Chapter 9
Effects & mix
The master bus, a filter and an insert on every track, sends, slicer and texture beds.
The signal path
SLOOP’s effects always run in the same order, and knowing it tells you what each knob really touches: whether the track filter catches the insert’s distortion, say, or whether DUST colours the reverb tails. Here is the whole chain, from engine to output.
Each synth track
- The engine makes the sound.
- DST, the track’s drive (Sends: chorus, delay and reverb).
- INSERT, one effect for this track alone (Insert effects).
- SLICER, the tempo gate or stutter (The slicer).
- FILTER, the track’s one-knob filter (The track filter).
- The track’s level, where DUCK pumps it with the kick.
- Pan, then three sends: chorus (stereo), delay (in time with the tempo) and reverb.
The drum track follows the same idea with its own INSERT, slicer, filter, level and pan, a reverb send and, since 2.5, a delay send.
The master bus
- The four tracks, the effect returns and the Texture beds bed are mixed together.
- DUST (Master effects: DUST, DUCK, FILT, ROLL).
- The punch-in effects, while you hold them (Punch-in effects).
- FILT, the DJ filter.
- The MASTER knob.
- The limiter.
Since 2.6 the limiter looks 0.7 ms ahead. It lowers the gain just before a loud kick or bass lands, so the opening samples no longer slam into the output’s soft clipper and crackle on the beat — which was most audible in headphones with MASTER turned up. Below the limiter nothing changes; the whole output is simply 0.7 ms later. A long, loud bass keeps one steady gain, because the limiter waits 35 ms before letting go, so it doesn’t buzz.
Master effects: DUST, DUCK, FILT, ROLL
Four settings work on the whole mix. They share the GLO → MASTER page, and the first three are also in the FX layer, ready while you play: hold FX and turn KNOB 1 for the master filter, KNOB 2 for DUST, KNOB 3 for DUCK (The seven layers at a glance, Punch-in effects).
- DUST, 0–100 %
- Plays the mix as if through an old sampler and a record. It drives into a soft clip, lowers the sample rate (as far as about 11 kHz) and the bits (down to 8), and closes a low-pass towards about 3 kHz. While the transport runs it adds a little hiss and crackle; stop, and SLOOP falls silent.
- DUCK, 0–100 %
- Sidechain pumping. Every kick pushes the synth tracks down and lets them swell back over an eighth note, in time at any tempo.
- FILT
- A DJ filter. Left of centre a low-pass closes in, right of centre a high-pass opens up, and the centre is off. It glides between values, so sweeps never zipper.
- ROLL
- The rate of note repeat, the roll you get holding ARP and a key. It’s only on the MASTER page (Note repeat).
MASTER.DUSTOld sampler and vinyl
Grit, lower rate and bits, a closing low-pass, and crackle while playing.
KNOB 1Range 0–100 %
DUCK can pump the Texture beds bed as well: switch DUCK on, on the TEXTURE 2 page, and it follows the amount you set here.
The track filter
Every track has a one-knob filter of its own, after the engine, the insert and the slicer. Turn left of centre for a low-pass that darkens the sound, right for a high-pass that thins it out, and leave it in the middle for off.
FILTER.FILTTrack filter
Left of centre a low-pass, right a high-pass, centre off. Its resonance is FILTER RESO in the HOME menu.
KNOB 1Range LP ← OFF → HP
- It belongs to the track, not to the sound: load another preset and the filter stays where you left it.
- It’s saved with the project and with each section.
- Lock it on a step for a filter move inside the pattern (Parameter locks).
- The drum track has one too, and since 2.8 its FX → FILTER page works, so you can sweep and shape the whole kit.
- For sweeps while you play, the FX layer’s KNOB 4, TRK FILT, moves this same filter on whichever track is selected (Punch-in effects).
The filter’s resonance is one setting for every track, in the HOME menu under AUDIO: FILTER RESO, from 0, clean as the filter always was, up to 10 for a strong resonant peak. Like every menu setting it belongs to the FM-1 rather than a project (The HOME menu).
Sends: chorus, delay and reverb
Three effects are shared by every track: a stereo chorus, a delay locked to the tempo and a stereo reverb. Each track decides how much it sends to them on its FX page; how they sound is set once for all, on the global DLY and REV/CHO pages, which look the same whichever track is selected.
DSTDrive
The track’s drive, right after the engine.
KNOB 1
DST on the same page isn’t a send: it’s the track’s drive, the first stage after the engine (The signal path).
DLY.TIMEDelay time
A note value of the tempo; at 60 BPM and below the delay stops at 1.49 s.
KNOB 1Range 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 8T, 16T, 1/8D, 1/16D, 1/4D
The delay
- TIME runs from 1/4 to 1/32, with triplets (8T, 16T) and dotted values: 1/8D, 1/16D and, since 2.6, 1/4D.
- At 60 BPM and slower the delay can’t go past 1.49 s, so the longest values stop growing.
- COLR sets the tone of the repeats.
REV/CHO.SIZEReverb size
How big the reverb is.
KNOB 1
The reverb is built as a feedback delay network: dense, without a metallic ring. The drum track sends from GLO → DRUMS instead: REV into the reverb and, since 2.5, DLY into the tempo delay, for echoing hats or dub snares. The drum delay send is saved with the project.
DRUMS.CH4Drum MIDI channel
The same setting as CH4 on GLO → MIDI, kept by the FM-1, not the project (MIDI channels and the MIDI 2 page).
