XY-MSEG
An XY MSEG is not a separate type of modulator alongside Alchemy’s AHDSRs, LFOs, and so on. Instead, it provides a special interface for manipulating Alchemy’s regular MSEGs two at a time.
Specifically, an XY MSEG associates one MSEG with the X axis and another with the Y axis of a square, and it allows you to manipulate the levels of both MSEGs by dragging in the square. The MSEG XY editor also gives you a normal MSEG view, switchable between the X-axis MSEG and the Y-axis MSEG. In this view, you can change both the levels and the times of either MSEG. Beginning in version 1.12, a Play Cursor scrolls across the MSEG display, tracking the progress of the envelope relative to the most recently played note, and an associated colored ball travels across the XY square to indicate the current XY position.
When you change either times or levels in the XY MSEG editor, you’re changing the associated (regular) MSEGs. By default, MSEG 1 is selected for the X-axis and MSEG 2 is selected for the Y-axis.
To modulate a pair of controls (such as Morph X and Morph Y) with an XY MSEG, modulate one control with the X-axis MSEG (by default, this is MSEG 1), and modulate the other control with the Y-axis MSEG (by default, this is MSEG 2). See the example ‘MSEG-driven morphs’ at the bottom of the Morph page for step-by-step instructions.
Using the XY MSEG controls
The XY MSEG FILE button opens a pop-up menu with the following commands:
- Load —Opens a dialog in which you can select a MSEG preset (*.mse) to load into the XY MSEG editor. If two presets in the same folder have identical names, but one name ends with ‘X’ and the other ends with ‘Y’ — for instance, ‘Circle 1X.mse’ and ‘Circle 1Y.mse’ — then selecting either one of these names loads the ‘X’ preset into the X-axis MSEG and the ‘Y’ preset into the Y-axis MSEG. If you select a name that is not part of an XY pair, then it will load just the selected file into the X- or Y-axis MSEG, depending on which axis button (see below) is activated.
- Save — Depending on which axis button (see below) is activated, saves the X- or Y-axis MSEG (but not both) to a preset file with a name of your choice.
- Copy and Paste — Copy places the X- or Y-axis MSEG information onto the clipboard; Paste retrieves the clipboard data and applies it to the X- or Y-axis MSEG.
- Clear —Sets the X- and Y-axis MSEGs to their default configurations.
The X and Y axis buttons determine whether the X- or Y-axis MSEG is displayed and made available for editing in the breakpoint editor.
The MSEG selection fields determine which of Alchemy’s MSEGs are associated with the X and Y axes of the XY MSEG square. The field on the left sets the X-axis MSEG, while the field on the right sets the Y-axis MSEG.
Note: In order for the XY MSEG square to work properly, you should always assign two distinct MSEGs to the X and Y axes.
The TRIGGER, SYNC, Loop Mode and Edit Mode controls work just like the controls of the same names on the normal MSEG control panel (see the MSEG page for details). The one difference in the XY MSEG editor is that each of these controls applies to both the X- and the Y-axis MSEGs.
Using the XY MSEG breakpoint editor and square
Working with the XY MSEG breakpoint editor is just like working with the breakpoint editor on the normal MSEG control panel (see the MSEG page for details) — except for one important difference: the number and timings of breakpoints are kept synchronized between the X- and Y-axis MSEGs. When you create or delete points — by right-clicking (control clicking) — you are increasing or decreasing the number of points in both MSEGs simultaneously. Similarly, when you drag a point to a new time position, you are changing the timing of a point in the X-axis MSEG and in the Y-axis MSEG. (On the other hand, the levels of the X- and Y-axis MSEG breakpoints are independent, so changing a level in one MSEG does not affect levels in the other MSEG.)
A quick illustration:
- Start with an initialized preset and open the XY MSEG editor.
- MSEG 1 is assigned to the X axis, and MSEG 2 is assigned the Y axis. Switch between the X and Y axis buttons to confirm that both of these MSEGs have a default shape consisting of three breakpoints.
- Click the X axis button and right-click (control click) in the breakpoint editor to add a fourth breakpoint to MSEG 1 at a time position of approximately 0.50 sec.
- Now switch to the Y axis view again and note that a fourth breakpoint has been added at the same time position in MSEG 2 as well.
If you have already edited one or both MSEGs using the MSEG control panel, then when you switch to the XY MSEG editor, the incoming MSEGs, which may arrive unsynchronized with one another, will immediately be synchronized — Alchemy performs this operation in such a way that the shape of both MSEGs is preserved, although the loop positions, loop mode, and trigger status of either MSEG may change.
While the XY MSEG editor’s breakpoint envelope shows you the levels of either the X-axis MSEG or the Y-axis MSEG, the XY square shows you both at once. In the square, breakpoints are positioned such that their horizontal positions depict X values, while their vertical positions depict Y values.
A quick illustration:
- Start with an initialized preset and open the XY MSEG editor.
- Ensure that the X axis button is active, and then click the first (leftmost) breakpoint and drag it up and down. Note that the brightest breakpoint in the square moves to the left when you drag the X point down and to the right when you drag the Y point up. The X value controls the left-to-right position in the square.
- Now click the Y axis button to switch the view in the breakpoint envelope display, and then click the first (leftmost) breakpoint and drag it up and down again. This time, note that the brightest breakpoint in the square most to the bottom when you drag the Y point down and to the top when you drag the Y point up. The Y value controls the bottom-to-top position in the square.
While the XY square shows you both X and Y values, it doesn’t show you the timing of each breakpoint; for that information, you’ll need to refer to the breakpoint envelope display. However, the square does represent the ‘chronological order’ of the breakpoints by rendering them with different degrees of brightness, from bright white for the first breakpoint through dark grey for the last.
The XY square is not just a display, it’s an editor. You can click a breakpoint in the square and drag it left/right to change its X value and up/down to change its Y value. To change the timing of a breakpoint, or to create or delete breakpoints, you should work in the breakpoint envelope display.