GSi VB3-II - Virtual Tonewheel Organ

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Using this guide: Click on yellow links to jump to other pages or visit hyperlinks. Click the magnifying glass on the top right to search the guide; click the right arrow to move to the next search result; click the left arrow to return to the previous page.
Released in 2023, this is the second version of GSi's most famous product: VB3-II Tonewheel Organ emulator. This marks 20 years of research and development of this instrument. Here follows the timeline:


New VB3-II 2023 edition features

Features already present in the 2018 edition:




Copyright 2023 Genuine Soundware - www.GenuineSoundware.com
UI Design by Pierre Collard - www.pyer.be
Code by Guido Scognamiglio - Special Thanks to Michele Picaro, Andrea Agnoletto, Max Tempia.
Any trademarks appearing in this document are the property of their respective owners and are only used here for reference purposes.

 

VB3-II MAIN SCREEN

The main screen of VB3-II can be seen as split in 3 parts:
  1. Top part: programmer and navigation buttons
  2. Middle part: main organ console controls
  3. Bottom part: drawbars

A Premise: difference between Programs and Drawbar Presets

Since VB3-II is software, the concept of "preset" can take on a different meaning. VB3-II is able to store several "Programs" in a "Bank", each Program stores all parameters, including drawbar positions, so there would be no need to implement the old style drawbar preset system, but this is an additional feature VB3 has always had since its first release. As opposed to Programs, drawbar presets store only drawbar registrations and nothing else. The first button is called "Cancel", which is an empty preset (no sound), while buttons labeled A or B switch between drawbar sets A or B. Remember that, as far as the upper manual is concerned, the percussion is only available on SET B and the 9th drawbar (1') will be deactivated if percussion is activated. This is how a real B3 works and VB3-II replicates this behavior faithfully, no exceptions.

TOP PART: PROGRAMMER AND NAVIGATION BUTTONS


Left to right:

MIDDLE PART: ORGAN CONSOLE CONTROLS

Since you're here, we can suppose you're familiar with the famous B3 tonewheel organ. You've probably also noticed that this part of the interface replicates the original console pretty faithfully, where every button and knob is exactly where it belongs. On the left side there is the Volume tab, the two Chorus/Vibrato tabs and the 6-position selector; on the right part there are the four Percussion tabs; in the center part there are 6 knobs for the most useful performance parameters: Overall volume, Bass and Treble EQ, KeyClick level, Overdrive level and Reverb level. On the far right there's a vertical slider representing the Swell Pedal, which on the real B3 is a foot pedal operated by the right foot.

A few notes about these controls:
  1. The Volume knob works on top of everything, including the Volume tab and the Swell pedal;
  2. The Volume can go down to zero while the Swell Pedal, which is an expression control, does not shut the volume completely off;
  3. There's a middle band for the EQ in the EDIT EFFECTS page;
  4. There are more Key Click parameters in the EDIT ORGAN page;
  5. The overdrive is put between the organ and the rotary effect and is always active even when the rotary effect is bypassed. It can be deactivated only when this knob is set to zero;
  6. The Reverb knob adjusts the level of the digital reverb that comes after the rotary effect; there are more parameters for it, and there's also a Spring Reverb before the rotary effect.

The middle section also features other important controls, including the 3-position Rotary Speed Lever, while at the top left there are four icons:
  1. The Dice: click it to generate a random Program. This will affect all drawbars and tabs, but will exclude some controls and will not affect any editing parameter.
  2. The Keyboard: click it to invoke the on-screen keyboards. You can then choose whether to show both full-sized keyboards or one single 3-octave keyboard.
  3. The Cassette: click this to open the Session Recorder page.
  4. The Audio Player: click this to open the Audio Player page.

At the bottom of the middle section there are the SPLIT and Octave Transpose buttons.
The buttons labeled -1 / 0 / +1 operate the octave shift for either the Upper (left) or the Lower (right) manual independently; in the middle there's the SPLIT button which, if activated (yellow) creates a split between the lower and the upper manual that can be played by sending notes on either the lower or the upper Midi channels (see Global Settings). The split point defaults to Middle C (note # 60) and can be changed in the EDIT ORGAN page.

BOTTOM PART: DRAWBARS

Before reaching the actual drawbars at the very bottom of the screen, we see the Drawbar Preset buttons.
On a real B3, these are represented as the reverse color octave before the first playable C, special keys that remain latched once pressed. Here we see them as radio-buttons with graphical icons representing the drawbar registration each button holds. As you probably already know, the leftmost button is "Cancel", which mutes the manual; the next 9 buttons are drawbar presets, which, as seen earlier in this page, only affect the drawbar registration; then there are the A and B buttons to select which drawbar set is in use. Remember that the Percussion is only available on the Upper manual and only on the SET B.

