Envelope follower

[nutrinoland]

Hi ..
could someone please explain what an envelope follower is and how to use it??
maybe some examples too....

thanks

[nutrinoland]

Hi...does anybody know about this?? could you please explain..what is and how do i use the input follower ??

thanks

[maelstrom808]

Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but an envelope follower as I understand it will take the levels of an input signal and use those levels to generate a control signal.

So if you had the output of an EF connected to a filter cutoff, as the input signal got louder, the EF would open the filter more. As the signal falls off, it closes the filter.

[nutrinoland]

Hi..thanks Maelstrom..
any idea on how to achieve this on the virus snow??

thanks

[maelstrom808]

Well, I own a TI keyboard, so I'm not really familiar with actual menu navigation on the Snow. On the TI keyboard you hit the Edit button twice on the lower FX section and it opens up the menu where you can access the "other" effects options like the Input Follower and the Vocoder.

Inside of VC however, it is in the FX1 tab on the lower left. Basicly select the input you want to use, Level adjusts the level of the incoming signal, and the Attack and Release knobs function much in the same way as they would on a compressor...pretty much allowing you to adjust how tight or loose the control signal output mimics the input signal.

For the control signal output, it is important to note that it replaces the filter envelope. As such, in the Mod Matrix section you select the Filter Envelope as the Mod Source and then apply it to whatever control destination you like.

I hope that helps.

[nutrinoland]

Just saw this...Thanks for the help

[Narcissus]

In synthesis, Envelopes are events that happen over time, have a particular shape of intensity over time, and can be triggered by other events.

The are usually triggered by note-on events, but on modular synths you can triggers envelopes from other events and modulators like sequencers, LFOs, etc.

An Envelope follower is an Envelope that is triggered by an incoming audio signal. In dedicated modular Envelope Followers you can set the threshold, that is, the volume level at which the Envelope will be triggered. You cannot set this threshold on the Virus.

The vast majority of DSP Envelope Followers are hard wired to control the volume (amplitude) and brightness (LPF) of the incoming signal.

In real modular synthesis you set an envelope to control anything even non-audio signals, and be triggered by anything even non-audio signals.

[nutrinoland]

Thanks Narcissus...
very helpful explanation ..

[nutrinoland]

Hey again. I was trying to use the analog inputs on the snow, so decided to try the envelope follower, so I did a google search for it, and the result that popped up was this page ..a question I myself had asked a little while ago.
Anyway..I re-read it, and this time understood a little better, since recently I learned about envelope followers in FL studio, using something called a Peak Controller. The same way a bassline is sidechained, the peak controller can be linked to any destination or parameter in the DAW. I had been sidechaining bass for a while before, but only realized the potential of the peak controller/ env follower, recently after reading about it online. Great little technique. I enjoyed using it on a distortion plugin, so as the bass got louder it distorted more.
Although I have grasped the concept of env followers, quite well, I am still having a hard time implementing it on the Virus.
I am not sure how to set it up and use it. For example,on the input mode patch, FX page - activate input- static input, and then activate the Env follower from input. WHat is the env follower affecting in this case ? is it acting on the input signal itself or can I play the synth oscillators and stuff at the same time as input ? will the env follower affect the oscillators internally ? can it modulate anythig apart from volume and filter cutoff ?also does each of the 4 parts on My snow have an individual env follower or can one stereo analog input affect the env follower on all 4 parts.
I wasn't really able to figure it out. something did happen, but I couldn't figure out what exactly was happening.

Thanks

[HUBA]

Not to hijack here, but will an envelope follower allow for treating the incoming signal unaltered? As in if I was to send it an external LFO or envelope signal, would the envelope follower alter the envelope or LFO wave no matter its settings, or could it, with the right settings, just echo the wave as it was originally?

If so, will any of the viruses allow this?