Cubase vst-the Interactive Phrase Synthesizer by - HTML preview

The Window and the Modules

When you select Phrase Synth from the Panels menu the Phrase Synth window appears. This has a number of “synth” modules in it. The window can only be moved and closed. It displays one of the synths at a time, and you select which by clicking on the IPS A or IPS B button in the lower right part of the window. You will see how all the settings change when you do this.

These buttons are used to select which IPS to display – A or B.

 

To the left you have three modules above each other, Phrase Input, MIDI Input and Interpreter.

 

Phrases

The Phrase is the raw material, the clay that the notes are modelled from. Phrases are created by copying a recording, or a Part of a recording, in an Arrange window or an editor, into a Phrase location by selecting Convert to IPS Phrase from the Functions menu.

MIDI Input

 

You model the Phrase by playing something, and this playing comes in via the MIDI Input module.

 

Interpreter

 

How the Phrase and the MIDI Input interact is decided by the settings in the Interpreter module.

 

Rhythm, Pitch and Dynamics

So, you have a Phrase and a MIDI Input which interact via the Interpreter, and new notes are created. The notes at the output of the Interpreter are split up into the three components that all music is made up of, Rhythm, Pitch and Dynamics. The thing about the IPS is that it is able to pick the music apart and handle these three entities separately, and this is reflected in the fact that they are represented by one module each on the screen. Each component may be exposed to more or less dramatic changes by settings made in each module.

Output

 

The output from the Dynamics, Pitch and Rhythm modules are summed together and sent out via the Output module.

 

Modulators

 

Many of the parameter settings can be changed automatically, on the fly, by the two Modulators (1 and 2) in the lower part of the window.

 

Global Settings and Functions menu

And finally, you have a number of Global settings (like the Active button which turns both IPS’s on and off) and above the Active and Init buttons a pop up Functions menu.