To store a new registration, click the icon below the desired button. These registrations are global for all sessions of the plugin.

Finally, at the very bottom of the screen there are the drawbars, with 4 possible view modes:
CONSOLE (all drawbars visible), COMPACT (only Set B for each manual plus the two pedalboard drawbars), UPPER (Set A and B of the upper manual), LOWER (Set A and B of the lower manual). The selected mode is global and is remembered every time the plugin is launched.

QUICK MIDI LEARN

Some of the controls of the main screen can be quickly assigned to Midi controller via the Quick Midi Learn feature.
Please note: this function needs a mouse right-click event, it is mostly intended for the desktop version (Windows/macOS).

Just right-click or CMD-Click on a widget (knob, fader, drawbar, button) and a dialog window appears with some information about that parameter. Now move a physical controller on your Midi device to complete the process, or click OK to abandon.
Not all parameters can be assigned with this method. All other edit parameters must be assigned from the Midi Map page where more in-depth Midi assignments can be made.

HOME - NEXT: THE PROGRAM MANAGER

 

THE PROGRAM MANAGER


To open the Program Manager, click the FILES button in the Programmer's area of the Main screen. Here's where you can manage your Programs. In the Main Screen chapter we learned how to recall and store Programs. Here we'll learn what else we can do with them.

All existing Programs can be found in a list. Here you can do a few operations:

- RENAME: double click on a Program Name to change its name.

- SET A DESCRIPTION: double click the Description field to add a short description.

- SET AS FAVORITE: click the star icon if a Program has a particular relevance to you.

- SET THE MIDI PROGRAM CHANGE NUMBER: normally, newly added Programs aren't assigned to Program Change numbers, but you can decide each Program to which P.C. number should respond. There are only 128 Program Change numbers in the Midi protocol, but you might have less or more Programs. If two or more Programs have been assigned to the same P.C. number, the higher in the list will be recalled when that P.C. event is received.

- MOVE PROGRAMS: you can change the order the Programs will appear in the list by selecting the Programs and using the buttons MOVE UP or MOVE DOWN.

- DELETE A PROGRAM: if there's a Program you no longer need, you can delete it by selecting it and clicking DELETE. That Program will be gone forever.

- Auto PC: click this button to automatically assign Program Change numbers from 0 up to 127 to all programs. If there are more than 127 programs, the remaining will not be assigned.

- All Off: click this button to unassign all Program Change numbers.

Also, you can quickly recall a program by doing double-click on the program number.

On the bottom right of this page there are two icons to access the free Cloud service that is explained in a separate chapter.


REORDERING PROGRAMS VIA DRAG AND DROP


If you wish to reorder your programs, other than using the UP and DOWN buttons, you can do it via drag and drop. Hold down the mouse (or finger) for a second on the item you want to move, then start moving along the list until you reach the desired destination. Move towards the top and bottom edges to scroll the list. Once you're finished, the items will reorder based on your swaps.


THE FILE MENU


Click the Menu icon on the top left to show the slide-in menu. Here you have a few file options:

- EXPORT PROGRAM: select a program and use this option to export the Program as a file.

- IMPORT PROGRAM: use this option to import a previously saved Program from a file. The imported Program will be recalled in a temporary memory and will not overwrite nor delete any existing Programs.

- REVERT PROGRAM: this option will simply revert the current Program to its original state before any parameter was edited.

- INITIALIZE PROGRAM: this option creates an empty initialized Program.

- IMPORT BANK: use this option to import a whole Program Bank from a previously saved file.

- EXPORT BANK: this option saves the whole Program Bank to a file.

- RELOAD FACTORY BANK: replaces the current Program Bank with the built-in factory Bank, thus restoring the state of the instrument at its initial conditions.

Since VB3-II 2023 edition uses a different file format for Banks and Programs, the Files menu includes new functions to exchange files with the previous 2018 Edition. This also includes the exchange of files with the Crumar Mojo Desktop but does not includes older versions of VB3 (version 1) released before 2018. These conversion functions are not available in the iPad version of VB3-II.


BACK TO MAIN - NEXT PAGE: Edit Organ

 

EDIT ORGAN


The Edit screen of VB3-II is divided in two sections, accessible after clicking the EDIT button from the Main Screen: Edit Organ and Edit Effects. Here we explain all the parameters that affect the tonewheel organ generator.

Generator: select a tonewheel generator from this list. Each generator is based on actual values as measured from real console organs of the B/C/A series.