KNOB 1Range OFF, 1–16 (default 10)
The slicer
The slicer chops a track’s sound in time with the tempo. GATE cuts it on and off to a rhythm; STUT (stutter) repeats it. Pick one of 16 patterns, the note value the slices follow, and how deep the effect goes.
SLICER.SLCRSlicer mode
Off, a rhythmic gate, or stutter.
KNOB 1Range OFF, GATE, STUT
- It sits after the INSERT and before the track filter (The signal path).
- Every track has its own, the drum track included.
- RATE offers straight values (1/8, 1/16, 1/32) and triplets (8T, 16T, 32T).
- Unlike the punch-in gate and stutter, which hit the whole mix only while you hold a key, the slicer stays on its track and keeps playing with the pattern (Punch-in effects).
Insert effects
INSERT gives each track one effect of its own, right after its drive. It came with 2.6, after Felucca 1.5. The drum track has one too, working on the whole kit before its sends. Choose the type on KNOB 1; what KNOB 2, KNOB 3 and KNOB 4 do depends on it.
INSERT.INSRTType
The effect type, or OFF.
KNOB 1Range OFF, SOFT, HARD, FOLD, FUZZ, CRUSH, PHASR, FLANG, CHOR
| Type | What it is | A | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOFT | Soft clipping | DRIVE | TONE | LEVEL |
| HARD | Hard clipping | DRIVE | TONE | LEVEL |
| FOLD | Wavefolder | DRIVE | TONE | LEVEL |
| FUZZ | Fuzz | DRIVE | TONE | LEVEL |
| CRUSH | Bit crusher | BITS, 1–16 | RATE, the sample rate: 689 Hz – 44 kHz | LPF |
| PHASR | Phaser | RATE | DEPTH | FDBK (feedback) |
| FLANG | Flanger | RATE | DEPTH | FDBK |
| CHOR | Chorus | RATE | DEPTH | FDBK |
INSERT 2.MIXDry / wet
The balance of dry sound and effect. At 0 the insert costs nothing.
KNOB 1
- A, B, C and MIX can all be locked on a step (Parameter locks).
- With TYPE on OFF or MIX at 0 the insert uses no processing at all and leaves the sound untouched.
- Inserts on several tracks take processing power. With the second core on, the default since 2.7, there’s about twice the room (The HOME menu).
Texture beds
TEXTURE plays a looping bed of sound under the whole mix without taking up a track: the kind of background that ties a lo-fi or ambient piece together. Set it up on the GLO → TEXTURE and TEXTURE 2 pages.
TEXTURE.SRCSource
What the bed plays.
KNOB 1Range OFF, VINYL, TAPE, RAIN, WIND, RADIO, ROOM, USR1–USR4
The sources
- VINYL
- Hiss, rumble and crackle.
- TAPE
- A dark, drifting hiss.
- RAIN
- A steady bed with droplets.
- WIND
- Resonant gusts.
- RADIO
- Bursts of static.
- ROOM
- Room tone.
- USR1–USR4
- The first sound in one of your sample slots, looped at its own pitch (Your own samples).
TEXTURE 2.RATEBreath length
How long one breath of MOVE takes, in bars of the tempo.
KNOB 1Range 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 bars
- MOVE makes the bed breathe: its level and brightness rise and fall over RATE, from 1 to 16 bars.
- WHEN PLAY fades it in and out with the transport; ALWAYS keeps it going while stopped too.
- DUCK ON lets the kick pump it along with the synths, by the amount set on GLO → MASTER (Master effects: DUST, DUCK, FILT, ROLL).
- It feeds the dry mix only, never the reverb or delay, ahead of DUST, the punch-ins and FILT (The signal path).
- It’s saved with the project, and each section A–D can have its own (Sections and the one song).
Mixing and tempo
Most mix settings can be reached in more than one place: hands-on in the GLO layer while you play, on the TRACKS screen for the selected track, or on a page. Use whichever is nearest; the GLO layer’s combinations are in Mutes, solos, fills and tap tempo.
| To change | Fastest | Also |
|---|---|---|
| A track’s level | GLO + KNOB 1–4, all four tracks | TRACKS screen KNOB 2 for the selected track; on a muted track it unmutes |
| A track’s pan | TRACKS screen KNOB 4 for the selected track | PAN on the VOICE 2 page; for the drums, KNOB 4 on the DRUMS kit page |
| Mute | GLO + KEY 1–4 | MUTE on the VOICE 2 page (synth tracks) |
| Solo | GLO + KEY 5–8; several solos add up | — |
| The drum track’s level and sends | GLO → DRUMS: LVL, REV, DLY | The DRUMS kit page: level on KNOB 2, reverb on KNOB 3 |
| The output | MASTER | — |
A muted track fades out within a few milliseconds and plays no new notes, but its pattern keeps running in time, so it comes back on the beat. Live mutes, solos and fills are covered in Mutes, solos, fills and tap tempo. Since 2.7 LEVEL and PAN move smoothly, over roughly 3 ms per change rather than in jumps, so adjusting them during a held note stays free of zipper noise.
For the tempo, turn SELECT on the TRACKS screen or inside any layer, tap it in with GLO + KEY 16, or set BPM on GLO → GLOBAL, from 40 to 240. If GLO → SYSTEM → SYNC is set to USB or TRS, the tempo follows the incoming MIDI clock instead (Following an external clock).
BPMTempo
The tempo, unless MIDI clock is driving it.
KNOB 1Range 40–240
TUNE on the same page moves the whole FM-1 up or down by as much as 50 cents, to sit with a record or another instrument. SWING and CLICK are explained in Metronome, tempo and swing.