novation Summit and Peak Synthesizer User Guide

novation Summit and Peak Synthesizer User Guide

User Guide Addendum

There are three themes to the features of the Version 2.0 and 2.1 firmware updates for Peak and Summit:

• Stereo – Three additional Spread modes that open possibilities for stereo sound design.
• Control – We’ve included additional mod destinations, envelope parameters, and more, to enhance your control.
• Unpredictability – Arp Chance adds a level of unpredictability to Peak & Summit’s arpeggiator patterns.

Updating your Firmware

You can update the firmware for your Summit or Peak synthesiser using our Novation Components software. You can access Novation Components one of two ways:

• Web version: in a browser that supports web MIDI (Chrome, Edge, Opera) go to the URL: components.novationmusic.com.
• Standalone version: You can download the Components standalone application from inside your Novation account at: customer.novationmusic.com. You need to register your Summit or Peak to download the software.

After you’ve opened Novation Components, you can update your Summit or Peak:

1. Connect your synthesizer to your computer using the USB cable.
2. Hold the three buttons to the left of the screen and power on your synthesizer in bootloader mode.
3. Open Novation Components.
4. Click Update in Components to update your firmware.

Components will instruct you through the steps to update your Summit or Peak with the Version 2.0 and 2.1 firmware, enjoy.

Stereo

Voice Menu: Spread

The Voice panning setting ‘Spread’ (formerly known as ‘UniSpread’) has broken out into four unique Spread Modes:

• Diverge – The former ‘UniSpread’ behaviour remains; The more voices you add to the sound, the further voices diverge from the centre of the stereo field. If no notes are held the pattern resets.

• Alternate – As you add more voices Spread pans even-numbered voices left and odd-numbered voices right.

• Diverge 2 – The voices you add run a round-robin to move the stereo position from the centre to the left and the right. The sound gradually gets wider before it resets back to
  the centre, regardless of held voices.

• NoteVal – NoteVal masks each note giving it a unique and repeatable stereo position. This works well on arp sequences.

We’ve moved Spread to page 2 of the Voice Menu. This moves it alongside the other stereo voice controls:

• Spread Mode: Diverge, Alternate, Diverge 2, NoteVal
  

Voice Menu: Pan Position

You can now control the Pan position (PanPosn, Voice menu) of the voices. With Spread set to 0, the voices pan where you set the ‘PanPosn’ from hard left to hard right, -64 to +63.

Pan Position is dependent on the Spread Mode and amount.

• Diverge: Pan Position of the first voice matches what you select, as you add more voices the further the voices move from the initial pan position.
• Alternate: Even-numbered voices still pan left and odd-numbered voices right, however, as you pan each way, the voices in the opposite direction move more toward the centre. This results in less-extreme differences weighting the voices to one side of the stereo image.
• Diverge 2: The voices still run in a round-robin but Spread affects how clear the result is. For example, with Spread set to 64 and Pan posn of 0, the spread is even across the stereo field. Increasing PanPosn to +63, voices previously panned hard left are now central. However, if Spread is 127 some voices stay panned hard left/right when PanPosn is +63/-64 respectively.
• NoteVal: The voices retain their unique and repeatable stereo position but with a weighting added by the PanPosn value. If the notes C, E and G are panned hard left, centre, and hard right, respectively, when PanPosn is set to -64, the C will remain hard-left, E will become hard-left and G will become centre panned.

The Pan position is also available as a Mod Matrix destination: PanPosn.

Control

Mod Matrix Destinations

We’ve added three new destinations to the Mod Matrix Destination menu:

• Pan Position – PanPosn – allows you to modulate the pan of the voice.
• O123 Shape – O123Shpe – modulates the shape control for all three oscillators simultaneously.
• Control of Amp Envelope and Mod 1 & 2 Envelopes’, Delay, Hold and Sustain stages: AEnvDel, AEnvHld, AEnvSus, MEnv1Del, MEnv1Hld, MEnv1Sus, MEnv2Del, MEnv2Hld, MEnv2Sus.

Patch Cue
PatchCue is a performance feature allowing you to ‘cue’ a new patch by separating the patch selection into two steps. With PatchCue off the encoder or patch +/- allows you to switch immediately to a new patch.

