Before diving into the actual synthesis process, we need to prepare some space so we can easily hear what we are doing. First, create a new CHAIN on a row all by itself, and create a new PHRASE in it. Be sure to create the chain in the rightmost column, because NOISE INSTRUMENTS only play back correctly on the NOI channel.

Place a note on the first row of the PHRASE. Since we want to create a new sound, we could go to the INSTRUMENTS screen and find an unused INSTRUMENT. However, there is a shortcut in LSDj for finding an unused INSTRUMENT! Push "A, A" With your cursor in the INSTRUMENT column of the PHRASE screen to find a blank INSTRUMENT. This can be done on a blank row or a row where an INSTRUMENT has already been placed. Push "START" while in the PHRASE screen and you should hear some ugly noise.

There is another shortcut in the INSTRUMENT column. With your cursor over an INSTRUMENT number, press "SELECT + RIGHT" to go directly to the INSTRUMENT's screen!

Remember, all parameters are edited by pushing "A + DIRECTION". We'll step through how each parameter of a NOISE INSTRUMENT changes the sound. First, change the TYPE of your new sound to NOISE.

Change the name of your INSTRUMENT to something meaningful. Because each TYPE of INSTRUMENT is meant to be played on specific channels, I use the first digit of the INSTRUMENT's NAME to indicate which channel the INSTRUMENT is for (PU1 = 1, PU2 = 2, WAV = 3, NOI = 4). This comes in handy when sifting through INSTRUMENTS in the PHRASE screen.

The ENVELOPE parameter effects how loud the sound will be over time. While there is only on number for ENVELOPE, think of each digit as separate settings. The first digit controls how loud the sound will be when it is triggered. Push "A + UP" and "A + DOWN" to hear how the INSTRUMENT gets louder and quieter.

The second ENVELOPE digit controls how the INSTRUMENT will act after being triggered. The values 0 and 8 are sustain, which means they don't alter the volume. However, they separate two groups of distinct behaviors. The values 1-7 will cause the INSTRUMENT to decrease in volume after it has been triggered and the values 9-F will cause the INSTRUMENT to increase in volume after it has been triggered. In each range, the lower values will cause the volume change to occur more quickly, and the higher values cause the volume change to occur more slowly.

If you haven't played with synthesis before, this may be a bit much to swallow. Here are a few examples, try them out and listen to how they change the sound. An ENVELOPE value of E8 will cause an INSTRUMENT to be loud when it is triggered and not change it's volume after that. An ENVELOPE value of E7 will cause an INSTRUMENT to be triggered loudly and it's volume will slowly decrease. An ENVELOPE value of E1 will cause an INSTRUMENT to be triggered loudly and it's volume will quickly decrease. Sounds that start loud and quickly decrease in volume are often used for percussive effects such as snare drums and hi hats.

Similarly, but perhaps less immediately obvious to our ears, An ENVELOPE value of 1F will trigger a sound very quietly and slowly increase it's volume. An ENVELOPE value of 19 will trigger a sound very quietly and quickly increase it's volume. An ENVELOPE value of 18 or 10 will trigger a sound very quietly and not change it's volume. These settings can be used to make pads and textural washes.

The OUTPUT and LENGTH parameters are fairly straight forward. OUTPUT modifies the panning, or left/right positioning of the INSTRUMENT. LENGTH is used to cut a sound off, regardless of the ENVELOPE settings. It can be used to make sounds even shorter than is possible with the ENVELOPE settings.

While all of these parameters are useful, none of them are quite as fun as the SHAPE. Like ENVELOPE, each digit of SHAPE's number changes a different parameter. The first digit is used to change the pitch of the INSTRUMENT. Push "A + DOWN" every time you hear the note being triggered to get an idea for the range of pitches possible. Note that the low end of the frequency spectrum isn't very well produced, so it's hard to milk kick drums out of the NOI channel. However, the middle and high frequencies are very well represented, so it excels at creating a wide variety of other percussive sounds.

The second digit of SHAPE modifies how the noise is being modulated. Even if you're experienced with synthesizers, there isn't a useful way to describe how modulation is occurring. However, the result can be easily heard and described as a change in texture. Push "A + LEFT or RIGHT" to change the second digit and alter the noise modulation. Try different combinations of pitch and modulation until you find some sounds you like!

STEPMODE and TABLE are advanced parameters that will be covered in later tutorials. If your curiosity must be met, TABLE is a trendy word for arpeggiator and the parameter value lists the TABLE that the INSTRUMENT will run every time it's triggered. Normally the 16 steps of a TABLE are run through very quickly, but if STEPMODE is switched to ON, the play arrow in the TABLE will advance one row every time the INSTRUMENT is triggered.

If you have a short, percussive sound when playing with SHAPE you may want to have it triggered more often so that you can sift through parameters more efficiently. While you could put down extra notes in the PHRASE, there is an easier way to accomplish this goal using a PHRASE command. It's finally time to do something with that rightmost column!

The shaded part of the command column is where you specify which effect, or command, to run on the row. Go to the fourth row and enter H into the shaded column. Just like note values and parameters, pushing "A + DIRECTION" will change the command to run. If you push "A", information about the command you've selected will scroll across the bottom right corner of the screen.

The H command tells LSDj to hop to the PHRASE row specified in it's parameter. In this example, the parameter of H has been set to 03, so that LSDj will play row 03 and 04 over and over again. Playing around with hops on a PHRASE full of notes is a fun way to do a live breakcore set!

There are many commands and you can learn about each of them by pushing "A" with the command letter selected. Another place to read about commands is the official LSDj manual. Commands will be introduced throughout these tutorials as they become of use.

Because LSDj is so modular and offers several ways to get any job done, there are aspects of synthesis which are controlled within the PHRASE screen. For example, you can alter your noise INSTRUMENTS by changing the octave of the note being triggered on any row. Specificly, the octave value is added to the first digit, or pitch parameter, of the INSTRUMENT's SHAPE. This makes it possible to create sounds where changing the octave will result in distinct percussive sounds, allowing beats to be easily laid down using just one INSTRUMENT. Changing a note value within an octave will not alter the sound of a NOISE INSTRUMENT.

You can also make more percise changes to the SHAPE parameter of a noise instrument from a PHRASE. This is done with the S command. It's parameter is a relative offset from the SHAPE. Relative means that the parameter value is added to the NOISE INSTRUMENTS current SHAPE setting. In this example, the S command on row 0 will add 10. High parameter values will cause the SHAPE value to go above FF. In these cases, the value just wraps around past 00 and the result can be thought of as subtraction. On row E of this phrase, 4 (0F - 0C = 04) is being subtracted from the SHAPE value of the triggered instrument.

Now that you have better control of NOISE INSTRUMENTS you should be able to lay down some pretty wicked percussion using it next to the KIT INSTRUMENTS on the WAV channel. In the next tutorial, we'll look into the dark under belly of LSDj, TABLES!