AMP Envelopes in VCV rack

I know obviously filter envelopes exist in the modular world but what about AMP envelopes, these are envelopes that shape the levels of volume in the 4 parametres of the ADSR. Where as a filter envelope shapes adsr and how the audio travels through the ADSR. Is this doable in the modular world?

Everything is voltage in modular, so everything is interchangeble. You can use any or the same envelope generator in any form. Just pick one and use it with a vca to control either audio (volume) or a filter cutoff.

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Audio doesn’t pass through an ADSR, an ADSR generates a varying control voltage that can be used to modulate a VCA (amp envelope) or a filter cutoff (filter envelope), or really anything else you fancy. The audio only runs through the VCA or filter or what have you that’s being controlled by the envelope generator CV.

Top tip for learning modular: Examine EVERYTHING with scopes, so you can see as well as hear what’s going on.

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short answer: yes

longer answers see above

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Yep, as everyone else said it’s the same thing. An ASDR just generates a CV signal which you can feed into anything you want. Patch it to a VCA to control volume (or amp as you call it), or a filter. I often use the same envelope for both VCA and filter, hold down control (or cmd on a Mac) and split an extra cable off. Or go nuts and patch it into random inputs, see what happens. That’s where the fun starts.

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While what everyone said is correct, there are some envelope modules with built in VCAs - this gives you the effect of passing audio through a module while shaping it at the same time. Check Spank and Slap from Vult, EG x VCA from Surge XT and ShapeMaster from MindMeld.

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sorry but can you explain how to do this?

Maybe some tutorial videos can help:

thanks

A picture paints a thousand words: VCO goes through VCA, ADSR modulates VCA. This is what you’r e looking for, isn’t it?

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This tutorial can also help. Around 9min it explains vca-envelope etc

And if you are wanting to learn more starting from the basics… the synth secrets articles by Gordon Reid on Sound on Sound are a great source. Here is the one on envelopes/gates&triggers:

This is more or less it but I wanna know how to get it to work with a filter evelope as well, this is what i dont understand. A filter and amp envelope just like a basic subtractive synth.

Don’t think “filter envelope” think “envelope which happens to modulate a filter”. So take the output of the ADSR and connect it to the filter control which changes the frequency

In many classic subtractive setups the filter envelope just moved the cutoff. So you want to wire the same thing.

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Anyway here’s a simple and relatively classic subtractive voice with a separate ADSR for the filter cutoff and the amplitude.

BasicSubtractiveVoice.vcv (1.3 KB)

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By the way: VCV’s default template illustrates it perfectly. Just choose “New” from the File-menu and experiment away…

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I am re reading your question. Maybe you want to modulate the adsr itself… And each stage independently? Is this what you mean? Most if not every envelope generator in VCV has cv control over its separate stages. So yes, you can feed every stage an “envelope” or any signal to modulate a stage. Just experiment with the amount of modulation depth with each control and your setting of the parameter. For instance: when you use the VCV ADSR and you want to modulate the release: the parameter knob is the offset, from which the modulation starts. The cv signal is added or subtracted to this offset. The cv knob controls how much…

Thanks everyone Took me a while to get an idea of this as well im used to a normal keyboard synth, vca is a amp and a filter envelope is well a adar modulating thr filter with a gate triggering thr adsr in both cases

Thanks a lot

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