Panel reference

Sound Engines On/Off and Edit Focus section

Engine Select

Click the On LED buttons to activate the corresponding Sound Engine.

Click the I, II or III LED radio buttons to select the corresponding Sound Engine for editing.

The Oscillator section

Here is where you choose oscillator waveform and set the wave shape and pitch for the selected Sound Engine.

On

Click the red rectangular LED button to switch the selected Sound Engine on/off.

Oct

Set the pitch in octave steps.

Range: 5 octaves.

Semi

Set the pitch in semitone steps.

Range: 12 semitones (one octave).

Tune

Change the pitch in steps of 1 cent.

Range: +/- 50 cents (down or up half a semitone).

Kbd

Set how much the pitch should track incoming MIDI Notes.

Range: 0% (no tracking (constant pitch)) to 100% (1 semitone per note).

Waveform display

The interactive Waveform display shows the waveform shape in real-time.

•	Clicking and dragging vertically in the display changes the Shape parameter, see “Shape”.

•	Clicking and dragging horizontally in the display changes the Modifier 1 Amount parameter, see “Amount”.

See “Recording display movements in the sequencer” for tips about automating display movements.

Waveform selector

Click the Waveform name box to bring up a menu of the available waveforms.

The wave shapes are shown in the display above and are updated in real-time according to the current settings and modulations. A great way to understand how the sound actually “looks”.

The waveforms are:

•	Basic Analog

A pure sinewave at Shape=0%, gradually transformed via triangle and square towards a sawtooth wave at Shape=100%.

•	Square-Ramp

A square wave at Shape=0%, gradually transformed towards a sawtooth wave at Shape=100%.

•	Saw-Triangle

A negative ramp sawtooth wave at Shape=0%, gradually transformed via triangle towards a positive ramp sawtooth wave at Shape=100%.

•	Pulse Width

A 0% duty cycle pulse wave (silence) at Shape=0 gradually transformed via a 50% duty cycle square wave towards a 100% duty cycle pule wave (silence) at Shape=100%.

Modulate the Shape parameter from an LFO to achieve PWM, see “Shape Modulation” below.

•

Game

A lo-fi “early computer game” type of signal. Turn the Shape knob to change the overtone contents and the octave transposition.

•	Synced Sine

A pure sinewave at Shape=0%. As the Shape is increased, the pitch of the synced sinewave oscillator is raised.

•	Formant Sweep

A cosine window modulated by a sinewave. Turn the Shape knob to change the sinewave frequency and thus sweep through the generated formants.

•	Electro Mechanical

This is a simulation of an electric piano. A soft/mellow tone at Shape=0% gradually transformed towards an
agitated signal at Shape=100%, with natural sound at the 12 o’clock position (50%).

•	Vocal Cord

A simulation of a vocal cord with a bit of noise modulation. Change the overtone content with the Shape knob.

Try this together with the Vocal Formants algorithm in the Spectral Filter section to generate “vocal” sounds, see “Vocal Formant”.

•	Karplus-Strong

A physical model of a “string”, generated by sending a short pulse through pitched delay lines. At Shape=0% there is no damping and at Shape=100% there is full damping, which results in just a short clicking sound.

Try this together with the “Stretch” algorithm in the Harmonics section to create realistic metallic sounds.

•	Envelope 3-4

This is a special mode where you can manually draw your waveforms in the Envelope 3 and Envelope 4 windows and then gradually crossfade between the drawn waveforms using the Shape knob. See “Using the Envelope 3 and Envelope 4 curves as Sound Engine waveforms” for information on how to draw your own waveforms.

•	FM > FM Ratio (1:1, 1:2, 1:8, 2:1)

These are frequency modulated sine waves with different frequency ratios between the carrier (C: ) and modulator ( :M) signals. Set the frequency modulation amount with the Shape knob.

•	FM > FM Feedback

A pure sinewave signal at Shape=0% gradually fed back internally at an 1:1 ratio. The feedback signal is filtered before fed back to the carrier signal. If you modulate the Shape parameter from e.g. an LFO you will get a similar result as when using the FM FB Noise waveform without Shape modulation, see “Noise > FM FB Noise” below.

•	Noise > S/H Noise

A sample & hold modulated noise. Change the sample & hold rate with the Shape knob. If you play high up on the keyboard at high Shape values, you get a kind of “pitched noise” sound.

To get white noise, set Shape to max, set Oct to -1 and turn Kbd to 0.

•	Noise > Perlin Noise

A pure sinewave signal modulated by low frequency noise. At Shape=0% the noise has its lowest frequency and at Shape=100% the noise frequency is higher (but still low-frequent). The character of the signal is similar to the Band Noise in the Thor synthesizer.

•	Noise > Bit Noise

This generates a random lo-fi “digital” bit noise. At Shape=0% the signal is completely silent and with increasing Shape values the signal is modulated faster and in a wider frequency range.

•	Noise > FM FB Noise

A pure sinewave signal at Shape=0% gradually fed back internally at an 1:1 ratio. The feedback signal unfiltered before fed back to the carrier signal which gives the signal a noisy character.

To get a cleaner FM signal, use the FM Feedback waveform, see “FM > FM Feedback” above.

•	Noise > Freeze Noise

This signal produces a range of noises, from tonal noise up to almost white noise, by amplitude modulating the signal’s partials with noise.

•	Wave Tables >

The Wave Tables sub-menu contains a selection of very useful wave tables. Each wave table features eight waveforms that you could crossfade between with the Shape knob.

•	User Wave/User Wave Smooth

The User Wave options let you use the external sample you have loaded in the User Wave section (see “The User Wave and Mixer section”). The oscillator then generates and plays back wavetables (grains) of that sample. The “User Wave Smooth” algorithm uses a crossfaded loop within each grain, which produces a smoother character to the sound. Set the playback position in the sample with the Shape knob. Modulate the Shape parameter, for example from a negative Envelope ramp, for continuous movement in the sample.

Shape

Turn the Shape knob to change the shape of the currently selected waveform.

The wave shapes are shown in the display above and are updated in real-time according to the current Shape settings.

