Reference Manual

CHAPTER 23. LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 449
The Error slider increases the amount of random tuning error applied to each note. Try very
high values if you would like to relive your experiences from junior high school orchestra.
The Unison section allows you to stack multiple voices for each note played. The switch
next to the name toggles the section on or off.
The Voices switch selects between two or four stacked voices, while Detune adjusts the
amount of tuning variation applied to each stacked voice. Low values can create a subtle
chorusing effect, while high values provide another good way to approximate a youth
orchestra. Increasing the Delay amount adds lag before each stacked voice is activated.
The Portamento section is used to make the pitch slide between notes rather than changing
immediately. The effect can be toggled on and off via the switch next to its name.
With Legato enabled, the sliding will only occur if the second note is played before the rst
note is released.
Proportional causes the slide time to be proportional to the interval between the notes.
Large intervals will slide slower than small intervals. Disabling this switch causes the slide
time to be constant regardless of interval.
The Time slider sets the overall speed of the slide.
The Volume knob sets the overall output of the instrument.
23.13.4 Sound Design Tips
At rst glance, Tension's modular architecture may not seem so different from what you're
used to in other synthesizers; it consists of functional building blocks that feed information
through a signal path and modify it as it goes. But it's important to remember that Tension's
components are not isolated from one another; what you do to one parameter can have
a dramatic effect on a parameter somewhere else. Because of this, it's very easy to nd
parameter combinations that produce no sound at all. It's also very easy to create extremely
loud sounds, so be careful when setting levels!
When programming Tension, it may help to think about the various sections as if they really
are attached to a single, physical object. For example, a bow moving at a slow speed could
perhaps excite an undamped string. But if that string is constricted by an enormous damper,
the bow will need to increase its velocity to have any effect.