Generator Shape: select between OFF (no shaping) or 3 levels of CUT and 3 levels of BOOST. These will modify the amplitude chart of the generator values according to different positions along the generator. This parameter does not apply any equalization to the sound. Levels 1 can boost or cut starting from wheel n. 25; levels 2 start from wheel n. 52; levels 3 start from wheel n. 72.

Resistor wires: are the small wires that in the vintage organ connect the keyboards to the generator. This parameter offers three different values: "Console: NEW", as specified by the original B3 specifications; "Console: OLD", resulting in a more present low-end; "Spinet", same as "Console NEW" but without the foldback.

Leakage: adjusts the background hum &  hiss.

Crosstalk: adjusts the amount of crosstalk caused by the analog circuitry. This is a very important element of the tonewheel organ sound.

Xtalk Shape: since the crosstalk consists of both bass and treble tones, this parameter mixes between the presence of one or the other, left towards a "rumble" noise, right towards a "brilliant" noise.

Complex wheels: are special tonewheels only used for the first 12 tones wired with the pedalboard. Unselecting this parameter will use standard sinus tonewheels.

Foldback on 16': the first 16 wheels wired to the keyboards are usually folded back, thus starting from wheel n.13 rather than from wheel n.1. If you wish to use the first 12 wheels on the manuals, uncheck this option but you should also uncheck the Complex wheels.

Pedals to lower: with this selector you can choose to bring the pedalboard tones on the lower manual in either overlay or split mode. In overlay mode, the first 2 octaves will play both the pedalboard tones and the lower tones.

Bass Pedal Release: some tonewheel organs were equipped with a so-called string bass circuit that could add a slow release time to the bass pedal tones; here you can adjust the release time. However, while the pedalboard remains polyphonic, only the last played note will sustain.

Drawbar trims: the 9 parameters under this section can be used to adjust the presence of each drawbar. This will apply on top of the actual drawbar registrations for both the upper and the lower manual.

Percussion settings: set the parameters of the percussion circuit such as the level when it's on normal or soft, the decay time when it's on slow or fast, the overall level, and the loudness loss when the volume tab is set to normal.

Perc Paradise Mod: this is a "hack" that causes the percussion to never decay. What's special in this is that if you activate the scanner vibrato effect, you'll notice that the vibrato is applied to the rest of the drawbars but not to the percussion tone.

Other settings: here you can adjust the depth of the vibrato circuit and the mix amount that affects the chorus settings, plus some parameters related to the generation of the KeyClick noise.

Preamp Bass / Treble: adjust the frequency response of the organ's built-in preamp circuitry.

Split Note: use this to select the split point (lowest note of the upper part) between lower and upper when the SPLIT function is on.


One last parameter is the activation of the VB3 engine version 1. This will completely replace the VB3-II engine with the old VB3 v1, thus deactivating almost all editing parameters (that will be blurred out).


BACK TO MAIN - NEXT PAGE: Edit Effects

 

EDIT EFFECTS


This is the page where all effect parameters can be modified. The sound path is simple yet complete:

ORGAN - RING MOD. - OVERDRIVE - DELAY - SPRING REV.- AMP - LIMITER - DIGITAL REV. - EQ.

Before reaching the effect chain, the organ sound is mixed with the external audio input that comes from the Remote Input Plugin, if active.

PRE-ROTARY EFFECTS

RING MODULATOR: this effect modulates the amplitude of a signal with a variable speed LFO. The name comes from the interaction seen on an oscilloscope screen between two sinusoidal signals where one of the two modulates the amplitude of the other. Parameters are RATE and DEPTH, plus a toggle switch. This effect can be heard in the introduction to the song Lazy by Deep Purple.

OVERDRIVE: the amount of overdrive can be set in the Main Screen, while other parameters are in the Rotary Effect block below.

DELAY: this is a digital delay that can also work as a ping-pong delay by increasing the WIDTH parameter, but since it's put before the Rotary effect, that accepts a mono signal as input, when the Width is high it remains mono and sounds like a multi-tap delay; if the Rotary simulation is off, you'll hear it's actually stereo. Other parameters are TIME (up to 500 ms), FEEDBACK and LEVEL.

SPRING REVERB: this is derived from our TimeVerb-X Accutronics Type 4 reverb tank model. This type of reverb tank was also installed in all vintage Hammond 'A' series organs. Here you have parameters such as LEVEL, DECAY, TIMBRE and DAMP to define the amount and quality of reverb that will be mixed with the organ signal and reach the Rotary simulator input.

