Antares kantos 10 user manual

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The Challenge screen displays the Challenge string. To receive the
appropriate Response you will need to provide us with both the
Challenge string and the registration code that was included on the
yellow card in your software package (if you bought a retail package)
or supplied with your download.
To obtain your Response, have your registration code and Challenge
string at hand. (If you will be accessing the web from the same com-
puter that will be running your software, you can press “Copy Chal-
lenge” at the Challenge screen and then simply paste the Challenge
into the appropriate field on the web page below.)
Point your web browser to:
https://transactions.antarestech.com/
and simply follow the directions. (Be extremely careful to enter the
registration code and Challenge string accurately.)
If, for some reason, you do not have access to the web but do have email,
copy and paste your Challenge string and registration code into an email
along with your name and the product name (e.g., kantos 1.0 for MAS),
and send it to:
[email protected]
You will receive your Response string by return email.
If you do not have access to the web or email, fax your Challenge string
along with your registration code to us at 831.461.7801.  Be sure to include
your fax number.  We will fax the Response string back to you at that
number.
Note: You may optimize (defragment) the hard disk containing the
Challenge/Response authorization, or even re-install your system,
without losing the authorization. However, if you re-format the hard
drive or if it fails, contact Antares for the re-authorization procedure
(you are a registered user, right?). 
						

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Chapter 3: Overview
antos 1.0 uses relatively familiar synthesizer modules (oscillators, filters,
LFOs, etc.), but it’s controlled by audio, not a keyboard or other MIDI
controller. For example, feed it a vocal track, and kantos 1.0 will transform
your vocal into a synthesizer melody line. Although kantos 1.0 works most
predictably with monophonic source material, you can also process poly-
phonic material (chords, loops, etc.) and get some often-spectacular results.
Here’s the basic kantos 1.0 setup:
In your digital audio recording software, patch kantos 1.0 as an insert
effect into the channel with the audio that will control kantos 1.0.
Note that kantos 1.0 does not insert as a plug-in instrument (e.g., VSTi),
but as a plug-in processor. This is because, like a signal processor, it
accepts audio at its input.
Optimize the audio for the most reliable triggering.
Set up your synth sound using the various modules.
kantos 1.0 provides a variety of signal and processing modules; each serves
a function in the creation of a kantos 1.0 preset. Let’s get an overview of
these modules, then put them to use. (For brevity, we’ll refer to kantos 1.0
simply as kantos from here on.)
Audio Input and Gate Generator
The first step in creating or playing a kantos preset is to route the control-
ling audio into kantos, then set a nice hot level (the hotter the signal, the
more reliable the pitch detection).
The Gate Generator analyzes the input signal, and derives triggers to
initiate envelopes, as well as gates to control the envelope duration. A real-
time display makes it easy to tweak adjustments for optimum results. Also,
a noise gate can clean up any annoying background noise in the control
audio, as well as prevent any low-level signals (typically at the beginning or
end of a note or phrase) from confusing the pitch detector.
A manual gate button lets you trigger notes manually while programming,
or for special effects while playing kantos with audio.
k 
						

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Oscillators And Filters
kantos provides 2 flexible wavetable oscillators. A wavetable oscillator can
use not only periodic waveforms as sound sources (sawtooth wave, triangle,
etc.) but also digital audio samples, such as a plucked string. kantos ships
with a variety of wavetables; download new ones from our web site
(www.antarestech.com). You can also create your own wavetables with
pretty much any decent sample editor. An optional retrigger function from
the gate generator can insure that the sample starts from its beginning
with each new note.
Standard oscillator controls let you select the octave of the signal, trans-
pose by semitones, and fine tune by cents.
Each oscillator not only feeds its own independent multimode resonant
filter and chorus generator, but also includes a pitch constrain keyboard.
Pressing one or more keys limits the notes that the oscillator can play. This
is useful for limiting the output to the notes of a particular key or scale,
and for generating interesting melodic material from polyphonic and
unpitched input. Pressing all of the keys limits the oscillator to a diatonic
scale, thereby removing any expressive pitch gestures (e.g., vibrato) from
the input audio. A Glide control selects how quickly the pitch will slew from
one note to the next.
Articulator
This is the heart of kantos 1.0, and is making its debut on this planet for
the first time. The Articulator can apply the harmonic content and formant
information detected by its input section to the output of kantos’ sound
sources. The 2-axis Amount and Q control defines the amount and charac-
ter of the harmonic processing. That may sound complex, but the interface
is so easy to use you’ll just end up dragging a virtual ball around until
things sound good. Really.
Furthermore, a Formant Offset parameter shifts the input’s detected
formants up or down in frequency, affecting the sound’s character in yet
another way; a companion Emphasis section can tailor the sound’s overall
harmonic balance.
Noise Generator And Filter
The Noise Generator is a broadband noise source with its own dedicated
multimode resonant filter. It’s useful for (among other things) adding
sibilance to a patch, and for passing through the Articulator to create a
unique “whispering” effect. 
						

