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Realitone.com 1SunsetStrings–Version1.0Manual

SUNSETSTRINGSMANUALWelcometoSunsetStrings!First,afewnotesfortheblindandvisuallyimpaired:Ourgoalwastomakethisinstrumentasaccessibleaspossible,sowedesignedourNKSknobimplementationwiththatinmind.Currently,thevaluesofNKSknobscanbereadwhenusingReaperwithOSARA,aswellasProToolsviaFlowTools.InanyotherDAW,suchasinLogicPro,onlythenameoftheknobisannounced.ThisisaknownNKSlimitation.WehaveaseparateNKSguide,sinceSunsetStringscanbecontrolledentirelythroughNKS,noaccesstotheGUIrequired.However,ifsomethingisproblematic(theunlockcodemaybeaproblem,forinstance),pleasereachouttousatsupport@realitone.comandwewilldowhatwecantosolvewhateverissueyoumaybehaving.Wecansendanalready-unlockedversion,forinstance.Yourinputwillhelpusimproveourinstrumentsforfuturecustomers.Andnow,letscheckouttheinstrumentfeatures!

ElementsYou'llnotice4labelssurroundingthewindowinthecenter-Attack,TopLayer,Release,andBottomLayer.Youcanactivateanelementbyclickingonitslabel,whichwillbringupaMenubardisplayingthenameofthecurrentlyactivearticulation.A“Waveform”thatrepresentsthatarticulationwillalsoappearintheActivityWindowinthecenteroftheinterface.


Elements(continued)

ClickingaMenuBarwillbringupalistofperformancecategoriesandtheircorrespondingarticulationsforyoutochoosefrom.TheTopLayerandBottomLayermenuscontainthesamelistsofarticulations,whiletheAttackandReleasemenushavetheirownuniqueoptions.Selectingfromthe“Repetitions”categorywillpresentyouwitha“Speed”knobnexttothemenubar.Thisdeterminesthefrequencyinwhichthosearticulationsaretriggered,or“repeated”.Becauseofhowtherepetitions“engine”works,theSpeedcannotbedifferentfortheTopandBottomLayers.Thesmallgearicon“ ”displaysaVolumeTrimknob,allowingforfinevolumeadjustmentforeachelement,butweknowyou’llthinkour“out-of-the-box”balancesarejustperfect!ThegeariconalsodisplaysTransposearrows.Clickingtherightorleftarrowstransposesbyoctaves.Shift-clickingthearrowstransposesbysemi-tones.(Onlyamaniacwouldshiftbysemi-tones,right?Sogoahead…beamaniac!)TheinstrumentwillplayevenifonlytheAttackisselected,orifonlytheToporBottomLayerareselected.Itwillnotplay,however,ifonlytheReleaseisselected.SowhattodoifyouwantonlyaRelease?SelectaToporBottomLayerwithaslowattack,ormaybeclickthegearsoyoucanturndownitsvolume,thenplayreallyshortnotes.Presto!You’llonlyheartherelease.

PlayingasoundForeachnoteyouplay,theelementsaretriggeredfromlefttoright,basedonwhichonesareactive.IfyouhaveanAttackelementenabled,thentheattackwillalwaysplayfirst,thenseamlesslyfadeintotheBottomandTopLayers,whichwillholduntilyoureleasethenote.TheReleaseelementistriggeredwhenyoureleasethenote.Thisprovidesanewwayofapproachingsampledperformances,offeringgreatercontroloverthe“InsandOuts”ofanoteorchord,aswellascomingupwithcreativeanduniquecombinationsofplayingtechniques.

ActivityWindowTheActivityWindowgivesagraphicalrepresentationofthearticulationsyouhaveselected,aswellasvisualfeedbackofwheneachelementistriggeredandModwheelactivity.Funfact:Itusedtobecalled“TheBlueDisk.”We’vebeenworkingonthisinstrumentalong,longtime,sointhedisk’sfirstiteration,itwasroundandblue.MaybethatwillbeaquestionsomedayonJeopardy.


