Features

 General

• 6 Voice virtual Analog / Hybrid Synthesizer with included Sequencer
• GUI size 100%, 125%, 150%, and 200%
• Different tunings possible using .tun files
• Responds to MIDI Program change and MIDI Bank Select
• MIDI MPE mode available
• Over 2250 presets

Top GUI Section:

• Presets
  SubBoomBass-2 uses a Preset/Bank menu to select and manage Presets. 
  You may store up to 256 Presets, but the amount of factory Presets do not exceed 128 due to the MIDI program change limit.
  The menu features: Quick Browser / Recently Browsed / Favourites / Default Preset/ Convert Blade 1 Bank or Preset / 100/125/150/200 Screen Size
• Banks
  SubBoomBass-2 uses a Bank menu to select and manage bank Folders. The menu features: Create New Bank Folder
• Edit / Orig
  As soon as you start editing a Preset the Edit button will light up. If you click on the Orig button it will return the Preset to its original settings.
• ECS (External MIDI Control)
  The ECS button allows you to load and save the entire external MIDI controller setup. Once set, it is shared by all Presets and all instances of Blade-2 that are loaded into your DAW. 
  The menu options are: Load ECS / Save ECS / Clear MIDI
• Help
  Opens up SubBoomBass-2’s PDF Manual.
• Easy
  It opens SubBoomBass-2’s, Easy Page.
• Bank Manager
  It opens SubBoomBass-2’s Bank Manager screen.
• SubBoomBass-2 Logo
  Clicking on the Blade-2 logo takes you to the Back Panel. The Back Panel shows global settings and infrequently accessed controls.
• Control Menu (3 lines ICON at the right-hand side)
  Clicking on the Control Menu icon will pop up the Control Menu, where you can set the screen size, set how SubBoomBass-2 reacts to MIDI and, other options. 

Play Mode (lower-left corner)

• Play modes
  Mono, Legato, Seq, Poly, Mono Lo, Mono Hi, Leg Lo, Leg Hi, Poly MPE
• Portamento
  The portamento menu controls the portamento modes, which are: Off, Constant Rate, Constant Time, Held Rate, and Held Time. 
• Unison
  Detune amount
  Modes: Octave, 2 unison, 2+Oct, 4 unison, 4+Oct, 6 unison, 6+Oct.
• Decay / Release Shape
  Envelope Decay / Release Curve for Amp and Filter
  Default -20% exponential 
• Analog
  Analog drifting amount.
• Pitch Bend
  Up and Downrange 1 semi up to 48 semi
• Pitch LFO
  General Pitch LFO with the amount, amount control, waveform and, tempo sync option
• Tune Setting per preset
  Tuning (default 440hz)

Oscillator 1 + 2 section.

• Virtual analog waveforms
• Spectrum waveforms
• Sampled waveforms
• Granular mode (grains) for the sampled waveforms
• String model (Karplus model with additional features)
• Sub-Oscillator with Sinus and Square waveforms, that can also be used with the sampled waveforms
• Symmetry control for the analog and spectrum waveforms
• PWM (analog and spectrum waves symmetry modulation) with speed control
• Free running option for the analog and spectrum waveforms
• Semi tuning and fine-tuning
• Keyboard tracking On/off
• Oscillator 1 only:
  The option to stop the Oscillator going into the Filter
• Oscillator 2 only:
  Oscillator Sync On/Off
  Modulation: Ring, FM, Feed, Filter, and String Feed.

Pre and Post-Filter Distortion

• The types are pre-Filter: Fold, Fuzz, Power, and Sat (Saturation)
• The type post-Filter is: Sat (Saturation) 

