ENGLISH

TM

Operation manual

Orange Vocoder
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Orange Vocoder – Introduction
We would like to take the opportunity to thank you for choosing the
Orange Vocoder. This Prosoniq Plug-In for VST-compatible host ap-
plications such as Cubase VST provides you with a complete digital
simulation of a 24-band high quality analog vocoder like the EMS/
Rehberg™ systems.
During a period of more than three years, we have analyzed many
different vocoder systems. The Orange Vocoder algorithm represents the
results of our extensive research. On this basis we have created an
authentic digital representation of an analog vocoder that includes all non-
linearities, inherent in such a system. The Orange Vocoder’s basic sound
can be described as being warm and very powerful. It is a unique and
usually quite expensive effect that helps to attract the listener’s attention to
your mix.
The Orange Vocoder is a powerful all-in-one Plug-In. Here’s a list of
its major functions:

• Realtime Vocoder for use as Master, Insert or Track Effect. Any input source,
VST audio track or the built-in oscillators can be used as Carrier signal. Any
VST audio track can be used as Modulator signal.

• Integrated 16 Oscillator/8-voice virtual analog synthesizer with 2 oscillators

per voice featuring 10 basic waveforms, and 7 sampled sounds, voice de-
tune, pitch LFO/PitchMod/AmpMod, 4-pole Low Pass filter with cutoff and
resonance, oscillator hard sync and ring modulator.

• Fully customizable Freeform EQ with max. 12 nodes, ranging from 20 Hz to

20 kHz and resolving from +30 to -30 dB FS.

• Input Channel flip lets you instantly exchange Carrier and Modulator signals
without having to re-route tracks.

• Post-Vocoder Filter bank Reverb effect with Mix, Decay and Density

• 64-bit internal processing using RISC-assembly coding for lightning fast real-
time performance.
We sincerely hope that you will enjoy using the Orange Vocoder!

Orange Vocoder
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Register your software!
Please fill out and send in the registration card that you have received
with your software package. By doing so you are entitled to technical
support and kept aware of updates and other news regarding Orange
Vocoder.

¶ Before proceeding, read the Software Licensing Contract included in this

package. By opening the disk pack or sending back the registration card, you
are declaring yourself to be in agreement with the conditions in the contract.

System requirements
In order to be able to use Orange Vocoder without limitations and in
realtime you will need at least:
• a Power Macintosh or compatible system with a 601 processor/120 MHz,
24 Megabytes of RAM, 256k second level cache and Mac OS version 7.5 or
higher.
• Cubase VST (Version 3.02 or later) or another VST-compatible host applica-
tion. This must correctly be installed on your Power Macintosh.

Installation

Installing the Orange Vocoder and authorizing a hard disk

The installation program copies the necessary files for the operation of
the Orange Vocoder to the hard disk or hard disk partition from which
you run the VST host application. It also installs an invisible authori-
zation on that hard disk/partition.
Two authorization counts are available on your Orange Vocoder
installation disk: one is used to authorize your hard disk/partition, the
second can be used as a safety backup authorization. Proceed as
follows to install the Orange Vocoder on your hard disk:

Orange Vocoder
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 1. Quit all other applications so that you return to the Finder and in-
sert the Orange Vocoder floppy disk into the disk drive of your
computer.
This window will open. If it doesn’t, double click on the icon of the installa-
tion disk.

2. Double click on the Installer symbol to load the installation soft-

ware. A dialog will appear. If you use the software for the first
time, you need to install the software authorization first. To do
this, click the “Setup Authorization...” button.

¶ If your hard disk is already authorized and you wish to update to a newer ver-
sion, instead click the “Install” button to install Orange Vocoder without run-
ning the hard disk authorization process.

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3. Select “Install” from the pop-up menu in the next dialog and
choose the partition that contains Cubase VST (or another VST-
compatible host application that you wish to use) from the list of
available partitions.

Pop-up menu

“Done” and
“Install” buttons

4. Click the Install button to start hard disk authorization.

5. The following message appears when authorization is complete.

Confirm by clicking “OK”.

6. Close the Authorization dialog by clicking on “Done”.

A new dialog appears, where you can start the program installation process,
or quit the installation program.

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 7. Click the “Continue” button to continue with the installation.

8. In the next dialog, select the “VstPlugIns” folder on the hard disk
that contains your VST program as destination folder. Then click
“Install”.
The installation program will now install Orange Vocoder in this folder.

9. A dialog will inform you of what is currently installed.

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 ENGLISH
10. When installation and authorization have successfully been com-
pleted, this dialog will appear. Click “Quit” to quit the installation
program.

