Manufacturer: R_Ware

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$15.00

R_Ware Segment Sequencer - Creative MSEG!

Multi Stage Envelope Generator that can be an LFO, Envelope, Oscillator and Waveshaper!

Manual

MSEG CANVAS

  • Use the buttons on the left to select the MSEG to edit.
  • Double-click to create a new node.
  • Right-click on a node to delete it. Deleting the start or end point will reset their position. Depending on the polarity they are reset to the respective zero line. In unlinked mode the end point resets to the start point's value.
  • Right-click on a tension point to reset it.
  • Click and drag a node to move it freely
    • Holding CTRL/CMD enables fine-tuning mode
    • Holding SHIFT will move the node only in one direction depending on which direction the node was moved in first (let go and hold again to reset lock)
    • Holding ALT will toggle the grid snap setting temporarily
  • Right-click anywhere in the canvas besides nodes and tension points will open the MSEG context menu
    • REPEAT will repeat the last selection action from the context menu
    • RESET to DEFAULT MSEG will delete the current MSEG and create the default shape instead
    • NORMALIZE will stretch the MSEG vertically to maximize it. The highest point will reach the top and the lowest point will reach the bottom.
    • SNAP will snap the MSEG's nodes to the current grid setting
    • CLEAN will remove duplicate nodes that are on top of each other or nodes that are between two nodes on the same horizontal value (will delete only one overlap, use repeat to delete more overlapping nodes)
    • COPY menu contains options to copy the current MSEG to others, to copy the MSEG to an internal buffer to share between instances of Segment Sequencer, and to paste a copied MSEG onto the current MSEG
    • MULT menu contains options to multiply and divide the MSEG
      • Double/Triple will repeat the same MSEG two/three times
      • Half/Third MSEG will cut the MSEG in half and stretch it to full length (creates a new node for the previous middle position if there is none)
      • Half/Third Points will delete half/third of the points and stretch the remaining poitns to full length
    • FLIP menu contains options to flip the MSEG horizontally (along the X axis) and vertically (along the Y axis)
    • RANDOM menu contains options to generate random MSEGs or to randomize the current MSEG
      • Generate a new random MSEG for the current or all MSEGs
      • Randomize tension, node X positions, node Y positions, or everything at once for the MSEG

GRID SETTINGS

Segment Sequencer can provide you with a guiding grid that can be configured for X (vertical lines) and Y (horizontal lines) direction separately from 1 to 64 steps each. You can also enable grid snap for each direction individually to automatically snap points to the chosen grid. E.g. to create a pitch/note sequencer turn the X grid to the number of steps you need and the Y grid to 60 to create steps with semitone values or use a multiple of 12 (semitones per octave) and scale the output down with an attenuator accordingly.

MODES

LFO MODE

The MSEGs will loop at the specified frequency or tempo. In LFO mode you can choose to set the speed of the MSEG either by frequency freely or by a tempo-synced ratio. The TRIG button and CV input will reset the MSEG to the start position. The V/Oct CV input will double the frequency for each added volt and half the frequency for each subtracted volt (e.g. when the frequency is set to 2Hz adding 1V CV will double the frequency to 4Hz and -1V CV will half the frequency to 1Hz; this also applies to the tempo-synced values).

ENVELOPE MODE

The MSEGs will run once when triggered for the specified time or tempo. In ENV mode you can choose to set the speed of the MSEG either by time in milliseconds freely or by a tempo-synced ratio. The TRIG button and CV input will trigger the MSEG to run once from the start position. The V/Oct CV input will half the time for each added volt and double the time for each subtracted volt (e.g. when the time is set to 200ms adding 1V CV will half the frequency to 100ms and -1V CV will double the frequency to 400ms; this also applies to the tempo-synced values the same as in LFO mode).

OSCILLATOR MODE

The MSEGs turn into an oscillator with a base tuning of C2 (ca 65Hz). In OSC mode you can choose the octave and fine tuning of the oscillator relative to the base tuning and Pitch CV. Fine tuning reaches from -700 cents to +700 cents. In oscillator mode the TRIG button and CV will reset the oscillator to its starting position. In oscillator mode you have the option to enable up to 8x oversampling to mitigate aliasing. 1x oversampling disables the oversampling and should be used to produce audio-rate modulation signals.

