Antares kantos 10 user manual

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Chapter 9: Creative Applications
Using kantos with guitar
While kantos is designed to be particularly effective with voice input, it also
makes a killer monophonic guitar synth. For the best tracking from guitar
input, follow these guidelines:
Drive kantos with a clean guitar sound. Processing with echo, delay,
reverb or heavy distortion will compromise pitch tracking.
If you want a heavily processed guitar part doubled by a sound from
kantos, split your guitar signal into two feeds: a clean version to kantos
and the second feed to your guitar processors. Record each to a
separate track for mixdown. Another option is to record a clean guitar
to your hard disk recorder and copy the track. Feed kantos with one
track, and use the other to drive a guitar amp plug-in (e.g., Warp VST,
AmpliTube, ReValver, Nigel, etc.).
Play cleanly to ensure that only one note is sounding at a time and that
previous notes to not overlap new notes.
If you’re using the Gate Generator, set a fairly high Floor setting so
kantos doesn’t respond to hum and other crud that tends to hitch a
free ride with the guitar’s signal.
A guitar’s initial pluck contains a ton of non-harmonic signals that can
confuse kantos. If this is a problem, sometimes simply switching to a
lighter gauge pick and picking more softly will allow kantos to track
pitch more accurately.
Polyphonic and unpitched input
Although kantos can not predictably detect pitch from polyphonic input
(e.g., chords, counterpoint, complete mixes) or unpitched input (e.g.,
spoken words, noise, percussion, sound effects, etc.), it can generate some
striking (and often surprising) sounds and textures from them. Here are a
few guidelines:
Adjust the Gate Generator to trigger envelopes and retrigger
wavetables for various rhythmic effects. With a lot going on in poly-
phonic inputs, small changes to the Gate On and Gate Off levels can
result in markedly different rhythms. 
						

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Experiment with different Gate Hold times to establish various rhyth-
mic pulses.
Use the Pitch Constrain keyboards to limit the generated pitches to
ones that will fit into your song’s harmonic structure. Select different
notes in each of the Oscillators for interesting harmonic effects.
Select Oscillator wavetables that have distinct attacks, and turn on
Retrigger for complex rhythms.
The Modulation Matrix is always your friend, but in this application,
can even become your best friend.
Use Noise as the sound source. In the Mod Matrix, assign input dynam-
ics to the Noise Filter and send it on to the Articulator with 100%
amount and 100% Q. Modulate Formant Offset with some other
source. Go crazy.
Loop Applications
For loop-based music, kantos can generate unique rhythmic loops in several
ways:
Use a drum loop as input. Tune one oscillator low and constrain to one
note for a bass pulse. Constrain the other oscillator to three or four
notes for rhythmic pseudo-arpeggiation. Add some noise through the
Articulator. Sit back and collect compliments for your innovative
sounds.
To get a quick idea of how drum loops can be used with kantos, load
the tutorial audio file DrumBeefLoop.aif and use it to drive the presets
BasicLoop1 through BasicLoop4. These presets include the original
input audio in the mix, so you can immediately hear how kantos
creates new parts from the loop. In real life, you’re usually better off
keeping the original loop and the kantos parts on separate tracks for
subsequent processing.
Spoken words make great loops. Edit a bit of speech so that it loops in
tempo with your song and use it to drive kantos. Program some slow
modulations in the Mod Matrix so that the loop evolves in interesting
ways over time.
The kantos factory presets include some presets designed primarily for
melodic lines, and others designed to do interesting things with loops.
Try misusing them. Feed a loop into a melodic preset. Sing into a loop
preset that uses pitch constraint. Remember, there are no accidents. 
						

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Re-synthesizing a synth part
Ever record a synth lead or bass part that sounded fine at the time, but
when mixdown time rolled around, didn’t quite work with the rest of the
parts? MIDI is a good way around that problem — just set a different synth
patch, but use the MIDI data to drive it. However, quite a few computer-
based hard disk recording programs emphasis digital audio at the expense
of MIDI, and may lack the flexibility to do extensive MIDI editing.
kantos can solve the problem. For example, suppose you want to record a
bass part but aren’t sure what kind of timbre you ultimately want to use.
Here’s what to do.
Set your synth bass to a clean, single-oscillator sine wave patch with
the desired dynamic characteristics (e.g., velocity and envelope con-
trol). This type of audio is ideal for driving kantos.
Record this part into your hard disk recording program.
When it’s time to mixdown, set kantos to create the desired sound, and
drive it from the simple sine wave track.
Experiment with kantos’ wealth of parameters until you obtain the
perfect sound to go with the rest of your tune. 
						