Shape Modulation

Click the Shape Modulation Source box to bring up a menu of the available modulation sources.

The “Inverted” sub-menu contains inverted variations of all modulation sources.

Set the modulation amount with the Shape Modulation Amount knob.

Turn the Velo knob to control the Shape Modulation Amount from Keyboard Velocity.

If you want other modulation sources or scaling options, use the Mod Bus, see “The Modulation Bus section”.

Phase Sync

Click the Phase Sync button to force the waveform cycle to always start at the same phase (0 degrees).

When active, the sound character will be the same each time you play the same note. When inactive, the sound character will vary more or less each time you play the same note.

The Modifiers section

The two Modifiers can be used for modifying the currently selected waveform in various ways. The two Modifiers are identical in functionality and can be used alone or together (or not at all).

Modifier On/Off

Click the On/Off LED buttons to activate/deactivate the corresponding Modifier.

Modifier selector

Click the Modifier name box to bring up a menu of the available Modifier types.

The available Modifier types are:

•	Faded Sync

This is oscillator sync but with a crossfade at the sync positions. This makes the effect a little smoother (less bright) than with regular hard sync, see below.

•

Hard Sync

Oscillator hard sync is when one oscillator restarts the period of another oscillator, so that they will have the same base frequency. If you change or modulate the frequency of the synced oscillator you get the characteristic sound associated with oscillator sync. Control the frequency of the synced oscillator (and thereby the overtone spectrum) with the Amount knob.

•

Invert

This inverts the waveform phase at a variable position within the waveform cycle. Set the phase angle with the Amount knob.

•

Mirror

This mirrors the waveform cycle (in the time line) at a variable position in the waveform cycle. Set the mirroring
position in the waveform cycle with the Amount knob. At Amount=50% the waveform is completely symmetric.

•	DownSample

This lets you quantize the waveform in time, i.e. reduce the sample rate. Set the sample rate reduction amount with the Amount knob.

•

Quantize

This lets you truncate the signal’s bit depth, thus making it possible to achieve that noisy, characteristic “8-bit sound” for example. Set the bit-reduction amount with the Amount knob.

•	Phase Distort

This distorts the waveform by modulating the start phase of the waveform cycle. This generally creates a brighter tone towards the extremes of the Amount range (0% and 100%). At Amount=50% the signal is unaffected.

•	Self Multiply

This multiplies a copy of the waveform with the original waveform. Set the phase angle of the copied waveform with the Amount knob.

•

Noise Mod

This modulates the waveform with low frequency noise. Perfect for adding e.g. “breath noise” to a signal. Set the noise modulation amount with the Amount knob.

•	Shaping > Wrap

This amplifies the signal above the available headroom and then wraps the peaks down into the available headroom. This adds quite an aggressive distortion to the sound.

•	Shaping > Fold

This amplifies the signal above the available headroom and then “mirrors” the peaks down into the available headroom. Fold is similar to the Wrap shaping but is generally less “aggressive”.

•	Shaping > Hard Clip

This amplifies the signal above the available headroom and then clips the peaks that are above the headroom. Generally, a signal that is clipped to the maximum would result in a pulse/square shaped waveform.

•	Shaping > Soft Clip

Soft clip is similar to hard clip described above, but has a smoother shape at the clipping points and thus generates less overtones.

•	Shaping > Sine Shape

This generates sine shaping distortion to the signal.

•	Shaping > Glitch 1

This distorts the waveform by introducing a short low-frequency noise glitch in the waveform cycle, but only in parts of the waveform that go from zero to positive level.

•	Shaping > Glitch 2

This is similar to Glitch 1 described above, but introduces a more high-frequent noise glitch in the waveform cycle.

•	Harmonics > Octave

This makes it possible to gradually crossfade between the original signal and a copy of the signal one octave above. Set the crossfade amount with the Amount knob.

•	Harmonics > Fifth

This makes it possible to gradually crossfade between “one octave up” and “one octave+one fifth up”. As soon as you turn on the Fifth modifier you automatically raise the pitch by one octave. The reason for this is that this is done by multiplying frequencies, i.e. you crossfade between the double and triple of the original frequency. Set the crossfade amount with the Amount knob.

•	Harmonics > 16 Harmonics

This makes it possible to gradually crossfade between the original signal and copies of the signal at the 16 first harmonics above the original frequency. Set the position in the harmonic spectrum with the Amount knob.

•	Harmonics > Fund. + 16 Harm.

This is the same as “16 Harmonics” described above, except this always keeps the original signal mixed in with the selected harmonic.

•	Harmonics > All 16 Harm.

This gradually adds copies of the original signal at the first 16 harmonics. Turning up the Amount knob will add on the harmonics one by one until all 16 harmonics are present in the signal.

•	Harmonics > Ring Harm.

This multiplies the waveform with a sinewave signal to generate a ring modulator effect. Set the modulator frequency with the Amount knob.

•	FM > FM Ratio (1:1, 1:2, 1:8, 2:1)

These modifiers let you frequency modulate the currently selected Waveform at various ratios. The carrier signal is the currently selected Waveform (C: ) and the modulator ( :M) is the modifier signal. Set the frequency modulation amount with the Amount knob.

•	FM > FM Feedback

Here, an internally fed back sinewave signal at an 1:1 ratio modulates the waveform (same signal type as in the “FM > FM Feedback” Waveform).

•	Detuning > Unison3

This simulates 2 copies of the original signal. The Amount knob controls the detuning amount and rate.

•	Detuning > Unison7

This simulates 6 copies of the original signal. The Amount knob controls the detuning amount and rate.

•	Detuning > Ensemble

This simulates a variable number of copies of the original signal. The Amount knob controls the number of copies, the detuning amount and rate.

•	Detuning > Unison 3Oct

This simulates 2 copies of the original signal at +1 and +2 octaves relative to the original signal. The Amount knob controls the detuning amount and rate.

•

Formant

This simulates a formant (body) filter, which produces multiple peaks and notches in the frequency spectrum of the signal. The Amount knob controls the formant transposition in the frequency spectrum. At Amount=50% the signal is unaffected. Below 50% the formant is transposed down and above 50% it’s transposed up.

