Quatschmacher

You could follow his advice and read the manual and open the editor (you don’t need to own a C4 to do that). It’s what the rest of us are having to do to figure this stuff out. Roger didn’t design the pedal so still has to defer to Bob for answers.

The C4 does way more than the Aftershock with its inputs. You need to look at the block diagram to see how you can route it different ways, or play around with the offline editor. The manual is maybe a bit short on concrete examples.

It’s very flexible, you can use it as a loop or as dual input or a whole bunch of other stuff. The only thing I’ve used it for is for processing external effects with the filter while using dry signal to trigger the envelopes.

Here’s a section I’ve just written that I’ll probably add to the manual. (Formatting is better in the proper document. What do you guys think? Building your first sound Loading a pre-existing sound and playing around with the various parameters can be a very good way to learn how to manipulate sounds to your liking, but at some point you will probably want to start creating your own sounds. This next section will give you a few pointers on how to do just that. The examples assume you are creating a sound using the audio input for triggering. Connect the FI to your computer (a single cable is sufficient for this, unless you want to write your sound to the FI straightaway). Launch the Editor. Let’s start by zeroing out all the parameters so you can start from a clean slate. Using the block adjust tool in the bottom right of the Editor click Select All and Reset. Note that due to the various gain stages in the signal path you may need to raise several sliders above minimum in order to hear anything. To hear your dry instrument signal, turn up the INSTR slider in the Main Mixer. You should hear sound straight away (providing the pedal is not bypassed). To hear a sound using the synth you will first need to turn up no less than 5 volume sliders! These are as follows: At least one VCO waveform amplitude slider - e.g. VCO1 AMPLITUDE SAW; That VCO’s master volume - VCO1 AMPLITUDE VOLUME; The synth volume going into the filter - VCF INPUT SYNTH; The VCF outputs of the main mixer - MAIN MIXER VCF LIN and; MAIN MIXER VCF LOG. If you are in one of the two ADSR modes then you will also need to set the VCA envelope before a sound can be heard. To start with, set the S slider to 127 and leave all others at minimum. This gives a simple on/off gate signal when playing a note. (If you are in Vintage envelope mode then leave both the A and R sliders at minimum to achieve the same effect.) Lastly, the filter will need to be set with a sufficiently high cutoff to allow sound through. (You could set VCF TYPE to OFF to bypass it completely but for this example let’s use the filter.) Click the Vintage/New button to put the filter into New mode, set the slope to 24dB and raise the cutoff (VCF FRQ) slider to 122. You should now hear a sawtooth alongside the sound of your instrument. Lower the filter cutoff back down to 64 and you’ll hear the sound become more muted. Now raise the A and D sliders of the VCF envelope to 64. This sets an envelope shape, though you still won’t hear any difference until you apply this envelope to the filter. To do this, raise the AD/ADSR slider in the Filter section; set it to 64 for now. You should now hear a synth brass-type sound. Experiment with the positions of the A and D sliders of the envelope, the VCF FRQ slider, the AD/ADSR slider and the RESO slider to find a sound you like. If you want the filter to sustain at a cutoff level above that set by the VCF FRQ slider then raise the S slider of the VCF envelope. We recommend only using a single oscillator to start with until you have become familiar with the controls. Adding multiple oscillators adds complexity and you need to be careful with the levels if you want to avoid foldover distortion and clipping. When you are satisfied with your creation, click save to archive it to your computer. Let’s now look at creating a sound using the Distortion block. Use the block edit function to zero out all the blocks again. To hear a sound using the Distortion block you’ll need to turn up the following sliders: At least one slider in the Harmonizer Mixer section - e.g. INSTR The distortion block signal going into the filter - VCF INPUT DIST The VCF outputs of the main mixer - MAIN MIXER VCF LIN and; MAIN MIXER VCF LOG. Again, if not bypassed, the filter will need to be set with a sufficiently high cutoff to allow sound through. Let’s bypass the filter this time so set the VCF TYPE slider to OFF. At this point you should hear sound but it might be very faint. This is because the sound is being made using your instrument as opposed to the synth and the synth has a much hotter output than the instrument signal. If you recall, unity gain of the instrument input is achieved when its sliders are at 127. Turn the VCF DIST and HARM MIX INSTR sliders to 127. Now raise the DISTORTION TONE slider to 127 and you should notice a marked increase in volume. If it’s still not enough, try raising the VCF LIN and VCF LOG sliders. Now experiment with the positions of the DISTORTION GRADE and TONE sliders. You may need to back off some of the volume sliders at high GRADE settings. Now raise the HARM MIXER VOICE2 VAR slider until you hear distortion at a 5th above the original sound. Adjust the HARMONIZER TRANSPOSE VOICE2 slider to hear the different intervals. If desired, repeat the process with VOICE 3 and add in the VOICE1 slider. Experiment with different combinations, paying attention to the volumes, until you find a setting you like. You could also mix in some of your dry instrument signal using the INSTR slider in the Main Mixer. When you are satisfied with the result, click save. Hopefully you now have a better idea of how to go about creating your own sounds. Remember that you can create a sound using a mixture of the synth and the distortion blocks. If necessary, go back over the explanations given in the parameter block descriptions to acquaint yourself with what the VCO, LFO and effects slider do and experiment, again within a single VCO until you are comfortable. Don’t be afraid to try things out and let your ears be your guide. We hope that your Future Impact v3 brings you many years of joyful music-making!