ModwheelBehavior

TheprimaryfunctionoftheModwheelistocontroltheblendbetweentheTopLayerandBottomLayer.Thereare3optionsforhowthisisachieved,selectablefromtheModwheelBehaviorsection:1.Astandardcrossfade–TheBottomLayerwillfadeintotheTopLayerasyouincreasetheModwheel(CC1).Inotherwords,withModwheelat0,youwillonlyheartheBottomLayer.WithModwheelat127(theverytop)youwillonlyheartheTopLayer.Byholdingmodhweelat50%,youwillhearbothlayersequally.2.OnlytheTopLayerwillfadeinandout(followingtheModwheel),whiletheBottomlayerstaysataconsistentvolume.Ineffect,thisislikefadingintheTopLayer“overthetop”oftheBottomLayer.3.Equalvolume–BothTopandBottomLayersstayatfullvolume.Thisessentiallydisablesanysortofblendingbetweenlayers.NotethatifyouonlyhaveoneLayeractive(eitherToporBottom),then"LayerBlend"isautomaticallydisabled,andtheModwheelwillonlycontrolExpression(ifenabled).

ExpressionOkay,payattention,boysandgirls,becausethisistrickierthanyoumaythink.ExpressioncanbecontrolledbyCC11,oritcanbecontrolledbytheModWheel,oritcanbeoffcompletely.Letsexplaintheminascendingorderofdifficulty:OffCompletely.Thisiseasy.JustturnofftheExpressionButton.ControlledbyCC11.Thisisalsoprettyeasy.TurnonExpression,andmakesurethelinktotheleftoftheExpressionknobisoff.There!You’reallset!NoticethattheExpressionknobduplicateswhereyourCC11slideris.Obvious,right?Readon,dearfriends,readon…ControlledbyModWheel.ClickthatLinkbuttonnexttotheExpressionknob(looksliketwochainlinks)andpresto!Expressionautomaticallyturnsonandiscontrolledbythemodwheel.Seemseasy,right?Well,itis!But…there’ssomethingyouneedtoknow:Chancesarethatifyou’reusingboththeTopandBottomLayersandtheModWheeliscontrollinghebalancebetweenthetwo,youprobablydon’twantthevolumetobeultraquietatthebottomofthemodwheel.Chancesarethatyouwantsomeexpression,butnotfullexpression.Otherwiseyou’llbarelyheartheBottomLayer.SowesetthisupsothatwhenModWheelcontrolsExpression,thentheExpressionKnobscaleshowmuchexpressionthemodwheelapplies.SoiftheExpressionknobisat0,thentheModWheelnoExpressionatall.IftheExpressionKnobisallthewayup,thenthemodwheelwillmaketheinstrumentreallyquietwhenthemodwheelisdown.ProbablytooquietifyouwanttoheartheBottomLayer,right?Sothat’swhywedesignedthisthisway.Soyou’llwanttosettheExpressionslidersomewhereinbetween,sotheModWheeladdsjusttherightamountofExpression.


UserPresets

ClicksymbolsonGUItoadd.Onceadded,clicktorecall,orrecallwithkeyswitches,whichareontheupperoctave(redkeys-G6-C7).ClicktheXontheGUItodeleteapreset.G6– UserPreset1G#6– UserPreset2A6– UserPreset3A#6– UserPreset4B6– UserPreset5C7– UserPreset6

KeyswitchesInadditiontotheUserPresetkeyswitchesdescribedabove,wealsohavethefollowingkeyswitchestoturntheAttackandReleaseelementsonoroff:A0=AttackOnA#0=BothOffB0=ReleaseOn

LowerControlsAtthebottomoftheinterface,theBassescanbecontrolledindependentlytotheHighstrings.Theknobscontrolvolume,andyoucanturnoffeithersectionbyclickingtherespectiveknoblabel.YoucanalsochoosewhetheryouwanttheBassestoplayanoctavelowerthantheHighStrings,ortoplayinunison.ClickingtheReverborMicsignallabelswillenable/disablethem,andtheMicsignalscanberoutedtodifferentKontaktoutputstoallowformixinginyourDAW.

KeyboardColoringRedKeys: KeyswitchesBlueKeys: HighStrings(Violins,Violas,andCellos)GreenKeys: BassesCyanKeys: OverlaprangewhereboththeBassesandHighStringsplay