Thank you 😉

Nice articles.
Maybe they can be turned in an additional document for the DX on FM synthesis

Really nice docs, yeah!

Hi!  I'm a new owner of a Reface DX.  I'm struggling with understanding how all of the various variables interact.  Bad Mister's articles related to the DX have been quite helpful.  However I have some questions related to the article titled "FM Amplitude Envelope Generator".

It's been quite a while since this topic was active.  Hopefully there's still someone around who can help me, maybe even Bad Mister.  One can hope.

First, I don't understand why the pink and blue envelope graph, the first graph in the article, has an extra (horizontal) part that normal ADSR envelope graphs don't have.  Why is that extra horizontal section stuck in there?  What is it?  What does it represent?

Second, I don't understand how the 4 parts of a sound (the attack, the decay, the sustain, and the release) can each have its own sound envelope.  How do these individual envelopes fit in to the overall ADSR envelope?  What is represented by the different parts of the individual envelopes?

Any light you can shed on these questions would be enormously helpful and appreciated.

Thank you!

Hello,

I think the best resource here is Manny's Modulation Manifesto by Manny Fernandez. This is specific to reface DX and I think you'll find that most of the questions you are asking will be answered. 

However I have some questions related to the article titled "FM Amplitude Envelope Generator".

The link in the thread is broken - are you referring to this article? -

https://yamahasynth.com/learn/reface/fm-amplitude-envelope-generator-reface/

First, I don't understand why the pink and blue envelope graph, the first graph in the article, has an extra (horizontal) part that normal ADSR envelope graphs don't have.

That 'first graph' is straight out of the Reface DX reference doc which you can find here

https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/7/438827/reface_en_rm_a0.pdf

I don't see any 'extra' parts - it shows the 4 parts that ADSR represent: A - attack, D - decay, S - sustain and R - release.

Why is that extra horizontal section stuck in there? What is it? What does it represent?

What 'extra' part do you see?

All I see are 4 lines representing the 4 levels (ADSR) being discussed in both the article and the doc

On page 5 of the doc it shows, and describes the 'EG Level Settings screen

1 Level 1 Attack level
2 Level 2 Decay level
3 Level 3 Sustain level
4 Level 4 Release level - For settings other than “0”, the sound will stop when it reaches the Level 4 setting.

Second, I don't understand how the 4 parts of a sound (the attack, the decay, the sustain, and the release) can each have its own sound envelope.

Please explain what you mean. The ADSR parts don't have their own 'envelope' - they are all pieces of the SAME envelope.

There can be separate envelopes for pitch, amplitude and filter but those are discussed elsewhere.

I would suggest that as you read Bad Misters article you try the examples he gives on your own instrument so you can actually HEAR the result you get.

The info in that article will apply to most other Yamaha instruments such as the Modx and Montage series.

Go thru the doc and see if the info there helps any. If not, post some additional questions so we can better understand just what it is you need help with.

And yes, I know that people don't like to hear RTFM replies but that doc does have some additional info that is relevant.

Yamaha's envelopes have two decays before sustain.  This affords for some better shaping before the sustain phase which is the horizontal line.

The original DX7 manual avoided using ADSR as a way to document the envelopes and rather just used rate 1 or level 1 (etc) to document the components of the envelope.  More recent synths from Yamaha call these Attack, Decay 1, Decay 2, and Release.

Levels are set to what level a phase arrives to.  So attack arrives to a level and time dictates how long it will take to arrive at a given arrival level for that phase.

The arrival level of the first decay is the final decayed level of the first decay.   The arrival of the second decay is the final decayed level and is also the level that will be held as you hold ("sustain" ) the key down or hold down a sustain pedal.  There is no sustain programming necessary because sustain is a function of how long you hold your note down (variable - no set time) and level is set to the "Decay 2" level and stays there.  Release has a level (arrival) and time component.

I think it's important to try not to equate ADSR with the envelopes Yamaha uses because traditional ADSR has one less inflection point.  It's the same idea but a slightly different implementation.   If you make what Yamaha elsewhere calls "Decay 2" time as 0 and level equal to "Decay 1" then you will have a more traditional ADSR style envelope.