4ms EnvVCA User Manual - Page 8

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Cycle Button/Jack

The Cycle button is a simple way to initiate an envelope. When the button is on, envelopes will cycle

continuously. The button is latching, so pressing it once will make the module output envelopes until

you press the button again. Once an envelope begins, pressing the Cycle button again will not

immediately stop the envelope. Instead, the envelope will stop after finishing its fall stage.

The Cycle jack toggles the cycling state when a gate is received. It's utilized in tandem with the Cycle

button. If the button is initially off, a gate signal at the Cycle jack will toggle it on. If the button is initially

on, a gate at the jack will toggle it off. The Cycle button will shine orange whenever the combination of

the Cycle jack and Cycle button causes the envelopes to cycle.

In Figure 4, the Cycle button is initially off, and the incoming gate signal on the Cycle jack causes the

envelope to cycle for as long as the gate is high. In this case, as the pulse width of the gate signal gets

wider, the EnvVCA outputs more cycles.

Figure 5 shows the opposite state; the Cycle button is initially on, so the incoming gate signal stops the

cycling for as long as the gate is high. In this case, as the pulse width of the gate signal gets wider,

there are longer pauses between groups of envelopes.

Note that the first pulse in Figure 5 does not stop the envelopes, and the three rapid pulses in Figure 4

only cause one envelope. This illustrates an important aspect of the EnvVCA: the state of the Cycle

jack and button only matter when the envelope is stopped (at 0V). Any combination of gates and button

presses while the envelope is running have no effect; it's only when the envelope finishes running that

the Cycle jack or button can make it cycle again.

Figure 4: When Cycle button is off, high gate on Cycle

jack makes envelope run.

Figure 6 illustrates the use of gates on the Follow

jack. A gate signal will cause the envelope to rise as

long as the gate is high. When the gate goes low,

the envelope will fall.

The fourth gate in Figure 6 shows that if the gate is

held high while the envelope reaches its maximum,

the envelope will hold (sustain) until the gate is

released. This is any easy way to create an ASR

envelope (Attack Sustain Release).

The short bursts of pulses at the end illustrate how

the Follow jack can be used to create complex

envelope shapes using only a sequence of gates.

The Follow jack can be used with more than gates, see Fundamentals of the Follow Jack for a detailed

discussion.

Figure 5: When Cycle button is on, high gate on Cycle

jack makes envelope stop.

Figure 6: Sending gates into the Follow jack. When the

input gate goes high, the envelope rises; when the input

goes low, the envelope falls.

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