Information on the copy protection

The Orange Vocoder uses a copy protection system in which your
authorization disk plays a vital role. It contains two authorization counts
that you can use to twice authorize a hard disk/partition to run the
Orange Vocoder. The second authorization count is meant as a back-up,
in case you accidentally lose the first. During the authorization process,
an invisible authorization file has been installed on your hard disk/
partition. Please do not move or delete this file, since it might make you
lose an authorization count!
If necessary, you can remove an authorization count from the hard disk/
partition and copy it back to the installation disk. See “Deauthorizing
the hard disk” on page 8 for more information. This way you can
reinstall the Orange Vocoder on another hard disk/partition at any time.
Please observe the following points:
• If you should accidentally delete the Orange Vocoder program files, don’t
worry. Just install again. Even if you have deleted the files, the hard disk/par-
tition is still authorized to run the Orange Vocoder and you do not lose an
authorization count.
• You can safely defragment (sometimes called “optimizing”) your hard disk.
Copy protection is not affected by defragmentation.
• If you experience a hard disk crash, you may lose your installation. Please
use the second authorization count on the Orange Vocoder installation disk
if this happens.
• Never re-format, erase or partition your hard disk without deauthorizing it
first (see below), otherwise you will lose an authorization count.

¶ The Orange Vocoder disk is your verification that you have purchased the
program. Please keep it in a safe place. Prosoniq will not provide any re-
placement copies of the software.

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Deauthorizing the hard disk
Should you ever need to permanently move the Orange Vocoder to an-
other computer, hard disk or partition, or wish to re-format or partition
your current hard disk, you need to deauthorize the hard disk/partition
where you have installed the program. During this process the author-
ization count will be copied back from your hard disk to your authori-
zation disk. Proceed as follows:
1. Write-enable your authorization disk, insert it into the disk drive
and double click on the Installer icon.
This dialog box will appear.

2. Click “Setup Authorization...” to bring up this dialog box.

Select “Remove”
in the
Pop-up menu,
select the drive to
be deauthorized,

and click the

“Remove” button.

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3. First select “Remove” from the Authorization pop-up menu and
click on the desired drive. Then click on the Remove button.
This will activate the Deauthorization process.

4. The authorization count will be removed from your hard disk and
restored on your authorization disk. The following box will appear
and inform you of the number of installation counts that are now
available on your authorization disk.

5. Install the Orange Vocoder on the new or changed hard disk/parti-

tion as previously described.

Two Plug-Ins in one

The Orange Vocoder is a powerful and complex Plug-In. Actually, it
consists of two Plug-Ins:

• One Plug-In contains the user interface and does the processing.

• The other Plug-In is used for acquiring the Carrier signal from some point
within the VST architecture.

¶ In order to be able to use the Orange Vocoder, you should therefore defi-
nitely read the hints on setting it up in Cubase VST. This section can be found
starting on page 28. If you use the Orange Vocoder in connection with other
VST-compatible host applications, please read their documentation.

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How does it work?
The channel vocoder was invented in 1939 by H. Dudley (see also: H.
Dudley, “The Vocoder”, Bell Labs Record, Vol. 17, pp. 122-126, 1939).
It was intended as a means to transfer and encrypt speech for military
purposes. Nowadays, the Vocoder is used as an effect device, that offers
the musician and sound engineer a whole spectrum of interesting effect
manipulations. Here’s a rough description of how it works:
A (channel) vocoder basically consists of two banks of Band Pass fil-
ters. These are called the “Modulator” filter bank and the “Carrier” fil-
ter bank.
Band Pass filters are filters that only leave a small band in the spec-
trum unchanged and attenuate other frequencies, hence the name. The
filters divide the complete spectrum of an input sound into many (in
our case 24) narrow-band frequency components.
The Orange Vocoder processes both input signals as described and
thereby generates a coarse representation of the spectral shape of each
input signal.
The filter banks of both inputs do in a way have a master/slave rela-
tionship: The amplitude – i.e. the volume – of the filters in the Modu-
lator filter bank controls the amplitude of the filters in the Carrier filter
bank. You could also think of a 24-band Graphic Equalizer whose fil-
ter bands are controlled by the volumes of the corresponding bands in
another Equalizer. The spectral shape of the Modulator is practically
“superimposed” on the spectral shape of the Carrier signal.
This creates a wide range of different and beautifully sounding results,
especially if you use a broad spectrum signal with a lot of sustain,
such as strings as Carrier signal and a narrow-spectrum signal, such as
speech as the Modulator. The information in the Modulator will let
your strings “talk”.
The traditional name for the Modulator input was “Speech input” be-
cause of the original application of a vocoder for voice (de)coding
(hence the name). We have stuck to that and do call the Modulator in-
put “Speech”.

