Alesis Fusion User manual

ALESIS FUSION

EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM

How to edit a VA synth program

To edit a VA synth (analog) program, select one as appropriate

in the usual way using the data

wheel, the INC/DEC keys or a combination of the BANK keys and the A-P/1-8 keys.

For example, [ROM preset 1] K-1:

There are other examples in the ROM presets to choose from as the

basis for your edit.

Whichever you choose, press the EDIT key located around the data wheel.

To edit the synthesiser parameters, press the SYNTH soft key (highlighted on the left of the

LCD in the screen shot shown below). You will see this screen:

You can now choose to edit the oscillator(s), filter, envelopes and LFO(s) using the soft keys

down the right hand side of the LCD.

Other aspects of the program can be selected using the soft keys down the left of the LCD.

This ‘How To’ tutorial follows a sequential approach -

i.e. oscillators then filters then envelopes

then LFOs, mod matrix, effects. You can use the

bookmarks in this PDF to skip directly to the

section you want.

For

detailed information about the principles employed in Fusion’s VA synth, please refer to

the in-depth analog synthesis tutorial that is also available for download hereabouts

Page 1

ALESIS FUSION

EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM

How to change waveforms

To change the basic waveform, press OSC and, if necessary, SELECT:

You can select

the oscillator (up to three) in the EDIT OSC field (highlighted in the above

screen shot).

To change the waveform,

move the cursor to the TYPE field (below the waveform display)

using the NEXT (or PREV) key by the

data wheel and select from SAWTOOTH/TRIANGLE,

PULSE/SQUARE, SINE and three types

of noise. You can also select EXT IN for processing

external audio inputs through Fusion’s powerful synth engine.

Select other oscillators (they need to be switched on of course) and select the waveforms as

required.

How to change oscillator pitch

Press PITCH. You will see this:

You can tune the oscillators in

semitones or you can fine tune (detune) the oscillators against

each other for a richer, more chorused/ensemble sound.

RANDOM

TUNE makes each note you play have a slightly different tuning (like old analogue

synths that had poor tuning stability!) and the degree of this is set using the percentage value.

At any time, press EXIT or SYNTH to return to the main menu.

Page 2

ALESIS FUSION

EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM

How to balance / mix the oscillators

Press OUTPUT to see this screen:

Move the cursor to the OSC

VOLUME field using the NEXT (or PREV) key by the data wheel

and use the data wheel to set a value as appropriate.

Select the oscillator you wish to

adjust using the EDIT OSC field (highlighted in the above

screen shot)

When OPTIMIZE TO MONO is unchecked, an extra PAN parameter is shown:

This allows to ‘spread’ the three oscillators across the stereo image for a wider sound (useful

for

ensemble sounds such as strings, pads, etc.).

At any time, press EXIT or SYNTH to return to the main menu.

Page 3

ALESIS FUSION

EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM

How to quickly configure the VA synth’s oscillators

A quick way of mixing, tuning, selecting waveforms, etc., can be done in the CONFIG page:

Using the VIEW parameter (top right and highlighted in the above screen shot) you can select:

OSC ENABLE (i.e. oscillator on/off)

OSC TYPE (shown - selects the waveform)

OSC COARSE TUNE

OSC FINE TUNE

OSC RANDOM TUNE

OSC VOLUME

OSC PAN

Use the NEXT/PREV keys to navigate to the 1, 2 and 3 fields below

and use the data wheel to

change the selected value.

This page is useful as you can perform these functions

relative to each oscillator without

extensive page swapping.

Down the bottom of the page, you can see the VA synth’s Ring Modulator which can

switched on or off and the

source for it selected (OSC1 x OSC2, OSC2 x OSC3, OSC1 x

OSC3 or OSC1 x OSC2 x OSC3),

At any time, press EXIT or SYNTH to return to the main menu.

Page 4

ALESIS FUSION

EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM

How to change the filter

Press FILTER. You will see this page:

The filter can be totally bypassed

if you want (sometimes useful!) but moving the cursor to

TYPE allows you to select from a wide variety of different filter types:

LOW PASS

HIGH PASS

BAND PASS

BAND STOP

BAND BOOST

RP LOWPASS (a modelled filter based on a famous ‘2600’ synth classic)

VOCAL FORMANT 1, 2 and 3

The STEEP parameter allows you to set ‘slope’ of the selected filter

type. The steeper the

slope, the more dramatic the filter effect (2- or 4-pole are the most commonly used filter types).

NOTE:

On some of the filter types, this parameter is unavailable.

FREQUENCY sets the selected filter’s cutoff frequency. You will

see that the graphic updates

as this parameter is altered. This is the most obvious control

to head for as it has the most

dramatic effect .

NOTE:

You can also - and more easily - affect filter cutoff

using the matrix of real-time controls

on the front panel. Select the FILTER row and use Knob 1 to adjust filter cutoff in real-time.

RESONANCE emphasises the area around the cutoff frequency and your filter

‘wow’ effect will

take on more of a ‘weeeow’ characteristic.

