Envelopes

Introduction

Envelopes controls how the amplitude, the frequency or the filter changes over time.

Amplitude Envelopes

Theese envelopes controls the amplitude of the sound. In ZynAddSubFX, amplitude envelopes can be linear or logarithmic. In the next image, it is shown the differences between theese envelopes.

The amplitude envelope is divided into:

Attack - begins at the Note On. The volume starts from 0 to the maximum. In ZynAddSubFX, the attack is always linear.
Decay - the volume drops from the maximum value to a level called "Sustain level"
Sustain - the volume remains constant until the key is depressed (Note Off). After this, the last stage take place.
Release - the volume drops to zero

Frequency Envelopes

Theese envelopes controls the frequency (more exactely, the pitch) of the oscillators. The folowing picture draws the stages of theese envelopes.

The dotted line represents the real pitch of the sound without the envelope.
The frequency envelopes are divided into 3 stages:

Attack - begins at the Note On. The frequency starts from a certain value and glides to the real frequency of the note.
Sustain - the frequency is the same on over the sustain period
Release - this stage begins on Note Off and glides the frequency of the note to a certain value

Filter Envelopes

Theese envelopes controls the cuttoff frequency of the filters and are divided into:
Filter envelopes

Attack - begins at the Note On. The cuttof frequency starts from a certain value and glides to another value
Decay - the cuttof frequency continues to glide to the real cuttof frequency value of the filter (dotted line)
Sustain - the cuttof frequency is the same on over the sustain period (dotted line)
Release - this stage begins on Note Off and glides the filter cuttof frequency of the note to a certain value

Freemode envelopes

For all envelope there is a mode that allows the user to set an arbitrary number of stages and control points. This mode is called Freemode.
Free mode envelopes

Only stage that always remains defined is the Sustain, where the envelopes freezes until a Note Off event.

User interface

All the envelope types has some common controls:

E - Shows a window that you can view the real envelope shape or convert to free mode to edit it
Stretch - How the envelope is stretched according the note. On the higher notes the envelopes are shorter than lower notes. In the leftmost value, the stretch is zero. The rightmost use a stretch of 200%; this means that the envelope is stretched about 4 times/octave.
frcR - Forced release. This means that if this option is turned on, the release will go to the final value, even if the sustain stage is not reached. Usually, this must be set.

The parameters for Amplitude Envelopes for ZynAddSubFX are:

A.dt - Attack duration
D.dt - Decay duration
S.Val - Sustain value
R.dt - Release time
L - If this option is set, the envelope is linear, otherwise, it will be logarithmic

       For Frequency Envelopes the interface has the folowing parameters:

A.val - Attack value
A.dt - Attack duration
R.dt - Release time
R.val - Release value

Filter Envelopes has the parameters:

A.val - Attack value
A.dt - Attack duration
D.val - Decay value
D.dt - Decay time
R.dt - Release time
R.val - Release value

The Freemode envelopes has a separate window to set the parameters and controls:

Control points - You can move the points using the mouse.In the right on the windows, it is shown the total duration of the envelope. If the mouse button will be pressed on a control point, it will be shown the duration of the stage where the point is.
FreeMode - this button activates or deactivates the freemode mode.
Add Point - Adds the point next to the current selected point. You can select a point by clicking on it.
Delete point - Removes the point from the envelope.
Sust. - Set the sustain point. It is shown using the yellow line.
Str. - Envelope stretch