To make the formant static in the frequency spectrum, regardless of which note you play, modulate the Amount parameter using the “-KEY” (inverted) modulation source with a fairly high value (see “Amount Modulation” below). This is especially useful if you are using an acoustic instrument sample as User Wave in the Oscillator section.

Amount

Turn the Amount knob to change the modification amount of the currently selected Modifier.

The wave shapes are updated in real-time and shown in the Waveform display.

Amount Modulation

Click the Modulation Source box to bring up a menu of the available modulation sources.

The “Inverted” sub-menu contains inverted variations of all modulation sources.

Set the modulation amount with the Amount Modulation knob.

If you want other modulation sources or scaling options, use the Mod Bus, see “The Modulation Bus section”.

The Spectral Filter

The signal from the Oscillator section can then be processed by the Spectral Filter. The Spectral Filter features a wide variety of algorithms that affect the partials of the signal.

Spectral Filter On/Off

Click the On/Off LED button to activate/deactivate the Spectral Filter.

Spectral Filter display

The interactive Spectral Filter display shows the filter shape in real-time.

•	Clicking and dragging vertically in the display changes the Freq parameter, see “Freq”.

•	Clicking and dragging horizontally in the display changes the Resonance parameter, see “Reso”.

See “Recording display movements in the sequencer” for tips about automating display movements.

Spectral Filter selector

Click the Spectral Filter name box to bring up a menu of the available filter types.

The available filter types are:

•

LP 12

This simulates a standard 12dB/octave lowpass filter. Set the cutoff frequency with the Freq knob and the
resonance amount with the Reso knob.

•

LP 24

This simulates a standard 24dB/octave lowpass filter. Set the cutoff frequency with the Freq knob and the
resonance amount with the Reso knob.

•

HP 24

This simulates a standard 24dB/octave highpass filter. Set the cutoff frequency with the Freq knob and the
resonance amount with the Reso knob.

•

BP 12

This simulates a standard 12dB/octave bandpass filter. Set the center frequency with the Freq knob and the
resonance amount with the Reso knob.

•

Par EQ

This simulates a standard single band parametric equalizer with a fixed bandwidth. Set the center frequency with the Freq knob and the gain/attenuation with the Reso knob.

•

Dual Peak

This simulates two 12dB/octave bandpass filter routed in parallel. Set the center frequency of the first bandpass filter with the Freq knob and the peak separation with the Reso knob.

•	Vocal Formant

This simulates the formants of the vocal tract by using multi-peak+notch filters. Change the formant with the Freq and Reso knobs.

•	LP Variable Slope

This simulates a non-resonant lowpass filter with a variable attenuation slope. Set the cutoff frequency with the Freq knob and the attenuation slope with the Reso knob.

•	HP Variable Slope

This simulates a non-resonant highpass filter with a variable attenuation slope. Set the cutoff frequency with the Freq knob and the attenuation slope with the Reso knob.

•

Comb +

This simulates a multi notch filter, great for phaser types of effects. Set the cutoff frequency of the first notch with the Freq knob and the attenuation amount - and consequently the bandwidth - of the notches with the Reso knob. The difference between “Comb +” and “Comb –” (see below) is in the position of the peaks in the spectrum. The main audible difference is that the “Comb –” version causes a bass cut.

•

Comb -

This simulates a comb filter with a positive feedback loop - but without feed forward - ideal for flanger and phaser types of effects. Set the cutoff frequency of the second peak with the Freq knob and the resonance amount with the Reso knob. The difference between “Comb +” (see above) and “Comb –” is in the position of the peaks in the spectrum. The main audible difference is that the “Comb –” version causes a bass cut.

•	Resonator 1,2 and 3

The three Resonator algorithms contain formant filter tables that simulate various body resonances (multi-peak+notch filters). Set the position in the formant tables with the Freq knob and the resonance with the Reso knob.

•	Envelope 4

This is a special mode where you can manually draw your own filter curve in the Envelope 4 window. You then control the cutoff/center frequency with the Freq knob and the resonance with the Reso knob. See “Using the Envelope 4 curve as a Spectral Filter curve” for information on how to draw your own filter curves.

•

User Wave

This utilizes a filter generated from FFT analyses of the external sample you have loaded in the User Wave section (see “The User Wave and Mixer section”). Transpose the formant up/down in the frequency spectrum with the Freq knob and change the filter’s position in the sample with the Reso knob.

To create a classic “vocoder” effect, load a vocal/speech sample in the User Wave section. Then, set the Freq knob to 50%, the Reso knob to 0% and the KBD knob to 0%. Then, have one of the Envelopes modulate the Reso parameter using the Modulation Bus (see “The Modulation Bus section”). Create a positive ramp (inverted sawtooth) envelope and set the Reso modulation amount to 100%.

Freq

Set the cutoff/center frequency of the currently selected Spectral Filter type.

Reso

Set the resonance amount of the currently selected Spectral Filter type.

Frequency Modulation

Turn the Kbd knob to set the keyboard tracking amount.

At 0% the filter is static and doesn’t track the keyboard at all. At 100% the filter tracks the keyboard 1 semitone per note. At values above 0% you can also see the filter curve move sideways in the Spectral Filter Display
depending on where on the keyboard you play.

Click the Frequency Modulation Source box to bring up a menu of the available modulation sources.

The “Inverted” sub-menu contains inverted variations of all modulation sources.

Set the modulation amount with the Frequency Modulation Amount knob.

Turn the Velo knob to control the Frequency Modulation Amount from Keyboard Velocity.

If you want other modulation sources or scaling options, use the Mod Bus, see “The Modulation Bus section”.

The Harmonics section

The Harmonics section offers extensive modulation possibilities of the partials of the signal. For most algorithms the partials’ characteristics is displayed in the Spectral Filter display, see “Spectral Filter display”.

Harmonics On/Off

Click the On/Off LED buttons to activate/deactivate the Harmonics section.

Harmonics selector

Click the Harmonics name box to bring up a menu of the available harmonic algorithms.

