Jun Murakami App Factory

In this chapter, we explain the way to think about managing sounds in Synth-80. The basic structure is that of the unit of storage — "what becomes one file" — and that a single sound is built from two Tones called Upper / Lower.

What each individual parameter does is covered elsewhere: for Tone parameters, see → Chapter 7 "Tone Parameter Reference"; for performance settings such as Key Mode and Balance, see → Chapter 8 "Patch / Performance Reference"; and for Effects, see → Chapter 9 "Effects".

5.1 The Patch Is the Unit of Storage

In Synth-80, the unit of storage is the Patch. When written out as a file, it uses the extension .80p. A single Patch contains all of the following:

• Upper Tone (the Upper sound)
• Lower Tone (the Lower sound)
• Performance settings (Key Mode / Balance / Octave Shift / Assign Mode / Glide, etc.)
• Effect Chain (the 5-slot Effects)
• Patch Volume (the volume of each Patch)

In other words, loading a single Patch reproduces everything at once: the two sounds, how the layers are combined, the effects, and the volume.

The File Name Is the Authoritative Patch Name

For both Patch names and Tone names, the file name itself is the sound's name. Therefore, if you rename a file in Explorer or Finder, that name becomes the display name in Synth-80 as well.

5.2 The Two-Layer Upper / Lower Structure

A single Patch holds two sounds: an Upper Tone and a Lower Tone. Key Mode determines how these two are combined and played.

The key points are as follows:

• In WHOLE, only Upper sounds. Because the Lower parameters do not affect the sound here, the Lower parameters are shown dimmed on screen.
• In DUAL / SPLIT, the voices are divided. Since the 8 voices are shared between Upper and Lower, each gets up to 4 voices. Keep this in mind when considering how many notes you can play in a chord at once.
• The way DUAL layers differs slightly from the hardware. On the actual MKS-80, DUAL — like SPLIT 2 — also splits Upper / Lower by MIDI channel, so layering required sending the same note to two channels. In Synth-80, to make this easier to handle in a DAW, this has been changed so that received notes are simply layered regardless of channel.

A clause-by-clause explanation of the meaning of each Key Mode option, as well as of performance parameters such as Split Point and Balance, is collected in → Chapter 8 "Patch / Performance Reference".

5.3 Switching the Upper / Lower Edit Target

The group of white sections occupying the upper part of the screen (the Tone editor) displays and edits the sound of either Upper or Lower. Which one you edit is switched with the UPPER TONE / LOWER TONE tabs in the top bar.

• Normally it is shown collapsed, displaying only the one channel — Upper or Lower — that you are currently editing. Switching tabs swaps the edit target for the entire Tone editor.
• Pressing the expand button in the top bar lets you display the Upper block and the Lower block simultaneously, stacked in two rows. This is convenient when building two sounds for DUAL / SPLIT while comparing them.
• The link icon between UPPER TONE and LOWER TONE switches whether editing is linked between Upper and Lower when both are the same sound.

For the on-screen positions of the collapse/expand controls and the link icon, see → Chapter 4 "Screen Tour".

5.4 Loading a Sound from Another Patch (Replacing a Tone)

Although a Tone does not exist as a standalone file, you can load the Upper / Lower held by another Patch into a layer (Upper or Lower) of the Patch you currently have open. To do this, press the v button on the right side of each TONE tab to select an existing Patch's Tone and replace it.

For example, you can do things like "bring the Upper sound of Patch A into the Lower of Patch B and layer it."

5.5 Init Patch (Returning to the Initial State)

When you want to return all parameters to their default values, load the Init Patch. This is a built-in initial state that requires no file (internal identifier builtin:init), and it is a full-reset means of returning all parameters — including the sound, performance settings, and effects — to their defaults.

Use it when you want to start sound design from a blank slate, or when you want to clear your current settings once and return to a reference point.

5.6 Saving, Loading, Navigating, and Categories

Everyday Patch operations are performed from the top bar at the very top of the screen (the light-blue Patch frame).

• Save As: Saves the current Patch as a new .80p file. As noted above, the file name becomes the Patch name directly.
• Load: Click the Patch name and load a saved .80p from the menu that appears.
• Navigate forward/back: The left/right arrows let you step forward and back through the Patches within the same category. This is convenient when switching one after another to compare sounds.
• Category folders: Patches are organized into per-category folders (Bass/, Lead/, Pad & Strings/, etc.). Selecting a category makes the Patches within that folder the target.

For where Presets are stored (the folder structure under Documents) and how Factory presets are handled, see → Chapter 2 "Installation, License Activation, and File Locations".

5.7 Effect Chain Lock (Replacing the Sound Only)

While designing sounds, there are situations where you want to "try out various sounds (Tones) while keeping the way the effects are applied the same." This is where Effect Chain Lock comes in handy.

When Effect Chain Lock is ON, even if you load another Patch, the Effects-related settings contained in that Patch will not overwrite your current Effect Chain, which is preserved. With the effects fixed, you can swap through Patches one after another and compare their sounds.

For the makeup of the Effect Chain and the details of each effect, see → Chapter 9 "Effects".