Last time, we took a look at the first few Rack modules. Let’s continue the discussion and look at the rest!
TIME
The Time module allows you to speed up or slow down any or all parts. Use the switch at the top to turn the module on, or the time won’t change no matter how much you move the controls! You can also use the reset button in the top right corner to revert everything back to 0.
Speed and Detail both control the speed of the sound: detail simply zooms in and allows you to make finer adjustments. Similar to ADSR, the Attack control changes the time it takes for the sound to reach that speed. So, if Attack is set to 4 seconds, the sound will start at its normal speed and slow down or speed up to your settings over 4 seconds. You can further customize this by adjusting the attack shape.
TIPS
We’ve taken a closer look at TIPS before. But in brief, TIPS allows us to add pictures and notes to programs. This could be tips from us to you about how to utilize the program, tips from you to yourself about why you created the program, and just about anything else.
TOUCH
This module hosts a few important controls. First, the Pitchbend Controls (PB Down and PB Up) allow you to change how far the pitch bend wheel on your keyboard will change the pitch. By default, it’s set to +/-2 (2 semitones). If you wanted the wheel to control up to an octave up and down, you could change it to +/-12 instead. You can use the arrows or simply type numbers in these boxes.
Pitchbend can sound really cool on things like synths and guitars, and really odd on things like trumpets and flutes. Not bad per se, but more unnatural, so be mindful what instruments you use pitchbend on.
Next, we have the Monoglide controls. Turning Monoglide on will limit you to one note at a time; when you play another note, the sound will bend up or down to that note. One way to think of this is like legato for synths: it adds “transitions” between notes, and you can control how slow or fast these transitions are with the Glide Time control. At 0 seconds, the next note will simply replace the previous note; at 1 second, the note will slowly bend over the course of a full second.
NOTE: If there are any legato parts loaded in the current program, the mono glide controls will be disabled. Since mono glide is sort of a synthetic version of legato, they can’t coexist in the same program.
Finally, we have the Velocity Type control. In other apps, similar controls might be named “Velocity Curve” or “Key Sensitivity.” In essence, this allows you to adjust the velocity response of the program. At default, the linear option (a straight diagonal line) is evenly spread across the 127 velocities.
Here, we can see some other options. The curves on the top will make it easier to play higher velocities, and the curves on the bottom will make it easier to play softer velocities. Depending on your physical keyboard controller or playing style, you might want to play with these to see what feels best for you.
We also have a flat velocity option. This allows you to select a single velocity that will always trigger. In this example, with the velocity locked at 127, the loudest dynamic will always play. This can be a good effect, but keep in mind that you will lose the character and human variation of having many dynamics.
VOICING
This final module includes pitch and micropitch controls. Like the MASTER module, these controls are also reflected in the controls at the top right corner.
Voicing also includes the voice limit: the total number of voices that will be played before Soundpaint starts to purge older voices. What is a voice? Well, it’s basically a single note from a single part. So, if you have a program with 8 parts loaded up and play 2 notes, you will have 16 voices. If you’re holding the sustain pedal and you play another 5 notes, now you have a total of 56 voices. If your maximum voices was set to 50 (for some reason), Soundpaint would cut off the 6 oldest voices.
Some parts also will play more than one voice per note. For example, if a piano sound also includes a release sample, you might see the voice count go up when you release the key as well.
NOTE: For those of us who have used older sample engines, we might instinctively set this number to a power of 2 (64, 128, 256, etc.). This isn’t really necessary, though. If you want to just set the max voices to 99 and forget about it, feel free!