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The Orange Vocoder window

The Orange Vocoder window

Opening the Orange Vocoder window

1. Open the desired host application, e.g. Cubase VST.

2. Load the Orange Vocoder.

To do so in Cubase VST, activate the Orange Vocoder as an Insert effect,
Channel effect or as a Master effect as described starting on page 28. To ac-
cess the Orange Vocoder window, click on the Edit switch in one of the Or-
ange Vocoder’s effect rack slots.

¶ As the Orange Vocoder consists of two separate Plug-Ins, the setup routine in
Cubase VST differs considerably from the usual effect setup routine. You
should therefore definitely read the section on page 28 that describes how to
set up the Plug-In in Cubase VST.

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Orange Vocoder controls
Orange Vocoder provides several different types of controls. This sec-
tion describes how to use them.

Faders
Orange Vocoder has a number of faders. There are several methods to
set a value on any of these faders:
• You can drag the fader handle up or down with the mouse.
• You can click in the value field of a fader, hold down the mouse
button and then move the mouse up or down.
• You can click somewhere in the fader to make the handle jump
there.
• You can position the mouse over the fader to highlight it and then
use the cursor arrows on your computer keyboard to raise or
lower the fader value.

¶ To reset a fader to its factory default setting, hold down the [Command] key
on your computer keyboard and click on the fader.

Dials
The dials behave similar to the dials in Cubase VST windows. To set a
value, click on a dial, hold down the mouse button and drag around the
dial in a circle.

¶ The greater the radius, the finer the value resolution.

• You can also position the mouse over the dial to highlight it and
then use the cursor arrows on your computer keyboard to raise or
lower the dial value.

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Switches
There are several switch types in Orange Vocoder:
• On/Off switches to activate or deactivate a function; e.g. the Sync A/B switch
in the Synthesizer.
• Switches that start an action; e.g. the Copy and Paste switches.
• Selectors switches that you can move to two or several available positions;
e.g. the Samples/Waves switch. By moving the handle of such a switch you
activate one option and deactivate the other(s).

¶ Active On/Off switches are always highlighted.

Handles
There are a number of handles in the Orange Vocoder’s Graphic
Equalizer that can be dragged around with the mouse. You can use
them to set the centre frequencies and the gain levels of the available
frequency bands.
• To create a handle, just click in the Graphic Equalizer display, at
the desired frequency and level.
• To move a handle, click on it, hold down the mouse button and
drag the mouse into the desired direction.
If you move the handle upwards or downwards, you will change the level of
the corresponding Band Pass filter.
If you move the handle to the left or to the right, you will change the centre
frequency of the corresponding Band Pass filter.

¶ To reset all Level handles to 0 dB, hold down the [Command] key on your
computer keyboard and click on a handle.
¶ You can get rid of handles and filters – thereby increasing the width of the re-
maining Band Pass filters – by dragging a handle completely to the left or right.

Pop-up menus
There are four of pop-up menus in the Synthesizer section of the
Orange Vocoder window. You can use them e.g. to select a Modulation
source for one of the oscillators.

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Orange Vocoder window functions
This chapter describes the barebone functionality of the controls in the
Orange Vocoder window. A few hints on how to apply them in practise
can be found in the section ”A few ideas“ on page 27.

The Mixer
The Mixer can be found in the top left of the Orange Vocoder window.
It is used to define the degree to which the processed, the Carrier and
the Modulator (Speech) signals occur in the output signal of the
Orange Vocoder. The Mixer consists of three faders named Filter, Car-
rier and Speech.

The Mixer
• Use the Filter fader to set the volume of the signal that was proc-
essed by the Orange Vocoder.
• The Carrier fader lets you set the volume of the Carrier signal, i.e.
the signal that is being modulated.
• By using the Speech fader you control the volume of the Modulator
signal, i.e. the signal that modulates the Carrier signal.

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The Graphic Equalizer
The Graphic Equalizer can be found to the right of the Mixer. It is used
to define the frequency response curve according to which the Modu-
lator signal modulates the Carrier signal.

The Graphic Equalizer

To its left you can see a dB scale with a range from +30 to -30 dB.
At its bottom there is a frequency scale with a range from 20 Hz to 20
kHz. These two scales help you when you define the frequency re-
sponse curve.
When you first load the Orange Vocoder, five green handles are visible
in the Graphic Equalizer. You can create up to twelve of these handles.
• To create a handle, just click somewhere in the Equalizer.
• To define a frequency response curve, drag any of the handles left
or right, up or down.
• To remove a handle, simply drag it “beyond” the left or right rim of
the Graphic Equalizer.

