User's Manual

12
Keyboard-specic controls
The following controls are present on the top panel of the Hydrasynth keyboard, not the
desktop model. However, these parameters are available for both units: see Arp parameters:
page 2 (p.67).
Control Function
Tempo Turn this to adjust the tempo, or use the Tap Tempo button.
Ratchet Sets how many subdivisions of an arpeggiator step are possible (1, 2, 4, or 8).
Chance Determines the likelihood of a Ratchet event happening on a given
arpeggiator step.
Gate Adjusts the relative duration of the arpeggiator notes.
Tweaking the sounds
The Right display provides information about what is happening and what the options are, no
matter what you’re doing with the Hydrasynth. We’ll dig down into every parameter eventually,
but for now let’s start at the top again. So please press [HOME] to make sure you’re seeing what
we’re describing.
The Home page: Macro City
When Hydrasynth is on the Home page the
Control knobs and Control buttons become
modulation sources for the Macros. Each
Macro can alter as many as eight parameters
at one time by activating a single control.
Every patch has eight Macros available.
Macros allow you to achieve complex results,
but they’re easy to create. When you’re ready
to try that, see Mastering the Macros (p.69).
The rest of the Master Control section has
buttons that will be useful in the near future.
We’ll cover them in Variable knobs (p.16).
The Filter section
This section has two buttons and either three
or ve knobs, depending on the unit you have.
The buttons select which of the two lters the
knobs will control, after which the knobs can
do their thing.
Knobs 1 and 2 are the same for either lter:
they control Cuto and Resonance, respective-
ly. If Filter 1 is selected the third knob controls
the Drive amount for that lter; if Filter 2 is
selected the third knob allows you to “morph”
the characteristics of that lter.
Those descriptions barely scratch the surface,
though. To delve more deeply into what the
Hydrasynth lters can do, read The Filters and
their Controls (p.42).
Saving
In the process of tweaking a sound you will often create something you’d like to keep. If that
has already happened, jump ahead to the Patch Management chapter and follow the instruc-
tions in Save the Patch (p.82).