Modulation bus routing section

A modulation bus is used to connect a modulation source to a modulation destination. Both audio signals and control (CV) parameters are available. This creates a flexible routing system that complements the pre-wired routing in the Voice panel.

Basic operation - simple tutorial

To illustrate the basic operation of the modulation bus section, let’s set up a simple source to destination modulation assignment:

If you currently have unsaved settings you wish too keep, don’t forget to save them first.

1.	Select “Reset Device” from the Edit menu.

The Init patch is a simple 1 oscillator/1 filter setup, which produces sound when you play, and will serve the purpose of this tutorial.

•	The left half of the modulation section contains 5 columns, Source, Amount, Dest, Amount and Scale.

Below the column headers there are 7 rows. Each row is a modulation bus where you can have a Source to Destination modulation assigned.

2.	Click in the top row of the leftmost Source column.

A pop-up menu appears listing all available Source modulation parameters.

The upper half of the menu contains Voice section source parameters, and the lower half contains various global play and performance-oriented source parameters and the Global Envelope, as well as the Step Sequencer, CV and Audio inputs.

3.	Select “LFO 1” from the pop-up.

This means that LFO 1 is the modulation Source, and this can now be assigned to modulate a Destination parameter.

4.	Pull down the “Dest” column pop-up in the top row.

A pop-up menu appears listing all available modulation Destinations. The upper half of the menu contains Voice section destinations, and the lower half contains Global section destinations, as well as the Step Sequencer, CV and Audio outputs.

5.	Select “Osc 1” from the menu and then “Pitch” from the submenu.

This means that Osc 1 pitch is now assigned to be modulated by LFO 1. Next step is to set the amount of modulation to be applied.

6.	Click in the top row Amount column to the right of the Source column, and move the mouse pointer up and down to set an Amount value.

Both positive and negative Amount values can be set (+/- 100%).

If you now play a few notes you can hear the oscillator pitch being modulated by the LFO to produce vibrato.

But the vibrato will be constant, which you probably don’t want. This is solved by assigning a Scale parameter, which allows you to assign another parameter to control the modulation Amount.

7.	Pull down the “Scale” column pop-up in the top row.

A pop-up menu appears listing all available Scale parameters. The upper half of the menu contains Voice section parameters, and the lower half contains various play and performance-oriented parameters and the Global Envelope, as well as the Step Sequencer, CV and Audio inputs.

A typical controller for vibrato is the Mod wheel.

8.	Select “Performance” from the menu and then “Mod wheel” from the submenu.

This means that Osc 1 pitch is now assigned to be modulated by LFO 1, and the amount of modulation is controlled by the Mod wheel. How much the Scale parameter controls the Amount is set using the “Amount” column for the top row (to the left of the Scale column).

9.	Click in the top row Amount column and move the mouse pointer up and down to set an Amount value.

Both positive and negative Scale Amount values can be set (+/- 100%). To fully control the LFO modulation so that there is no vibrato when the Mod wheel is set to zero, set the Amount to 100%.

10.	The modulation routing is now complete!

You now have full control over the vibrato modulation by using the Mod wheel.

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

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

•	To clear any assigned modulation routing you can use the “CLR” button to the right of the corresponding bus.

About the three modulation routing types

As described in the tutorial, the principal operators of the Modulation bus routing system are as follows:

•	You have Modulation Source, Modulation Destination and Modulation Amount parameters.

•	Optionally, you have a Scale parameter controlling the Modulation Amount, and a Scale Amount that governs how much the Scale parameter controls the Modulation Amount.

There are three different types of modulation routing busses available in Thor:

You have seven “Source –> Destination –> Scale” routing busses.

These are the seven rows in the left half of the Modulation section, as covered in the tutorial.

There are four “Source –> Destination 1 –> Destination 2 –> Scale” busses.

These are the four top rows in the right half of the Modulation section. This works after the same principle but the Source parameter can affect two different Destination parameters (with variable Amount settings) and a Scale parameter that affects the relative modulation Amount for both Destinations.

Lastly, there are two “Source –> Destination –> Scale 1 –> Scale 2” busses.

This means that a modulation Amount can use two Scale parameters.

An example: You have the Mod Envelope as Source and Oscillator Pitch as the Destination (Amount set whatever you like). As the first Scale parameter we use the Mod Wheel (Amount set to 100 so that no modulation is applied when the Mod wheel is at zero), and LFO 1 as the second Scale parameter (Amount set to whatever you like). When you move the Mod wheel, the pitch modulation amount will be modulated by both the Mod Envelope and LFO 1 simultaneously.