ROTARY EFFECT

We can say that this is the most important part of this whole effect section. The rotary effect is what gives life to the sound of a tonewheel organ. VB3-II features a very accurate simulation of a classic genuine rotary amplifier with a parameter set that can help you reach pretty much every organ sound you have in mind.

Parameters for the Rotary Speaker are:

- Rotary ON / OFF: switches the Rotary Speaker Simulator on or off. If you wish to use an external rotary speaker (real or simulator), make sure this parameter is set to OFF.

- Horn slow / fast: adjust the speed offset of the horn for when the speed is on slow or on fast.

- Bass slow / fast: same as above but for the bass rotor.

- Horn up / down: adjust the acceleration and deceleration times of the horn for the transitions between the slow and fast speeds. When the brake is engaged, the power is taken off from the motor so the horn slows down until stopping only driven by the centrifugal force, so the time between fast and stop may be longer than from fast to slow.

- Bass up / down: same as above but for the bass rotor.

- Balance: adjusts the balance between the horn and the bass rotor.

- Ambience: a real amplifier stays in a real environment causing the microphones to capture the sound reflections as well as the direct sound coming from the speakers. This parameter adjusts the amount of environmental reflections.

- Cabinet: adjusts the amount of resonances caused by the wooden cabinet.

- Mic Angle: adjusts the angle between the two microphones at the horn, ranging from 0 (both microphones in the same spot) to 180 degrees (microphones at the opposite sides of the cabinets). This simulation considers only three microphones, two for the horn and one for the bass rotor.

- Mic Distance: adjusts the distance between the microphones and the cabinet. A longer distance results in more sound dispersion, a shorter distance results in a deeper proximity effect.

- Horn EQ: not all vintage rotary speakers have the same quality for what concerns the sound coming from the horn, some are brighter, some are duller or maybe just well balanced. This parameter lets you adjust the treble response of the horn sound.

- Mid reflections: adjusts the amount of sound reflections happening in the middle of the stereo field.

- Doppler intensity: the so called "Doppler" effect is the fundamental of the "Leslie" effect that causes the sound to be cyclically untuned while the sound source (the speaker) gets farther or nearer to the listened; this parameter lets you adjust the amount of this effect that is mostly caused by the sound reflections over the walls around the amplifier.

- Dry Leak: some of the dry sound coming from the speakers does not reach the rotating elements and is mixed with the rotating sound. Use this parameter to adjust the amount of dry signal you want to be mixed in.

- Bass Port: a real Leslie cabinet has a hole in the back that serves for two reasons: 1) lets the heat from the motors ventilate out from the cabinet and 2) acts as a bass tuning port, like those found on modern speakers. If you put a microphone in front of this hole you get nothing but sub-bass frequencies. Use this parameter to adjust the amount of sub-bass you want to get into the mix.

- Tube feedback. This is a very important parameter that works on an aspect of the whole amplification system that can drastically vary both the dynamic response and the frequency response, as well as have an impact on the overdrive. When a Leslie cabinet is set very close to the Hammond organ and is played at a high volume, there's some sort of feedback between the tubes, the transformers and the pickups of the Hammond and the speakers of the Leslie, resulting in a sound that tends to get "fatter", the attack is "punchier" and the distortion is aggressive, giving you the feeling that some sort of energy is looping between the organ and its amplifier. Now, a genuine Leslie 122 or 147 is only 40W of power, but if you try to connect your Hammond organ to a 100W guitar amp such as a Marshall JCM800 or a Fender Twin you'll notice that the amp starts going in feedback even if you don't play any note on the organ. This is... pure analog power! Try this parameter at small steps, it can drastically change the sound in both a pleasant or unpleasant way, according to your tastes.

- Stop Position: you can use this parameter to find a position where the horn and rotor should "preferably" stop when you set the speed lever in the brake position and the "Front Stop" option is enabled. Please consider that not always the position you've set is reached with precision, it depends mostly on the Ramp Down times you've set. It takes into account the kinetic energy, the gravity, the belt friction...

- Noises: well, a real rotary effect is far from being a quiet amplifier. Your microphones will pick up not only the sound but also the wind generated by the rotating elements, and the relays that switch between the fast and slow motors. Use this parameter to adjust the amount of noises you want to get into the mix.

- Memphis Style: check this parameter to unplug the motors that drive the bass rotor. This way, the bass stays motionless while the horns keep spinning.

- Front Stop: this very sought after function causes the horn and the bass rotor to stop always in a "sweet" spot every time the brake is engaged. VB3-II uses a simple algorithm that produces this effect in a very pleasant and seamless way that you won't even notice when you're braking the rotors.

