Encore Electronics 
Tony Karavidas
611 Laird Lane Lafayette, CA 94549 
(510) 229-8875 TEL/FAX

Encore Expressionist   
MIDI to Control Voltage Converter           REV 0.3

The Expressionist is an eight channel, MIDI to control voltage converter. This unit is still under development. Its expected list price is $479.00 and will be available during the summer of 1995.

The following information are highlights of the system parameters:

     MIDI CHANNEL
     Note range: Low, High, ChannelxTrigger. (C0 to G10 [MIDI notes 0 to 127])
     Pitch Bend: Amount. 0 - 24 semitones (two octaves) (14 bit parameter)
     LFO1: Amount: -99 to 99, Source: (See LFO source below...)
     LFO2: see lfo l
     LFO3: see lfo 1
     MOD1: Source, Amount
     MOD2: see MOD 1
     MOD3: see MOD1
     MOD4: see MOD 1
     Portamento: Amount 0 to 99, Type: Fixed, Variable (rate depends on jump)
     Transpose: +/- 48 semitones (+/- four octaves)
     Offset: -99 to +99. Adjusts the zero voltage point, zero is default.
     Tracking: -99 to +99. Zero equals 1volt per octave, positive # equals >1 V/O
     Trigger polarity: Positive gate, S-Trigger, Positive Trigger

LFO Source: (The "listed function" list of controllers are the most popular ones)
     Free run                    -Applies LFO to CVx all times at level set by Amount
     Mod Wheel             -1
     Breath Ctrl.              -2
     Foot Ctrl.                  -4
     Portamento time    -5
     Volume                    -7
     Pan                             -10
     Expression                -11
     GP (1 - 4)                    -16 to 19
     Portamento amt.      -65
     External Effects         -91
     Tremelo Depth         -92
     Chorus Depth           -93
     Celeste (Detune)       -94
     Phaser Depth            -95
     Controller x     - x If you want to use one not listed above.

Each of the three LFOs have several parameters as follows:
          Rate                           - 0 to 99
         Amount                       - 0 to 99, zero turns respective LFO off.
          Shape                         - Sine, Square, Triangle, Up-Saw, Down-Saw
         Freq. Mod. Source        - Off, MIDI controller x
         Mod MIDI Channel        - Channel used for modulation source.

System parameters:
     Setup #                     - 0-99
     Setup Name               - 15 characters
     Basic MIDI channel   - 1 to 16 (This is used for miscellaneous functions not                          
                                                                      explicitly  indicating a MIDI channel.)
     
Sys-Ex send: Send MIDI: <ENTER>
               Edit buffer, All patches, Patch #x

The unit automatically receives sys-ex data intended for it.

ChannelxTrigger allows a particular CV channel to be used as a modulation control voltage without the note information affecting the CV. This can be used several ways, and is best described by example.  One way is to use two CV channels to control a synthesizer's frequency and filter modulation. Channel 1 CV will control the pitch and channel 1 gate will trigger the voice. Channel 2's note range parameter is set to Channel1Trigger, which serves two purposes. One, is to block note information from modifying this CV output, and two, it sets the trigger to synchronize with CV1's trigger. Channel 2 CV will control the dynamics of the filter in the synthesizer and its gate will be unused (in this example).

A second example is using the same two CV channels with an ARP 2600 system. This synthesizer requires two trigger signals along with a pitch control voltage. One trigger is a positive gate and is on as long as any notes are being pressed. The second trigger is a positive one-shot that is momentarily on each time a note is pressed. The trigger polarity for channel 2 is set to Positive Trigger. Channel 2's CV output is used to modulate the filter as
in the previous example, but this time channel 2's gate is used to retrigger the envelop generators in the ARP voice.

LFO Source: Each of the global LFOs have their own parameters, but as they are applied to each channel, they can be modified further. Each channel has the ability to control the amount of each LFO as it applies to the channel. The amount can be fixed, or modulated by several MIDI parameters. For instance, say you have LFO1 set to SINE wave and LFO 2 set to SQUARE wave. Channel one's LFO1 parameters are Amount=10 and Source=Fixed. This will
constantly add a slight vibrato to the notes played by channel 1. Now set channel one's LFO2 parameters to Amount=40 and Source=Mod Wheel. This will play the same vibrato note, but when you add some Mod Wheel from your MIDI keyboard, the note played will now have a trill based on the frequency of LFO2! Add some modulation to the LFO2's global page, and you have a real mess!

There is also a Roland DIN SYNC jack to allow MIDI clock to sync up older drum machines.