@SICbass this one's for you: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JjuLl2MOICXvXCFmB0sl8mHvTVHCUhcA/view?usp=drivesdk

New patch clips added to the folder (see bottom of first post). Here’s a taste: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mQy6bOlo7HIvILIiybaB33bIL3mWg7TG/view?usp=drivesdk

So did it fix your issue?

Some new clips added to the collection. See the bottom of the first post for the link.

I still don’t expect financial gain and will be continuing to make patches available for free. Those who feel I ought to be paid for it can do so. (Does that mean I’ll be seeing a payment from one A. Krow sometime soon?😆)

At the suggestion of @GisserD, I’ve set up a Patreon account. If you feel like supporting me in what I’ve been doing here then I’d be most grateful. Thanks. http://www.patreon.com/Quatschmacher

Did someone just troll me? A few moments ago my link pointed to the Homer Simpson “Nerd!” scene! Kudos to the person who managed to do that!

I’ve programmed clever pitch offsets to the oscillators, controlled by expression pedal. See here: Here’s another example which uses the expression to switch between m7b5, m9, 9, and maj9 voicings: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RZ1sySW33BoJn4nCSrHj8940yv_mw81E/view?usp=drivesdk

Slightly off topic but here’s a polyphonic sound achieved by my lowly monophonic Future Impact. I’m pretty sure the SY-1 can’t do this as the finger stretches alone would make it impossible. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gNq_3POlLpeRq6dFjoY8boVaQ1no3hHy/view?usp=drivesdk https://drive.google.com/file/d/16zIK035UiU-aBZGjUKVVW5_XzvW5pB7g/view?usp=drivesdk

I managed to nail two 4-note minor II-V-I progressions and one 4-note Major one with proper smooth voice leading before going to bed at 3am. https://drive.google.com/file/d/16zIK035UiU-aBZGjUKVVW5_XzvW5pB7g/view?usp=drivesdk https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QuMyeSINcPydaKBkXAoNqHQ9vF3lJ_Kn/view?usp=drivesdk https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gNq_3POlLpeRq6dFjoY8boVaQ1no3hHy/view?usp=drivesdk

Thanks! Yes, I am! I had this idea when I first started beta testing and had some limited success with it. One of the others in the group thought it was pointless as it would be unusable. The addition of the hard-transition curves last week has made it possible to make the changes in easier-to-control ways; the rest was just maths and I knew I’d get there in the end. Obviously it has its limitations, being tied in to either a major or minor progression but could easily work for muti-tracking. There are loads of jazz tunes that are built solely out of major II-V-I progressions so it could be used. I’m sure someone will find a use for it and it’s a good showcase of the flexibility that the Flexi Controllers offer.