Notes on the rotation speeds.

All parameters in the edit pages, whenever moved, display the readout value in either percentage or actual value, when available. As for the Rotary speaker's rotation speeds and times, values are shown in Hz and Seconds. To convert Hz to RPM (revolutions per minute), just multiply the Hz value by 60. For example, the horn, when the Horn Slow parameter is set in the middle position, rotates at 0,77 Hz which translates to 46,2 RPM. All the speed values can be varied between 50% and 150% of the center value. The ramp up and ramp down times are in seconds, and can be varied between 50% and 500% of the center value.

Center values are:

These times are average values as measured by a wide sample of well working and serviced vintage Leslie 122, 142, 147 and 145 models.

Due to centrifugal energy, when the Rotors ramp down from fast to brake and the Front Stop option is disabled, they take a bit longer to get to full stop position.

AMPLIFIER SELECTION

VB3-II also features the amp simulators from VB3 version 1, including the Rock 147, the New 147 and the Static Amp algorithms. You can select which amp model to use by clicking the left/right arrows or swipe the images left or right. The parameters that are not available with the old amp models will be blurred out, while those shared with all amps have a slightly different color.

POST-ROTARY EFFECTS

FET LIMITER: this is inspired by the famous UREI 1176 limiter that uses a very easy and musical logic to work, where you have an INPUT level knob that pushes the sound into the limiter, and an OUTPUT knob that adjusts the modified sound level, then two more knobs for ATTACK and RELEASE times, and a selector for the compression ratio. The vu-meter on the right indicates the amount of GAIN REDUCTION.

DIGITAL REVERB: this is derived from GSi's TimeVerb-X and features the following parameters:

EQUALIZER: This is a four band equalizer with semi-parametric middle band. The Bass and Treble knobs can also be found on the main screen, and are replicated here for your convenience.

AUDIO OUTPUTS: This virtual instrument has two stereo outputs, the first output brings the sound complete with effects, while at the second output you'll find the dry organ sound, which is monaural.


SUB-PRESETS

The sections Rotary Effect and Digital Reverb also contain a sub-section that is dedicated to the Sub-Presets. These are presets that can be stored, recalled and deleted and affect only the section they belong to. You'll find them very useful to compare different settings of the Rotary effect or of the Digital Reverb without having to save the whole Program.
To store a sub-preset, click the ADD icon, then type a new name to create a new entry or leave the name unchanged to overwrite the last recalled preset.
To recall a preset, just click the MENU icon and select an entry from the list.
To delete a preset, click the DELETE icon.


REMOTE INPUT

This section is to enable and configure the connection with the Remote Input plugin. This is addressed in the next chapter.


BACK TO MAIN - NEXT PAGE: Remote Input - VoMidiCoder

 

REMOTE INPUT PLUGIN

PLEASE NOTE: This feature is only available for the Desktop version (Windows and macOS) of VB3-II.

VB3-II comes with a separate plugin that can send external Audio to VB3-II's internal effect chain, and can also generate Midi events.

How to use:

First of all, make sure the Remote Input is enabled in VB3-II: click EDIT then go to the EDIT EFFECTS page and click the REMOTE INPUT icon. The small vu-meter next to the icon comes alive as soon as VB3-II receives audio from the remote input plugin.

From the Remote Input settings window, enable the feature. This will open a TCP Socket on your computer that listens to the indicated port, by default 64127. On Windows, an alert similar to this may pop up:


PLEASE NOTE: This feature only works locally on the same machine, and both plugins must run on the same audio driver. This doesn't work in a network between separate machines. It may however work if plugins run in separate host applications, as long as they run on the same audio driver, for example the remote plugin hosted in Reaper might send audio to VB3-II running in stand-alone, as long as both Reaper and VB3-II run on the same audio driver, same sample rate and same buffer size. There might be a latency of just one sample buffer between the sender and the receiver.
If the remote plugin is launched after VB3-II, it should connect automatically and read Connected to VB3-II as shown above. Otherwise click CONNECT TO VB3-II. If connection fails or is lost, an error message appears. If the default TCP port 64127 is used by another service, you may try to use a different port (leave it unchanged if you don't know what this means). The remote plugin detects whether VB3-II is running and the remote input is active, and automatically detects the chosen port.


What is VoMidiCoder?

