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Programming Manual for
Orville and the DSP7000 family
of Harmonizer Brand Effects
Processors.
( covering Orville™, DSP7000/7500™ and DSP4000B+™ )
Part No: 141035 Manual Release 1.2.1 17 May, 2001
©1999 Eventide Inc., One Alsan Way, Little Ferry, NJ, 07643 USA
Harmonizer is a registered trademark of Eventide Inc. for its audio special effects device
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual Table of Contents GENERAL PRINCIPLES ____________________________________________________________________________4 OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................4 Different Kinds of Signals 6 HOW A PROGRAM INTERFACES WITH THE PARAMETER AREA..................................
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual Simple “Parameter Adjusters” 40 Menupages and Parameter Placement 45 TUTORIAL 2 -PRETTY IN DEPTH..........................................................................................................................................................................48 INTER-DSP COMMUNICATION FOR ORVILLE...................................................................................................................................................56
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual TM TM This manual covers Orville as well as the DSP7000 family of Harmonizer Brand Effects Processors, as well as the TM DSP4000B+ . In the following text these will, for convenience, be referred to as 'Harmonizers'. Much of its contents also apply to the older 4000 family, but the reader is not advised to view this publication as an exhaustive reference for these models. TM This manual does not cover the Eclipse or the H3000 family of Harmon
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual GENERAL PRINCIPLES OVERVIEW This section will describe in general terms just what goes into constructing a program. Return to this section if you ever feel like you’re being mired down in details later on. First, the primary “stuff” of program construction is the “module." Modules are small, functional “chunks." Some modules may have names that will be familiar to you, such as delay, reverb, filter, pitchshifter, and eq. As you would expe
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual Much complication will now be heaped upon the three cornerstones, but all of the complication is introduced in order to achieve the goals set out in the three cornerstones! Don’t lose sight of the three cornerstones, as they motivate everything that follows! Get it - cornerstones ! To gain a greater appreciation for what we are doing when we construct an the Harmonizer program, consider the following analogy: Computer programs basically com
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual Different Kinds of Signals To achieve the goals set out by the three cornerstones, we must employ four signal types. Signals connect modules together. The four signal types are: Audio Signals Used to pass full bandwidth audio between modules in accordance with cornerstone one. Audio signals are represented numerically by a value between -1 and +1. Control Signals Typically used to pass parameter values between modules in accordance with
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual HOW A PROGRAM INTERFACES WITH THE PARAMETER AREA Simple Interface Because you really shouldn’t be reading this manual if you haven’t already read the User Guide, we’ll assume you’ve seen menu pages in the PARAMETER area. A menu page, with an associated SOFT KEY, is created by connecting a module’s userobject output to a userobject input on something called the “head” module. Every program has one (and only one) head module. The actual pa
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual Custom Interface There is one very special module that is used to create custom menu pages. It’s called (appropriately) the menupage module. It has any number of userobject inputs (the example shown to the right has only one) and a single userobject output. The menupage module will create a menu page out of the userobject outputs that are connected to it. The menupage module is typically used with a special group of modules called the
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual The menu pages found in the factory presets were almost exclusively made with interface modules and menupage modules. Now that you have some understanding of audio signals, control signals, and userobject signals coupled with an understanding of how they all play a role in making a program both functional and accessible from the PARAMETER area, we can discuss modules in a little more depth. The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual Page 9 of 97
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual MODULES Modules are the magic that make the Harmonizer shine. They are signal processing “nuggets” that are interconnected (via the signals discussed above). Before we discuss aspects of the typical modules like the delay module, the filter module, the pitch shifter module, etc., we need to look at the more specialized IN and OUT “modules." The IN and OUT “Modules” Orville Orville’s programs are loaded and run one at a time on a given DSP.
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual The Characteristics of Modules There are several characteristics associated with any module. All modules have: • a module type • a module name Modules use memory and processing resources that can be divided into the following groups: • audio memory • signal processing • user interface and control signal memory • control processing Different types of modules use different amounts of these resources. Modules that have audio inputs and o
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual RESOURCES A resource is something that is needed for the operation of a Harmonizer program -there are several different kinds of resources. A program cannot run if it needs more of a particular resource than is available. Audio memory Modules that store audio for brief periods of time use audio memory. Modules that use audio memory include modules in the delay, filter, pitch shift, and reverb groups. Some modules contain “specifiers” (see bel
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual • they can change the number of audio, mod, and control inputs and outputs, or even the number of other specifiers (!) for a module. • they can be numerical, multiple choice, or text. The Modules Section in this manual lists all of the module types and their associated specifiers. AUDIO INPUTS An audio input is used to pass high fidelity audio into a module. An audio input can be connected to at most one audio or mod output. Unconnected audio
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual MOD OUTPUTS A mod output is used to pass a high performance modulation signal from a module. A mod output may be connected to any number of audio or mod inputs. Mod outputs are always found on the right side of a module. See the comments made immediately above concerning the “low-fi” status of mod signals. USEROBJECT OUTPUTS Most modules have a userobject output. The userobject output can be connected to the userobject input on a menupage mod
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual WRAP UP OK, so that completes our birds-eye view of the program construction process. Recall that all of our constructing is done to satisfy the three so-called “cornerstones”: 1. We must connect appropriate modules to achieve a desired, overall audio effect. This is achieved by connecting audio-manipulating modules via audio signals. The “heart” of the program lies in its audio construction. 2. We must control the parameters of the modules
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual VSIGFILE System Requirements and Background Knowledge Required To run VSigfile, you will need a PC-compatible running Microsoft Windows 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, NT3.51, or NT4.0, fitted with a minimum of 8M ram (16M for NT). Macintosh users have had some success running Vsigfile under the "Virtual PC" Windows emulator, but Eventide is unable to assist in replicating this operation. To communicate with the Harmonizer you need either a Windows suppor
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual On the Harmonizer, ensure that MIDI is enabled and system exclusive is on. You will find these parameters on the [midi] menu page in the SETUP area. If you find that your PC is “unhappy” about the speed of transmission (as in “it’s too fast!”), lower the sysex speed parameter on the “second” [midi] menu page in the SETUP area. This will dumb down the Harmonizer’s transmission speed. Establishing a Serial Connection Assuming you’ve launche
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The Harmonizer Programmer’s Manual BASIC FUNCTIONS All right, so now you have VSigfile communicating with the Harmonizer (you do, don’t you?). Now we can take a look at how we actually add, connect, and manipulate modules in VSigfile. Before we look at anything, verify that the View menu is “checked” as shown to the right. That way, the structures we describe will be visible to you. In VSigfile, signals are color coded: • audio and mod inputs, outputs, and signa