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The Reverb
The Orange Vocoder has a built-in Reverb effect, located to the right
of the Graphic Equalizer. It is used to add Filter bank reverb to the
processed Carrier signal.

The Reverb
The Reverb section of the Orange Vocoder contains three faders called
Amount, Diffusion and Decay.
• Use the Amount fader to control the amount of reverb that is being
added to the processed signal.
• The Diffusion fader lets you set the amount of early reflections in
the reverberated signal.
• Using the Decay fader you define the length of the reverb effect.

¶ The Filter bank reverb needs a Carrier sound with a certain degree of sustain,
as it uses the Carrier signal’s natural release to create its reverb-like effect. If
you mute the Carrier signal, the reverb will stop.

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The Control section
The Control section contains a few general controls. It is located on
the right side of the Orange Vocoder window.

The Control section

Filter bank release dial

This dial is located in the upper part of the Control section. It can be
used to shorten or lengthen the release time of the Vocoder effect. One
possible application for this dial is to lengthen the Carrier signal fade
out, if you e.g. use a chopped Modulator signal with short release
times (like drums).

Input Flip switch

This switch can be found directly below the Filter bank release dial.
By clicking on it you can exchange the input signals to the Orange
Vocoder, without having to re-route the track signal paths: The signal
that was previously used as the Modulator will now serve as the Car-
rier, and vice versa. The Input Flip switch lights up in green if it’s ac-
tive.

Orange Vocoder
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 Program switches
These two switches can be used to copy a complete Orange Vocoder
setting from one VST effect preset to another.
Proceed as follows:
1. Edit a preset until you have it right.

2. Click the Copy switch.

3. On the VST effect rack, use the Program buttons to select a Default
preset.

4. Then click the Paste switch in the Orange Vocoder window.

Use Synth switch

Instead of using an audio track, you can also use the Orange Vocoder’s
built-in 16 oscillator/8 voice Synthesizer to generate a Carrier signal.
If you click on the Use Synth switch so that it lights up in green, you
activate the Synthesizer. The Orange Vocoder window will extend
downwards to display the available synthesizer controls.These are ex-
plained in the section ”The Synthesizer“ on page 19.

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The Synthesizer
The Orange Vocoder Synthesizer is a full-blown 8-voice synthesizer
unit. It can be used to generate an alternative Carrier signal for the
Vocoder. The Orange Vocoder’s Synthesizer has the following fea-
tures:
• Sixteen oscillators, two per voice.
• Ten basic waveforms
• Seven sampled sounds
• Voice detune, Pitch LFO, Pitch and Amp Modulation
• A four-pole Low Pass filter with Cutoff and Resonance
• Oscillator hard sync and a Ring Modulator
You can open the Synthesizer by clicking on the Use Synth switch in
the Orange Vocoder window.
The Orange Vocoder window will then extend downwards to display
the synthesizer controls.

The Orange Vocoder Synthesizer

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The oscillators
On the left side of the Synthesizer section you can find the two identi-
cal Oscillator sections. Here’s a description of all available controls in
each:

Wave pop-up menu

You can choose the oscillator's basic waveform in this pop-up menu.

The Wave pop-up menu

What's available in the pop-up menu depends on the setting of the
Samples/Waves switch in the Oscillator Control section (see page 24).

• If the Samples/Waves switch is set to Waves, ten basic oscillator waveforms

are available in the pop-up:

Pulse Sawtooth Damped Pulse Damped Triangle Square

Damped Square Circular Curvation Distorted Saw Harsh

You can decide to select one of them as the basic waveform for each
oscillator.

• If the Samples/Waves switch is set to Samples, one of seven sampled sounds

can be selected as the basic waveform for each of the oscillators. Here's the
list:

Indigo Vox Strings Airy Voxpad Unisono Noise

In both cases the last entry in the list is called “Off”. If you select this
entry, the oscillator is deactivated.

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 ENGLISH
Coarse Pitch dial

The Coarse Pitch dial

This dial controls the pitch of the basic oscillator waveform/sample.
You can use it to tune the oscillator signal up to 24 semitones (two oc-
taves) upwards or downwards.

Fine Pitch dial

The Fine Pitch dial

The Fine Pitch dial lets you fine-tune the pitch of the basic oscillator
waveform/sample. Each semitone is subdivided into 100 steps (0-99)
and can be adjusted upwards or downwards.