NOTE:

You can also - and more easily - affect filter cutoff

using the matrix of real-time controls

the front panel. Select the FILTER row and use Knob 2 to adjust filter resonance in real

time.

Fusion’s filter is the key to many of the analogue sounds created in the VA synth. There are

rules to its usage - be prepared to experiment!

At any time, press EXIT or SYNTH to return to the main menu.

Page 5

ALESIS FUSION

EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM

How to change the envelope(s)

To access Fusion’s envelope generators, press ENVELOPE. You will see this screen:

Here you

can set the usual attack, decay, sustain and release parameters. By default, Env 1

and 2 are always present when a new program is created -

Env 1 controls amplitude and Env 2

controls the filter although a Fusion VA synth program can actually contain up to

eight

envelopes. The envelope to be

edited can be selected using the EDIT Env parameter

(highlighted in the above screen shot).

Move the cursor to the appropriate

fields to set attack, decay, sustain and release. The times

are shown in seconds and levels shown in percentage.

All envelopes are identical.

Extra envelopes can be added by pressing ADD ENV and these can

be assigned to almost

anything you want in the MOD matrix (more later). Unused or unwanted envelopes

can also be

deleted using DEL ENV.

Because the envelopes are routed to other modules by way of the MOD matrix, JUMP

MOD

takes you directly to the selected envelope’s connection in the matrix where you

can set

modulation levels, etc., (and in the MOD matrix page, you can jump back

to the selected

envelope).

At any time, press EXIT or SYNTH to return to the main menu.

Page 6

ALESIS FUSION

EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM

Changing the envelope ‘curves’

Pressing SHAPE shows this screen:

Such is the degree of control offered by Fusion, you can set the curve or ‘shape’ of the

individual stages of each envelope generator. This allows precise control

over a sound’s

articulation.

The graphic shows you the curve as the parameters are changed.

At any time, press EXIT or SYNTH to return to the main menu.

Page 7

ALESIS FUSION

EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM

How to change the LFO(s)

Pressing LFO will show this page:

A Fusion VA synth program can contain up to

six separate LFOs (although the norm is usually

one or two - one for vibrato and maybe another for, say, filter sweep). The LFO you want to

edit

can be selected in the EDIT LFO field (shown highlighted in the above screen shot).

The most obvious parameters to change are TYPE (i.e. the LFO’s waveform) and/or RATE.

NOTE 1:

In the case of the TYPE parameter, you can also use the

SHAPE parameter below it

to change the ‘shape’ of the waveform. When SAWTOOTH/TRIANGLE

is selected, the

SHAPE control changes it continuously from triangle to sawtooth:

In the case of PULSE being selected, you can alter

the width of the control waveform with the

SHAPE control:

NOTE 2:

In the case where SYNC is set to external MIDI clock,

the RATE parameter is not

available. Instead, you can change the ‘division’ (for example, 8ths, dotted

8ths, 16ths, dotted

16ths and many more) to synchronise the LFO to

the tempo of your track. When SYNC is set

to NONE (as shown above), you can use the RATE control to set the LFO rate as normal.

Page 8

ALESIS FUSION

EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM

How to make changes to modulation

Fusion’s mod matrix is a powerful

component in Fusion’s synthesis armoury and allows you to

route almost any controller to almost

any destination - pitch, timbre (tone), amplitude, panning

and more. This is

done in the MOD pages and pressing this will show something like this

screen:

Here, you see a list of the mod assignments and you see the source and the destination for

each one (for example,

). To make any

changes to these,

move the cursor to the modulation ‘connection’ you want to edit and press SETTINGS. You

will

see this screen:

Probably the first (and maybe only!) parameter to head for is the

AMOUNT parameter down the

bottom of

the screen (as highlighted in the above screen shot). Use the data wheel to set a

value (to hear your changes as you adjust

the parameter, repeatedly play a note on the

keyboard as you adjust the parameter).

You can, of course, change the connection’s

source and/or assignment but for most ‘tweaks’,

simple adjustment of the modulation amount is usually all that’s required.

To select another modulation connection, either press EXIT to return to the ROUTES page or

move to the

EDIT MOD parameter at the top of the screen and select another using the data

wheel or INC/DEC.

To ‘cancel’ a connection, either set its AMOUNT to 0.00% (press INC

and DEC simultaneously)

or, in the ROUTES page, press DEL MOD. The first of

these two options is safest in case you

maybe want to re-instate the mod without having to build the connection from scratch.

Page 9

ALESIS FUSION

EDITING AN ANALOG SYNTH PROGRAM

How to add a new mod route

If you are

feeling adventurous, you might want to add your own mod routing. It’s actually not

difficult. A silly example perhaps

but let’s say you want to route Envelope 1 to pitch to create

an octave sweep for a special effect.....

In the ROUTES page, press ADD MOD. You will automatically be taken to this screen:

As you can see, no assignments are made.

In the SOURCE field, use the INC key until ENVELOPE is shown:

By default, ENV1

is selected in the index field so you don’t have to change that. Now move

the cursor to the DESTINATION field:

Page

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