Playback engine 10 of 15
Prism
Spectral frames become a playable instrument. Scan the recording, sustain a selected frame, hold only its amplitudes or frequencies, or accumulate a slowly changing spectral memory.
Good for: Sustained tones from short recordings, spectral drones, softened sample travel, and playable freezes.
Pages and navigation
Choose Prism with Algorithm on the shared Engine page. Up/Down reaches Pads & Scale, Amp Envelope, Stack Path, and the Prism page. Quad omits Stack Path because each part owns one lane. The remaining shared pages work as described in the shared Engine table and Stack Path reference.
Prism — every parameter
| Knob | Display | Range | What it controls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MODE | Scan / Freeze / Amplitude Hold / Frequency Hold / Accumulate | Mode selects Scan, Freeze, Amplitude Hold, Frequency Hold, or Accumulate. Scan follows the source cursor. Freeze reads the center of the current Field. Amplitude Hold uses that frame’s loudness spectrum with moving frequencies; Frequency Hold does the reverse. Accumulate retains spectral energy as new source frames arrive. |
| 2 | BLUR | 0–2000 ms | Spectral blur smooths changes in spectral amplitudes and frequencies. Raise it for slow, softened movement. Low values retain more of the source articulation; a short safety smoothing time remains active. |
| 3 | DCAY | 50–20000 ms | Accumulation decay sets how long retained spectral energy takes to fall away in Accumulate mode. This cell is reserved in other modes. It is separate from the note’s Amp Envelope release. |
| 4 | PIT | -24–24 st | Prism transpose shifts the resynthesized spectrum in semitones in addition to the played note. Speed controls source travel independently. |
| 5 | TILT | -100–100% | Spectral tilt changes the balance of low and high frequencies. Negative values darken the sound; positive values brighten it. Zero keeps a neutral tilt. |
| 6 | SMER | 0–100% | Frequency smear spreads spectral amplitude across neighboring frequency bands. Increase it for a broader, less sharply defined spectrum. |
| 7 | □ | Reserved | Reserved for a future control. |
| 8 | □ | Reserved | Reserved for a future control. |
MIDI: NRPN control follows the Prism parameters. These controls are available on E16’s engine-specific pages and through NRPN. Its mode determines which controls are available, including Decay in Accumulate mode. The fixed NRPN addresses use channels 5–8 for A–D; note pitches use channels 1–4. See MIDI control for the current map, setup and feedback.
Playing, lanes, and preparation
Notes set pitch. Speed controls movement through the source independently. The shared Amp Envelope sets note attack and release. Single provides eight note voices; both dual modes provide four per part; Quad provides two per part. Each note follows its own stack path and phase. Loop holds stack travel in Single and dual modes.
Source analysis runs in the background after loading, recording, or editing a lane. SPECTRAL PREPARING means the spectral source is not ready yet; wait for preparation to finish. Newly prepared data is shared by all notes. These engines resynthesize spectral frames, so they can sound softer or more diffuse than direct Sample playback. They do not pass through the unprocessed sample.
Live edits smooth amplitudes and frequencies while synthesis continues with overlapping windows. Join sets a short minimum transition smoothing time underneath Blur. Stack position blends spectra; Freeze keeps its source frame fixed but can still move between lanes.
Starting points
Start with Freeze, Blur 80 ms, Pitch 0, Tilt 0, and Smear 0. Adjust Position and Field to find a sustained frame. Then try Accumulate with a 2-second Decay and slow stack travel.