Filter  1 Section

• 31 Filter Types
  Low Pass Filter (LP) --. 6dB, 12dB, 18dB, 24dB or 36dB per octave.
  High Pass Filter (HP) – 6dB, 12dB, 18dB, 24dB or 36dB per octave.
  Band Pass Filter (BP) – 12dB / 24dB
  Notch Filter - 12dB & 24dB 
  For the 12dB & 24dB Filters, there are 3 types of Filters, which have different tonal characters. The Z Filters are zero-delay 
  Vocal Filter - Vocal Filter with Vowel controls.
  Comb Filter - A comb Filter is a very short delay that either enhances or reduces frequency depending on the comb Filter frequency. 
  Ring Modulation - The ring modulation Filter multiplies the incoming signal with a sine oscillator whose frequency is the Filter frequency. The Q dial controls the amount of ring modulation.
• Cutoff Frequency control
• Q (Resonance)
• Vowel 
  Controls the vowel used in the Vocal Filter
• Cutoff Frequency Modulation: Velocity (Vel). Key-Track, Modulation Wheel, LFO, and Envelope
• Filter Envelope Controls: Attack, Decay, Sustain, Sustain-Fade, and Release,
• Filter Envelope Inverse: negative modulating envelope mode
• Filter LFO: Speed, Tempo Sync On/Off, Mono or Free-Mode, LFO Control Amount, LFO Amount Control.
  Waveforms: sinus (90,108,270degrees), triangle( 90,180,270 degrees), saw up (90,108,270 degrees), saw down (90,180, 270 degrees), square (90,180, 270 degrees), and S&H. 
• Filter 1+2 Path selector:
  Serial mode Filter 1 into Filter 2,
  Parallel mode: Filter 1 and Filter 2 parallel
  Split mode: Oscillator 1 goes into Filter 1 and, Oscillator 1 goes into Filter 2
  (additional the 2 FX blocks can be split as well

Filter  2 Section

• 31 Filter Types
  Low Pass Filter (LP) --. 6dB, 12dB, 18dB, 24dB or 36dB per octave.
  High Pass Filter (HP) – 6dB, 12dB, 18dB, 24dB or 36dB per octave.
  Band Pass Filter (BP) – 12dB / 24dB
  Notch Filter - 12dB & 24dB 
  For the 12dB & 24dB Filters, there are 3 types of Filters, which have different tonal characters. The Z Filters are zero-delay 
  Vocal Filter 
  Comb Filter - A comb Filter is a very short delay that either enhances or reduces frequency depending on the comb Filter frequency. 
  Ring Modulation - The ring modulation Filter multiplies the incoming signal with a sine oscillator whose frequency is the Filter frequency. The Q dial controls the amount of ring modulation.
• Cutoff Frequency control
• Q (Resonance)

Amplifier Section

• Volume
• Velocity (Vel > Vol)
• Volume Envelope Controls: Attack, Decay, Sustain, Sustain-Fade, and Release.

XY Screen / XY section

• The XY pad is a combination of a live, interactive control, and an automated programmable modulation source.
  Use the mouse to control the  6x Free parameters simultaneously, by moving the XY dot around the XY Pad. It is also possible to record these movements as paths and use the XY pad as a programmable two-dimensional LFO.
• Modulation Destinations
  Inside the XY section are the modulation controls. There are 3 destinations for the X movement and 3 destinations for the Y movement including an amount control.
• Modes
  The XY pad operates in Free or Mono mode. The Free mode is automatically selected if the Sequencer is active.
• Loop
  When Loop is On, the XY dot will jump from the end of the path, back to the start of the path, and keep moving. In the < > mode, the XY path loops but travels back and forth along the path. When Loop is Off it travels the XY path one-way only once.
• Sync To
  By default, when the XY path is replayed, it plays back at the speed with which it was recorded. However, if you want to alter this, the Sync To menu enables you to set the time period the XY path takes to playback. This is set in quarter-beats and is synced to the host's tempo.
• Points
  Paths are stored as 128 points and the in-between connections. You can change the number of points stored, using the Points menu. The minimum number of points is 2 points, suitable for very straightforward paths. If you return the resolution to 128 points (Off), the original points will be restored.
• Space Quantize
  Space Quantize restricts the points in the current path to a set of grid lines. The default setting is off, but when you select a grid of 32, 16, 8, or 4 grid lines, Blade-2 will snap all the points to their nearest grid point. The Quantize setting is non-destructive. Disabling Space Quantize will return the points to their original position. 
• Time Quantize
  Time Quantize sets the update frequency of the XY position. Use this in conjunction with the Sync function to find the optimized balance between update frequency and the number of points in the path. 
• Play Speed
  The Play Speed control alters the playback speed of the recorded XY Path. It ranges from 1/16 of the set time to 16 times the set time.
• Smooth
  The smooth control will soften any edges and corners in a path. Use this control if you want to avoid sudden changes (which may sound harsh) in modulation signals. 
• Speed Control 
  This allows you to set a modulation source (via the menu), and how much this source changes the speed.
• Edit
  The Edit button located near the XY pad puts the XY path in edit mode. While in edit mode, you can move the path's points around and thus edit the XY Path manually.
• Commands
  A right-click on the XY display or the command button opens the XY Menu with the following options: Load XY Preset, Save XY Preset.
  The XY commands menu also shows all the previously saved XY Presets. Clicking on one Preset does load it in.

