Alesis QS7.1, QS8.1 manual AMP Envelope, Attack 00 to

Editing Programs: Part 8

AMP ENVELOPE

The Amp Envelope function (press [110]) is crucial for all sounds because it sets the basic characteristics of the note--whether it attacks quickly or slowly, sustains or decays. Some Programs may leave the Amp Envelope in a sustaining mode, and provide attack and decay using the Filter Envelope; the effect is slightly different. Unlike the Pitch and Filter Envelopes, the Amp Envelope is always fully active (there is no parameter in the Amp/Range function adjusting how much envelope is applied to the Amp).

Attack (00 to 99) Page 1

This is the amount of time the envelope will take until it reaches its maximum output level. Setting the Attack to 0 will give a sharp edge to the sound (if the Delay is also set to 0 in Amp Envelope Page 5 -- see below); a setting of 99 will result in a much slower attack, taking many seconds before the envelope gets to maximum.

Decay & Sustain (00 to 99) Pages 2 & 3

As soon as the attack portion of the envelope finishes (when the level reaches maximum), the envelope will decay (decrease in level). The level it reaches is set by the Sustain control; how long it takes to get there is set by the Decay control. In the special case where the Sustain level is all the way up (99), then there is no decrease and the Decay time segment is bypassed. Depending on the setting of the Sustain Decay control (see below), the envelope will either hold at the sustain level until you release the note on the keyboard, or decay to 0 at the Sustain Decay rate (which is on page 6 of the envelope function). You can create a long "plateau" at the start of a note by setting the Sustain to 98 and the Decay to 99. This will cause the envelope to take the maximum amount of time to get from peak level to a level of 98, before the Sustain Decay portion of the envelope begins.

Release (00 to 99) Page 4

Eventually, you will let go of the note that you’ve been holding (either by releasing the note on the keyboard, or releasing the sustain pedal if it was pressed). It is at this point that the Release portion of the envelope takes effect. The Release is the time that the envelope takes to get from the sustain level back down to nothing. Setting the Release time to 0 is good for playing those short funky riffs that you hear on a clavinet. Setting the Release time to 99 will make the envelope take a very long time to reach zero level.

Delay (00 to 99) Page 5

This is the amount of time that the envelope will wait before doing anything; very useful if you want to affect one element of a sound sometime after the sound starts. When the Delay is set to 0, the envelope begins its attack segment right away, without any delay. Play some notes while turning up the delay and see that the time between playing the note and hearing the effect of the Amp Envelope gets progressively longer as the Delay control is turned up.

If the Delay is set above 99, the display will read “Hold”. This indicates that the Delay stage of the envelope will wait indefinitely until the key is released before continuing on to the remaining envelope stages (Attack, Decay, etc.). With a value of

QS7.1/QS8.1 Reference Manual