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Chapter 10: A Few Words About the
Factory Presets
nlike traditional MIDI synths, the sounds produced by kantos are defined\
not just by the presets, but also by the audio that drives them. Wheneve\
r a
sound designer creates a MIDI preset, they can be sure that when anyone,\
anywhere plays C3 on a keyboard, they’ll hear exactly the same sound \
that
the designer heard when they created the preset. Not so with kantos.
While our sound designers tried to design their presets around general
input audio categories (voice, guitar, drum loops, etc.), there’s no way they
could ever predict the specific audio you will be using to drive them. W\
ith
that in mind, we offer the following tips for getting the best from the
factory presets:
• First and foremost, there are no rules. Try using any input audio with
any preset. You never know what might happen.
• That being said, some presets are likely to work better with certain
types of audio than others. For example, we’ve included a symbol (“\
•”
for Mac; “_” for Windows) at the end of the name of any preset th\
at
has oscillator pitch constraint set such that the preset will not produc\
e
an accurate reproduction of the pitch of the input. So if your goal is t\
o
track the pitch of a monophonic melodic input, don’t pick a preset with
“•” or “_” at the end. Also, some presets have been named\
 to describe
the designer’s original intent.
However, don’t let your experimentation be limited by any of these
cues. We’ve gotten some amazing results by using voice or guitar to
drive presets designed for drum loops. These obviously result more in
special effects than recognizable melody, but the effects can be truly
stunning.
• The various levels in the presets (Input, Submixer, Mixer and Output
levels) have been set to work on a wide range of audio inputs. How-
ever, depending on the nature of your specific input, it may be neces-
sary to adjust the levels for best balance and effect. In particular, watch
for output clipping. The Filters and Articulator are capable of quite a
bit of gain, so if your input has a lot of energy right at their resonan\
t
frequencies, problems could ensue.
U 
						

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If a preset makes use of tempo synced LFOs or Delay, you will almost
certainly have to readjust the tempo for your particular input.
We have included a selection of basic presets designed to serve more as
examples and templates than finished presets. BasicVoice1 – 6 and
BasicLoop1 – 4 each provide progressively more complex treatments of
vocal and rhythmic loop input. They are a great introduction to basic
kantos techniques as well as serving as starting points for creation of
your own melodic or loop presets.
We will periodically be posting new presets on our web site for down-
load. Check out the site often for new additions. (Instructions for
installing the new presets will be included with the downloads.) 
						

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Chapter 11:
Creating Your Own Wavetables
You can expand the Oscillator waveform list in kantos by creating a folder
and putting sound files into it.
• On a Mac, create a folder in System/Preferences called ‘Kantos Waveforms’
• For Windows 98/XP: WINDOWS\Kantos\User Waveforms
• For Windows NT/2000: WINNT\Kantos\User Waveforms
Start up your host program, instantiate kantos, and verify that the extr\
a
waveforms have been added (they will appear at the end of the list).
W e’ll be posting new wavetables at the Antares web site, so stop by ev\
ery
now and then to check them out.
Creating Custom Wavetables
Y ou can create your own original wavetables using pretty much any sample
editor. kantos reads 16 bit mono AIFF files (Mac versions) or WAV files (PC
versions) at any sample rate. There is no size restriction, although sm\
aller
files (less than around 400k) will work most efficiently. Sounds that are
harmonically rich work best with the Articulator, so make sure that the
timbres are bright (boost high EQ).
The AIFF format contains header information which includes the original
pitch of the recording. In order for kantos to map the waveform correctl\
y,
this needs to be set before saving the file. For example, in BIAS Peak, \
use
the Get Info feature to set the root note to the correct octave and pitc\
h.
Loop the file for best results — either the whole file should loop li\
ke a
wavetable (where the start point is the start of the file and the end p\
oint is
the end), or just part of it should loop like a sample (where the star\
t point
is set after the attack) — kantos can read the loop points either way.
Imperfect loops (with obvious clicks or heavily pulsing crossfade loops\
) can
produce distracting audio artifacts in the kantos patch, so try to dial \
in the
best loop possible.
Note:  If you’re working on a Macintosh, Antares’s own Infinity looping
tools software will let you create the best possible loop, even in files\
which are traditionally considered unloopable. (Even cymbals can be
looped with Infinity.) 
						