String section edit screen

• SubBoomBass 2 includes a physical string model to help create string-based sounds, including plucky guitar timbres and metallic hits.
  The model uses a version of the Karplus-Strong model to create sounds. It starts with a short burst of sound, known as the Impulse. The impulse is usually a noise-like component, but SubBoomBass 2 allows you to use other waves too. The impulse is passed through a short delay. The delay is part of a feedback loop. The delay time thus determines the pitch, when the feedback levels are turned up (think of a string resonating). The loop incorporates a low pass filter to simulate the damping of the string.
  Both Oscillators support the string model. Select the Oscillator Model as a String to start the physical model. The main String controls are available in the oscillator screen. The more advanced ones are part of the String screen in the multi-tab screen.
• The main String Controls are:
  Color, Length, Damp, Wave A/B, Vel>Color, Vel/Key > Length, Vel/Key > Damp, and Vel/Key > Pluck.

ENV/LFO MOD Section  

Envelope 1 & 2

• Attack, Decay, Sustain, Fade, Release,
• Modulation destination with Amount Control
• Control Amount source and amount
• Vel> Time amount
• Key> Time amount
• Bypass

LFO

• Free mode and Mono mode
• Waveforms: sinus (90,180,270 degrees), triangle( 90,180,270 degrees), saw up (90,180,270 degrees), saw down (90,18 ,270 degrees), square (90,180,270 degrees), and S&H. 
• Modulation destination with Amount Control
• Control Amount source and amount
• Amount Fade-in
• Vel> Time amount
• Key> Time amount
• Bypass

Modulation Slots (4) 

• Bypass 1 – 4 
• Source 1 – 4
• Destination 1 – 4
• Destination amount 1 – 4
• Amount control 1 - 16 & source
• Advanced mode On/Off
• Lower / Upper threshold 1 – 4 (Advance Mode)
  Offset / Amount 1 – 4 (Advance Mode)

