CARBON: Looking for quick help?

Area

Parameter

Explanation

Menu Bar

Preset

Click name to open menu for browsing and loading a new Virtual Guitarist CARBON preset

Save

When editing a user preset, click to save your preset, replacing the previous version.

Save as…

Click to save your preset under a different name and – optionally – assign a category.

Trial Mode

Authorize Button

Notification Bell

Will illuminate for notifications such as product updates.

Info Icon

Opens the About Page displaying your licensing status and links to acknowledgements, website, this manual and product support.

Top Area

Volume – Slider and Meter

Adjust and monitor CARBONS output volume

Player / Instrument

Mode Switch

Selects whether CARBON performs like a session player or a guitar instrument that you can record note by note.

Micro Timing

Only in Player mode, this menu opens a selection of parameters adjusting the timing of the guitar player:

Speed: Lets you switch the player’s relative tempo to half, normal or double time.

Feel: Set to left of center for a “push” feel, to the right for a laid-back (“dragging”) feel.

Swing: Continuously adjusts syncopation - often also called Shuffle. Move to the right to syncopate off-beats.

Latch

PLAYER Mode: When active, Virtual Guitarist CARBON will keep playing independently of keys held, until you deactivate Latch or press the Stop Key.
INSTRUMENT Mode: When active, you can play CARBON by holding notes and triggering them using the Articulation keys. Try it, it’s huge fun!

Style

Loads a Style (collection of 11 phrases, accessible via the style phrases section of the keyboard).

Interactive Keyboard

Pitch

The Pitch Wheel lets you bend the pitch by one semitone in both directions

Finisher

The Mod Wheel (MIDI CC#1) doubles as a control for the Finisher knob, allowing you to live-perform the Finisher.

PLAYER Mode

In PLAYER mode, the rhythmical, articulation and phrasing aspect of the guitar performance are controlled by CARBON. All you need to do is select the phrases and notes you want to be played.

Common Phrases

Keys in this area select “always useful” phrases that can be combined with style phrases. Several black keys labelled “Ends” and “Shreds” trigger one-shot special phrases.

Silence

In LATCH Mode, this key silences the performance but doesn’t stop it. You can continue by selecting any phrase key

Ends

Selecting one of these keys will play a long final note or chord and stop the player:
C#1: Sustain
D#1: Long Mute

Shreds

Similar to instrument mode, Shreds let you insert hard-to-play fast note successions at any time. Other than the other keys, Shred keys are temporary and change back to the selected phrase when released.

F#1: 32th Moderate Mutes

G#1: 32th Half Mutes

A#1: 32th Full Mutes

C#2: 16T Half Mutes

D#2: 16T Full Mutes

Style Phrases

Keys in this area select phrases of the currently selected Style. Generally, as you play the white keys upwards, the intensity of the phrases will increase. Depending on the Style, the black keys may provide useful fills. 

Stop

In LATCH Mode, this key stops the performance.

Key

You can set any key here to force notes to that key’s scale.

Single Mode

Optimized for fast melodic riffs and melodies – includes all the legato mode behavior from Instrument Mode

Chords Mode

Polyphonic mode applicable for almost anything, but without melodic behavior modeling

Phrase Drag’n‘Drop

Common and Style Phrase keys have specially marked handles at the top. You can drag phrases from there right into tracks in your DAW and edit notes (and the phrasing too, of course) using your DAWs editors.

Play Range

Play the notes to be triggered by the phrases, up to four note polyphonic.

INSTRUMENT Mode

In Instrument Mode, the keyboard emulates guitar playing technique. You play the Articulation Range with your left hand and the Play Range with your right hand to create performances.

Articulations

Legato Keys

Notes C#2 and D#2 turn Legato Mode (realistic transitions between adjacent notes) on and off.

Short -> Long

Use the white keys from F2 to C2 to control the note articulation of the guitar:

F2: Dead Notes

G2: Full Mutes

A2: Half Mutes

B2: Long Mutes

C3: Sustains

Shreds

The black keys from F#2 to D#3 play so-called shreds – super-quick successions of notes that are hard to play on a keyboard or controller but significantly spice up your performance. Insert them by playing and holding any Shreds key. When releasing a Shreds key, CARBON will return to the previously playing phrase.

F#2: 32th Moderate Mutes

G#2: 32th Half Mutes

A#2: 32th Full Mutes

C#3: 16T Half Mutes

D#3: 16T Full Mutes

¼, 1/8, 1/16

As long as you hold any of these keys, CARBON will auto-play the corresponding note resolution.

Key

You can set any key here to force notes to that key’s scale.

Play Range

F#3 – F#6

This is where you play notes, up to four-note polyphonic and velocity-sensitive.

Guitar/Amp Section

Condition

Selects one of 5 futuristic amp setups – from bottom to top, CARBONS condition becomes increasingly mad

Severity

Turns up distortion inside the multiple amp stages. Go beyond 2 “o’clock” at your own risk!

Focus

Lets you morph through CARBON-optimized EQ settings from bass boost/high attenuation to low mid boost to to neutral (center) to high mid boost to bass attenuation/high boost.

Filter

Turn left for a resonant lowpass filter, turn right for a resonant highpass. Great for intros, risers, endings when automated.

Finisher

Mode

Selects a Finisher preset – a macro setting for a rack of effects

Finisher

Changes the character of the Finisher effect depending on the preset. Most Finisher presets are designed to be live-controlled, which is why this knob is doubled by the Mod Wheel.