AB99
User Manual
Welcome to the AB99. This is a small and very CPU-efficient drum-
synthesizer/sampler. It is purely designed for use in a sequencing environment, so
there are no internal sequencers or not even effects.
Table of contents
1. Connections......................................................................................................... 2
2. Bass drum............................................................................................................ 3
3. Snare drum .......................................................................................................... 4
4. Hi Hat................................................................................................................... 5
5. Percussion and Cymbals ..................................................................................... 6
6. LFO...................................................................................................................... 7
7. Mixer and output .................................................................................................. 8
8. MIDI Note allocation ............................................................................................ 8
9. MIDI Implementation Chart .................................................................................. 9
1. Connections
The AB99 has 7 outputs: A stereo sum output and 5 single outs for bass drum, snare
drum, hi hats, percussion and cymbals. If you connect a single out to Reaktor’s audio
out, the corresponding signal is removed from the sum automatically.
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2. Bass drum
The virtual analog bass drum algorithm offers eight controls:
- Tune: Pitch envelope amount in Hz
- Pitch: Oscillator base frequency in semitones
- Decay: Amplitude envelope hold time. The release time is fixed
- P Decay: Pitch envelope decay and release time
- Pulse: Controls the amplitude of a single pulse cycle.
- Noise: Controls the amplitude of a short noise burst. Use Noise and Pulse to
get a sharper attack
- Harmonic: Controls the harmonic content of the oscillator waveform. Turn
clockwise to get a brighter sound
- EQ: Lowpass filter cutoff frequency, Turn clockwise to remove overtones.
The Sample based bass drum offers six controls:
- Pitch: Sample playback speed
- Start: Sample start point offset
- Hold: Amplitude envelope hold time
- Decay: Amplitude envelope decay time
- Drive: Overdrive amount
- Tone: Negative values boost the lower, positive values the higher frequencies
Below the controls there’s the sample display. Double click to open the sample map
editor
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3. Snare drum
The virtual analog snare drum has six controls:
- Tune: Body oscillator base frequency in semitones
- Snappy: Noise level
- Decay: Highpass filtered noise decay time
- Detune: detunes the two body oscillators in semitones
- Noise Tune: High- and bandpass filters cutoff frequency
- BPF/Drive: Bandpass filtered noise decay time / Overdrive amount. Press shift
(below the snare drum controls) to edit the second function
The Sample based snare drum has four controls. They are the same as at the bass
drum described above but without start point offset and tone control.
Below the snare drum controls are the algorithm selectors for bass and snare drum.
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4. Hi Hat
The AB99 has a total of six hi hat sounds combined in two sets: Closed hi hat, pedal
hi hat, open hi hat, closed hi hat 2, pedal hi hat 2 and open hi hat 2. The sound
source can either be a sample or noise. You can select the sound source for the
second hi hat set by using the shift function. There are ten controls:
- Tune: Sample playback speed
- Mix: Crossfades between closed/pedal hi hat and open hi hat
- CH Decay: Closed and pedal hi hat decay time
- OH Decay: Open hi hat decay time
- Link: Plays closed/pedal hi hat and open hi hat exclusively. The open hi hat
will be silenced the moment the closed or pedal hi hat is triggered and vice
versa.
All these controls affect both hi hat sets.
The sample selector lets you choose between three different sample sets or noise.
Available sample sets are: TR808, TR909 and CR78 samples.
Below there’s the hi hat filter. It is a combination of a 2 pole lowpass and a highpass
filter with resonance. LP Freq adjusts the lowpass filter cutoff frequency, HP Freq the
highpass filter cutoff frequency and Reso controls the resonance of both. The filter
can be switched of with the button on the left upper corner to save CPU power.
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5. Percussion and Cymbals
The percussion and cymbal sounds are edited via a simple menu. There are two
percussion sounds (rimshot and handclap) and two cymbal sounds (crash and ride
cymbal). Each sound has three controls:
- Tune: Sample playback speed
- Sample: Sample selection. Available are: TR808, TR909 and CR78 samples.
Rimshot and handclap offer a user defined sample. If sample select is set to
user, a small sampler display appears in the lower right corner. Double click to
open the sample map editor. The crash cymbal has a fourth sample called
RSN.
- Level: Adjusts the amplitude of the sample
The Param knob lets you switch through the menu. The Value knob adjusts the value
shown in the display above.
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6. LFO
The AB99 has two identical LFOs. Both are gate- and tempo-synced. You can
choose between a triangle and pulse waveform both with adjustable symmetry. Three
tempos are available: 8”, 16” and 32” notes synced to the global song tempo. Each
LFO can modulate one of eight parameters selected with the Dest control:
- BD: Bass drum pitch
- SD: Snare drum pitch and noise filter cutoff
- HH: Hi hat pitch
- FIL: Hi hat filter cutoff frequency
- RS: Rimshot pitch
- CP: Handclap pitch
- CC: Crash cymbal pitch
- RC Ride cymbal pitch
The amount of modulation can be adjusted with the Amount knob.
In the lower right corner is the LFO selector. It switches between LFO 1 and 2 to be
edited.
