Hello Everyone this is my first post and I am the chief piano player at my church. Been playing for years and have manage to become very advanced in terms of keyboard and piano technique. I have a question about the filter envelope. Okay what I want to do is give more motion to my Strings sound. I just need to know how to tweak the FEG Time, FEG LEVEL and FEG release to get a GOOD slow tonal change that changes at a constant rate from the time I press it until the time I release the keyboard.

I know there are some programming GENIUSES on this board that can help because I have been reading from this site although I have never posted.

Re: Filter Change while playing

Welcome to posting on the forum. As you are aware, perhaps, the forums support many different products and it is always helpful to either mention what product it is you have or actually put that product in your “My Gear” option in your profile (this way it is always obvious what product you are dealing with).

In this case it may be helpful for whoever tackles the question to point you toward a Voice that may help you get a clearer understanding of how the filters work. Actually, in this case the Filter Envelope Generators mostly will work the same but knowing your product can be extremely helpful in terms of accurate responses.

The definition of “a GOOD slow tonal change” will really be subjective and up to you… and while fitlers do change the tone, GOOD is not descriptive in terms of: are you going for realism (something a String section sound actually does) or science fiction (something more ethereal and not really real-world)… That would help, as well.

FEG (Filter Envelope Generators) are responsible for changing the timbre (harmonic content) of a sound overtime. Depending on your product you may have a selection of as many as 18 filter types to choose from.
The TIME parameter work 0-127 where 0 means it immediately will be at the selected LEVEL, and where 127 will mean it will take a long time to reach the LEVEL selected.

The LEVEL parameter if a Positivie value (+) will open the filter allowing more harmonic content and a brighter sound, while a Negative value (-) will close the filter allowing fewer harmonics and darkening the sound.

An excellent way to learn all about how your synthesizer works is the excellent DVD set: “Sound Advice” (DCP - Dave Polich)… no matter which Motif or S-series synthesizer you own, the similarity in the parameter set will allow you to get a degree of understanding of how to program what YOU want from any sound.

Re: Filter Change while playing

Hey I own a Yamaha S80 and I am going for a more science fiction or mystical effect. Any help? I know that I would have to tweak the filter time and level settings but IF YOU WERE GOING TO DO THIS WHAT WOULD YOU DO. I am using a strings sound but I want the sound to change kind of drastically in a slow manner for a mystical effect. I guess I just would like some suggestions. Please?

Re: Filter Change while playing

I meant that I own an S90 sorry about that.

Re: Filter Change while playing

Since you mention what would I do, I would probably create the filter change in the LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator). While the Filter Envelope Generator is great for creating a one time change, the LFO can be made to do something and repeat. But since I am not really sure what you are going after it is difficult to really instruct you.

The FEG being an envelope can be very detailed in creating a one-time envelope movement, if that is what you are going for then by all means use the FEG - but you must experiment - you 20 different filter types to play with.

Using the COMMON LFO to change the filter will allow the filter to move in a specific way with as many as 16 steps - you can setup your own 16 Step USER LFO

see screen shot attached of the S90 Voice Editor