The available Harmonics types are:

•	Random Gain

This alters the gain for each of the partials in the signal in a random fashion. Turn the Pos knob to change the
randomization “pattern” and the Amount knob to change the partial gain levels in the “pattern”.

•	Harmonic 1-8 Mix

This alters the gain/attenuation for the first eight partials in the signal. Turn the Pos knob to crossfade between the partials and the Amount knob to change the partial gain/attenuation level. Amount levels below 50% attenuate all partials but the one selected with the Pos knob. Amount levels above 50% attenuate the partial selected with the Pos knob.

•

Odd-Even

This alters the gain/attenuation of the partials in the signal. At Pos=0% the Amount knob controls the mix strictly between the odd and even partials in the signal. At other Pos values, the gain/attenuation is not strictly on odd and even partials. At Amount=50% the Pos value has no effect.

•

Stretch

This stretches or squeezes all partials (overtones) - except for the fundamental - in the signal, up or down in the frequency range. Perfect for turning a harmonic signal into a more inharmonic one. Change the stretch amount with the Amount knob. The Pos knob controls the start phase of all the overtones. At Pos=0% all partials start at the same phase. When Amount is set fairly high the Pos parameter have little or no influence on the sound.

Try this with the Karplus-Strong waveform to create really realistic metallic sounds, see “Karplus-Strong”!

•

Ensemble

This is the perfect algorithm for really dense pad sounds. The Ensemble algorithm simulates a type of chorus
effect by utilizing noise modulation of the partials. Set the noise frequency with the Pos knob and the mix level with the Amount knob.

•	Ensemble Sparse

The Ensemble Sparse algorithm also utilizes noise modulation of the partials, but here a lot of noise frequency bands are cut out. This makes Ensemble Sparse sound more animated and less smooth than the Ensemble algorithm described above. Set the noise frequency with the Pos knob and the mix level with the Amount knob.

•

HF Noise

This amplitude modulates the high frequencies in the signal with (high-frequency) noise, perfect for adding “breath noise” to the signal, for example. Set the noise frequency with the Pos knob and the noise mix level with the Amount knob.

•	Harmonic Lag A-R

The Harmonic Lag A-R algorithm is designed especially for use with the User Wave algorithm in the Spectral Filter (see “User Wave”) to create vocoder effects. The Harmonic Lag A-R algorithm controls the Spectral Filter - so the Spectral Filter has to be on for this to work!

Note that the Harmonic Lag A-R algorithm works on the filter partials - not the oscillator’s signal partials. Set the Attack time of the filter partials with the Pos knob and the Release time with the Amount knob. These controls work similarly to the Attack and Decay parameters on the BV512 Vocoder device.

Pos

Turn the Pos knob to change the frequency of the currently selected Harmonics algorithm.

The frequency spectrum is updated in real-time and shown in the Spectral Filter display.

Amount

Turn the Amount knob to change the intensity of the currently selected Harmonics algorithm.

The frequency spectrum is updated in real-time and shown in the Spectral Filter display.

The Unison section

The Unison function generates detuned duplicates of the signal in pairs on either side of the original signal’s pitch.

Unison On/Off

Click the On/Off LED button to activate/deactivate the Unison section.

Unison display

The Unison display shows the unison characteristics, as set with the controls in the Unison section. Note, though, that this display is not interactive like the Waveform and Spectral Filter displays.

Unison Type selector

Click the Unison name box to bring up a menu of the available Unison types.

The available Unison types are:

•

Normal

This generates duplicates of the signal on either side of the original signal’s pitch.

•

Fourth

This generates duplicates of the signal on either side of the fourth above the original signal’s pitch.

•

Fifth

This generates duplicates of the signal on either side of the fifth above the original signal’s pitch.

•	Octave Down

This generates duplicates of the signal on either side of the original signal’s pitch - one octave down.

•	Phase Only

This generates duplicates of the signal on either side of the original signal’s pitch. The Detune parameter (see below) now controls the phases of the signal copies, instead of the detuning. This is great for creating wide stereo sounds without lots of detuning.

If Phase Sync is active in the Oscillator (see “Phase Sync”), all signals in the Unison function get the same relative start phases each time you play the same note. The original signal always has the phase 0 degrees.

Count

Set the number of desired signals in the unison effect.

Range: 1-7.
Note that for even numbers, the original signal is represented by two duplicates.

Blend

Set the mix between the original signal and the duplicates.

For even “Count” numbers (see above), one of the duplicates represents the original signal in the mix.

Detune

Set the pitch detuning of the signal duplicates.

If the “Phase Only” Unison type is selected (see above), the Detune knob controls the phases of the signal duplicates instead of the pitch detuning.

In the “Phase Only” scenario it could also be a good idea to modulate the Detune parameter from an LFO using the Modulation Bus (see “The Modulation Bus section”), to create nice phasing effects.

Spread

Set the stereo spread amount of the signal duplicates.

The User Wave and Mixer section

The User Wave and Mixer section is where you can sample (or load an external sample) to use in the Oscillators (see “User Wave/User Wave Smooth”) and/or in the Spectral Filter (see “User Wave”). In the Mixer you can mix and pan the signals from the three Sound Engines before sending them to the Filter, Amp and Multi FX sections.

Sample Select/Load/Sampling/Edit buttons

Load a sample using drag & and drop, or by clicking the Browse sample button, or by using the Up/Down buttons to scroll and load a sample from the currently selected folder.

Alternatively, sample straight into Europa by clicking the Start sampling button.

See the “Sampling” chapter for more information about setting up and using Reason for sampling.

Click the Edit Sample button to open up the existing sample in the Sample Edit window.

See “Editing samples” for more information about editing samples in Reason.

•	It’s possible to load/sample stereo signals. However, the sample will be automatically converted to mono in Europa.

Like with the other sampler devices in Reason, the Europa patch does not include the actual sample - only a reference to it. Therefore, the sample has to be stored separately (self-contained with the song, or already on disk or in a ReFill on your computer).

