameter.
Carbon Electra is fun, powerful and easy to make
great presets with.
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Getting Started
The layout of the synth has been designed to be
familiar to experienced programmers. All the
parameters live within the Oscillator, Envelope, Mixer,
Filter, LFO, Effect, Step Envelope and Master sections.
Carbon Electra utilises many of the more popular
synthesis techniques such as oscillator sync,
frequency modulation, pulse width adjustment,
sample and hold pitchable noise, routable LFOs,
distortion, unison, glide, effects and a flexible
modulation envelope. It combines these classic
techniques with modern features such as a powerful
and intuitive step envelope, vocal filter, and note
programmer.
Select and adjust the filter to alter the timbre and tone
of the sound.
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The Sections
Preset Selector
The preset selector allows for saving and loading of
presets and for exporting and importing of presets
and banks. It also allows for loading of the INIT preset,
which allows you to design your sounds from scratch.
The Carbon Electra presets are split between factory
and user banks. Factory banks and presets cannot
be overwritten although they can be edited and
saved to user banks. To load a sound simply click
LOAD and select a preset from the dropdown
list. You may also use the + and buttons to scroll
through presets. Within the load menu you may also
IMPORT individual presets or entire user banks. When
importing presets you may alter them or save them
to your user bank where they will then permanently
reside. Please be aware that importing a user bank
will overwrite your current user bank. You may want
to export your current user bank prior to importing a
new user bank.
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The Sections
Info Display Pane
The info display pane displays information relating to
every parameter altered by the user. This gives the
user accurate and concise feedback on parameter
values and settings. The info display pane also has
digital readouts for gain reduction (G.R.) which
displays the amount of gain attenuated by the
limiter and overall volume (VOL).
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The Sections
Automation & CC Control
Within the display pane you will see a learn button
for external midi control. Press the learn button then
adjust a knob or switch on the GUI and then the
external controller knob you would like it assigned
to. Any MIDI cc will now be learned for that control
immediately once received. For automation of all of
the Carbon Electra parameters please refer to the
documentation of your Digital Audio Workstation.
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The Sections
Oscillator
There are four oscillators to choose from each with
five wave shapes (Pulse / Saw / Triangle / Sine /
Noise) and knobs for adjusting pitch, fine-tune and
pulse width. Oscillator one features a frequency
modulation knob, which dials in an aggressive tone
and both oscillator one, and three are sync-able to
oscillator two and four respectively. The sync feature
generates a screaming effect when adjusting the
pitch of the synced oscillator.
Pitch
Adjusts the coarse tune of the pitch in semi-tones
across six octaves from -36 to +36
FM
Featured in oscillator one. Adjusts frequency
modulation depth of the oscillator from a sine
transposed at -2 octaves and can be used as a
powerful synthesis tool
Wavetypes
You can select on of five wave shapes - Pulse / Saw /
Triangle / Sine / Noise. When selecting Pulse you may
also alter the pulse width knob that offers a chorus or
slightly de-tuned effect. The S&H noise wave shape
is pitch-able so it responds to keyboard tracking and
pitch modulation
Trig
With the Trig option enabled, the oscillator will reset
to same position (starting phase) with each note on.
Tune
Adjusts the fine-tune of oscillator 2, 3 and four and
can be used as a detuning effect to thicken a sound
Width
Adjusts the width of the pulse waveform
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The Sections
Envelope
There are two envelopes in the envelope section. The
first envelope AMPLIFIER is always assigned to the
amplifier and features ATTACK, DECAY, SUSTAIN and
RELEASE which adjusts the shape of the overall sound.
The amplifier envelope also features an AMPLITUDE
knob that adjusts the volume level of the synth preeffect and before the limiter. This can be used to
normalize the level going into the distortion effect. The
amplifier envelope also features an EXP switch that
provides an exponential slope for the attack phase,
enabling a more gradual attack. The MODULATION
envelope can be assigned to filter cut off, oscillator 2 &
4 pitch, and overall pitch. Both envelopes offer velocity
and keyboard tracking amounts.
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The Sections
Mixer
Filter
page 10
The Sections
LFO
Carbon Electra features three flexible LFOs that
can be assigned to individual oscillator pitch
and volume, frequency modulation, pulse width,
cut off, resonance, LFO rate and overall volume.
Each destination parameter features a knob that
effectively acts as an amount. The three LFOs can
also be controlled by modulation wheel.