Modulation Source pop-up menu

The Modulation Source pop-up menu

This pop-up menu is used to select a modulation source for each oscil-
lator. You can select one of the three available modulation sources –
LFO, Envelope or Pitch modulation – to modulate the oscillator sig-
nal. By selecting “Off” you disable the modulation section.

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 Modulation Depth dial

The Modulation Depth dial

The Modulation depth dial controls the modulation depth of the mod-
ulation source that you have selected in the Modulation Source pop-up
menu. It has a resolution of 1000 steps upwards or downwards. The ef-
fect that you achieve by setting it, depends on the modulation source
that you have selected:

Modulation Modulation Effect on modulation

Source Depth setting
LFO above 0.00 The LFO waveform starts upwards.
LFO below 0.00 The LFO waveform starts downwards.
LFO 0.00 No modulation takes place.
Ampl. Envelope above 0.00 Louder signals will raise the modulation
pitch.
Ampl. Envelope below 0.00 Louder signals will lower the modulation
pitch.
Ampl. Envelope 0.00 The modulation pitch is unchanged by the
incoming signal level.
Pitch above 0.00 The pitch of the incoming signal changes
the modulation pitch upwards.
Pitch below 0.00 The pitch of the incoming signal changes
the modulation pitch downwards.
Pitch 0.00 The pitch of the incoming signal has no
effect on the modulation pitch.

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 ENGLISH
Modulation Speed dial
The name says it all: You can use this dial to control the speed of the
modulation.

The Modulation Speed dial

Filters
This section is located to the right of the Oscillator B section. It con-
tains the three dials of the Orange Vocoder's 4-pole Low Pass filter.

The Filters section

A Low Pass filter is a filter that is used to dampen all frequencies
above a certain cutoff frequency.

Distortion dial
As its name indicates, you can use this dial to add distortion to the os-
cillator output signal.
The dial has a resolution of 100 steps

Low Pass Cutoff dial

Use this dial to set the Low Pass filter's cutoff frequency, i.e. the fre-
quency above which the output signal is dampened.

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 Low Pass Resonance dial
This dial lets you define the degree to which the filter has a resonant
behaviour.

Oscillator Control
This section on the right hand side of the Synthesizer panel holds a
few general controls concerning the oscillators.

Samples/Waves switch
The Samples/Waves switch lets you define what kind of basic wave-
form is available in the oscillator's Wave pop-up menus.
• Setting it to Samples lets you select from seven available sampled sounds.
• Setting it to Waves lets you select from ten available oscillator waveforms.
Find a list of both on page 20.

¶ For Oscillator Sync (Sync A/B, see page 25) and the Ring Modulator (see page
25) to work, the Samples/Waves switch must be set to “Waves”

Master Tune
As its name indicates, this control lets you change the pitch of the
complete Synthesizer. This can be used to adapt the Synthesizer's tun-
ing to other audio in your Arrangement.
Master Tune has a default setting of 440.0 Hz (a') and can be tuned 10
Hz upwards or downwards, in steps of one tenth of a Hz.
• To change the Master Tune value, click in its display field, hold
down the mouse button and drag up or down.

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 ENGLISH
Sync A/B switch
If this switch is active (backlit in colour), both oscillators and modula-
tion sources run in sync, i.e. oscillator B is slaved to Oscillator A.

¶ When Sync A/B is active, Oscillator A functions as the master for B. As a re-
sult, oscillator B will automatically also be deactivated when you deactivate
oscillator A.
¶ For Oscillator Sync (Sync A/B, see above) and the Ring Modulator (see below)
to work, the Samples/Waves switch (see page 24) must be set to “Waves”

Ring Modulator switch

If this switch is active (backlit in colour), the built-in Ring Modulator
is activated. When the Ring Modulator is Off, the output signals of Os-
cillators A and B are added. When it is active one oscillator modulates
the other with its output.

Keyboard section
Same as on a hardware Vocoder, the Orange Vocoder lets you control
pitch and number of notes in the Carrier signal.
Located in the lower right corner of the Synthesizer panel, this section
consist of a selector switch and a graphic keyboard.

The Keyboard section

Octave selector switch

This switch has five positions, each resulting in a two octave wide key-
board range, from which you can select notes. All in all, you can there-
fore select from a total keyboard range of six octaves.

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 • To select the desired octave(s) on the graphic keyboard, move the
Octave selector switch left or right.

