Table Of ContentSound-controlled
synthesis and effects
ThismanualisreleasedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution3.0
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VirtaandtheVirtamanualbyMadronaLabs.http://madronalabs.com.
Version1.3,December2016.WrittenbyGeorgeCochrane.
IllustratedbyDavidChandler.
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Introduction
Synthesizersandeffects. Inthiscrazymixed-upworld,whatcouldbe
better?Onandon,wetweakandtwist,searchingforsomething.Smiles
creepingacrossourfacesallthewhile.Theroilingseaofknobsandbut-
tonsandlightsaremagnetic. Weseek,pureofheart,tomergewiththe
worldofsound.
Alas,wesometimesfindourselvesstoppedshort. O,thatthistoosolidfleshcouldmelt...And,
Itcanbeatallordertogetthelevelofexpressionandimmediacy like,seepintothejacksofmymodular.
thatyoucravewithtraditionalsynthesizersandprocessors. Thisgoes
doubleifyou’vegottoworkquickly,butwanttomaintainasatisfying
amountofcomplexityandvarianceinyoursound.Perhaps,intheheat
ofacreativemoment, youhavewishedtosimplydiveintoasynthor
effectandcommanditbythought.Thereisnoshameinthat. Imean,peopletalktotheirPETS,forcrissake.
This,toalargedegree,iswhywe’vecreatedVirta—amodularsyn-
thesizerandeffectsprocessorthatrespondsdirectlytoyou.
When you route your voice (or any kind of audio) into Virta, the
sound analysis engine precisely extracts information about its pitch,
timbre,anddynamicsovertime. Thesenewsignalscancontrolnearly
anyparameterinVirta,justthesameasyoucanwithMIDIorOSC.
Thismakesforaninstrumentthatcaneasilyfollowyoureverytwist
and turn. Living the dream, really. Then again, Virta is modular, so
audio-controlledsynthesisisjustoneroadyoucantravel. Youcanalso
makestufflike:
• Expressivevocalprocessingchains
• 4-voiceMIDI-controlledpitchshifters
• MIDI/OSC-controlledsynths(withorwithoutaudiocontrol)
• Dronesfordays
• First-everfaithfulemulationofthematingcalloftheSpacePony
AQuickOverview
Virta’sinterfacehasfourmainsections,fromtoptobottom:
• Theheadersection,whereyou’llfindthepatchmenu,alongwiththe
versionandregistrationstatusofyourcopyofVirta.
• Thesignalsandshapessection,whereAUDIOandMIDI/OSC(KEY)
signalsflowintoVirta,andwheretheoscillators(OSC1andOSC2)
andmodulators(LFO,andENVELOPE)reside.
• Thepatchersection,whereconnectionsbetweenmodulesaremade
andunmade.
• Theprocessingandoutput section,wherethesoundsyoumakeare
massagedandprocessedtoperfectionbytheFORMANT,GATE,DE-
LAY,andOUTPUTmodules.
4
Ofcourse,thereismuchmoretolearnaboutthewaysofVirta.Let’s
goonalittlecosmicjourneytogether.
ALittleBookofPower
If Virta is your first foray into anything modular, or your first audio-
controlledaliencommunicator,letthismanualbeyourguide. What-
everyourperspective,wemostlyhopethatyouhavefunexploringthis
newinstrument,makingsoundsyou’veneverheardbefore.
Thismanualisarrangedinthreesections:
• Where Keyboards Fear to Tread—A little background on the con-
ceptsbehindVirta.
• GettingtoKnowVirta—InfoonhowVirtafitsintoyoursystem,and
howtousethevarioustypesofcontrolsandconnectionsthatyou’ll
find.
• Module by Module—A guided tour through the different parts of
Virta,modulebymodule.
5
1 Where Keyboards
Fear to Tread
Virtaisallaboutimmediacyofexpression. Weallwanttomakeevoca-
tivesynthpartsandprocesssoundsinnovelways,butoftentimes,doing
sotakesalittlemorethinkingthanwe’dlike—alotoffutzingwithcon-
trollers, noteandparametervalues, automation, andsoon. That’sall
wellandgood,butsometimesyoujustwanttoletfly,makeboldmoves,
andgetcompellingresults. Thiscanbea challengein aworldwhere
themostresponsivecontrolmechanismswe’vegotarekeys,knobs,and
faders.Virtatotherescue!
