Mangleverb User’s Guide Audio Damage, Inc. Release 1.
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Introduction Have you ever wondered what would happen when you combine a thick algorithmic reverb, a rough-and-ready vintage-style synth filter, and a healthy dose of modulation? Us, too. As luck would have it, we happen to have a plug-in company, so we put our heads together, hit the woodshed, coded a little, swore a lot, and Mangleverb is the result. We started with the reverb algorithm from the much-loved but long unavailable Deverb, one of our earliest products.
Operation Mangleverb consists of three signal-processing sections: a reverb, a filter, and a VCA (“VCA” being an acronym for Voltage-Controlled Amplifier, a module familiar to synthesizer users). The filter and VCA can be controlled by two modulation sources: a low-frequency oscillator (LFO) and an envelope follower. The LFO can be synchronized to the tempo of your host sequencer or run independently.
The switch labeled PRE and POST changes the signal path within Mangleverb. If the switch is set to PRE, the reverb comes before the filter and VCA. If the switch is set to POST, the signal passes through the filter and VCA before entering the reverb. Filter Second from the left you’ll find Mangleverb’s filter controls. Since the cutoff frequency is the most important parameter of a musical filter, these controls are dominated by the large and uniquely decorated CUTOFF knob.
tool, we’ve provided a DRIVE knob that boosts the signal before it enters the filter. Turn this knob up and you’ll hear the signal become louder and more distorted, in a good way. The Modulation Source (MOD SRC) knobs control how much the filter’s frequency is affected (i.e. modulated) by the LFO and envelope follower.
randomly determined shapes. The SHAPE knob changes the basic waveform in different ways, depending on which waveform is chosen with the switch. If the SAW wave is selected, and the SHAPE knob is set to the middle of its range, the output of the LFO rises and falls evenly between its lowest and highest values, creating a symmetric triangular wave. If you rotate the SHAPE knob to the left, the LFO output rises more quickly and falls more slowly, creating what is often called a sawtooth wave.
Envelope Follower In addition to the LFO, Mangleverb has an envelope follower as a second source of modulation signals. The envelope follower responds to the overall loudness of its input signal and (like the LFO) can be used to control the filter and/or the VCA. The two knobs labeled SHAPE determine how rapidly the envelope follower responds. The ATTACK knob adjusts how quickly the envelope follower responds to increases in the incoming signal’s level.
In the MIDI mode, the SENSE knob acts as a threshold control. If the velocity of a note is below the setting of the SENSE knob, the note is ignored. If you leave the SENSE knob at its full anti-clockwise setting, all notes generate gate signals for the envelope generator. Turning the SENSE knob up raises the threshold, blocking notes with low velocities and passing notes with high velocities. In order for this mode to work, you’ll have to route MIDI data to Mangleverb.
envelope follower respond to the snare and high hats more than the kick drum. This knob has no effect on the MIDI and LFO modes of the envelope follower. The envelope follower has a display similar to the LFO to show you what it’s doing and what effect the various controls have on its operation. Master The Master section has controls for setting the levels of various signals as they pass into, through, and out of the plug in. The INPUT knob is a gain control for the input signal.
The VCA can also be affected by the envelope follower and the LFO, using the MOD SRC knobs. These knobs work the same way as their counterparts in the Filter section. Turning these knobs clockwise from their center position will cause the LFO and/or envelope follower to increase the VCA’s gain, and turning the knobs anticlockwise will have the opposite effect. Note that there are combinations of settings in which the modulators have no audible effect.
