Ableton Forum

Make a simple analog patch, with a long-ish release phase. Add some vibrato. Play notes. Notice that vibrato stops after the sustain phase of the note.

I would think an analog synthesizer, which Analog simulates, might well behave the same way.

Consider: You have an oscillator, controlled by the keyboard, feeding a filter, which then feeds an ADSR envelope. Now, to which of those components does the vibrato apply? I would have to be the oscillator, as only the oscillator determines the frequency of the sound.

When does the oscillator vibrato start? It would have to start when (or after) you press a key, because otherwise the notion of vibrato delay would be meaningless. But if it starts at a specific time, it had better stop at a specific time also; otherwise you're in trouble the next time that key is pressed.

So it would make sense for the vibrato to stop when you release the key.

I suppose it would make even more sense for the vibrato to have its own decay setting; but as far as I can tell, it doesn't

arkoenig wrote:I would think an analog synthesizer, which Analog simulates, might well behave the same way.

Not any analog synthesizer I've ever played or heard of.

It's an extremely un-musical effect.

Actually, I would think that most analog synthesizers would work by using a LFO for vibrato. You could do that with Analog too. But that technique falls apart if you want to be polyphonic, because all voices would have to use the same LFO.

arkoenig wrote:Actually, I would think that most analog synthesizers would work by using a LFO for vibrato. You could do that with Analog too. But that technique falls apart if you want to be polyphonic, because all voices would have to use the same LFO.

I haven't met a polyphonic synth yet with a single global LFO.

Have you ever actually used a synthesizer before?

kuniklo wrote: I haven't met a polyphonic synth yet with a single global LFO.

Most vintage analogue polysynths have only one LFO. For example, the Prophet 5 has only one and calls it mono-modulation.

The Jupiter 6 has two, but both act globally on all active voices equally. In split mode, you actually have three, one per tone, and one that acts on either or both.

Some polys have LFOs per a certain function. One for the PWM, another for VCF. This is used in the Korg Polysix, but again both act globally on all voices.

Delayed vibrato on most polysynths is a little confusing since it also acts globally. The delay switches off the LFO the moment a new note is pressed, only then for it to come up again after the delay time. This is generally not considered a problem since it replicates the action of the mod wheel - which also acts on all voices equally.

However, on a monophonic sound the vibrato should always last for the length of the note. The delay time only affects the front end of the note and any release tails have the vibrato applied as if the note was still sustained.

Whatever the case might be, this is clearly a bug. If you want vibrato you want it applied for the lifetime of a note.