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Modulation Matrix
Although kantos 1.0 generates incredible expressive control from the input
audio’s pitch, dynamics and harmonic characteristics, it also provides a
flexible Modulation Matrix for an almost limitless variety of dynamic
effects. Any source can control multiple destinations, and any destination
can be controlled by multiple sources. Almost every variable parameter is
available as a destination (including the modulation amounts of each of
the control routings).
LFOs
kantos includes two multi-waveform LFOs which are routed in the Modula-
tion Matrix. Their frequency can be set manually, or by Tap Tempo (de-
scribed below).
Envelope Generators
Two ADSR Envelope Generators are also included as modulation sources
that can feed destinations in the Modulation Matrix.
Normally, a preset’s dynamics are derived from the dynamics of the input
audio. However, the Amp Envelope has an “On” button that allows the
envelope to control dynamics (in addition to any destination[s] set in the
Mod Matrix).
Delay
For rhythmic effects, kantos includes a delay line with variable feedback.
The delay time can be set in absolute time or, via the Tap Tempo function,
in BPM. The Delay effect’s level and panning is controlled by the main
Output Mixer.
Tempo Control
The Tempo Control section affects any or all of the delay time, LFO 1
frequency, and LFO 2 frequency. Specify the frequency by typing a value in
the BPM field, or “tapping” the on-screen Tap button (or the “T” key on
your computer’s keyboard). You can have separate settings for the delay,
LFO 1, and LFO 2; the display will show the value of the most recently-set
module.
Sub-Mixer
The Sub-Mixer controls the levels of the internal sound sources. In addition
to the wavetable oscillators and noise generator, two additional sine wave
oscillators track the fundamental frequencies of their respective wavetable
oscillators. 
						

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Main Mixer and Output
The main Mixer balances the main synth output, the delay line return, and,
if desired, the original unprocessed input audio. If kantos has been instanti-
ated as a mono in/stereo out plug-in, each of the main mixer inputs include
a pan control.
Important tips about tracking the pitch of input audio
kantos often seems miraculous because, well, it is. But it can also be picky
about input signals; here are some tips on obtaining the best pitch tracking
results from monophonic signals.
No time-based processing (echo, reverb, delay, chorus, etc.). We mean
it. If you want to have both kantos and the original input audio with
processing in your mix, use a dry version of the audio to drive kantos
and copy the same audio to another track for independent processing
and mixing.
Retain a signal’s natural dynamics for accurate triggering — super-
compressed audio with no dynamic range works fine for controlling
pitch, but you may not be able to derive accurate triggers.
Use hot input levels that make full use of the available headroom.
Avoid overlapping notes (for example, no other notes ringing in the
background if you’re playing guitar); the input should be monophonic.
However, this applies only to situations where you want really accurate
pitch tracking. kantos can do some nifty things with polyphonic
material, just not necessarily predictable things.
Some inputs are just plain weird. For example, a xylophone attack is so
harmonically complex that kantos has to wait until the main part of
the note begins so it can figure out what the heck is going on. And
some instruments have harmonics that are stronger than the funda-
mental during certain portions of the note. This is also problematic. 
						

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Chapter 4: Control Protocols
Sliders
Sliders have little blobs of light that you
grab and move to change a parameter
value.
• For fine-tuning, hold down the
Command (Mac) or Control (Windows)
key while moving the slider.
• Some slider parameters can be reset to
default values. Hold down the Option
(Mac) or Alt (Windows) key and then
click on the blob of light.
Buttons
Buttons look like little white LEDs. Click
once to turn on, and again to turn off.
Biaxial Graphic Adjusters
These are variations on X-Y control-
lers. There’s a square with a
glowing blue ball inside; grab the
ball and move it around on the X-Y
axis to get different sounds. All
three filters and the Articulator
have Biaxial Graphic Adjusters.
Numericals
You can adjust numbers directly.
Click on the numerical (it becomes
highlighted). Type in the desired
value, or use up/down arrow keys
to increment/decrement values and
then hit Enter.
•  SLIDER
•  BLOB OF LIGHT
• BUTTON ON
•  BUTTON OFF
• GRAB AND MOVE
   THE BLUE BALL
•  CLICK ON A NUMERICAL,
   TYPE IN A NEW VALUE 
						

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Chapter 5:
Fun With Oscillators and Filters
Loading kantos Presets
How you load presets depends on your sequencer. Cubase shows a strip
along the bottom, like this:
The tutorials always start with the kantos default preset. You do not need
to load this preset; simply close kantos, then open it again to “refresh” its
memory and call up the default preset.
However, when doing the tutorials you will need to bring certain audio
files into your program to drive kantos. Consult your hard disk recording
program’s documentation for how to do this. With many programs you can
simply drag and drop the appropriate audio file from the CD-ROM into a
track, but this is not always the case.
The Oscillator
kantos uses the audio signal to drive two oscillators. The oscillator pitch
follows the input signal pitch. A Sub-Mixer adjusts the blend of the two
oscillators, as well as some other signal sources. We’ll look at the oscillator
parameters; the Filter and Chorus parameters will be covered later.
Both oscillators work identically, so when you’ve learned one, you’ve
learned them both.
Load the file GUITAR__TUTORIAL.AIF into your hard disk recording pro-
gram of choice and loop it (suggested tempo: 100 BPM). Set the Gate
Generator parameters to On = -6, Off = -16, floor = -20, and Hold = 200 ms.
When you’re done with each step, for best results return the control to
its original setting.
There are two oscillators, but we’re going to investigate only one for
now to keep life simple. 
						

