Sound engines¶

The PolyPulse comes with a variety of sound engines. Each sound engine has a unique set of features and parameters that are described in the following pages. Some parameters however are present in every sound engine:

polyphony sets how many voices can be played simultaneously on a track. Voices triggered from the upper Poly pulse sequencer pulses take priority over lower pulses. While polyphony is considered a sound engine parameter and is stored in .inst files it does not morph. Instead a different polyphony value can be set for each pattern.

Tip

Because polyphony affects sequences and melodies it can be used as a musical parameter and variations on sequences can be created by simply changing the polyphony value.

slide sets how long it takes for notes to reach the new pitch. By default this only applies to notes that are slides (see Note types), but this can be applied to all notes using slide all notes found in the track settings.
detune sets the range for a random deviation in pitch. This deviation is often unique per oscillator or sound source and new values are generated for each triggered note.

In the track settings (opened using edit+track) additional parameters can be found depending on the sound engine:

unison allows for multiple synth voices to be triggered per note. Make sure that the polyphony value is equal to or higher than unison for it to work.
osc retrig sets if oscillator reset their phase to zero when a new note starts. When enabled the start of a note is more consist and punchy but might also sound more static.
two notes per voice sets if and how a sound engine voice plays Two notes per voice.

Warning

While you can set polyphony to 8 on each track, that does not mean the CPU can actually handle 8 synth voices on each track. Make a careful consideration how many voices each track actually needs and watch the CPU meter on the screen. More info about the CPU usage of each sound engine type can be found in CPU management.

Envelopes¶

Each synthesis engine has up to four envelopes mapped to the amplitude of different sound sources. In most cases the envelope are configured as attack → hold → decay envelope. Use Y (called slot on screen) to scroll through the envelopes, and the three encoders next to it to control the envelope stages.

Each individual envelope stage can be set anywhere between 0 ms to 60 seconds. Holding shift while changing an envelope parameter will change all envelopes simultaneously.

Note

When an envelope stage is set to 0 ms it will skipped. By setting all stages to 0 ms the envelope will instantly reach its end and thus corresponding sound source will stay silent.

Two notes per voice¶

The two notes per voice setting can be used to save CPU usage when playing chords. Not all sound engines have this parameter, and depending on the sound engine it opens up new sound design possibilities:

Subtractive: in quad RM mode the two notes can ring modulate each other by setting two notes per voice to mixed.
FM: operators playing one note can modulate the operators that play the other note.
Resonator: one note is played by the positive resonator, the other by the negative resonator.
Granular: both grains play a different note so when using long grain envelopes the notes are alternating.

The two notes per voice has the following behaviour:

Two notes triggered by different pulses cannot play together in a single voice and still both need a separate voice.
Two notes played using the internal keyboard or using MIDI can also play together in a single voice (if triggered at the same time).
Notes are grouped from low to high pitch: if a chord with C E G is played, C and E are played together in a single voice and G plays in another voice. If however E is not triggered because chance is set to 50%, C and G play together in a single voice.
polyphony sets the amount of voices that can play at once. If polyphony is set to 1 but two notes per voice is enabled, you can still play two notes.