The Envelope Page
The Envelope page is used to change settings for the
output envelope of the currently selected split. The envelope is a curve that is applied
to the sample output of the split. This page is also used to apply velocity settings to
the currently selected split as well as panning (stereo position) and detuning (pitch
shift) information.

The envelope page consists of
- The Envelope Display in the upper section of the page
- Knobs for setting general settings for the selected split
- Controls for setting velocity options for the sound
The Envelope Display
An envelope curve has four sections (ADSR):
- The Attack section - This is the attack time for the
sound. When you play a note, the attack time is the time that is used to reach the
specified attack level.
- The Decay section - This is the decay time for the sound.
The decay section follows the attack section until the specified decay level is reached.
- The Sustain section - This is the sustain time for the
sound. The sustain section follows the decay section until the speciefied sustain level is
reached. The level remains at the sustain level unless you stop the note.
- The Release section - This is the release time for the
sound. The release section follows the sustain section when the appropriate note is
stopped. The release time is the time that is used to reach the specified release level
(typically 0).
If you want to start the sound with a higher level than
0, you also can set the start level for the sound. Typically a sound starts with level 0.
Each section has rates from 0-63 and levels from 0-255. A
level of 255 means full volume for the sound whereas a level of 0 means silence. The rate
specifies the time to reach the specified level for that section. This setting depends on
the timer resolution set in the Settings page. By default
the timer resolution is 10ms, so you can achieve rates ranging from 0ms to 630ms. If you
need higher rates, you can set the EG multiplier to a value above 1. The EG multiplier
settings will multiply the rates with the given value. Valid values are 0-20, so with an
EG multiplier of 20 you would achieve rates from 0ms to 12.6s. Note that precision
decreases if you set the EG multiplier to a higher value. With an EG multiplier of 1 for
example the rate 1 results in a time of 10ms whereas with an EG multiplier of 20 it would
be 200ms. Note that the envelope
is only used if you activate the "EG enabled" checkbox.
You can change rates and levels by pressing the left
mouse button over the nodes in the EG curve and drag it with the mouse to the desired
position.
General Sound Settings
Three knobs are responsible to specify general sound
settings:
- The Pan LR knob - This value specifies the pan position
(stereo position left-right) for the selected split. Valid values are -64-+64. A value of
0 means the split will be played in the center of the stereo position. A value of -64
means that the split will only be played on the left channel whereas a value of +64 means
that the split will only be played on the right channel. For stereo samples, Virtual
Sampler automatically will create two splits with the stereo positions -64 and +64 set.
- The Pan FB knob - This value specifies the 3D pan position
(front-back) for the selected split. This value allows 3D positioning of the sound. Valid
values are -64-+64. A value of -64 means the split will be played using the front speakers
only. A value of +64 means that the split will only be played using the rear speakers. Note that this setting is currently only
available for the EWS 64 series.
- The Volume knob - This value specifies the output volume
for the selected split. A value of 255 means full output whereas a value of 0 means
silence. Note that this value is also affected by the specified envelope settings and the
velocity settings. That means if you specify for example a velocity sensitivity of 127 for
the split, the full output level is only reached for notes with velocity 127.
- The Detune knob - This value specifies detuning for the
selected split. Detuning is used to slightly change the pitch of the associated sample in
order to correct the exact frequency of the sound or to adjust multisamples.
Velocity Settings
These settings affect velocity behaviour of the selected
split. Velocity is the strength that is used to play a specific note. MIDI velocity ranges
from 0 (no velocity at all) to 127 (highest velocity). Note: Virtual Sampler will only receive velocity data if you select the
"Receive Channel Velocity" entry on the Settings page.
The following options are available:
- Velocity sens - This is the sensitivity for the velocity
for the selected split. A higher value means more sensitivity. For example the highest
possible value of 127 means that the split is played with highest possible velocity
sensitivity. Velocity sensitivity affects the output volume for the sound. Smaller
velocity means less volume. With a velocity sensitivity setting of 127, the maximum output
level is only reached with a velocity of 127. If you set the velocity sensitivity to 0,
note velocity has no effect on the output volume, that means output volume is the same
regardless of the velocity. Note that the velocity is also affecred by the other velocity
settings explained below.
- Velocity offset - This is an additive offset that is
applied to the incoming velocity data. Valid values are from -256 to 256. That means you
can decrease or increase the incoming velocity. This is typically used together with
velocity slopes (see below). For example if the incoming velocity for a key is 64 and the
velocity offset is set to 20, the resulting velocity that is applied to the split would be
84. Note that you cannot change the velocity value outside the valid MIDI velocity range
from 0-127. Values below 0 will be converted to 0, values above 127 will be converted to
127.
- Velocity range - This is the velocity range for the split.
The split will only produce sound if the velocity applied is between these two values. For
example if you set the velocity range to 20 and 100, the split would only produce sounds
for velocities between 20 and 100. Otherwise the note will not produce any sound output.
This can be used for velocity crossfades (for one velocity range the split produces one
sound, for another range it produces another sound).
- Velocity slope - This is the velocity slope for the
selected split. The incoming velocities are multiplied with this value, that means this
value us used to change the velocity. A value of 1 means the incoming velocity remains
unchanged. However, for example you could invert the incoming velocity by settings this
value to -1. This would mean that all velocities would be negative. By setting the
velocity offest to 127, you could reverse the velocity played (Velocity 127 would result
in velocity 0 and velocity 0 would result in velocity 127). Note that you cannot change
the velocity value outside the valid MIDI velocity range from 0-127. Values below 0 will
be converted to 0, values above 127 will be converted to 127.
Changing all splits for a Preset in one
step
The checkbox "Change all splits" is used to
apply all changes to this page to all splits of the selected Preset (instrument). That
means your changes will be applied to all splits and therefore override the old values.
This is especially useful for envelope settings that typically are equal for all splits of
a Preset.