In poly mode the LFO will always run from a random
starting phase at the set rate for every voice. This
allows a more dynamic feel for vibrato or other
modulation relative to the syncd unison effect of a
single shared LFO.
I. Pulse:
Pulse can have its duty-cycle adjusted fully with the
width control.
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The Sections
LFO (cont.)
III. S-Curve / Sine:
The sine is identical to the triangle but also shaped
with a sine-like function. The result of this is that the
delta is continuously varied unlike the triangle that
alternates between fixed up/down rates. This gives
the sine waveform a smoother effect when used to
modulate pulse width, as one example.
page 12
The Sections
Effect
Carbon Electras effects section features chorus,
delay, phaser, distortion and EQ settings. An ON
switch activates each individual effect.
The CHORUS section features a stereo chorus
with individual left/right controls for rate and time.
The chorus section is capable of emulating chorus
sections featured in classic analogue synths.
The DELAY section can operate in CROSS, STEREO
or PING PONG mode and features knobs for TIME,
feedback [FB], modulation [MOD] and MIX. The
delay can also be OFFSET which adds an additional
delay in-series to the wet signal coming from the
delay which can be used to create shuffle-like
delay effect. High end or low-end frequencies can
be cut out from the resulting delay with the LOCUT
and HICUT knobs. The delay can also run in SYNC
with your DAW.
page 13
The Sections
The Step Envelope
The STEP ENVELOPE section has been specifically
designed to work as a powerful and fully editable
sculpting tool for the Carbon Electra synth. The step
envelope can control overall volume of the synth
[AMP], filter CUTOFF and oscillator 2 & 4 PITCH. The step
envelope can also be used as a note performer by
clicking the NOTE button, this automatically activates
snap mode. When programming in note mode, the
SNAP button fixes the step envelope wave editing to
increments of semi-tones (from +1 to +15 semitones), thus
making it easy to write musical sequences. The step
envelope works concurrently with the LFO section,
which enables unique cross-modulation effects.
The step envelope is always running in sync with your
DAW clock and the RATE knob controls its speed. The
modulation can run in MONO mode and can be
retriggered on note press by clicking the TRIG button.
The step envelope has several flexible modes of
editing. You can select a wave shape in the WAVE
SELECTOR and apply that wave by clicking in any one
of the sixteen gridded sections of the display.
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The Sections
Master
The MASTER section features parameters for overall
VOLUME and TUNE. THE PB RANGE sets the range of
pitch bend from 0 to +24 semitones. GLIDE sets the
master glide between off and four seconds and
work in both monophonic and polyphonic modes.
The POLY setting allows you to set your polyphony
from one voice (monophonic) to up sixteen voices.
The UNISON setting allows up to four voices in
unison and the TUNE and STEREO dials allows you
to spread the detune and left and right panning
across the selected voices from 0 to 100%. This helps
create a wider effect with reasonable defaults. The
master section also features a LIMIT button, which
by default is on; this places a limiter at final output
stage ensuring that presets are free from clipping.
This feature can be disabled. Finally the master
section features a RETRIG button that retriggers both
envelopes on key press and a LEGATO button, which
only allows GLIDE to work when notes are played
LEGATO.
page 15
Tutorial
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Introduction
Carbon Electra is a four oscillator subtractive
synthesiser. Its made up of eight basic sections:
oscillator, envelope, mixer, filter, lfo (low frequency
oscillator), effect, step envelope, and master. Using
the presets in the Tutorial presets folder, we will
examine the function of each of these sections.
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osc 1: -12, osc 2: +0, osc 3:+12, osc 4: +24. This means that
by playing one note we are hearing four octaves at
once. Try playing chords, it will sound like a 60s Farfisa
organ. This type of settings is a building block for creating
many presets.
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Envelope
There are two envelope generators in the ENVELOPE
section; the top one (AMPLIFIER) is dedicated to changing
the total amplitude (volume output) of Carbon Electra,
while the bottom envelope (MODULATION) can be used
to change the FILTER cutoff frequency, overall pitch, or the
pitch of osc 2 or 4.
Open tutorial preset 4, called ENVELOPE.
This preset has all four oscillators turned up in the MIXER section,
each set at different octaves and various waveforms.
First lets look at the top envelope, the AMPLIFIER ENVELOPE.
Notice the settings; ATTACK time is set at minimum, DECAY
time at 150 ms, SUSTAIN at 18% and RELEASE time at 18ms.