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7. Mixer and output
In the mixer section you can control the output levels of the bass drum, snare drum
and hi hat signals. The percussion and cymbal levels are edited via the menu.
In the output section you can set a master output level of the stereo sum output. It
does not affect the output level of the single outs.
At the bottom of the instrument are seven switches. These are for muting unused
sounds to save CPU power.
8. MIDI Note allocation
MIDI Note # Note Sound
48 C2 Bass Drum
49 C#2 Rimshot
51 D#2 Handclap
52 E2 Snare Drum
54 F#2 Closed Hi Hat
56 G#2 Pedal Hi Hat
58 A#2 Open Hi Hat
60 C3 Crash Cymbal
62 D3 Ride Cymbal
66 F#3 Closed Hi Hat 2
68 G#3 Pedal Hi Hat 2
70 A#3 Open Hi Hat 2
All sounds are velocity sensitive. The velocity controls the sounds level.
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9. MIDI Implementation Chart
Instrument AB-99 Date 01.02.2007
Version 1.0
Ctrl Ctrl Ctrl
Nr. Ctrl Name Parameter Nr. Ctrl Name Parameter Nr. Ctrl Name Parameter
0 Bank Sel MSB 43 Controller 43 86 Controller 86 BD - Tune
1 Modulation LFO 1 Amount 44 Controller 44 RS - Tune 87 Controller 87 BD - Pitch
2 Breath LFO 2 Amount 45 Controller 45 88 Controller 88
3 Controller 3 46 Expr LSB 89 Controller 89
4 Foot 47 Controller 47 RS - Sample 90 Controller 90
5 Portamento 48 Controller 48 RS - Level 91 ExtEff 1 Depth
6 Data Ent MSB 49 Controller 49 CC - Tune 92 ExtEff 2 Depth
7 Main Volume 50 Controller 50 93 ExtEff 3 Depth
8 Balance 51 Controller 51 94 ExtEff 4 Depth
9 Controller 9 52 Controller 52 CC - Sample 95 ExtEff 5 Depth
10 Pan 53 Controller 53 CC - Level 96 Data Incr
11 Expression 54 Controller 54 RC - Tune 97 Data Decr
12 Controller 12 55 Controller 55 98 NRPN LSB
13 Controller 13 56 Controller 56 99 NRPN MSB
14 Controller 14 57 Controller 57 RC - Sample 100 RPN LSB
15 Controller 15 58 Controller 58 RC - Level 101 RPN MSB
16 Gen Purp 1 59 Controller 59 LP Freq 102 Controller 102 BD - Decay
17 Gen Purp 2 60 Controller 60 HP Freq 103 Controller 103 BD - Harmonic
18 Gen Purp 3 HiHat - Tune 61 Controller 61 HP Resonance 104 Controller 104 BD - Pulse
19 Gen Purp 4 HiHat - Mix 62 Controller 62 Filter on/off 105 Controller 105 BD - Noise
20 Controller 20 HiHat - Link 63 Controller 63 106 Controller 106 BD - P Decay
21 Controller 21 CH - Decay 64 Damper Ped 107 Controller 107 BD - EQ
22 Controller 22 OH - Decay 65 Porta On/Off 108 Controller 108 SD - Tune
23 Controller 23 HiHat - Sample 66 Sostenuto 109 Controller 109 SD - Snappy
24 Controller 24 67 Soft Pedal 110 Controller 110 SD - Decay
25 Controller 25 HiHat - Level 68 Legato FS 111 Controller 111 SD - Detune
26 Controller 26 CP - Tune 69 Hold 2 112 Controller 112 SD - Nse Tune
Ctrl Ctrl Ctrl
Nr. Ctrl Name Parameter Nr. Ctrl Name Parameter Nr. Ctrl Name Parameter
27 Controller 27 70 Sound Var 113 Controller 113 SD - BPF
28 Controller 28 71 Harmonic 114 Controller 114
29 Controller 29 CP - Sample 72 Release 115 Controller 115
30 Controller 30 CP - Level 73 Attack 116 Controller 116
31 Controller 31 74 Brightness 117 Controller 117 BD - Level
32 Bank Sel LSB 75 Controller 75 LFO 1 Wave 118 Controller 118 SD - Level
33 Modulation LSB 76 Controller 76 LFO 1 Dest 119 Controller 119
34 Breath LSB 77 Controller 77 LFO 1 Speed 120 AllSndOff
35 Controller 35 78 Controller 78 LFO 1 Symm 121 Reset Ctrl
36 Foot LSB 79 Controller 79 LFO 2 Wave 122 Local Ctrl
37 Porta LSB 80 Gen Purp 5 LFO 2 Dest 123 AllNoteOff
38 Data Ent LSB 81 Gen Purp 6 LFO 2 Speed 124 Omni Mode Off
39 Main Volume LSB 82 Gen Purp 7 LFO 2 Symm 125 Omni Mode On
40 Balance LSB 83 Gen Purp 8 126 Mono Mode On
41 Controller 41 84 Porta Ctrl 127 Poly Mode On
42 Pan LSB 85 Controller 85
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