The "home base" for all learning sessions. Adapted from Anu Kirk's Definitive Guide to Evolver (p.7-8). This is a minimal, neutral patch that lets you isolate and hear the effect of any single parameter change.
Save this to Program 128 in Bank 1 (and a backup copy elsewhere).
Without a known starting state, you can't isolate what you're learning. When you turn a knob and hear a change, you need to know that change came from that knob and not some other parameter interaction. The basic patch is your lab bench.
Every parameter on the Evolver front panel, organized by section. Values sourced from Anu Kirk's basic patch table (p.7-8) and verified against the DSI Manual parameter definitions (p.14-26).
A plain, bright, sustained tone. Both analog oscillators playing sawtooth waves in stereo with the filter wide open and no modulation. Boring on purpose -- it's a canvas, not a painting.
After programming, play middle C. You should hear a bright, buzzy, sustained sawtooth tone in stereo. If you hear anything else -- modulation, filtering, echo, distortion -- something is still set wrong.
Objective: Map velocity, aftertouch (pressure), and the mod wheel to synthesis parameters to create an expressive performance patch that responds to how you play.
If you only have 5 minutes
Load the basic patch. Set Filter Velocity to 60, LPF Frequency to 30, Env Amount to 80, ENV 1 Decay to 40. Play notes at different strengths. Harder hits should sound brighter -- that is velocity-controlled filter opening.
Load one of your mod slot patches from Session 16. Play some notes and hear the modulation routing at work. Today you add human expression -- making the Evolver respond to your playing dynamics and gestures. Load the basic patch.
Velocity determines how hard you press a key. Mapping it to the filter makes harder hits brighter:
Set Filter Velocity (the LPF Velocity parameter) to 0 -- play notes at different strengths. You should hear no difference between soft and hard hits
Set Filter Velocity to 30 -- play soft and hard. You should hear subtle brightness differences -- harder hits open the filter more
Set Filter Velocity to 60 -- play soft and hard. You should hear obvious dynamics -- soft notes are dark and mellow, hard notes are bright and punchy
Set Filter Velocity to 90 -- play soft and hard. You should hear extreme range -- soft notes are very dark, hard notes are very bright
Find the setting that matches your playing style. If your keyboard has a heavier action, lower values work better.
"This parameter affects how much MIDI velocity affects VCA envelope level" -- Anu Kirk p.41
Now add VCA velocity:
5. Set VCA Velocity to 40 -- now harder hits are both brighter AND louder. Softer hits are darker AND quieter. This mimics how acoustic instruments behave
See DSI Manual p.17 (Filter Velocity), p.18 (VCA Velocity)
Aftertouch is the pressure you apply to a key after it is already held down. The Evolver keyboard has channel aftertouch built in.
Set Pressure Destination (in Misc Params) to FiL (Filter Frequency)
Set Pressure Amount to 50
Play a note and hold it. Press harder into the key -- you should hear the filter open as you increase pressure, adding brightness. Release pressure and the filter closes back
Try Pressure Amount to 80 -- you should hear more dramatic filter opening with pressure
Change Pressure Destination to OAF (All Osc Frequency) with Amount 5 -- play a note and apply pressure. You should hear a subtle pitch rise, like vocal expression
Return Pressure Destination to FiL, Amount 50
"Pressure (aftertouch) provides expressive control... These are filtered/smoothed unlike raw mod slot sources" -- DSI Manual p.23
Note: The Pressure and Mod Wheel routings in Misc Params are smoothed, which means they respond cleanly without stepping noise (unlike mod slot sources). This makes them better for performance control.
See DSI Manual p.23-24 ("Modulators", "Misc Parameters")
The mod wheel provides continuous real-time control over any parameter:
Set Mod Wheel Destination to LFO 1 Amount -- we need LFO 1 active first
Set LFO 1: Shape = Tri, Frequency = 50, Amount = 0, Destination = OAF (All Osc Frequency)
Set Mod Wheel Amount to 15
Play a note. With the mod wheel at minimum, you should hear no vibrato. Push the mod wheel up -- you should hear vibrato gradually increase. This is the classic "mod wheel adds vibrato" setup
Now create a more complex mod wheel mapping:
5. Set Mod Wheel Destination to FiL (Filter Frequency)
6. Set Mod Wheel Amount to -60
7. Play a note with the mod wheel at minimum -- full brightness. Push the mod wheel up -- you should hear the filter close, darkening the sound
8. Combine: set Mod Slot 1: Source = MWl (Mod Wheel), Amount = 10, Destination = OAF. Now the mod wheel controls both filter (via dedicated routing) and adds slight vibrato (via mod slot)
Check the Velocity Curve (Global page 9, 1-4) and Pressure Curve (1-4) settings to match your playing style (DSI Manual p.13)
Map Foot Controller to a parameter: set Pedal 1 to FootCtrl in Global (DSI Manual p.12), then set Foot Controller Destination to VCA Level, Amount = 50 for swell pedal control
Try ENV 3 Velocity = 60 with ENV 3 Destination = O1F for velocity-sensitive sync-like sweeps without using hard sync
Next time you will stack multiple modulation sources together -- LFOs modulating envelope amounts, sequences controlling LFO rates, velocity affecting modulation depth. This creates sounds that evolve with deep, layered complexity.