Graphic Keyboard
The total keyboard range of this graphic keyboard is six octaves, but
you can only select from one two octave range at a time.
You determine the desired two octave range by setting the Octave se-
lector switch. Then you can activate up to 8 keys to create the notes of
the Carrier signal.
• Click on a key to select/deselect it. Active keys are highlighted in
green.
• To deselect all selected keys in one go, hold down the [Command]
key on your computer keyboard and click somewhere in the key-
board.
You can also transpose a note/chord that you selected on the graphic
keyboard.
• Position the mouse cursor over the keyboard so that it’s high-
lighted. Then use the cursor arrows on your computer keyboard to
transpose the note/chord up or downwards.

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 ENGLISH
A few ideas
Here are a few practical hints on how to use the Orange Vocoder. Take
these as a starting point, then experiment!

The Mixer
• If you want to “fatten” the sound when using pad sounds, try adding
a little Carrier signal by raising the level of its fader in the Mixer.

The Reverb
• Using the Mixer faders and the Reverb you can e.g. create a mix
where you hear the unprocessed Carrier signal in the foreground
and the processed signal somewhere in the background.
• If you use a less powerful computer and utilise a pad sound as the
Carrier signal, try using the built-in Reverb feature instead of a
dedicated Reverb Plug-In.

Cubase Automation
Many of the controls in the Orange Vocoder can be automated using
Cubase VST’s automation.
You can automate: All fader and dial movements, changing the
selection in a pop-up menu, all selector switches.
You can not automate: Number and handle positions in the Graphic
Equalizer, all On/Off switches (those that are
highlighted in green when active).

One possible application for Cubase’s automation feature is to use it to

change the chords that you define in Orange Vocoder’s Synthesizer.
• To do this, use the Orange Vocoder’s Program switches to copy
and paste a complete parameter setting from one Orange Vocoder
Program to the next. Then just change the chord setting in the cop-
ied Program setting. Play back your song and use Cubase automa-
tion to record switching from one Program to the next. Finally, you
can use Cubase’s “Export Audio” function to create an audio file
that includes Orange Vocoder’s processing and the automation.

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Setting up the Orange Vocoder as a Cubase
VST effect
¶ It is absolutely necessary that you set up the Orange Vocoder in Cubase VST,
as described below. If you don’t, it will not work properly.

In Cubase VST, the Orange Vocoder is used as an effect. This section

describes how you set it up as a Channel, Insert or Master effect.
As stated earlier, the Orange Vocoder consists of two separate Plug-
Ins:

• The Vocoder Carrier Plug-In (•VocCarrier) is used to acquire the carrier signal
from a VST audio track at some point within the VST architecture.
It is not needed, if you use the Orange Vocoder’s built-in Synthesizer. It is also
not needed. if you use the •Vocoder Plug-In as a stereo Insert or Master effect,
and if one of the two channels contains the Carrier signal that you want to use.

• The Orange Vocoder Plug-In (•Vocoder) contains the user interface (including
the Synthesizer) and does all the processing.

¶ If you do not wish to use the internal Synthesizer as the Carrier signal source,
please make sure that the Use Synth switch in the Vocoder window is set to
Off.

¶ Also make sure that the Vocoder Carrier Plug-In (•VocCarrier) resides in an
Effect rack slot above the slot that hosts the Orange Vocoder itself (•Voco-
der). This is a means to prevent signal delays when you use a VST audio track
as the Carrier signal.

Orange Vocoder
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Orange Vocoder as a Channel effect
Proceed as follows to set up the Orange Vocoder as a Channel effect:
First, you will have to load the Plug-Ins into slots on Cubase VST’s
Effect rack.
You can skip steps 2 and 3 below, if you use the Orange Vocoder’s
built-in Synthesizer as the exclusive source of the Carrier signal, as
then it is unnecessary to load the •VocCarrier Plug-In.
1. In the Monitor window, activate the FX switch, located below the
MIDI Mute switch, to open the effect rack.

2. Select the Orange Vocoder Carrier Plug-In (•VocCarrier) in the

Effects pop-up menu of the first effect slot.

3. Switch on the effect and make sure that the effect’s master volume
is fully turned up.

4. Select the Orange Vocoder user interface Plug-In (•Vocoder) in

the Effects pop-up menu of the second effect slot.

5. Switch on the effect and make sure that the effect’s master volume
is fully turned up.

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 Setting up if the Carrier signal comes from an audio track
If you wish to use the Orange Vocoder’s internal Synthesizer to gener-
ate the Carrier signal, then skip this section and proceed to the section
”Setting up if the Carrier signal comes from the built-in Synth“ on
page 32. But promise to come back later and read this section, too.

1. Load the audio file that you wish to use as the Carrier signal into
Track 2.
The Carrier signal will be modulated by the Modulator signal. Often, pad
sounds like strings are used as the Carrier signal.

