Polytek Reference Manual

Polytek Reference Manual

Table of Contents Installation 2 Navigation 3 Overview 3 How to Generate Sounds and Sequences 4 1) Create a Rhythm 4 2) Write a Melody 5 3) Craft your Sound 5 4) Apply FX 11 5) Saving Presets 14 Diagram 15 Polytek Reference Manual 1

Installation ***BEFORE INSTALLING THE.ALP YOU DOWNLOADED FROM CONTINUATA: 1) FIRST, visit http://www.ableton.com/en/account/add_license/ to authorize your version of Polytek. 2) If necessary, login to your Ableton account. 3) Manually type your serial number into the fields and click Register Serial. 4) NOW, Double-click the Polytek by SonicFaction.alp to install the device into Live. 5) If you installed before authorizing: open Live s Preferences > Licenses tab and click Authorize at ableton.com to automatically authorize Polytek. NOTE: This is not necessary if you downloaded the pack from Ableton directly. If you downloaded the pack directly from Ableton, simply open the.alp to install Polytek. ***YOU MUST HAVE ABLETON LIVE 9.2 AND MAX FOR LIVE 7.0 TO USE Polytek. Polytek Reference Manual 2

Navigation Once you have installed Polytek, you can find it using Live s built in browser by following the steps below: 1) Simply navigate to Packs located in the Places section and find the pack, Polytek by Sonic Faction. 2) Look inside the pack by hitting the disclosure triangle on the left side. 3) From there click and drag the Polytek.adg file from the browser onto an empty midi track. Places > Packs > Polytek by Sonic Faction Overview Polytek is a deep tech pattern generator. It allows for dynamic sound processing and sequencing by creating rhythmic layers based on frequency content. Key Features: - Built-in Rhythmic and Melodic step sequencers - Analog synth and Sampler sound sources - Vocoder & Formant Filtering - Multiband Rhythmic Gating - Resonating and Physical Modeling FX. - Intuitive Routing Matrix & Controls Polytek Reference Manual 3

How to Generate Sounds and Sequences 1) Create a Rhythm The first step when using Polytek is to draw in your rhythm. Here you can see that there are 4 different colored grids/ sequencers that correlate to different frequency ranges. = Blue is for the High Frequency (HF) sequence. = Green is for the High-Mid Frequency (HMF) sequence. = Yellow is for the Low-Mid Frequency (LMF) sequence. = Orange is for the Low Frequency (LF) sequence. = Black makes the corresponding step on the grid become an Accent ; controlled by the Accent Volume. You can also see the Pattern Speeds to the right of the Sequences, as well as a Random (?) and Clear (C) buttons. To make a random sequence, Link these controls by hitting Link, and use the HF Random (?) button to create a random sequence. To clear a sequence, Link these controls by hitting Link, and use the HF Clear (C) button to clear the sequence Polytek Reference Manual 4

2) Write a Melody The next step when using Polytek is to write in your melody. Simply switch to the melodic tab and edit the sequence steps to create a melody. Chord: This section allows you to pick between many chord types. Switch between chords by clicking 1-18. Mode: This button toggles between the Note and Octave view. Sequence the octave of your melody by +3 or -3 octaves. ***NOTE: you can turn off the Melodic Sequencer and use a midi clip or play notes on your keyboard for the melodic content. Turn off Chord as well to use your own chord progressions. 3) Craft your Sound The next step when using the Polytek is crafting your sound. The most important thing to understand here is that SOURCE controls the MELODIC part of your sequence, while PROCESS controls the RHYTHM part of your sequence. Polytek Reference Manual 5

SOURCE TAB The Source section allows you to choose what sort of sounds you would like to feed into the Process section. Analog has a very vintage sound, whereas Sampler allows you to choose between many different samples, as well as use your own samples. You can choose which Source you would like to use (Analog or Sampler) by using the routing section located in the center of the device. Analog Adjust the Volumes, Octaves and Wave Shapes to help change the tonality of your sound. Adjust the Filter Cutoff, Filter Envelope, and Filter Envelope Amount to help change your sound over time. Polytek Reference Manual 6

