Arpeggiator in Virus Rack

[vickno]

It's my first synth, so excuse the noob question: how to activate arpeggiator on a preset ?

[Timo]

Hi Vickno, congrats on the Virus Rack, welcome to the forum.

You can download the Virus Classic Rack manual here (http://www.infekted.org/virus/files/VirusClassicRackManual.pdf) (6mb pdf). Open it and save the PDF to your computer, or right-click it and select 'Save Link As'.

[vickno]

I have the manual, but I can't find anything helpful there. I don't know how to activate the arpeggiator on a preset that originally doesn't have it.

[Timo]

Have you read page 143 in the manual?

Select ARPG/CTRL from the up/down section, then use the Mode knob (2nd from the left) to change the arppegiator setting from "Off" to anything you want, such as Up/Down/Up&Down/AsPlayed/Random/Chord.

Obviously you'd need to use it on a patch that has short attack so you can hear the arppegiation, rather than on a slowly opening patch like pads or strings or similar.

[vickno]

Thanks, I'll try that.

[vickno]

I tried and the knobs don't do nothing, the leds are not lit. The strangest thing is that if I choose a preset with arpeggiator (the knobs leds are lit here) and set the arpeggiator off in the up/down sections the arpeggiator still functions. What's happening here ?

[Timo]

Ok, do the knobs actually do anything, on any of the patches (not just the arpeggiator settings)?

If not, the former user may have fiddled with internal MIDI settings, one of which can actually disable the knobs.

Before that, try a system reset (page 93 in the manual). Turn the unit off, then hold the PARAMETER LEFT button while you switch the unit back on again. This will perform a system reset.

If the knobs still don't work, try this: Go to wherever the MIDI settings are - I believe they may be in the ARP/CTRL options - and then use the PARAMETER buttons to scroll through all the various MIDI settings until you see "1 MIDI" with the word "PANEL" underneath it on the LCD screen. Then, if it doesn't already, use the VALUE buttons to alter the PANEL setting until it reads "PANEL Int+Midi" (as shown on Page 153 in the manual).

Now you can try scrolling back through the settings to the left, back to the Arp settings, and see if the knobs now work.

[vickno]

The knobs are working just fine, but if I select ARPG/CTRL from the up/down section on a preset that doesn't have arpeggiator the leds are not lit and the knobs don't do anything. If I select LFO or other section they are working (and the leds are lit, of course). Maybe the arpeggiator is bypassed somewhere in those presetsa and because of that the knobs do nothing on this section ? But I don't know where.
I didn't have now the time to reset the system, but that will affect the saved presets or not ?

[Timo]

Do you perhaps have to use the Parameter buttons to scroll left/right until you find the arpeggiator Off/Up/Down/Up&Down/AsPlayed/Random/Chord settings?

I know my arpeggiator settings are in a weird place in the menus of my Indigo, not particularly easily accessible or intuitive. They improved this with the later Virus C, onwards.

If you have a PC and a MIDI interface you could always try using Emagic SoundDiver, which is a librarian and graphic sound-designer for all the classic Viruses. It was bundled free with the synth at the time.

Otherwise I'm not sure what else I can personally suggest, other than perhaps sitting down with the manual and working through it. I've never had any experience with a Virus Rack before.

[vickno]

I finally got it !!!Iin the arp/system section there are 2 arpeggiator sub-sections: the first one has only on/off and the second one is far far left, after zillions of midi pages, I didn't have the patience to go so far until today hahahaha, and this one activates it. Anyway, thanks a lot, it was very kind of you to help me !

[Timo]

Ok, it sounds like you originally found the arpeggiator-send settings for MIDI, rather than the actual arpeggiator settings.

Also sounds like your menus are like my Indigo, the arp' settings are all on the far left of the CTRL menu.

At least you got there.

If you have a PC and a midi interface I will recommend SoundDiver again though, especially as you're using a rack with limited knobbage and lots of menu diving. SoundDiver was a free a graphical patch editor and librarian bundled with all the classic Virus models (A, B, C, Rack, Rack XL)

http://www.infekted.org/virus/images/various/sounddiver-edit.jpg

http://www.infekted.org/virus/images/various/sounddiver-librarian.png

You can edit all the patch settings in realtime over MIDI, and the librarian function allows you to import, export and save patch-banks en masse, too. It's not a VST host, though, but there are other commerical software apps available which can control the Virus via VST.

[vickno]

Thanks again, I'll try SoundDiver.