With PatchCue on you can navigate to a new patch with the encoder or Patch +/- buttons. The patch won’t change but the Patch button (Peak) or Single/Multi button (Summit) flashes to let you know you’ve cued a patch. Press the flashing button to execute the change when you want.
To enable Patch Cue go to the Settings menu (‘MISC SETTINGS’).

Animate Envelopes

We’ve added envelopes to the Animate buttons. Both Animate buttons now include attack and release stages. You can change the attack and release of the Animate buttons in the Env Menu. You can adjust AnimXAtt and AnimXRel from 0 – 127. The Animate Envelope settings are exponential with values of 70ms at 32, 600ms at 64, 3.5 seconds at 96 and 15 seconds at 127.

Pressing an Animate button triggers the attack stage and releasing the button triggers the release stage.

LFO 3 and 4 Additional Parameters

We’ve added three new parameters to LFOs 3 and 4:

• Slew – Adds slew to LFO 3 and 4. Slew changes the shape of the LFO waveform. As you increase Slew it smooths sharp edges.
• Phase – Turns on key sync and phase – LFOs 3 and 4 aren’t per voice so LFO will reset from all notes off to any number of notes on (allowing you to play chords without constant resetting as you add more notes).
• Fade Time – Adds a fade-in for LFO 3 and 4 depth.

The new parameters for LFOs 3 and 4 were already available for LFOs 1 and 2, either in the LFO menu (Slew and Phase) or as a top panel control (Fade Time).

FX Mod Slot Destinations

New FX Destinations are available on pages 9/10 of the FX Menu:

Chorus/Flanger/Phlanger
We’ve added two new modes to the Chorus effect. On page 2 of the FX menu, the Mode setting changes how the chorus effect works. We’ve produced each effect using the same approach with varying intensities– Altering the number of notches and number of cancellations present to change the effect. Chorus uses the highest number of notches and ‘Phlanger’ uses the lowest.

In the Chorus and Flanger modes, changing between 2-Tap and 4-Tap offsets the phase of the modulation source. This results in an increase in cancellation. With both 2-pole and 4-pole, the modulation source synchronizes, resulting in repeating modulation. Set to Ensemble, the modulation source’s phase isn’t synchronized, this results in ‘movement’ in the peaks & troughs across the frequency spectrum.

When using Phlanger, switching between 2-pole and 4-pole doesn’t change the modulation source’s phase, however, switching to Ensemble results in the modulation source no longer being synced.

All three effects share the range of rate, depth, and feedback parameters:

• Depth: 0 – 127

• Feedback: -63 – +63

• Rate: 0 – 127 (approx. 0.02 – 3Hz)
  

• Chorus – The existing Chorus mode.

• Flanger – The Flanger is like the Chorus but uses more detuning and feedback to produce a more pronounced swirling sensation emphasising the harmonics in the sound as it sweeps through them.

• Phlanger – Phlanger follows the same approach as Flanger. It is an even further reduced Chorus configured for a Phaser-like effect. Phlanger works well with slow rates and high feedback values.

Switchable Delay Modes

We’ve added two new delay modes and a new Output setting to the Delay FX settings.

• Original – the original delay; one delay time with a left tap time and a right tap time.
• CrossFed – the left input feeds the right delay and the right input feeds the left delay, similar to ping pong delay but incorporates left, right & central panning.
• Dual – Each side of the delay has it’s own delay time equal to the tap time. This effect starts to distinguish itself from Orginal when Feedback is introduced.

Output is a switch to choose where the delay output is picked from. Either from the delay output (PreDamp), or from the delay filter output (PostDamp).

For the Original delay style, PostDamp monos the delay and only gives the longest delay tap time.

For the CrossFed and Dual delay styles PostDamp gives you the ability to hear the first delay and filter in stereo.