That is exactly how it works. I chord is at toe-up, II chord at mid position, V chord at toe-down. It took a lot of working out to get it to work as you aren't working with actual pitches, but rather with offsets from the root note, which is shifting. That would be quite straightforward if you want the same overall chord shape on all three chords, (by that I mean, eg. the third is always the lowest note, ninth always the highest etc.). I was trying to achieve smooth internal voice leading so that notes don’t jump around wildly. Only certain combinations of root movement and voicing type work for this due to the numbers. I want to get least one version that is built of the 7th and one that is built off the 3rd for both the major and minor progressions. Basically I’m using two or three of the new Flexi Controllers to alter the pitches of the oscillators. I look at which offsets need to be applied for each chord then work out combinations of three that best work with the available transformation curves. I use a linear curve for combinations that are symmetrical such as 12-14-16 or 26-27-28. Then I look for combinations that can be grouped in a 1/3, 2/3 arrangement such as 31, 31, 38 as there are some hard-transition curves where you can specify which point the curve jumps from low to high; setting that point towards the right means that the lower value gets held until the toe-down position. It’s basically maths and problem-solving. You don’t really need to understand how I did it in order to make use of it. You don’t even need to use the sound I programmed. You could use the Flexi setup I made as a template and create a wholly different patch around it.

I’ve nailed the minor II-V-I too. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vIML8STlWGly0FTaV3ONQbE3oAxa7vjl/view?usp=drivesdk

OK, so that one wasn’t quite there as one voice jumped an octave. This whole thing is basically a huge maths problem. By slimming down to three voicings and changing the direction of the bass movement, I’ve managed to find a set of numbers that work. This time all the voice leading is smooth: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ThpNfKymROLUouZDZadNYNl7B3ldDZ4M/view?usp=drivesdk And, because I've only used three oscillators and two flexi slots, I could have the synth play the root notes and there’s room for more modulation madness. I’m going to see if I can work out some combinations that work for minor II-V-I progressions too.

One very good reason is that it forms part of the preset so involves zero fiddling around with settings once programmed. It’s actually a very good sounding drive and I’ve used it in many of my patches.

Probably would be. Code space is pretty full. You could plug in a sequencer to the MIDI IN port. Keystep would be a good choice. The only FX in FI are chorus/delay, EQ and overdrive and they are all really useful.

Boot menu! To enter the boot menu, press the PROGRAM (left) footswitch while powering on the pedal. Turn the PARAMETER dial to “Note Off Level” to see the name of a parameter and turn it clockwise to any other position to see that parameter’s value. The value is adjusted using the EDIT dial. Step through the parameters by pressing the left footswitch again. When editing is complete, turn the FI off and on again. The aforementioned two parameters of the boot menu are given below: (RESET ALL (“rS”) Value: 0, 1. (Default on reset is 0.) Change to 1 to reset all sound para­meters to default (5) upon power-on. The default program loaded at power-on will be reset to 1. @HogBranch

Are you on the latest firmware? If so, did you perform a “reset all” via the boot menu after installing the update? If not, the tune base value will be incorrect. When tuning, only the central horizontal line will show when the note is in tune.

@SICbass the overdrive on its own is totally useable. You could easily use the FI for distortion.

I’ve cracked doing a smooth II-V-I using expression to change the chords with minimal internal voice movement. The only thing I haven’t yet managed is to get the 5th to become a 6th and then go back down again as there are no symmetrical transformation curves (I’m tempted to ask for one though). So the V chord uses a 5th instead of the better-sounding 6th. Still, pretty cool and not tied to any key signature at all. Might be better if I leave the 5th out altogether and then I could double the root to have all the voices on synth. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qfy0AsciYlykkMh4FyH8AAL-szf01ik1/view?usp=drivesdk