SHAPER MODE

The MSEGs turn into a uni- or bipolar waveshaper. In SHAPER mode the V/Oct CV input transforms into the shaper input. The signal at this input will be shaped according to the MSEG curve. The TRIG CV input turns into a CV input to control the DRIVE knob above it. Use this knob to increase or decrease the signal strength for the INPUT signal. Furthermore you have the option to set the RANGE and BOUNDS behavior of the shaper. When setting the RANGE to 0/5V the whole canvas represents the shaper transfer function. The input is expected to be BIPOLAR and is therefore scaled and offset accordingly. When setting RANGE to -/+5V the canvas is divided in the middle to represent the whole range from -5V to +5V. You can easily detect the middle 0V point by setting the grid to 2/2 for X/Y. The BIPOLAR input is left as is. The BOUNDS selector lets you choose what happens to signals exceeding the +/-5V range. When CLIP is selected signals are clamped to this region to not exceed the MSEG value range. When FOLD is selected the exceeding values are reflected back at the +/-5V boundary. When WRAP is selected the exceed values are wrapped to the other boundary when exceeding the +/-5V boundary. The latter mode can produce considerable aliasing and should therefore be used with modulation signals preferably. In shaper mode you have the option to enable up to 8x oversampling to mitigate aliasing. 1x oversampling disables the oversampling and should be used to shape modulation signals.

MSEG SETTINGS

Segment Sequencer offers deep control over how the output for the MSEG is created.

  • INTERPOLATION gives you the option to determine the way individual values of the MSEG are connected to each other.
    • NONE is no interpolation. This will provide the steepest curves and is suitable for very fast modulation or sequencing with the MSEG, but will produce more aliasing when using the MSEG as an oscillator or shaper.
    • LINEAR connects each value with a straight line. This will provide a slightly smoothed output that is suited as an all-rounder and should be the mode of choice for most applications.
    • SPLINE connects each value with a spline. This will give you the smoothest curves at the cost of higher processing and occasional overshoots. This mode is best suited for using the MSEG as an oscillator as it will produce the lowest amount of aliasing of the interpolation modes.
  • LINK gives you the option to automatically link the end node to the start node for a continuous shape. This is best suited for cyclic modes such as the LFO and OSCILLATOR mode. It is recommended to have this option enabled when using the MSEG as an oscillator to mitigate aliasing.
  • TENSION gives you several options for the tension between points
    • SOFT (lowest) will connect the points with a rather soft curve even at maximum tension.
    • MEDIUM (middle) will connect the points with a drastic curve that can go into step territory at maximum tension.
    • HARD/STEP (top) will connect the points with literal steps. This mode should be preferred when using the MSEG as a sequencer.
  • SMOOTH gives you the option to apply a smoothing curve over the chosen TENSION mode. This will produce more gentle LFOs and envelopes and will also mitigate aliasing in oscillator and shaper mode a lot.

PHASE MANIPULATION

Segment Sequencer is able to manipulate the way the MSEG shape is read out in various ways.

  • PHASE will offset the starting point to the left or right
  • PD X/Y will phase distort the MSEG so that its first or second half are shortened/lengthened
  • BEND X will phase distort the MSEG more gradually
  • BEND Y will distort the overall values of the MSEG to push everything to the top/bottom

SLEW LIMITER

Segment Sequencer is able to smooth out the produced MSEG outputs with a dedicated slew limiter for the rising and falling portions of each curve.

OUTPUTS and POLARITY

Segment Sequencer can output up to 8 simultaneous MSEG curves at the individual outputs and at the poly out at the bottom (make sure POLY VOICES is set to the number of MSEGs you want for that to work). In this section you can also control the polarity of the output with the POLARITY switch:

  • UNIPOLAR will render the MSEG as a positive only signal from 0V to +5V
  • BIPOLAR will render the MSEG as a negative and positive signal from -5V to +5V with 0V being in the middle of the canvas
  • ALTERNATING BIPOLAR will render the MSEG as a negative and positive signal from -5V to +5V with 0V being at the bottom. The negative part is the MSEG backwards then.