The effect of these settings is a very quick decay in volume,
a fairly low level while the note is held, and no remaining
sound when the note is released. These are typical settings
for bass sounds or plucky synth and keys sounds.
Experiment with adjusting the ATTACK and RELEASE settings
of the top envelope to see how they change the sound.
Now set the ATTACK back to zero, and release to around 18
ms, and turn the VELOCITY knob up to 100%. The effect of
this is that the harder you play a note, the louder it is heard.
Set the VELOCITY knob back to zero (you can do this by
double clicking on the knob, double clicking on any knob
sets it back to its default position).
Filter
Open tutorial preset 5, called FILTER.
This preset is a typical pad type sound, with two
oscillators set slightly detuned on a SAW waveform,
and a third oscillator set one octave above, and
with quite long attack and release times set on
the AMPLIFIER ENVELOPE (note the EXP button
is switched on in the AMPLIFIER ENVELOPE, this
changes the shape of the ATTACK curve, and can
create a smoother attack for pad type sounds).
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LFO
The Carbon Electra has 3 LFOs (low frequency
oscillators). These can be used to modulate varied
parameters such as pitch, amplitude, FM, pulse width,
oscillator mix and cutoff.
Open tutorial preset 6, called LFO A.
We have 2 oscillators turned up int the MIXER section,
and osc 2 is pitched a perfect fifth above osc 1. Look
at the LFO section, and see that with LFO 1 we can
modulate the pitch of each of the four oscillators
and AMP level (total output volume), with LFO 2 we
can modulate the FM of osc 1, the PWM (pulse width
modulation) of osc 2 and 3, and the rate of LFO 1, and
with LFO 3 we can modulate the mix level of each of
the four oscillators, and cutoff frequency. While holding
down a note, in LFO 1 turn the PITCH 1 knob to about
20%, then do the same to the PITCH 2 knob, creating
a vibrato effect. Turn the MOD WH (mod wheel) knob
up full. The effect of this is that you now need to turn the
mod wheel on your controller keyboard up full in order
to hear the full amount of PITCH modulation you have
dialled in. This way you can control the amount of
vibrato as you play.
Double click PITCH 1 and 2 and MOD WH knobs to
reset them to zero, and turn the AMP knob up full. This
creates a tremolo effect. Notice the difference when
you click the MONO button - with MONO switched
on, when you play more than one note, the LFO is
triggered only by the first note in the chord, with it
switched off each note played has its own LFO, which
can sometimes sound messy.
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Effect
The EFFECT section is made up of five subsections;
CHORUS, DELAY, PHASER, DISTORTION, and EQ.
Open tutorial preset 10, called EFFECT.
(It is a very basic sound, with no modulation. The
purpose of this is that you will hear very clearly the
result of switching on each of the effects).
Hold down a chord, then in the EFFECT section and
CHORUS subsection, click on the ON button (furthest
to the left). Note the change to the sound. While still
holding the chord try changing various settings in the
CHORUS subsection, starting with the STEREO knob.
Note that if you set both RATE knobs very low, say less
than 5%, you can achieve a flanged type effect.
Now lets look at the DELAY subsection.
Switch off the CHORUS effect, and click the ON button
in the DELAY subsection.
Play the keyboard in a more staccato manner,and again
try changing various settings to familiarise yourself with
what can be achieved with the delay effect.
Repeat this process with the PHASER, DISTORTION and
EQ effects.
Tutorial preset 11, EFFECT STACK, demonstrates using all
five effects at once.
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Step Envelope
As described in the CARBON ELECTRA manual,
the step envelope can control overall volume of
the synth [AMP], filter CUTOFF, and oscillator 2 &
4 PITCH. The step envelope can also be used as
a note performer by clicking the NOTE button,
this automatically activates snap mode. When
programming in note mode, the SNAP button fixes
the step envelope wave editing to increments of
semi-tones (from +1 to +15 semitones), so it can be
used as a step sequencer.
Open tutorial preset 12, called STEP A.
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Master
The MASTER section controls such things as the amount of
pitch GLIDE between notes (also know as portamento),
POLY (the number of voices available to be played
simultaneously), UNISON (the number of voices stacked
on each note played), and overall VOLUME output (this
can be used so that if you have made a very loud preset
and its overloading your DAW channel but you dont
want to change the settings, you can reduce the overall
output with this knob).
Open tutorial preset 14, called MASTER A.
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2014