If the sample length is a multiple of 2048 samples (“Serum compatible”), no pitch detection is being made. Then, Europa automatically assumes that 2048 samples is one complete waveform cycle (period). If the sample is not an exact multiple of 2048 samples, a pitch detection is being performed by Europa to determine the pitch. Longer samples (with a stable pitch) will render better pitch detection results, so don’t use very short samples.

Level

Set the volume of the corresponding Sound Engine signal with the Level slider.

Range: -Inf to +6.0dB.

Pan

Set the panning of the corresponding Sound Engine signal in the stereo panorama.

The Filter section

Routing buttons

Click the red LED buttons to route the corresponding Sound Engine signals to the Filter section.

If deactivated, the signal bypasses the Filter and goes straight to the Amp section, see “The Amplifier section”.

Drive

Turn the Drive knob to amplify and introduce an overdrive type of distortion to the Sound Engine signal(s) in the filter.

Filter Type selector

Click the Filter Type name box to select one of the following filter types:

•	SVF HP 12dB

A state variable (SVF) highpass filter with a 12dB/octave slope. This filter is similar to the State Variable Filter in the Thor synthesizer.

•	SVF BP 12dB

A state variable (SVF) bandpass filter with 12dB/octave slopes. This filter is similar to the State Variable Filter in the Thor synthesizer.

•	SVF LP 12dB

A state variable (SVF) lowpass filter with a 12dB/octave slope. This filter is similar to the State Variable Filter in the Thor synthesizer.

•

SVF Notch

A state variable (SVF) notch filter. This filter is similar to the State Variable Filter in the Thor synthesizer.

•	Ladder LP 24dB

A ladder-type lowpass filter with a 24dB/octave slope. The resonance peak more narrow in this filter type than in the MFB LP 24dB filter (see below). The filter can be driven to self-oscillate.

Be careful when using this filter type as high Resonance values could generate quite extreme audio levels!

•	MFB LP 12dB

A multiple feedback (MFB) lowpass filter with a 12dB/octave slope.

•	MFB LP 24dB

A multiple feedback (MFB) lowpass filter with a 24dB/octave slope. The resonance peak is wider in this filter type that in the Ladder filter (see above). The filter can be driven to self-oscillate.

Be careful when using this filter type as high Resonance values could generate quite extreme audio levels!

•	MFB HP 24dB

A multiple feedback (MFB) highpass filter with a 24dB/octave slope.

Be careful when using this filter type as high Resonance values could generate quite extreme audio levels!

•	K35 LP 12dB

An “early MS-20 type” of lowpass filter with a 12dB/octave slope. The filter can be driven to self-oscillate.

Be careful when using this filter type as high Resonance values could generate quite extreme audio levels!

Reso

Set the resonance amount.

In the SVF Notch filter, the Reso knob controls the width of the notch - from wide to narrow.

Freq

Set the cutoff frequency (for the HP and LP filter types) or the center frequency (for the BP filter type).

Frequency Modulation

Turn the Kbd knob to set the keyboard tracking amount.

At 0% the filter is static and doesn’t track the keyboard at all. At 100% the filter tracks the keyboard 1 semitone per note.

Click the Frequency Modulation Source box to bring up a menu of the available modulation sources.

The “Inverted” sub-menu contains inverted variations of all modulation sources.

Use one of the Envelopes (see “The Envelopes section”) as modulation source to create a Filter envelope.

Set the modulation amount with the Frequency Modulation Amount knob.

Turn the Velo knob to control the Frequency Modulation Amount from Keyboard Velocity.

If you want other modulation sources or scaling options, use the Mod Bus, see “The Modulation Bus section”.

The Amplifier section

The Amplifier section contains a standard ADSR envelope, which controls the amplitude of the signals from all three Sound Engines equally.

To create an “amp envelope” for a separate Sound Engine, have a look at “Creating an individual “pre amp envelope” for a Sound Engine”.

The picture below shows the various stages of the ADSR envelope:

The ADSR envelope stages.

A(ttack)

When you play a note on your keyboard, the envelope is triggered. This means it starts rising from zero to the value set with the Gain knob (see below). How long this should take, depends on the Attack setting. If the Attack is set to “0”, the Gain level is reached instantly. If the Attack value is raised, it will take longer time before the Gain level is reached.

D(ecay)

After the Gain level has been reached, the level starts to drop. How long this should take is governed by the Decay parameter.

If you want to emulate the volume envelope of a note played on a piano for example, the Attack should be set to “0”, the Decay parameter should be set to a medium value and the Sustain level should be set to “0”, so that the volume gradually decreases down to silence, even if you keep holding the key down. Should you want the decay to drop to some other value than zero, you raise the Sustain parameter.

S(ustain)

The Sustain parameter determines the level the envelope should rest at, after the Decay stage. If you set Sustain to full level, the Decay setting is of no importance since the volume of the sound is never lowered.

If you want to emulate the volume envelope of an organ, you theoretically only really need to use the Sustain parameter set to full level, as a basic organ volume envelope instantly goes to the maximum level (Attack “0”) and stays there (Decay “0”), until the key is released and the sound instantly stops (Release “0”).

But often a combination of Decay and Sustain is used to generate envelopes that rise up to the Gain level, then gradually decreases to finally land to rest on a level somewhere in-between zero and the Gain level. Note that Sustain
represents a level, whereas the other envelope parameters represent times.

R(elease)

The Release parameter works just like the Decay parameter, except it determines the time it takes for the volume to drop back to zero after you release the key.

Pan

Set the panning of the output signal from the Amplifier in the stereo panorama.

Since Pan works individually per voice, you can assign e.g. Keyboard Velocity or an Envelope in the Modulation Bus to control the Pan effect, see “The Modulation Bus section”.

Gain

Set the desired maximum level for the Amplifier with the Gain knob.

This is the maximum level the envelope will reach after the Attack stage is completed (see above).

If you want to create a tremolo effect, assign “Gain” as Destination and an LFO as Source in the Modulation Bus section, see “The Modulation Bus section”.

Velo

If you want the Gain level to be controlled from keyboard velocity, turn up the Velo knob.

The Envelopes section

The Envelopes section features four separate polyphonic (one per voice) general purpose envelope generators, that can be assigned to control selectable parameter(s) in the Modulation Bus section.