2. Select Track 2 and open the VST Monitor window.

3. In the Monitor window, click on the FX switch of channel 2 to

open its EQ window.

The Effect send is On.

The Pre fader switch is On.

The Mute switch is active. The signal is routed into the
Effect send at full volume,
1st before it reaches the channel
fader.

2nd

The Effects pop-up menus

(top to bottom)
3rd

4th

Carrier signal routing in the EQ window

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4. In the EQ window, press the Mute switch to prevent that the origi-
nal unprocessed signal is being directly transferred to Cubase’s
Master output.

5. Activate the first effect bus by clicking its On switch so that it

lights up.

6. Activate the Pre switch of the first effect bus to route the Pre fader
signal directly to the effect.

7. Fully turn up the effect send volume of the first effect so that the
original signal is sent to the effect with maximum volume.
If the signal is very loud, you can probably reduce effect send volume a little.

8. Select “•VocCarrier” from the first Effects pop-up menu.

9. In Cubase VST’s Effect rack, click on the Edit button in the •Voco-
der effect slot to open the Orange Vocoder window. Make sure
that the Use Synth switch is Off.

10. You can skip the following section for the moment. It describes
how to set up if the Carrier signal is provided by the Orange Voco-
der’s internal Synth. You can read it later. and now proceed di-
rectly to the section ”Setting up the Modulator signal“ on page 33.

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 Setting up if the Carrier signal comes from the built-in Synth
It is not necessary to load the •VocCarrier Plug-In, if you use Orange
Vocoder’s internal Synthesizer to generate a Carrier signal. If you have
previously used the •VocCarrier Plug-In, you should therefore disable
it now, by switching it off in the Effect rack. If needed, mute the audio
track that carries a possibly previously used Carrier signal.
1. Make sure the •Vocoder Plug-In is loaded into a slot on the Effect
rack, that it is On and its Volume dial is up.

2. Select the Track that carries your Modulator signal and open the
VST Monitor window.

3. In the Monitor window, click on the FX switch of the respective

channel to open the EQ window.

4. In the EQ window, press the Mute switch to prevent that the origi-
nal unprocessed signal is being directly transferred to Cubase’s
Master output.

5. Activate the desired effect bus by clicking its On switch so that it

lights up.

6. Activate the Pre switch of the selected effect bus to route the Pre
fader signal directly to the effect.

7. Fully turn up the effect send volume so that the original signal is
sent to the effect with maximum volume.
If the signal is very loud, you can probably reduce effect send volume a little.

8. Select “•Vocoder” from the respective Effects pop-up menu.

9. Click on the Edit button in the •Vocoder effect slot to open the
Orange Vocoder window. Make sure that the Use Synth switch is
On.

10. Use the Graphic Keyboard in the Keyboard section of the Orange
Vocoder window to activate a Carrier signal note or chord.

11. Now set up the Modulator signal as described in the next section.

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Setting up the Modulator signal
1. In the Arrange window, load the audio file that you wish to use as
the Modulator signal into Track 1.
The Modulator signal will be used to modulate the Carrier signal. Vocals are
often used as Modulator signal.

2. Select Track 1 and open the VST Monitor window.

3. In the Monitor window, click on the FX switch of channel 1 to

open the EQ window.

The Mute switch is active.

1st The Effect send is On.

The Pre fader switch is On.

The signal is routed into the
Effect send at full volume,
2nd before it reaches the channel
fader.
The Effects pop-up menus
(top to bottom)
3rd

4th

Modulator signal routing in the EQ window

4. In the EQ window, press the Mute switch to prevent that the original
unprocessed signal is being transferred to Cubase’s Master output.

5. Activate the second effect bus by clicking its On switch so that it

lights up.

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 6. Activate the Pre switch of the second effect bus to route the Pre
fader signal directly to the Plug-In.

7. Fully turn on effect send volume so that the original signal is sent
to the Plug-In with maximum volume.
If the signal is very loud, you can probably reduce effect send volume a little.

8. Select the “•Vocoder” from the second Effects pop-up menu.

You can now use the Orange Vocoder as a Channel effect, where the signal
on Cubase’s track 1 modulates the signal on Cubase’s track 2. Also check out
the Flip Inputs switch in the Orange Vocoder window and see what happens.

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Orange Vocoder as an Insert effect
If you use Cubase VST version 4.0 or higher, you can also use the
Orange Vocoder as a mono or stereo Insert effect. With this technique,
the signal of a VST mono or stereo audio channel is directly fed into
the effect.
After processing the effect feeds the signal back into the channel,
thereby replacing the original signal.

¶ Please note that using the Orange Vocoder as an Insert effect only makes
sense if you intend to use its internal Synthesizer section.

