Working with Global EVD6 Parameters

The global parameters are found in the lower-left section of the EVD6 interface. They affect the entire EVD6 instrument, rather than an individual model.

Voices field: Determines the maximum number of voices that can be played simultaneously. Lowering the value of this parameter limits the polyphony and processing requirements of the EVD6. There are two monophonic settings: “mono” and “legato.” Each setting provides a single voice when playing the EVD6.
- Mono: The EVD6 voice is triggered each time a key is pressed.
- Legato: The EVD6 sound-shaping processes are not triggered if the notes are played legato—only the pitch changes. If the notes are played staccato, an EVD6 voice with all sound-shaping processes is triggered.
Tune field: Adjusts the overall tuning of the EVD6 in one-cent intervals. A value of 0 equals concert pitch A 440 Hz.
Bender field: Determines the pitch bend range, in semitone steps. You can use your keyboard’s pitch bend wheel/stick to control pitch bends.
Warmth field: Sets the amount of random deviation from an equal-tempered scale. High values add life to sounds. The Warmth parameter can be useful when you are emulating an instrument that has not been tuned for a while, or for slightly thickening a sound. When you are playing chords, the Warmth parameter creates a slight detuning or beating effect between notes.
Stretch field: The EVD6 is tuned to an equal-tempered scale. You can deviate from this standard tuning by using the Stretch parameter to alter the tuning in the bass and treble ends of the sound. This simulates the way stringed keyboard instruments such as pianos are tuned (see Stretch Tuning in Acoustic Instruments).
Note: Use of both Warmth and Stretch may result in a detuned sound that is quite similar to a heavy chorus effect. In some instances, this effect may be so extreme that the EVD6 sounds out of tune with your project.
Pressure field: On an original D6, applying pressure (aftertouch) to a depressed key raises the pitch slightly. The Pressure parameter allows you to emulate this behavior. You can also go one better than the original and use the Pressure parameter to lower the pitch slightly with aftertouch messages.

Stretch Tuning in Acoustic Instruments

The tones of upright pianos—and to a lesser extent grand pianos, due to their longer strings—have inharmonicities in their harmonic structure. Although this also applies to other stringed instruments, it particularly affects pianos due to the length, density, and tension of the strings.

If a piano is perfectly tuned to equal temperament across the keyboard range, the overtones of the low strings and the fundamentals of the high strings will sound out of tune with each other. To circumvent this problem, piano tuners use a technique known as stretch tuning, where the high and low registers of the piano are tuned higher and lower, respectively. This results in the harmonics of the low strings being in tune with the fundamental tones of the upper strings. In essence, pianos are intentionally “out of tune” (from equal temperament), so that the lower and upper registers will sound in tune.

Because the original D6 is a stringed instrument, this inharmonic relationship also applies to the EVD6 and the original instruments it emulates. The stretch feature, however, was primarily included for situations where you want to use the EVD6 in an arrangement alongside an acoustic piano recording.