The Envelopes are extremely flexible, and you can draw your own custom modulation shapes by clicking and drawing in the display area. There are also a number of preset shapes that you can use as starting points (or use as is). If you use Loop mode, you could turn the envelope into a kind of LFO.

See “The Modulation Bus section” for details on how to assign the Envelopes to the desired destination(s).

Envelope 1, 2, 3 and 4

Click one of the Envelope 1, 2, 3 or 4 buttons to select which envelope to edit:

Preset

1.	Click the Preset button to bring up a palette of envelope preset curves:

2.	Click the desired envelope preset curve to place it on the display.

Let’s select a standard ADSR style of envelope curve:

 

Adding a Sustain stage

Click the Sustain button to add a sustain stage to the envelope:

The vertical red marker that appears indicates at what level (and where) the envelope will stay sustained until you
release the key.

Drag the sustain marker sideways to move the sustain stage to the desired position:

To remove the sustain stage, click the Sustain button.

Adding and removing envelope points

Double click, or hold down [Ctrl](win) or [Cmd](Mac) and click in the envelope display to add points to the envelope curve:

To remove a point, double click, or hold down [Ctrl](win) or [Cmd](Mac) and click, on an existing point on the envelope curve.

Changing the envelope curve shape

Click a line segment (between two points) and drag up/down to change the curve shape:

Looping the envelope

Click the Loop button to turn the envelope into a kind of LFO.

If there was previously a sustain stage in the envelope, this will automatically be disabled when you click the Loop button.

Here we have edited a stepped curve from the Presets. We have also enabled Beat Sync and set the length/rate to 4/4. This means that each step in the curve now represents an 1/8th note.

•	Key Trig means the envelope restarts when you play a note.

•	You can choose whether the envelope should send out a bipolar value or unipolar one (0-100%).

•	If Global is on, the envelope will be common for all voices.

Editing levels only

To restrict the editing to levels only, without affecting the time positions, click the Edit Y-Pos button:

In this mode you cannot change the time positions of the envelope points, only their levels (height). This is extra useful with a stepped Preset curve, because dragging up or down will change the value of an entire segment, turning the Envelope into a pseudo-sequencer.

To be able to adjust the level of a segment, the two points on either side of the segment have to be on the exact same time positions. Otherwise, only the closest point will be changed. Also, any inclining/declining segment will automatically turn horizontal when edited:

Adjusting the level of a segment.

Creating “free form” envelope curves

In the Edit Y-Pos mode, you can also draw “free form” curves:

To continuously add new consecutive points, hold down [Ctrl](win) or [Cmd](Mac) and drag in the envelope display:

To erase points, hold down [Shift] and [Ctrl](win) or [Cmd](Mac) and drag in the envelope display.

Using the Envelope 3 and Envelope 4 curves as Sound Engine waveforms

As a special feature you can use the Envelope 3 and Envelope 4 curves as waveforms for the Sound Engines:

1.	Select Envelope 3 and create/modify a curve in the envelope display:

2.	Select Envelope 4 and create/modify another curve:

3.	In the Waveform selector for a Sound Engine, select the “Envelope 3-4” waveform:

4.	Turn the Shape knob to crossfade between the curves/waveforms of Envelopes 3 and 4:

Using the Envelope 4 curve as a Spectral Filter curve

Another special feature is that you could use the Envelope 4 curve as a filter curve in the Spectral Filter:

1.	Select Envelope 4 and create/modify a curve in the envelope display:

2.	In the Filter selector in the Spectral Filter section, select “Envelope 4”:

3.	Turn the Freq knob to change the curve’s “cutoff” frequency and the Reso knob to change the curve’s “resonance”.

At Reso=0% the curve is completely flat (no gain or attenuation) and at Reso=100% the resonance corresponds exactly to the Envelope 4 curve.

The LFO section

An LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) is used for generating cyclic modulation. A typical example is to have an LFO modulate the pitch of a signal to produce vibrato, but there are countless other applications for LFOs.

The LFO section features three separate general purpose LFOs, that can be assigned to control selectable parameter(s) in the Modulation Bus section, see “The Modulation Bus section”.

1.	Select which of the three LFOs you want to edit by clicking one of the LFO 1, LFO 2 and LFO 3 buttons.

2.	Select an LFO waveform by clicking the spin controls to the right of the waveform display, or by click-holding in the display and dragging up or down.

Besides the standard waveforms (sine, triangle, pulse, etc.) there are random, slope and stepped waveforms. The shape of the waveforms are shown in the display.

3.	Set the LFO frequency with the Rate knob.

Click the Beat Sync button to sync the LFO to the main sequencer Tempo in Reason.

The Rate parameter now controls the time divisions.

Click the Key Sync button to restart the LFO at every new Note On.

Click the Global button to make the LFO common for all voices (monophonic).

Turn the Delay knob to introduce a delay before the LFO modulation kicks in after a note is played.

Turn clockwise for longer delay times.

The Effects section

The Effects section features six different effect modules that can be freely reordered by dragging & dropping. Most of the effect parameters are also available as destinations in the Modulation Bus, see “The Modulation Bus section”.

At the top of the Effects section are six Effect buttons. Click any of these to bring up the control panel for the corresponding effect. Below the Effect buttons are the On/Off buttons for the individual effects. Click these to activate the effects.

Reordering the effects

To define the order of the effects in the serial chain, click and hold on the desired Effect button and drag sideways to the desired position:

Moving the Reverb effect to another position in the effects chain.

You can reorder the effects at any time.

Reverb

This is a stereo reverb, routed as a send effect.

•

Decay

This governs the length of the reverb effect.

•

Size

Sets the emulated room size, from small room to large hall. Middle position is the default room size.
Lowering this parameter results in a closer and gradually more “canned” sound. Raising the parameter results in a more spacey sound, with longer pre-delay.

•

Damp

Raising the Damp value cuts off the high frequencies of the reverb, thereby creating a smoother, warmer effect.

•

Amount

Use this parameter to adjust the send level to the Reverb effect.