As you may already know, the Vocoder is a vocal effect capable of creating a sort of robotic voice singing along with a synthesizer sound. The name is a contraction of "vocal encoder". Well, our VoMidiCoder inserts Midi into this paradigm, because it works pretty much like a traditional vocoder, except that it generates Midi events rather than sound. The logic is that you should feed an audio signal, coming from your voice or any other source of your interest, into the Remote Input plugin. This signal is split in 9 bands by means of band-pass filters tuned with the same harmonic sequence of the drawbars; the output of each filter is traced by an envelope follower and each of these generates a series of Midi CC events that can be sent back to VB3-II to control the 9 drawbars.

PLEASE NOTE: The CC events generated by VoMidiCoder go from 12 to 20, corresponding to the default Midi Map for the upper manual. If you modify the Midi Map, this feature might not work as expected.

Use the two sliders Gain and Tune to adjust the detector's gain and center band frequency, so that the incoming audio signal spreads over the 9 filters equally. You can monitor this via the 9 vu meters.

The inspiration for this function comes from a bizarre Hammond organ technique used by some organists during the 40's, one was Ernesto Hill Olvera who was able to control the drawbars so that it sounded like the organ was singing. Search YouTube for it. With VoMidiCoder you can mimic his style by talking into the microphone and have the upper drawbars move like they're generating the frequencies of your voice.


BACK TO MAIN - NEXT PAGE: Session Recorder

 

SESSION RECORDER


The session recorder is a very useful function that helps your creativity. When this function has been activated, a Midi recorder is always active in background, silently recording everything you play. Click the cassette icon on the top right of the main screen to open the Session Recorder audition page.

To activate the auto-recorder, flip the switch on the top left. When this is on, at each new session (i.e. every time you launch VB3-II) the recorder starts recording. If you want to audition what you played, just return to this page and the playback starts immediately, showing the notes you've played on a sequencer bar. You can pause/restart the playback or move the cursor on the timeline.

If you're happy with the results, click Save MidiFile and export your recording to a standard Midi File that you can later open in an external sequencer application.
The Midi recording can also be rendered to audio and saved to a file (only in stand-alone mode). This will create a standard WAV file containing the performance exactly as you hear it, including all effects and modulations. The rendered audio starts from the cursor position. If you want to render the entire recording, make sure you've put the cursor at the beginning of the track by clicking the Rewind button. Or move the cursor to the desired starting point, then start the rendering process.

You can also load and play an existing Midi File. Make sure to load a suitable file that plays on 3 separate channels and does not include tracks that can't be played by VB3-II (for example a drum track).

When you leave this page, the recording is automatically discarded and a new recording session starts unless you turn this feature off.


BACK TO MAIN - NEXT PAGE: Audio Player

 

AUDIO PLAYER


VB3-II features a useful built-in Audio Player that can be accessed by clicking on the icon on the top right of the Main Screen. This is pretty much a conventional music player like the many ones you're probably used to use on your computer, your smartphone, tablet, etc. The Audio player page is very simple, there's just an EJECT button for loading a new file or a list of files, a PLAY/STOP button to control the playback, a volume knob, and a positioning cursor. If more files have been loaded, a playlist is created and sorted in alphabetical order (depends on the OS) and all files are played in sequence. You can skip by clicking the left and right arrows or by selecting a song from the drop-down list that appears by clicking on the file name.

Auto-Play

On the top left corner you see a switch that enables the Auto-Play feature. When this is enabled, the Play state is kept active every time a new file is loaded, or a new song is selected from a playlist, or the Previous/Next buttons are used, or a song reaches the end and there's a new song following. By disabling this option, the playback terminates when a song reaches the end, and the Stop state is kept.

Midi Machine Control

Below the Auto-Play option there's another switch that enables the so-called MMC protocol. When this is enabled, MMC commands received at the MIDI input will control the Audio Player for Play, Stop, Previous Song and Next Song.

Playlist

When VB3-II is quit, the last playlist is always saved, so the next time the Audio Player window is open, the list will be restored, including the selected song in the list, the last cursor position and eventually the playing state, but only if the Auto-Play option is enabled.
Please note: when using the iPad version, due to iOS security restrictions, the playlist can only be restored if the files were loaded from within VB3-II's document folder.

Channel Solo

On the bottom of the screen, right below the two vu-Meters, there are two SOLO buttons for muting either the LEFT or the RIGHT channel. Unlike conventional mixers, when a channel is SOLOed, it is copied to the other channel as well, so the result is a single channel on both speakers. If both channels are SOLOed, they are both mixed together for a monaural sound.

This peculiar behavior is useful with some commercial backing tracks from educational CDs that feature some instruments on the left channel and other on the right chanel, for example bass on right and guitar on left, while the drums are on both channels; by SOLOing the left channel, you'll hear only bass and drums on both speakers; by SOLOing the right channel, you'll obtain guitar and drums on both speakers; by SOLOing both channels you'll hear everything in the middle.