YoufeedsoundsintoVirta(oftenvoice, butitcouldbeanything),
andtheyareanalysedbytheAUDIOmodule. Thisderivespitch,ampli- TheAUDIOmoduleisoptimizedformono-
tude,on-offstate,andsometimbraldetailsfromyouraudio,andoutputs phonicinputsignals,butfeelfreetotry
anythingyoulike,ifyou’reokaywithunpre-
themassignalsyoucanusetocontrolanythinginVirta,justlikeyou
dictableresults.
canwithMIDIorOSC.Whenyou’redoingaudio-controlledsynthesis,
you’ll often patch these signals first into the pitch and timbre control
inputsfortheoscillators,whichareonlytoohappytofollowalong.
Then,youcanusetheFORMANTSandGATEmodulestoapplythe
timbre&litudeofyourinputsourcetothisnewsynthesizedsound
in a wide variety of ways. Add on a pitch-shifting delay effect (also
chock-fullofcontrolinputs),andyou’vegotquiteahotmusicalpie.
Inotherguises,youcouldpatchupakeyboard-controlledsynth,and
useFORMANTSlikeareallynicevocodertoshapethesoundwithin-
comingaudio.Useyourvoicetovarydelaytimeorcontroltheintensity
ofmodulations—ormoveadozenthingsatonce,allinwhateverrange
ofmotionyouwant.Thecreativeavenuesaffordedbybeingabletotreat
audioasbothamulti-parametercontrollerandusefulmusicalsignalare
legion. Evenwithoutaudiocontrol,Virtaisstillapowerful,patchable
synthandprocessor.
Virtaisquitemodular,sothewayyoupatchitdictatesthewayitwill
act.Mayyoupatchwithverveandreachnewhorizons.
8
2 Getting to Know Virta
ThischaptershowsyouhowVirtafitsintoyourcomputerecosystem,
andgivesyouaworkingknowledgeofthevarioustypesofcontrolsyou’ll
findthroughout.SomeofVirta’scontrolsactjustlikeyouwouldexpect,
butsomehavemorepersonalitythanthat.
FirstThingsFirst
Virtaisasoftwareplug-inthatcomesinbothVSTandAUformats. A
plug-indoesnotrunonitsown. Itrunswithinanapplication(known
asahostorDigitalAudioWorkstation). SomegoodhostsincludeAble- Therestofthisguideassumesthatyou’ve
tonLive(onMacandWindows),LogicandNumerology(Mac),andFL gotVirtaupandrunningjustfine.Ifyou
haveproblemswithinstallingoroper-
Studio(Windows). Allofthesehostsprovideeasywaystouseplug-ins
atingVirta,pleasesearchourforums
likeVirta. athttp://madronalabs.comor,ifthat
fails,sendusyourquestionsatsup-
Everyhosthandlesinstrumentsalittledifferently,soformoreinfor-
[email protected],andthe
mationonusinginstrumentplug-insinyourownsystem,pleaseseethe growingcommunityofVirtausers,arehereto
userguidethatcamewithyourDAW. helpyou.
RoutingAudio&MIDIorOSC
Ifyou’reusingVirtawithaudioinputonly(noMIDIorOSCinput),you
cangoaheadandsimplydropVirtaontoanaudiotrackinyourDAW.
Onceyou’vedonethat,youcanenablerecordingorinputmonitoring
forthattrack,startpumpingintheaudioofyourchoice,andyou’reoff
totheraces.However,formanyuses,you’llwantbothaudioandMIDI
orOSCtobeabletoflowintoVirta.
TheprocedurefordoingthiswilldifferfromDAWtoDAW,butas
anexamplewe’llshowyouhowtodothisinAbletonLive: Asmuchaswemightliketo,wecan’texplain
howtouseeveryDAWhere.Butbetweenyour
DAW’smanual,yourDAW’sfriendlysupport
peopleandours,hopefullyyoucangetVirta
• CreateanaudiotrackandaMIDItrack.Assigntheintendedinputs
happilymunchingdownaudioandMIDIdata
tobothtracks withouttoomuchtrouble.
• InsertVirtaontheaudiotrack.
• UsingtheoutputselectorsontheMIDItrack, setitsoutputtothe
audiotrackcontainingVirta,andthentoVirtaitself.
• Record-enablebothtracksbyholdingtheCommandkeyandpress-
ingtherecordarmbuttonsonbothtracks.
10
Description:an example we'll show you how to do this in Ableton Live: As much as as carrier signals to feed the FORMANTS module (and a lot more besides).