If you play a note, have a long delay Decay time and turn down Amount, the reverberation will continue.

Delay

This is a stereo delay, routed as a send effect.

•

Sync

Activate Sync to sync the delay time to the main sequencer Tempo.

•

Time

This sets the time between the delay repeats. If Sync is active (see above), the Time parameter now controls the time divisions.

•

Ping Pong

Activate Ping Pong to have the delay repeats alternating between left and right in the stereo panorama. The effect is also dependent on the Pan parameter (see below).

•

Pan

Sets the panning of the delay repeats in the stereo panorama. If Ping Pong is active (see above) the Pan knob controls the panning of the initial delay repeat as well as the total stereo spread of the remaining repeats.

•

FB

The FB (feedback) parameter determines the number of delay repeats.

•

Amount

Use this parameter to adjust the send level to the Delay effect.

If you play a note, have a long delay feedback and turn down Amount, the echoes will continue. This allows for automated “triggered delay” fx.

Distortion

The Distortion effect features six different types of distortion.

Select distortion type with the switch.

“Dist” produces a dense, rich analog type of distortion.
“Scream” produces a less bright type of distortion.
“Tube” emulates a tube type of distortion.
“Sine” is a sine shaping distortion.
“S/H” gives the effect of sample rate reduction.
“Ring” is a ring modulator effect.

•

Drive

Sets the overdrive/feedback level of the selected distortion.

•

Tone

This is a lowpass filter and sets the tone of the selected distortion.

•

Amount

Sets the Dry/Wet amount of the distortion.

Compressor

This is a stereo compressor.

•

Attack

This governs how quickly the compressor will apply its effect when signals rise above the set threshold. If you raise this value, the response will be slower, allowing more of the signal to pass through the compressor unaffected. Typically, this is used for preserving the attacks of the sounds.

•

Release

When the signal level drops below the set threshold, this determines how long it takes before the compressor lets the sound through unaffected. Set this to short values for intense, “pumping” compressor effects, or to longer values for a smoother change of the dynamics.

•

Thres

This is the threshold level above which the compression sets in. Signals with levels above the threshold will be affected, signals below it will not. In practice, this means that the lower the Threshold setting, the more the compression effect.

•

Ratio

This specifies the amount of gain reduction applied to the signals above the set threshold.

Phaser/Flanger/Chorus

This is a stereo Phaser/Flanger/Chorus.

Select effect type with the Phaser/Flanger/Chorus switch.

The selected effect type is displayed on the Effect button.

•

Depth

Sets the depth of the selected effect. To get a static sound, set Depth to zero.

•

Rate

Sets the rate/speed of the modulation.

•

Spread

Sets the stereo width of the effect.

•

Amount

Sets the Dry/Wet amount of the effect.

It’s also possible to modulate the start/center frequency of the Phaser/Flanger/Chorus using the “Chorus/Flanger/Phaser > Frequency” destination in the Modulation Bus, see “The Modulation Bus section”.

EQ

The EQ effect is a single band parametric equalizer with adjustable Q-value and Gain.

•

Freq

Sets the center frequency of the EQ band.

•

Q

Sets the bandwidth of the EQ band, from wide to narrow.

•

Gain

Sets the gain/attenuation of the EQ band, from -18dB to +18dB.

The Modulation Bus section

The Modulation Bus section is used for routing a modulation Source to one or two modulation Destinations each. This creates a very flexible routing system that complements the “pre-wired” routing in Europa.

The Modulation Bus section in Europa is derived from the one in the Reason Thor Polysonic Synthesizer device, so if you are familiar with Thor, you will quickly find your way around in Europa’s modulation bus.

There are eight “Source –> Destination 1 –> Destination 2 –> Scale” busses, of which the first four have pre-assigned sources. However, these four pre-assigned sources can be easily changed if you like.

A Source parameter can modulate two different Destination parameters per bus (with variable Amount settings). Each bus also has a Scale parameter that affects the relative modulation Amount for both Destinations.

Note that it is possible to assign the same source parameter as Source in several busses. This allows you to control more than two Destination parameters from the same Source.

 

1.	Select the desired Source parameter by clicking in the corresponding Source box and selecting from the list.

The following parameters can be used as modulation Sources:

| Parameter	| Description
Velocity	This applies modulation according to the Keyboard Velocity values (how hard or soft you strike the MIDI keyboard keys).
LFOs (LFO 1, LFO 2 and LFO 3)	This allows you to modulate parameters from LFO 1, LFO 2 and LFO 3 respectively.
Envelopes (Amp Envelope, Envelope 1, Envelope 2, Envelope 3, Envelope 4, Envelope 3 * Envelope 4, Envelope 3 * LFO 3)	This allows you to modulate parameters from any of the Envelopes. As a special feature you can also modulate parameters from the multiplied signal of Envelope 3 and Envelope 4, as well as from the multiplied signal of Envelope 3 and LFO 3.
Mod Wheel	This allows you to modulate parameters from the Mod Wheel.
MW Latched	This allows you to modulate parameters based on the current Mod Wheel value at a given Note On.
Pitch Wheel	This allows you to modulate parameters from the Pitch Bend control.
Breath	This allows you to modulate parameters from the Breath performance controller
Expression	This allows you to modulate parameters from the Expression performance controller
Aftertouch	This allows you to modulate parameters from Keyboard Aftertouch (channel aftertouch)
Sustain	This allows you to modulate parameters from a connected sustain pedal. Note that continuous sustain data (0-127) is supported - not just on/off.
Key	This is keyboard tracking. If a positive Amount value is used and the destination is filter frequency, the filter frequency will track the keyboard, i.e. increase with higher notes.
Random	This sends out a random value each time a new note is played.
Key In Octave	This allows you to modulate parameters based on 12 separate note values (within each octave).
Noise	This allows you to modulate parameters from white noise.
Polyphony	This allows you to modulate parameters based on the number of playing voices at a given time.
Last Velocity	This applies modulation according to the latest Keyboard Velocity value (how hard or soft you hit the latest MIDI keyboard key).
CV Input 1/2/3/4	This takes the current value on the CV 1/CV 2/CV 3/CV 4 inputs on the rear panel and sends to the desired destination.
CV Input 1/2/3/4 Latched	This allows you to modulate parameters based on the current CV 1/CV 2/CV 3/CV 4 value at a given Note On.