This is how you activate Orange Vocoder as an Insert effect:

1. Open the Monitor window in Cubase VST.

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 2. In the Monitor window click on the Insert switch of the desired channel.
This will open the Insert effect rack for this channel.

3. Select the Orange Vocoder in one of the pop-up menus on the

right-hand side of the Insert effect rack.
This loads and activates the Orange Vocoder.

4. Open the Orange Vocoder window by clicking the Edit switch and
start editing.

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Orange Vocoder as a Master effect
The Orange Vocoder can also be used as a Master effect. This is how
you activate Orange Vocoder as a Master effect:
1. Open the master window in Cubase VST.

2. Click the Master FX switch (located above the Master fader) to

open the Master effects rack.

3. Select Orange Vocoder in the Effects pop-up menu of the desired

Master effect slot.

4. Activate the effect module by clicking on its Power switch.

Orange Vocoder is now active as a Master effect.

¶ If you use the Orange Vocoder as a Master effect, Cubase’s left Master out
must carry the Modulator signal, its right Master out will carry the Carrier.
Please make sure that your sounds/tracks are panned accordingly.

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Bypass, Mute and Presets
If you use Cubase VST, you can utilise the Cubase functions for By-
pass, Mute and Preset handling:

Bypass
If you wish to completely bypass Orange Vocoder, simply deactivate it
on the corresponding Effect rack. If you only use Orange Vocoder on
one audio channel, you can instead disable the Effect send of that
channel in the EQ window. Don’t forget to deactivate the Mute switch,
otherwise you will not here the original signal.

Mute
Use the Mute switch of the corresponding channel in Cubase VST’s
Arrange window to mute audio playback.

Presets
Within Cubase VST, effect presets can be loaded and saved in the Ef-
fect section. Click on the File pop-up menu in the Effect rack and se-
lect the desired function. Cubase’s effect management lets you load
and save single effect settings as well as banks of effect settings.

¶ You can use the Orange Vocoder’s internal Copy and Paste switches to copy
and paste a complete parameter set from one preset to another. How to do
this is described in the section ”Program switches“ on page 18.

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Copyright
This manual and the software described in it are copyrighted © 1997 by PROSONIQ PROD-
UCTS SOFTWARE GmbH with all rights reserved. Under copyright laws, this manual and soft-
ware may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of Prosoniq
Products.
IN NO EVENT WILL PROSONIQ PRODUCTS SOFTWARE GmbH BE LIABLE FOR ANY DI-
RECT, INDIRECT SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING
FROM ANY DEFECT IN THE PRODUCT, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, DAMAGE TO PROP-
ERTY AND, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DAMAGE FOR PERSONAL INJURY, EVEN
IF PROSONIQ HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties or limitations on how long implied
warranty may last, so the above limitations may not apply to you. This warranty gives you spe-
cific legal rights. You may have other rights which vary from state to state.
All trademarks are property of their respective holders.
All features and specifications subject to change without notice.
© 1997 Prosoniq Products Software GmbH All rights reserved.

License Agreement
This is a legal agreement between you and PROSONIQ PRODUCTS SOFTWARE GmbH, cover-
ing your use of the Orange Vocoder™ PlugIn. Be sure to read the following agreement before us-
ing the software. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, DO NOT
USE THE SOFTWARE AND DESTROY ALL COPIES OF IT. Use of all or any portion of this pack-
age indicates your agreement to the following terms and conditions.
Prosoniq Products Software GmbH grants you, the purchaser, a nonexclusive license to use the
software in this package (the “Software”), under the terms and conditions stated in this agree-
ment.
You may: 1. Use the Software on a single machine
You may not: 1. Make copies of the user manual or the Software in whole or in part except as ex-
pressively provided for in this agreement. 2. Make alterations or modifications to the Software
(or any copy) or disassemble or decompile the Software (or any copy), or otherwise attempt to
discover the source code of the Software. 3. Sublicense, lease, lend, rent or grant other rights in
all or any portion of the Software (or any copy) to others. 4. Make verbal or media translations of
the User's Guide. 5. Make telecommunication data transmissions of the Software.
TERM: This agreement is effective until terminated. You may terminate it at any time by destroy-
ing the Software together with all copies in any form. It will also terminate if you fail to comply
with any term or condition in this agreement.
If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of this agreement, or por-
tion thereof, to be unenforceable, that provision of the agreement shall be enforced to the maxi-
mum extent permissible so as to effect the intent of the parties, and the remainder of this
agreement shall continue in full force and effect.
Prosoniq Products Software GmbH

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