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Chapter 12: Reference
This chapter is a quick reference for all of the controls used in the kantos
interface. It is intended for those who need to refresh their memories of
what a particular parameter controls, and its range of values. For more
basic information and explanations of these parameters, please refer to the
main section of the manual.
Of course, you can always just mess around with the controls and see what
happens. Don’t worry, you won’t break anything!
Input
WHAT’S IT FOR?
The input control optimizes the level feeding kantos; an accompanying
meter indicates the level. The level should be set so that the overload light
(at the top of the meter) lights only on the input signal’s very strongest
peaks.
WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS?
NAME RANGE WHAT IT DOES
Level -∞ to +12dB Sets the level for optimum response, as
gauged by the input level meter
Oscillator
WHAT’S IT FOR?
An oscillator creates the raw waveform that tracks the input, and can be
processed by other kantos 1.0 modules. kantos 1.0 has two oscillators.
WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS?
Each oscillator has the same parameters.
NAME RANGE WHAT IT DOES
Oct -2 to +2 units Changes oscillator tuning in octaves
Semi -12 to +12 units Changes oscillator tuning in semitones
Cents -100 to +100 units Changes oscillator tuning in 1/100ths of a
semitone 
						

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Glide 0 to 100% Causes a note to slide to the next note
instead of switching instantly. The higher
the percentage, the longer the slide.
Wave number limited Each wave provides a different oscillator
sound
Retrigger on/off When enabled, a new gate causes the
oscillator to re-start its waveform at the
waveform’s beginning
Pitch Musical scale, C–B Click on keys to limit the notes kantos
plays to those you have selected. These
notes will glow.
Pitch On/off Constrains (quantizes) all pitches to
semitone intervals. All keyboard notes
glow.
Pitch On/off Places no pitch constraints on the incom-
ing audio. No keyboard notes glow.
Chorus
WHAT’S IT FOR?
The chorus copies one of the oscillators and detunes it in a periodic, cyclic
fashion. This “thickens” the sound compared to hearing a single oscillator,
and the detuning adds an animated effect compared to a typical static
waveform.
WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS?
Each chorus has the same parameters.
NAME RANGE WHAT IT DOES
Active On/off The light glows when the chorus is
enabled. Disabling the chorus if not in use
saves a minuscule amount of CPU power.
Rate 0.1Hz to 20Hz Changes the frequency of the periodic
pitch modulation/detuning
Depth 0 to 100% Sets the pitch range of the detuning.
100% is the maximum range. only by computer
storage
constrain
keyboard
constrain
All
constrain
clear 
						

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Filter
WHAT’S IT FOR?
kantos has three multi-mode (i.e., capable of different response) filters.
Each oscillator has an associated filter that processes the raw oscillator
wave by altering the timbre either statically, or dynamically with external
modulation. The Noise Generator has a filter that acts identically to an
oscillator filter.
WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS?
Each filter has the same parameters.
NAME RANGE WHAT IT DOES
Mode lowpass 2P Selects among lowpass, bandpass, and
highpass responses, each with selectable
“sharpness.” 2P (2 pole) filters have
gentler, less dramatic filtering responses
than 4P (4 pole) types.
Active On/off The light glows when the filter is en-
abled. Disabling the filter if not in use
saves CPU power.
Freq 20Hz to 20kHz Changes the frequency at which the
filtering effect occurs
Q0 to 100% Boosts the response around the filter
Freq, while slightly lowering response
outside this range
Articulator
WHAT’S IT FOR?
To give totally radical, way-cool effects never before attained in any other
software program. So there.
Seriously, though, the Articulator uses the harmonic content and formant
information detected by kantos 1.0’s input section, and applies that to any
combination of oscillator outputs and the noise generator. This causes the
output signal to take on some of the characteristics of the input signal.
A Formant Offset parameter shifts the input’s detected formants up or
down in frequency, affecting the sound’s timbre and spectral content. A
companion Emphasis section provides equalization options to tailor the
sound’s overall tonality.lowpass 4P
bandpass 2P
bandpass 4P
highpass 2P
highpass 4P 
						

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WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS?
NAME RANGE WHAT IT DOES
Osc1 In On/off Feeds the Oscillator 1 output into the
Articulator for processing
Osc2 In On/off Feeds the Oscillator 2 output into the
Articulator for processing
Noise In On/off Feeds the Noise output into the
Articulator for processing
Amount 0 to 100% Determines the extent to which the input
section’s harmonic content and formant
information affect the output signal
Q0 to 100% Sets the overall tonal character of the
Articulator’s processing.
Formant -100% to +100% Shifts the input’s detected formants
(overall harmonic structure) up or down
in frequency to change the output
signal’s timbre
Emphasis Minimum to Emphasizes or de-emphasizes low
frequencies
Emphasis Minimum to Emphasizes or de-emphasizes midrange
frequencies
Emphasis Minimum to Emphasizes or de-emphasizes high
frequencies
Delay
WHAT’S IT FOR?
The Delay copies the output signal and shifts it later in time; the delayed
signal is available at the Sub-Mixer. This output can be fed back into the
input and delayed again, thus creating multiple echoes.
WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS?
NAME RANGE WHAT IT DOES
Time 10 to 999ms Sets the amount of delay. This can be
overridden by the tempo control
(described later).
Feedback 0 to 100% Determines what percentage of the
output signal feeds back to the input.
Greater percentages increase the number
of echoes that are generated. Offset
Low maximum
Mid maximum
High maximum