Unpredictability

Lo-Fi Delay
We’ve added a TimeMode feature to the delay section of the FX menu. This adjusts the delay’s sample rate creating longer delays. As the delay’s sound quality reduces as the delay gets longer– resulting in a lo-fi effect

TimeMode settings:

• Normal – A ‘clean’ delay at the rate and time you specify. Identical to the previous functionality.
• Double – A ‘clean’ delay at half of the rate and time you specify.
• Treble – A ‘clean’ delay at a third of the rate and time you specify.
• QuadLoFi – A ‘Lo-Fi’ delay at a quarter of the rate and time you specify.
• HexVLoFi – A ‘’Very’ Lo-Fi’ delay at a sixth of the rate and time you specify.
  

Noise as a Mod Source

We’ve added Noise to the Mod source menu so you can use it as a modulation source in both the Mod Matrix and FX Mod Matrix.

Arp Chance

You can set the probability of a step playing in an arp sequence. To enable this, go to page 4 of the Arp/Clock menu. You can set ArpChance between 10% and 100%. 10% gives each step a 1 in 10 chance of triggering and set to 100% each step will always play.

Arp mode – Chord 2

Chord 2 relates to the ArpChance setting.

• In Chord 1 mode, ArpChance dictates how likely it is the whole chord plays.
• In Chord 2 mode ArpChance works per note; only some notes of the chord play creating interesting effects. For example, a triad chord with a 10% ArpChance results in scattered melodies, a more dense, layered chord with higher ArpChance values can result in a moving harmony.
  

Update Features Exclusive to Peak

The following features can already be found on Summit, so are exclusive to the Peak in the version 2.1 firmware update. If you have a Summit, you can use this guide too, or find more detailed descriptions in the Summit User Guide.

Amp & Mod Env Delay

We’ve added a stage before the AHDSR* sequence of the Amp and Mod Envelopes: envelope Delay. This is in the Env menu and updates Peak’s envelopes to match Summit.

Envelope Delay changes how long it takes for the attack time – and the entire AHDSR sequence – to start after you send a note. Delay time leads us to rename the envelope sequence DAHDSR for completeness.

When Delay has the default value of 0, the envelopes start their attack phase as soon as Peak receives MIDI. Delay inserts a lag between striking the key and the start of the AHDSR envelope.

You can set envelope Delay between 0-127. At 127, the AHDSR starts after 10 seconds. Shorter delay times are typically more useful, so the delay time is exponential: a value of about 85 has a delay of one second.
The new envelope Delay stages are also present in Peak’s Mod Matrix.
Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain, Release.

Noise HPF

We’ve added a High-pass noise filter to the Osc menu to match Summit. The High filter performs the same function as Peak’s existing NoiseLPF, except high pass. As you increase the Noise HPF value, the filter’s higher frequencies pass, and the filter rejects more low-frequency content of the noise signal.

• Displayed as: NoiseHPF
• Initial value: 0
• Range of adjustment: 0 to 127
  

The parameter’s default value of zero sets the filter “fully open”. The effect of applying this is that each voice will have its own tuning characteristic.

FX Mod Destinations

We’ve separated the modulation destinations RevHPF and RevLPF into four damping and filtering options:

• RevL damp
• RevL pass
• RevH damp
• RevH pass

Update Features Exclusive to Summit

Seq Local Mode
This is a variation of Summit’s Local mode. Seq local mode means you can use Summit with an external sequencer, looping MIDI back into Summit, without causing any MIDI feedback issues. With Local set to Seq:

• The keys, mod and pitch wheels and aftertouch send MIDI data but don’t affect Summit’s synth engine. All other front panel controls affect the engine but don’t send out MIDI data.
  

Local options: Off, On, Seq

Aftertouch Scaling
You can tweak the pressure you need to use aftertouch using the Settings menu item Atouch Force. You can adjust AtouchForce between 1-10. Lower values require less pressure, higher values require more pressure.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue VCA gain controls did not affect voices 9-16 in single mode (both via local and external MIDI control).
• Modulation from LFO 3+4 now affects voices 9-16.
• Sending performance data via external MIDI control (including Modulation Wheel, Breath, Expression, etc.) now affects voices 9-16.
• Fixed a syncing issue with external MIDI clocks where it took a while to respond to clock signals correctly.
• FM controls now send and respond to their NRPN messages:
• FM OSC3 -> 1 Manual Amount NRPN 25:13 0-127 (0 to +127)
• FM OSC1 -> 2 Manual Amount NRPN 25:17 0-127 (0 to +127)
• FM OSC2 -> 3 Manual Amount NRPN 25:21 0-127 (0 to +127)
• Fixed an issue where some front panel controls still influence the engine when Local is Off.
• Changed the way Summit receives Aftertouch and other performance data from external MIDI on the Global channel when using multi parts:
• Layer Mode – Both parts respond to MIDI received on the Global Channel.
• Split Mode – MIDI received on the Global Channel affects both engines per the split settings, for example, if the split point is C3, anything below C3 will affect part A and C3 and above will affect part B.
• Dual Mode – MIDI received on the global channel affects the currently selected part – i.e. A, B, or Both.
• Fixed an issue where patch location was displayed incorrectly when viewing single patches inside a Multi-Patch.