Modulation Sources - Voice section

The following parameters can be used as Voice section modulation Sources:

| Parameter	| Description
Voice Key	Voice Key lets you assign modulation according to notes. There are 4 modes selectable from the sub-menus: • Note - 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. • Note2 - this works similarly to Note but within a repeated octave range. E.g. if Note2 modulates Amp Pan the pan position will move from left to right within an octave range then start over. If you play chords normally over the keyboard the effect will be that notes are randomly spread across the stereo field. • Velocity - this applies modulation according to velocity (how hard or soft you strike the keys). • Gate - this is Gate on/off. E.g. if applied to oscillator pitch you will get one pitch value (set by Amount) when a key is pressed, and another value (the unmodulated pitch) when the key is released.
Osc 1/2/3	This allows you to route the audio output from the oscillators to a destination.
Filter 1/2	This is the audio output of the filters. All filter parameters affect the destination.
Shaper	This is the audio output of the Shaper module. Note that anything connected to the Shaper, e.g. Filter 1, affects the Shaper output, and thus the resulting modulation.
Amp	This is the audio output of the Amp Gain section.
LFO 1	This allows you to modulate parameters with LFO 1.
Filter Envelope	This allows you to modulate parameters with the Filter Envelope.
Amp Envelope	This allows you to modulate parameters with the Amp Envelope.
Mod Envelope	This allows you to modulate parameters with the Mod Envelope.

Modulation Sources - Global

The following parameters can be used as Global section modulation Sources:

| Parameter	| Description
Global Envelope	This allows you to modulate parameters using the Global Envelope.
Voice Mixer	This allows you to modulate parameters using the Left and Right Mixer inputs.
Last Key	This will apply modulation according to the last note played (monophonic), either via MIDI, or from the Step Sequencer. For example, you can use Last Key to make a filter’s frequency track notes played by the Step Sequencer.
MIDI Key	This applies modulation according to notes globally, not per-voice so in other words it is monophonic. E.g. if you use MIDI Note as Source and a self-oscillating filter’s frequency as the destination, the filter will track but you will only be able to play one voice at a time. MIDI Note is handy for transposing Step patterns in real time. There are 3 modes selectable from the sub-menus: • Note - 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. • Velocity - this applies modulation according to velocity (how hard or soft you strike the keys). • Gate - this is Gate on/off. E.g. if applied to oscillator pitch you will get one pitch value (set by Amount) when a key is pressed, and another value (the unmodulated pitch) when the key is released.
LFO 2	This allows you to modulate parameters with LFO 2.
Performance parameters	On this sub-menu you can assign the one of the standard Performance controllers to modulate/scale parameters; Mod Wheel/Pitch Bend/Breath/AfterTouch/Expression.
Modifiers	This is where you assign parameters and functions to be controlled with the virtual 2 Rotary and 2 Button controls on the Controller panel.
Sustain Pedal	This allows you to assign the Sustain Pedal as a modulation source.
Polyphony	This allows you to apply modulation according to how many notes you play. E.g. you could have a short envelope attack when you play single notes, and a long attack when you play chords.
Step Sequencer	This allows you to apply modulation according to the settings for each step in the Step Sequencer. On the sub-menu you can chose to apply modulation according to Gate/Note/Curve 1 and 2/Gate Length/Step Duration settings for each step. In addition you have Start and End Trig, which sends a gate trigger at the start and end of the Step sequence, respectively.
CV Inputs 1-4	These are CV inputs on the back panel which facilitates the use of external modulation sources, (e.g. the Matrix) in Thor. If connected you can freely assign the external CV to any modulation destination in Thor.
Audio Inputs 1-4	These are Audio inputs on the back panel which allows you to connect external audio signals and process these using Thor parameters, or use them as modulation sources. See “About using the Audio inputs”.

Modulation Destinations - Voice section

The following parameters can be used as Voice section modulation Destinations:

| Parameter	| Description
Osc 1	There are four modulation destinations available on the Osc 1 sub-menu: • Pitch - this will affect oscillator pitch (frequency). • FM - this will frequency modulate the oscillator. The difference between Pitch and FM is that if a high frequency audio signal (i.e. an oscillator or an external audio signal) is the source, FM will not alter the basic pitch of the source, only the timbre. If Pitch is used both the pitch and the timbre will be affected. • There is also a modifier parameter, which differs depending on what oscillator type is selected. See “The Oscillator section” for details. • Osc 2 AM Amount - this will control AM modulation amount from Osc 2. See “About Amplitude Modulation (AM)”.
Osc 2/ Osc 3	Oscillator slots 2 and 3 have the same Destination parameters as Osc 1, except that there is no AM.
Filter 1/ Filter 2	The following destinations are available on the Filter 1 and 2 sub-menus: • Audio In - this allows you to connect an audio source (e.g. an oscillator or an external audio signal) to the filter input. • Frequency - this controls the filter frequency. • Frequency (FM) - this will apply filter frequency modulation. The difference between Frequency and FM is that if a high frequency audio signal (i.e. an oscillator or an external audio signal) is the source, FM will not alter the basic frequency of the source, only the timbre. If Frequency is used both the pitch and the timbre will be affected. • Resonance - this controls filter resonance. • Drive - this controls the filter’s Drive parameter. • Gender - this controls the Gender parameter (Formant filter only). • LPHPMix - this controls the LP/HP parameter (State Variable filter only).
Shaper Drive	This will control the Shaper Drive parameter.
Amp	The Amp section has three destinations on the sub-menu: • Input - this allows you to connect a source (e.g. an oscillator or an external audio signal) to the Amp input. • Gain - this controls the Amp Gain. • Pan - this controls the Pan for each voice. Modulating this parameter with for example LFO 1 means that the Pan position will modulate differently for each voice you play.
Mix	The Mixer has three destinations on the sub-menu: • Osc 1+2 Level - this controls the level of both oscillator 1 and 2. • Osc 1:2 Balance - you can modulate the level balance between oscillator 1 and 2, e.g. to sweep from one oscillator to the other. • Osc 3 Level - this controls the level of oscillator 3.
Filter Envelope	The Filter Envelope mod destinations are as follows: • Gate - this is the gate input of the envelope. A gate signal applied to this input will trigger the envelope. • Attack - this controls the Attack of the envelope. • Decay - this controls the Decay of the envelope. • Release - this controls the Release parameter.
Amp Envelope	This has the same destination parameters as the Filter Envelope.
Mod Envelope	This has the same destination parameters as the Filter Envelope.
LFO 1 Rate	This allows you to control the LFO 1 Rate parameter.

Modulation Destinations - Global

The following Global modulation destinations are available:

| Parameter	| Description
Portamento	This allows you to control the Portamento time parameter.
LFO 2 Rate	This allows you to control the LFO 2 Rate parameter.
Global Envelope	The Global Envelope mod destinations are as follows: • Gate - this is the gate input of the envelope. A gate signal applied to this input will trigger the envelope. • Attack - this controls the attack time of the envelope. • Decay - this controls the decay time of the envelope. • Release - this controls the release time of the envelope.
Filter 3	The following destinations are available on the Filter 3 sub-menu: • Left/Right In - this allows you to connect a source to the filter input. • Frequency - this controls the filter frequency. • Frequency (FM) - this will apply filter frequency modulation. • Resonance - this controls filter resonance. • Drive - this controls the filter’s Drive parameter. • Gender - this controls the Gender parameter (Formant filter only). • LPHPMix - this controls the LP/HP parameter (State Variable filter only).
Chorus	The Chorus effect has the following destinations: • DryWet balance • Delay (time) • ModRate • ModAmount • Feedback
Delay	The Delay effect has the following destinations: • DryWet balance • Time • ModRate • ModAmount • Feedback
Step Sequencer	This allows you to control various parameters belonging to the Step Sequencer. • Trig - this enables control over the Step Sequencer Run on/off status. • Rate - this enables control over the Step Sequencer Rate. • Transpose - this enables control over the Step Sequencer base pitch. E.g. if you apply MIDI Note as a source to this parameter you can transpose the sequence by playing notes. • Velocity - this enables control over the Step Sequencer Velocity response. • Gate Length - this enables control over the Step Sequencer Gate Length response.
CV Output 1-4	This will allow you to send signals to the CV outputs on the back of the device. Note that you can send CV signals to audio outputs and vice versa.
Audio Output 1-4	This will allow you to send signals to the audio outputs on the back of the device. Note that you can send CV signals to audio outputs and vice versa.

Scale parameters

The available scale parameters are the same as the Source parameters.

About using the Audio inputs

The 4 Audio inputs on the back panel can be used to connect external audio sources and process them with Thor’s parameters.

Note that when routing audio to the Voice section, the following things apply:

•	There are only mono inputs in the Voice section.

•	You need to send a gate trigger for the audio signal to be heard. This can be done in three ways; by playing notes, via notes played by the Step sequencer or from CV gate signals.

Routing audio to Global destinations does not require a gate trigger and stereo inputs are provided.

The external audio sources can also be used purely for modulation, e.g. you can modulate an oscillators pitch with an audio signal.

This way you can use the audio input source to modulate any available destinations.