These settings are temporary and are reset every time VB3-II is launched.

While the audio file is playing, the screen will show a fancy animation in sync with the music, but you can click the Close button and return to the Main Screen. You'll notice that the Audio Player icon on the top right corner blinks in sync with the music to indicate that audio is still playing on the background. To stop the music, use the tiny Play button that appears next to this icon (when a file is loaded) or return to the Audio Player page and click the Play/Stop button.


BACK TO MAIN - NEXT PAGE: The Cloud Service

 

THE FREE CLOUD SERVICE

The Cloud service is used to easily and quickly exchange Programs, Midi Maps and Midi Processor Scripts with other users. This service does not require any particular registration, no login or password are required, and no personal information must be provided. The service automatically identifies the device (computer or mobile), not the user. As a matter of fact, it works only for legit license owners, it's unaccessible in DEMO mode.

The first time you wish to upload a file to the Cloud, you must choose your User Name, then you give a name to your file and an optional short description, and start your upload. From the next time on, you're automatically recognized. You can delete your own files when you browse the file list. Just select a file and, if it's yours, a bin icon appears on the bottom on the screen.

To download a file, just browse the list, select a file and click the download icon or double-click the file entry. If it's a Program, it will be downloaded to a temporary memory slot, so that you can audition it without overwriting any local Program. In case you decide to keep it, use the WRITE button.

To upload a Program you must first store it locally, then select the slot and start the upload.

Downloading a Midi Map would overwrite the current Map and the new Map becomes immediately effective.
Downloading a Midi Processor Script just downloads the code in a new editor tab. This can be executed immediately, but must be saved to the local device memory in order to make it auto-run every time VB3-II is launched. More details on this in a separate chapter.

PLEASE NOTE: The content of the Cloud is hosted on the GSi webserver in Italy and is constantly under control for inappropriate or incorrect content. No actual files pass through the Cloud server, but only encoded text information (similar to email attachments) that is exchanged between the software and the remote database. None of this content is stored on your local drive unless you purposely use the file export functions.


BACK TO MAIN - NEXT PAGE: Global Settings

 

GLOBAL SETTINGS


Click the SETTINGS button on the main screen to invoke the Global Settings panel. Here you can set a few options that will be remembered for all sessions:

Global Tuning: set the global tuning in a range from A=430 Hz to A=450 Hz.

Midi Channels: select the MIDI channels to which this instrument should respond. Each Manual can be freely assigned to a specific channel or even disabled (if set to OFF). By default channels are 1, 2 and 3 for respectively the upper manual, lower manual and pedalboard.

Sustain Pedal Function: decide what to do when a MIDI CC #64 event (Sustain Pedal) is received:
Swell Pedal Curve: here you can select the response curve of an expression pedal sending the Midi CC # 11.

Receive Program Change: enable to respond to Midi Program Change events. Program numbers must be assigned to single Programs as explained in the Programmer page.

Receive Control Change: enable to respond to Midi Continuous Controller events.

Rotary Speed via Aftertouch: if your keyboard controller is capable of sending the Channel Aftertouch message, you can enable this to momentarily switch between slow and fast speeds of the Rotary Effect by applying force on your keyboard, a bit like modulating the LFO on a synthesizer.

Drawbar Preset Octave: As explained in the Main Screen chapter, the drawbar presets can be recalled from Midi Note events below the first C (note 36). Enable this to simulate the reverse preset octave.

Send CC Snapshots: VB3-II supports Midi output. It can send Midi CC events (only those that have been assigned to something). Enable this to have VB3-II send a complete snapshot of all CC messages every time it is launched or a new Program is recalled.

Window size: this is available only for the Desktop (Mac/Win) versions and can be used to magnify or reduce the window size. Use it if the window appears too small in your hi-res monitor, or if it doesn't fit your laptop screen.


Some extra settings may show up according to the platform and format.


MIDI MONITOR

The Global Settings page also includes the Midi Map (explained in the next chapter) and useful Midi Monitor. Click the Midi Monitor icon to show or hide it. This displays all incoming Midi events with different colors and all related information including a timestamp. Very useful if you're trying to troubleshoot your Midi connections.
And, if you want a similar monitor handy for all situations, you can have it directly inside your browser by visiting this page with Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox, Vivaldi and other compatible browsers: https://www.gsidsp.com/midimonitor/
It may not work on Apple mobile devices.