Sequencer

• The Play Modes:
  Sequencer A – D.
  Split A B
  Split A B C D
  Top - the top MIDI keys sets which sequence is played, MIDI notes 91 selects the Sequence A,  until MIDI note 94 that selects Sequence D.
• Steps amount 1-16
• Speed
  The Speed control sets the speed of the Arpeggiator relative to the Host's tempo, for example, 2 x tempo or ¼ x tempo.
• Sequences A, B, C & D have their own Step & Speed menus, all the other settings are shared settings.
• Retrigger On/Off
• Mute / Unmute (per step)
• Tie (per step)
  Tie links the step to the previous steps and as such extends the note lengths.
• Slide (per step)
  Slides the pitch from one step to the next. The sliding rate is set by the Slide control.
• Tune (per step)
  Each step has a range of -3 octaves to +3 octaves in semitones.
• Vel (per step)
  Vel defines the Velocity value of the step.
• Oscillator 1 and 2 waveform select per step with the up-down feature, menu features, and pop-up screen as an indication of what waveform/sample is used.
• Free (per step)
  The Free rows value can be used in the Modulation Matrix as a modulation source. 
• Ratcheting (per step)
  This allows the step to be ratcheted (i.e. repeated). When it's off the note plays as normal, when set to '2' it's repeated twice, '3' repeated 3 times, and '4' repeated 4 times. When ratcheting occurs depends on the “Ratcheting Menu” / “Vel > Ratcheting” knob (see below). 
• Tie Mode
  Tied mode lets you select whether tied steps use their own programmed values for Tuning, Velocity, etc, or use the values of the step they are tied to. The following options are:
  Normal - Tied steps do not have an individual slide, tune, velocity, and free settings.
  Special - Tied steps do still have an individual slide, tune, velocity, and free settings.
  Toggle 1 - The Arpeggiator alternates between Special Mode and Normal Mode (Special Mode on the first cycle).
  Toggle 2 - The Arpeggiator alternates between Normal Mode and Special Mode (Normal Mode on the first cycle).
• Command Menu
  The command menu allows you to Edit, Copy, Paste, Clear, Save, and Load Sequencer settings. A right-click in the Sequencer field or the Command menu button activates this menu. 
• Step Len
  This controls how long each Arpeggiator note/step is. Note that a 100% setting is needed if you use a tied step!
• Swing
  Swing is a control that allows you to change the rhythmic feel of the Arpeggiator. It does this by slightly moving every other note relative to a fixed timing grid. Whether it suits your work depends very much on the musical piece you are working on, so we encourage you to experiment with different values here.
• Slide
  Slide works as an intra-sequence portamento. It sets the time it takes for the pitch to change from the selected step to the next.
• Vel / Key
  The velocity of the steps in the Arpeggiator sequence can be controlled by their programmed values, by the velocity of the key played that is used to trigger the Arpeggiator or a combination of both. The Vel / Key control sets the balance between these.
• Ratchet Mode
  Ratchet mode controls how the ratcheting works, the ratcheting can be set to change every time the Arpeggiator cycles (depending on the mode).
  Off -  The ratcheting is always off.
  On - The ratcheting is always on.
  Off / On Cycle -  The ratcheting alternates per cycle, starting with off and then on, and then off, and so on.
  On / Off Cycle -  The ratcheting alternates per cycle, starting with on and then on, and then on, and so on. 
  2 Off / 1 On Cycle -  The ratcheting alternates per cycle, starting with off then off, and then on, and so on.
  3 Off / 1 On Cycle -  The ratcheting alternates per cycle, starting with off then off then off, and then on, and so on.
  1 On / 2 Off Cycle - The ratcheting alternates per cycle, starting with on, then off and then off, and so on.
  1 On / 3 Off Cycle - The ratcheting alternates per cycle, starting with on, then off, then off and then off, and so on.
  Velocity  - the ratcheting is on if the note velocity is below the value set in the Vel > ratcheting knob.
• Host Sync (Please check back panel for this feature)
  Host Sync synchronizes the Sequencer to the DAW host so that it will start on a quarter-beat. This is enabled by default.
• Lock Mode
  Lock Mode locks the current Sequence. It keeps it going even when you change Presets. There are 3 modes:
  Off - Lock is turned Off.
  On - Lock is turned On. The Sequence carries over between a change of Presets, but it can’t be modified. It will not change the new Preset.
  Set - The current (locked) Sequence is saved with the new Preset. Locking is turned off in the new Preset.
• Latch
  Latch frees your hands. When Latch is turned ‘On’ you don’t need to keep holding notes for the Sequencer to continue playing. Tip: you can use a Sustain Pedal to latch and unlatch the Sequencer. Please see the MIDI section on how to set this up.
• Key Entry
  This switch enables keyboard entry of the notes in the Sequencer. A value of 0 is used as a middle C3.

Effect Section 

• In this section, you select one of the 2 effects for SubBoomBass-2.  
  A special feature of SubBoomBass-2 is that you can control all effect parameters by MIDI or use SubBoomBass-2 its modulation sources. The 2 modulation slots are below the FX section
  Click on FX 1 / 2  button to select the effect, which is shown below. Clicking on the FX number bypasses the current selected FX. 
• Bypass
  This bypasses both FX 1 and FX 2.
• Split
  If Filter 1 has the 'Split' mode active, this option comes available. The sound that comes from Filter 1 goes into FX 1. The sounds that come from Filter 2 go into FX 2.
• Commands menu on the FX label.
  Effect commands, allow you to bypass, copy, paste, clear, load & save the effect's settings. The command menu can be accessed by clicking on the blue FX label.
• Type
  Here you can select one of the 32 effects for each of the effect units of SubBoomBass-2.
  Available FX: Mono Delay, Stereo Delay, Tape Delay, Comb Filter, Reverb, Chorus, Tape Chorus, Chorus/Delay, Flanger, Tape Flanger, Ensemble, Phaser, Analog Phaser, Distort, Multi Distort, Low-Fi, Waveshaper, Amp Sim, Cabinet, Widener, AutoPan, Gator, Compressor, FX Filter, WahWah/Delay, AutoWah, Equalizer, Bass, Clipper, Tremolo, Vibrato, and Ring Modulation.
• Mix
  This is where you control how much the effect output is mixed with the original signal. Fully left only the original signal is heard and as you turn the knob to the right, more of the effects signal is added to the mix.
• Pan
  Controls the Panning of the selected effects.