Modulation Bus Source parameters.

2.	Set the Amount for the first Destination by turning the corresponding Amount knob, or by clicking and dragging vertically in the corresponding Amount box.

Note that the Amount range is +/-100. This means that the Amount value can exceed the modulated parameter’s range. When this happens, the modulated parameter simply stays at its extreme value until the Amount value gets within the parameter’s range again.

3.	Select the first Destination parameter by click-holding the red arrow symbol to the right of the corresponding Destination box.

4.	While click-holding, drag to the desired destination parameter on the panel:

Assigning LFO 1 Rate as a Destination for Envelope 1.

As you hover over a valid destination control on the panel, the parameter name is automatically displayed in the Destination box in the Modulation Bus.

5.	To assign the currently selected Destination control, release the mouse button.

Alternatively, click the desired Destination box and select the Destination parameter from the list.

The following parameters can be used as modulation Destinations:

| Parameter	| Description
Engine: Pitch	This affects the (full range) pitch of the Oscillator.
Engine: Shape	This affects the Shape parameter in the Oscillator section.
Engine: Mod 1 Amount	This affects the Modifier 1 Amount parameter in the Sound Engine.
Engine: Mod 2 Amount	This affects the Modifier 2 Amount parameter in the Sound Engine.
Engine: Filter Freq	This affects the Spectral Filter Frequency parameter in the Sound Engine.
Engine: Filter Res	This affects the Spectral Filter Resonance parameter in the Sound Engine.
Engine: Harmonics Pos	This affects the Harmonics Pos parameter in the Sound Engine.
Engine: Harmonics Amount	This affects the Harmonics Amount parameter in the Sound Engine.
Engine: Unison Count	This affects the Unison Count parameter in the Sound Engine.
Engine: Unison Detune	This affects the Unison Detune parameter in the Sound Engine.
Engine: Unison Blend	This affects the Unison Blend parameter in the Sound Engine.
Engine: Unison Spread	This affects the Unison Spread parameter in the Sound Engine.
Mixer: Level	This affects the Sound Engine Level in the Mixer section.
Mixer: Pan	This affects the Sound Engine Pan in the Mixer section
Filter: Drive	This affects the Drive parameter in the Filter section.
Filter: Freq	This affects the Frequency parameter in the Filter section.
Filter: Reso	This affects the Resonance parameter in the Filter section.
Amplifier: Gain	This affects the Gain parameter of the Amplifier section.
Amplifier: Pan	This affects the Pan parameter of the Amplifier section.
Amp Envelope: Attack	This affects the Attack time of the Envelope in the Amplifier section.
Amp Envelope: Decay	This affects the Decay time of the Envelope in the Amplifier section.
Amp Envelope: Sustain	This affects the Sustain level of the Envelope in the Amplifier section.
Amp Envelope: Release	This affects the Release time of the Envelope in the Amplifier section.
LFOs: Delay	This affects the LFO Delay parameters.
LFOs: LFO Rate	This affects the LFO Rate parameters.
Envelopes: Env Rate	This affects the Envelope Rate parameters.
Portamento	This affects the Portamento Time parameter.
CV Outputs: CV1/2/3/4 Out	This sends out the source modulation value(s) on the CV1/2/3/4 Output on the rear panel.
Reverb: Decay	This affects the Decay parameter in the Reverb effect.
Reverb: Amount	This affects the Amount parameter in the Reverb effect.
Delay: Time	This affects the Time parameter in the Delay effect.
Delay: Feedback	This affects the FB parameter in the Delay effect.
Delay: Amount	This affects the Amount parameter in the Delay effect.
Delay: Pan	This affects the Pan parameter in the Delay effect.
Dist: Drive	This affects the Drive parameter in the Dist effect.
Dist: Tone	This affects the Tone parameter in the Dist effect.
Dist: Amount	This affects the Amount parameter in the Dist effect.
Compressor: Release	This affects the Release parameter in the Compressor effect.
Compressor: Ratio	This affects the Ratio parameter in the Compressor effect.
Chorus/Flanger/Phaser: Frequency	This affects the center frequency of the Chorus/Flanger/Phaser effects.
Chorus/Flanger/Phaser: Amount	This affects the Amount parameter of the Chorus/Flanger/Phaser effects.
Par EQ: Frequency	This affects the Freq parameter in the EQ effect.
Par EQ: Gain	This affects the Gain parameter in the EQ effect.

Modulation Bus Destination parameters.

6.	Set the Amount for the second Destination (if desired) by turning the corresponding Amount knob, or by clicking and dragging vertically in the Amount box for the second destination.

7.	If desired, select a second Destination parameter by click-holding the blue arrow symbol to the right of the corresponding Destination box, and dragging to the desired control on the panel.

8.	If desired, click the Scale box and select a Scale parameter.

The available Scale parameters are the same as the Source parameters, see “Modulation Bus Source parameters.”.

9.	Turn the Scale Amount knob, or click the Amount box to the left of the Scale box and move the mouse pointer up or down to set a Scale Amount value.

Both positive and negative Scale Amount values can be set (+/- 100%). If you, for example, are using the Mod Wheel as Scale parameter and don’t want any modulation when the Mod Wheel is set to zero, set the Scale Amount parameter to 100%. Then, there will be no effect when the Mod wheel is set to zero, and full modulation when the Mod Wheel is all the way up.

•	How much modulation will be applied when the Scale parameter is set to maximum is governed by the to Destination Amount parameter(s).

•	How much the Scale parameter controls the modulation is set with the Scale Amount parameter.

To clear an assigned Source, Destination or Scale parameter, hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and click the Source/Destination/Scale box. Alternatively, click the Source/Destination/Scale box and select “Off” from the list.

To reset an Amount value to 0, hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and click the desired Amount box or knob.

To clear an entire modulation assignment (a whole row), click the circular X button to the right of the corresponding Scale box.