M-Audio Key Rig [13/29] Ms 2 polyphonic synthesizer

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MS-2 Polyphonic Synthesizer

The MS-2 is a polyphonic synthesizer with preset oscillators, ﬁlters, amp, modulation, and effects settings. The synthesis is

generally analog, but oscillators are also created with wavetables and FM.

Oscillator Section

< Oscillator Type: clicking in the oscillator “Type” ﬁeld produces a drop-down menu of 85 oscillator presets

(see “Appendix D – MS-2 Oscillator Presets” for more information). An oscillator type can include any

combination of up to three analog oscillators, two wavetables, a sub oscillator (square wave) and white

noise. Analog oscillators are created from combinations of saw, unison saw, square, pulse and sine waves.

FM oscillators are made with a single sine wave carrier and up to two sine wave modulators. Presets are

organized into “Styles” (pads, polys, leads, etc.) yet all oscillators can be used for any kind of sounds and in

combination with any of the different ﬁlter, amp, and modulation presets.

< Wave: all oscillator types have a pre-programmed “Wave” knob assigned to the most useful parameters for

changing the sound of the oscillator. This varies and could be, for example, the width of a pulse wave, the

detune of a unison sawtooth wave, the amount of sync for a sync wave, the balance of noise to a pitched

oscillator, wavetable position or FM modulator level, etc. This wave parameter is also available to be modulated

in various ways via the modulation presets (see “Appendix G – MS-2 Modulation Presets” ).

< Detune: speciﬁc oscillators within each preset have been assigned detune ranges for widening the sound.

< Mono: all oscillator presets can play polyphonic or monophonic. Logical oscillators such as “Leads” or

oscillators designed to play in unison with detune will load monophonically by default, but can then be set to

poly. Polyphonic types can also be set to mono.

Filter Section

< Filter Type: clicking in the ﬁlter “Type” ﬁeld produces a drop-down menu of 47 ﬁlter presets (see “Appendix

E – MS-2 Filter Presets” for more information). A ﬁlter type includes settings such as whether the ﬁlter is high

pass or low pass, resonance amounts, ﬁlter velocity response, key tracking, and ﬁlter envelope settings.

< Reso: controls resonance amount.

< Env Depth: controls the depth of the ﬁlter envelope and can be set positively or negatively from the zero

position (12 o’clock).

< Cutoff: controls ﬁlter cutoff frequency.

< Envelope: the graphical envelope allows you to edit or set the ﬁlter envelope’s attack, decay, and release

times, as well as sustain level, by clicking and dragging the three square handles.