Easy Screen

• The easy screen allows you to alter all the major controls in one place. To access the Easy screen, click on the “Easy” button. To return to the normal screen, click on the “Easy” screen again.
  All the controls are the same as in the normal screen except for the following. 
• Oscillator Waveform and Semi tuning control
• Filter 1 Cutoff and Q Control
• Filter 2 Cutoff Control
• Filter 1 Moves Control: Envelope, Decay, Release, LFO Amount, and LFO Speed
• Volume Control with Volume Decay, and Release
• Sequencer On/off feature
• FX 1 and FX 2 Mix Control, FX bypass and FX type.

Manager Screen

• In the Manager Section, you find and organize your Presets and Banks. Clicking on the Manager button displays the Preset Manager page, clicking on it again returns you to the Main page.
  There are four main sections: Presets, Find, Search Category, and Set Category. For each section, the Banks are visible on the right-hand side.
• Preset Manager
  Clicking on the Preset button shows the Preset screen. Here are shown the Presets in the current Folder (bank). Presets in Blade-2 are single .fxp files stored in Folders (Banks), you can have up-to 256 Presets in a single Folder.
  In the Preset screen, the current Preset is shown in red, and clicking on a Preset will load it. Shift + clicking allows you to select a range of Presets and Ctrl + clicking allows you to select non-consecutive Presets.
• Right-Clicking on a Preset will do an audio preview of the preset.
• Star Presets
  While in the Preset screen in the Bank Manager you can mark any Preset with a Star if you like the Preset. The Star appears after each Preset name and can be checked and unchecked by a mouse click. With so many Presets available in Blade-2, the Star system helps you to recall favourite Presets that you encountered in previous Blade-2 sessions.
  To Filter on Star-marked Presets, click on the Star symbol adjacent to the Preset button. Blade-2 will only display Star Presets. 
  Behind the scenes, Blade-2 builds a file that contains all the Star Presets. This can be found in your documents Folder (see below). Use this file to back up your Star settings or to use your Preset selection on a 2nd computer system.
  The file that holds the Star info is called Star.txt. It can be found here in the following locations:
  • PC: Documents\Rob Papen\Blade-2\Bank Folder\Star.txt
  • Mac: Applications\Rob Papen\Blade-2\Bank Folder\Star.txt
• Preset Commands:
  Select All / Unselect All / Load / Save / Save As / Copy / Cut / Paste / New / Delete / Rename 
• Find Allows searching the banks on a name or partial name.
• Search Category
  Clicking on the Search Category button will display the category search screen. In Blade-2, Presets can have tags in the categories Type, Tempo/Feel, and Timbre. Clicking on a tag in a category will toggle that tag The Preset part will show all Presets with the same tag.
• Set Category
  Clicking on the Set Category button displays the Set Category screen. Here you can set the tags for the Presets in the current bank, clicking on a tag will toggle it on / off. You can select Presets and set their tags. These tags will be saved with this Preset when you click on Apply and Save.
• Bank Manager
  The Banks are always visible on the right side of the Manager screen. In Blade-2 banks are really Folders on your hard drive in which Presets are stored. In the Bank Screen, the current bank is displayed in red. A click on a bank loads it and moving the scroll bar on the right will scroll through available banks.
  Commands: Copy, New, Delete, Rename, Refresh,

Back Panel Screen

• A click on the SubBoomBass-2 logo will display the back panel. The back panel contains several global controls that affect all instances of SubBoomBass-2.
  Typically, the settings you make here are of the type Set-and-Forget; i.e. you only need to do it once right after the installation of the plug-in. Think of these as a collection of preferences.
• MIDI Channel setting
• MIDI Program / Bank Change
• External MIDI Control Capture Mode
• Computer Keyboard Up / Down
• Preset Changed Warning
• Sequencer SYNC On/Off
• Tuning scales option.
• Screen size options: 100%, 150% and 200% size.

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