***NOTE: As mentioned before, the Source tab controls the Melodic sequence; therefore the Envelope section on the Source tab does NOT affect the rhythm, but rather the melody. This can lead to interesting results when the Melodic Sequencer speed is slower than the Rhythmic Sequencer speed Sampler Select a Sample from the drop down menu located above the sample view. You can also use your own samples by switching from Factory to User mode, opening the downstream instrument rack and dropping your sample into the enclosed sampler. Adjust the Filter Cutoff, Filter Envelope, and Filter Envelope Amount to help change your sound over time. ***NOTE: As mentioned before, the Source tab controls the Melodic sequence; therefore the Envelope section on the Source tab does NOT affect the rhythm, but rather the melody. This can lead to interesting results when the Melodic Sequencer speed is slower than the Rhythmic Sequencer speed. Polytek Reference Manual 7

Loading User Samples 1) Select User on the tab below the sample display window. 2) Open the device by clicking the show/hide devices button located on the right of the instrument. 3) Select 00silence from the Sample drop down menu. Then drag and drop your sample into the empty window. 4) As long as you have User Selected, you can have 1 custom sample loaded in at a time. Polytek Reference Manual 8

PROCESS The process section controls the rhythmic aspects of your sequence such as the attack and release, as well as how the sequences are distributed throughout the frequency spectrum. You can choose which process you would like to use (Vocoder or Multiband) by using the routing section located in the center of the device. Vocoder Adjust the Gate. Ultimately the Gate affects how the Attack and Release will work; reduce the amount of your Gate to hear less articulated rhythms, and increase the amount to hear more gated rhythms. Adjust your Release. This will affect the release times of your rhythms. Change the Mode. Switch to Pitch Track mode to hear different types of Vocoding processes. Turn Key Track ON to follow your melody. Polytek Reference Manual 9

Multiband Multiband divides your sequences into discrete frequency bands and allows you to gate them separately. Use the Link button to control the Gate, Return, Attack, Holds and Release of all frequency bands together. When unselected these controls will affect each band separately (which band your affecting depends on which tab is selected under the EQ). Adjust the Gate. Ultimately the Gate affects how the Attack and Release will work; reduce the amount of your gate to hear less articulated rhythms, and increase the amount to hear more gated rhythms. Adjust your Release. This will affect the release times of your rhythms. Adjust the frequency ranges of the Multiband EQ by dragging over the white crossover bands. = Blue is for the High Frequency (HF) sequence. = Green is for the High-Mid Frequency (HMF) sequence. = Orange is for the Low Frequency (LF) sequence. = Yellow is for the Low-Mid Frequency (LMF) sequence. Polytek Reference Manual 10

4) Apply FX Resonate Resonate allows you to add harmonics to your sound. Increase the Decay to make your sound more tonal Use the Color to control the brightness of the resonator. Adjust the Note and Resonator s II - V to change the pitch of your harmonics. The Dry/Wet controls how much the Resonator affects the sound. Polytek Reference Manual 11

Physical Modeling The Physical Modeling section of the FX tab simulates the acoustic characteristics of seven different resonant objects. Adjust the Transpose to change to pitch of your simulated material. ** You can use Key Track to have the pitch adjust depending on which note is being played in your melody. Change the Physical Modeling Object by using the drop down menu above the X-Y control. Drag along the the X-Y control to adjust the Decay and Material simultaneously. ** Lower Material Values simulates objects made of wood, nylon or rubber. Higher Material values simulates objects made of glass or metal The Dry/Wet controls how much the sound if affected by the Physical Modeling. Polytek Reference Manual 12

FX Rack The dials located under the name of the effect (i.e. Saturator, Autopan, Chorus, Reverb and Delay) control the effect s dry/ wet, the amount that the sound is affected by the effect. Polytek Reference Manual 13

5) Saving Presets We ve included 25 presets of our own to get you started, and left 30 preset slots open for you to save your own presets. Selecting Presets: You can select presets for each individual piece of the device (Rhythm, Melodic and Sound), or altogether by using the Link menu. This allows you to apply different sounds to melodies and rhythms, or vice versa. Saving Presets: Once you have a sound you like it s easy to save a preset. Simply hold SHIFT and CLICK an empty slot to save your preset. ***NOTE: You must save presets for Rhythm, Melody and Sound separately. ***NOTE: Your presets will only save within 1 session. If you want to save your user presets for other sessions you must re-save the device. To do this simply click the floppy disk symbol on the bottom left side of the enclosing instrument rack. Deleting User Presets: To delete a user preset slot, just hold SHIFT + OPTION and CLICK the slot you wish to delete. Polytek Reference Manual 14

Diagram Polytek Reference Manual 15