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TUTORIAL: GETTING TO KNOW THE OSCILLATORS
Note: To hear the raw oscillator sound without processing, at the
Articulator turn off the Osc1 In, Osc2 In, and Noise In buttons. You can
also hear the raw oscillator sound by clicking on the Manual Gate
button above the Gate Generator.
Start your sequencer playing. Set the Input control so that the overload
light at the top of the meter illuminates on the strongest audio peaks.
Adjust the Octave control (+2 to –2 octaves). This transposes in octaves.
Adjust the Semi control (+12 to –12 semitones). This transposes in
semitone steps.
Adjust the Cents control (+100 to –100 cents). This is for “fine tuning.”
Remember, you can return this to the default (0 cents) by Option-
clicking on the Cents control.
Play with the Glide control. Note that the notes now slide from one
pitch to the next, rather than go in steps.
Let’s get rid of that buzzy sawtooth wave and try some different
waveforms. The Wave parameter is in the upper right in the picture
above (it shows “buzz” as being selected). Click on the arrow next to
the Wave name. 
						

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Cool! A pop-up menu appears with lots of waves. You can create your
own too, or download new waves from www.antarestech.com. Choose
some different waves, and note how they affect the sound.
If the oscillator waveform has a specific attack rather than just being a
continuous waveform, click on the Retrigger button. This causes the
wavetable to always start at the beginning when a new gate is gener-
ated.
After you finish auditioning waves, select Stringpad when you’re done.
TUTORIAL: CONSTRAINING PITCH
The same crafty people who unwittingly unleashed “The Cher Effect” on
the world with Auto-Tune have now used this power for good: kantos can
follow pitch-bending, constrain input notes to all notes of a scale, or
constrain the input to only certain notes. This is all managed from the
parameters in the vicinity of the little “virtual keyboard.”
Keep the GUITAR_TUTORIAL.WAV file playing, and…
To constrain all Osc1 pitches to semitone intervals, click on the Osc1 All
button. The keyboard keys glow with an otherworldly luminescence.
For no pitch constraint, click on Clear. The keyboard notes go dark.
You’ll now hear pitch-bending and vibrato present in the original
signal.
To constrain to certain notes, click on the desired notes. Input notes
will be constrained to the nearest selected note (e.g., if you select C, F,
and A, and the input is D#, it will be constrained to F). Click on the low
C for now.
All input notes will now play back as C.
Click on C, E, and G. All notes are constrained to the notes in a C major
chord.
Click on these notes again to turn them off. Click on D, F, and A. Now
all notes are constrained to the notes in a D minor chord.
Leave the constraint settings as desired before we delve into the next
topic. Don’t close your sequencer yet, we’ll use this file for the next
tutorial as well. 
						

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The Filter
The filter affects the
oscillator’s frequency
spectrum. It can hype the
highs, lower the lows,
focus on a particular
frequency, or add
vibrant (we’ve really
wanted to use that
word!) resonant effects.
All three filters work
identically, so when
you’ve learned one, you’ve learned them all.
The filter has three main parameters; the following chart explains how
these parameters relate to each other.
Mode selects the filter structure (chosen similarly to the oscillator
waveform — click on the arrow just below the Biaxial Graphic Adjuster,
and choose one of six modes).
Frequency sets the frequency at which the filter starts affecting the
signal.
Q sets the filter’s sharpness.
TUTORIAL: THE BIAXIAL GRAPHIC ADJUSTER
The Biaxial Graphic Adjuster lets you change frequency and Q simulta-
neously by drawing on the filter’s X-Y control pad. Here’s how it works.
Note: It is possible to adjust the filter so that you don’t hear any
sound — for example, if the lowpass filter frequency is lower than the
lowest oscillator frequency. Don’t call tech support, just re-adjust the
filter.
Press Play on your sequencer to hear the tutorial file again.
Enable the Osc 1 filter’s Active button so that it glows.
Choose the desired filter mode. Lowpass 4P is a good choice for
starters.
Click your cursor on the blue biaxial ball.
Drag the ball right to raise the Freq parameter, drag left to decrease.
Drag the ball up to increase Q, and down to decrease Q.
Experiment with the various modes to hear how they affect the overall
sound. When you’re done, de-activate the filter.
 BIAXIAL GRAPHIC
   ADJUSTER

 MODE 
 FREQUENCY  Q