A Complete Guide to manual v1.877 A Complete Guide to Plogue chipsounds A Complete Guide to ® Plogue chipsounds Copyright © 2009-2015 Plogue Art et Technologie, Inc. All rights reserved. Including the ARIATM Engine Copyright © 2005-2015 by MakeMusic and Plogue Art et Technologie, Inc. All rights reserved. Produced by: David Viens ARIA Engine Design/Development: Plogue Art et Technologie, Inc. Sound Programming: David Viens Eric Patenaude Bryan Lee of Xenos Soundworks Hardware research and modeling : David Viens MIDI Processors: Pascal Maheux In house Testing and QA: Eric Patenaude Ambience Reverb: Magnus Jonsson Art : James Mireau,Eric Patenaude, Flavours of Lime Additional hardware research: François Léveillé Crucial Comments and Bug reports: nitro2k01 (Didrik Madheden) Chupathingy (Chris Duddridge) Original ARIA Manual Template: Gary Garritan Operations: Max Deland The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Plogue Art et Technologie, Inc. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Plogue Art et Technologie, Inc. Plogue chipsounds® is a registered trademark of Plogue Art et Technologie, Inc. Use of Plogue chipsounds ® software instrument and the contents herein are subject to the terms and conditions of the license agreement distributed with the program. You should carefully read the license agreement before using this product. The sounds presented in Plogue chipsounds® are protected by copyright and cannot be distributed, whether modified or unmodified. The Guide to Plogue chipsounds contained herein are also covered by copyright. ARIA™ is a trademark of MakeMusic Inc and Plogue Art et Technologie Inc . The ARIA Engine is copyrighted by Plogue Art et Technologie and MakeMusic Inc. Any other trademarks of third-party programs are trademarks of their respective owners. The information contained herein may change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Plogue Art et Technologie, Inc. Plogue Art et Technologie, Inc. Visit us on the World Wide Web: www.plogue.com 2 A Complete Guide to Plogue chipsounds Welcome to Plogue chipsounds Like some of you I'm sure, my childhood was filled with the images, sounds and excitement of early video games and computers. In the early 80's, each of my friends had a different computer or video game system. We visited each other in turns and discovered their differences. They all looked, played and sounded very different to us even then. We all had our favorite game or favorite sound effect and each of us tried to impress the other with a new high score, secret level, or cool program we had made. The 8bit era was a unique point in time when there were no set rules in what we now call interactive media. Everything had yet to be invented. Musicians, graphic artists and programmers (often the same person) had to cope with a limited palette of sounds, voices, and memory, in order to create the inspiring soundtracks for the games we played. They came up with original techniques and tricks that – since they were stopgaps for them at the time - were abandoned later on as the technology evolved. Those sounds were unique in their own way. Recently, with the advent of emulators, cross assemblers and DIY cartridges, many people have discovered (or re-discovered) those sounds and got an interest in making original music with the vintage 8bit hardware in ways that combined classic 80s chip techniques, but also brand new tricks and discoveries of hackers and enthusiasts from all over the world. The chip music scene nowadays goes WAY beyond video game or 80s nostalgia in general, and has become a true art form in its own right. A good indication is that a new younger generation of musician that didn't grow up in that period are praising the palette of sounds that can be created out of these machines; raw, pure, gritty and bright. Whether you compose uniquely with them or use them as an addition, they are a real arsenal to your sonic palette. For me personally, it would be pointless to try and separate my passion for the chips and how they sound from their associated nostalgia. Over the years I've been working in the music software field, I've always kept a huge interest in them, collecting (hoarding would be a more appropriate term maybe), tons of consoles and started modifying them to get cleaner sound and image out of them, and even transforming some of them into synthesizers to use with my bands. As I was improving my electronics skills on them as a hobby I sadly discovered that many units I had collected over the years had either become flaky, partially working or were simply dead. And it's at that precise moment that I realized, that like everything else, they would not live forever. Someone needed to record and analyze all the sounds could generate in the highest possible quality before it was too late. It's then that I started the research that, without any initial plan of the sort, eventually transformed itself into chipsounds, which I think is my best attempt at making a musician's tool out of bare research. My father bought a Commodore VIC-20 for me and my brother when I was around nine. After a few days with it, I guess he knew I had found my calling. There is not a year that passes without me reminding him how bringing that computer home some cold autumn night changed my life. Dad, this one's for you, David Viens October 2009 3 What is chipsounds? Plogue chipsounds is a state-of-the-art software synthesizer that simulates the behavior and sounds of more than ten classic integrated circuits of the 80's, mostly from the second and third generation of video game consoles. chipsounds integrates our uniquely powerful and high-performance specialized software synthesizer/sampler engine, ARIA. chipsounds can work as a standalone application or as a plug-in for most major sequencing audio programs and sup - ported tracker programs. Uses for Plogue chipsounds Electronic and chip music composition. Remixes of classic video games soundtracks A portable chip synthesizer instrument for playing live. Our goal is to bring the rich sounds of the classic game consoles to as many musicians as we can with the highest de- gree of realism possible on current home computer hardware. Features of Plogue chipsounds A full set of classic sound chips at your disposal. Nothing Else Required - The entire collection is integrated and works as a virtual instrument. No need to purchase a separate synthesizer. Easy-to-Use – Start creating chip music now. Just load your instruments and play. Standardized controls al- low you to become familiar with the collection quickly and master all the sounds easily. Play in real-time and get expressive sounding performances. Express your musical ideas fast and with minimal effort. Universal Format - Supports all popular formats, Mac and PC, as a standalone program or as a plug-in (VST, RTAS, AAX (64 bit) and OS X AU), and works with supported sequencers and tracker programs. What’s Included This version of chipsounds includes the following: Download file containing the complete chipsounds software. The unique graphical license key for the product. Before you begin installation, make sure you have read the End User Licensing Agreement in the pages which follow. By installing the software you are indicating you agree to the terms of the license. How to Use This Manual The goal of this manual is to help you learn how to use chipsounds. Although many of us dislike reading manuals, if you wish to get the most out of this new synthesizer it is absolutely essential that you read this manual. Doing so will help you understand how to use this software instrument. The operation of many of the essential features is not obvious in casual use and we realize many users are not music technologists. We’ll do our best to make this easy for you in this manual and to explain technical concepts. We have attempted to make this manual easy to read and have provided in- formation about the various waveforms, playing techniques and modes of control. You can refer to this manual whenever you wish. This manual is provided in digital form as an Adobe Acrobat document file (also known as a PDF) which can be viewed on a computer monitor or printed. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, it is available for free from www.adobe.com. Further Documentation and Resources For the latest information including updated documentation, visit our support pages at: www.plogue.com. There you can find: Updated information provided after the manual was written Corrections or addi- tions to this manual FAQ pages answering common questions suggestions from the users of Plogue software and news about upcoming Plogue releases. You can also visit the Plogue Forums for up-to-date information. The address is: www.plogue.com/phpBB 3 / . Please send any reports of errors in this manual or suggestions for improvement to : [email protected] End User License Agreement Please read the terms of the following software licensing agreement before using this software. By installing and loading this product on your computer you acknowledge that you have read this license agreement, understand the agreement, and agree to its terms and conditions. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, do not install or use the sounds contained herein. This is the complete agreement between you and Plogue Art et Technologie, Inc that supersedes any other representations or prior agreements, whether oral or in writing.