Bug Fixes (from version)

• Fixed the issue of the mod routine (incl. envelope & LFO rates) being slower in Version 2.0.
• Fixed envelopes dropping abruptly in the last portion of the decay stage, both AEnv & MEnv – effects Env repeats (old envelopes finish earlier)
• Tuning tables now respond to NRPN (25:6 – select table).
• Fixed an issues where the Sustain Pedal input affected the engine when local was off.
• Key latch no longer lights up when sustain pedal and a front panel button is pressed.
• Fixed an issue where the synthesiser doesn’t go into Bootloader when prompted by Components.
• Fixed an issue where the VCA level changes preventing autoplay patches from playing upon load.

Bug Fixes Exclusive to Summit

• In multi-mode, Part B LFO1/2 LEDs display on Part A.
• Page LEDs may not update correctly when switching between menus & parts.
• Exiting a menu prompts a program change message.

Improvements (Peak and Summit)

• Bank & patch dumping to Components.
• Voice management improvements to prevent voice dropping.

Alterations

VCA clamping behavior

In Firmare version 2.0 the mod destination, VCA level, was clamped in the mod matrix when exceeding certain thresholds. However, this caused the mod routine to slow down so we have had to remove this in version 2.1.

When the VCA level is reaching the upper threshold, through additional modulation in the mod matrix, you may hear brief changes in phase (most notably as a short click and changes to the stereo spread) and the VCA level may drop entirely when exceeding the upper threshold. Similarly, the VCA may go from silent to audible when passing the lower threshold.

Similar behavior has been in present in past firmware releases. Of the possible outcomes noted above, we expect a small amout of users to experience slight phase alterations. If this is the case, use the VCA Gain control on the front panel and the Patch Level parameter in the Voice menu to make adjustments.

In most cases reducing VCA Gain and increasing Patch Level will resolve the issue and keep the patch at the same level.

Known Issues

• In multi-mode, Part B LFO1/2 LEDs display on Part A.
• In some cases the LFO LEDs may appear out of phase when using phase sync on both parts of a multi.

MIDI Parameters List

Parameter| CC/NRPN| Control Number| Range| Default Value
---|---|---|---|---
Pan Posn| NRPN| 0:51| 0-127| 0
Pan Type| NRPN| 0:52| 0-3| 0
Spread| NRPN| 0:5| 0-127| 0
Chorus/Phaser/Flanger| NRPN| 0:115| 0-2| 0
Lo-Fi Delay Time Mode| NRPN| 0:98| 0-4| 0
Select Tuning Table| NRPN| 25:6| 0-16| 0
Arp Chance| NRPN| 25:33| 01-100| 100
Animate 1 Att| NRPN| 25:34| 0-127| 0
Animate 1 Rel| NRPN| 25:35| 0-127| 0
Animate 2 Att| NRPN| 25:36| 0-127| 0
Animate 2 Rel| NRPN| 25:37| 0-127| 0
LFO3Phase| NRPN| 25:38| 0-120| 0
LFO3Slew| NRPN| 25:39| 0-127| 0
LFO3FadeTime| NRPN| 25:40| 0-127| 0
LFO4Phase| NRPN| 25:41| 0-120| 0
LFO4Slew| NRPN| 25:42| 0-127| 0
LFO4FadeTime| NRPN| 25:43| 0-127| 0
Atouch Scale| NRPN| 64:3| 1-10| 5
Patch Cue| NRPN| 64:0| 0-1| 0

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