BACK TO MAIN - NEXT PAGE: Midi Map

 

MIDI MAP

On the right side of the GLOBAL SETTINGS screen there's the Midi Map. Here's where each sound parameter can be assigned to a given Midi CC number to allow control via an external Midi controller or control surface. All parameters are presented in a list. To change a CC assignment, just double-click the CC number and type a number in the range 0 - 127, then click OK. Leaving this field empty will unassign that parameter. Do the same for all other fields. Setting a channel other than OMNI means that the parameter will only respond on the specified channel. Max and Min establish the range within which this parameter should respond. Normally it's Min = 0 and Max = 127; setting a different range, for example Min = 30 and Max = 90, will ignore all values below 30 and above 90 and will stretch the range to 0 - 127.

There's another way to assign a Parameter, it's called the "Midi Learn" function:
  1. Move a control on your control surface;
  2. Double click on the Parameter name (first column) in the list for the parameter you wish to assign to that controller.

This way, the parameter is automatically assigned.

PLEASE NOTE: some of the parameters in the main screen can also be assigned using the Quick Midi Learn feature that requires a right mouse click on the controller widgets.

The last three columns allow the setting of useful switches:

- Rev: setting this on, the parameter responds in reverse mode. This is useful for Drawbars wherever your controller can't reverse the action of physical sliders.

- Latch: normally, latching a button should be a controller's task. But in case your controller doesn't support this feature, you can set it here. The Latch feature can work in two ways: if it's used on an on-off switch, it toggles the state between on and off every time the max Midi CC value is hit; but if it's enabled for a slider (or potentiometer or drawbar), it works for snapping the controller value to avoid value jumps when the phyisical controller position doesn't match the parameter value.

- Lock: enabling this prevents a parameter to be modified by a Program change. For example, you may want to lock the Volume pedal so that it remains unchanged while switching between Programs.

The buttons below the Midi Map allow to reset a single Parameter to factory default values, reset the whole map, save the map to a file or restore the map from a previously saved file.


JAVASCRIPT MIDI PROCESSOR

VB3-II features a built-in Midi Processor capable of doing even more message transformations by means of a scripting language. In this case, it's the very common Javascript, widely used for the world wide web. If you're not familiar with programming or scripting languages, you can also skip the next chapter and ignore this function.


BACK TO MAIN - NEXT PAGE: Javascript Midi Processor

 

JAVASCRIPT MIDI PROCESSOR

An important premise: this is a an advanced feature that requires some deep knowledge of MIDI and programming languages. If you're not familiar at all with programming or scripting languages, even more if you're not very familiar with the MIDI protocol, you can totally skip this chapter and ignore this feature. You will still be able to control VB3-II using conventional and very common Midi CC messages.

This feature has been added because there are some old keyboards around, typically old tonewheel clones of the late 80's or mid 90's, that instead of sending normal Midi CC messages like all modern controllers do, used to send more complex message sets such as RPN/NRPN or even System Exclusive strings.
This processor can detect these unconventional messages and transform them into Midi CC messages that can then be recognized by VB3-II's internal Midi Mapper. So here are two more important premises:

1. Receiving System Exclusive messages might not work if VB3-II is hosted as a plugin in a host application;
2. Midi RPN and NRPN messages are nothing but sequences of CC messages. If these CC numbers have been used in the normal mapping, they might not work with the processor;
3. This processor transforms an unconventional message to a normal CC message, and works as long as the transformed messages are also mapped in the normal Midi Map.

You know that in an object-oriented language like Javascript there are objects and their methods. Here the JS interpreter can do only a few things for this one purpose. There's one object called VB3 and a few methods, here explained: 

// Source event types
VB3.fromCC()    // intercepts a Midi CC message, the value must be integer between 0 and 127 (7 bits)
VB3.fromRPN()   // intercepts RPN or NRPN messages, the value must be integer between 0 and 16383 (14 bits)
VB3.fromSYX()   // intercepts a System Exclusive string, the value is the 0-index byte number taken as CC value
VB3.fromPB()    // intercepts a Pitch Bender message, the value is internally converted to the 7 bit range (0 to 127)
VB3.fromNote()  // intercepts a Note On or Off message, the value is 0 for note-off and 127 for note-on
VB3.fromAft()   // intercepts Channel Pressure (aftertouch)

// Destination event
VB3.toCC() // determines the destination CC number

// Channels
VB3.fromChan() // looks for events on a specific Midi Channel (1-16)
VB3.toChan()   // changes the event's Midi Channel

// Modifiers
VB3.withRange(min, max) // Scales the incoming value to the given range between min and max
VB3.withToggle(mode)    // Toggles a value between its min and max value 
// mode can be: 0 = disable, 1 = only when input=max, 2 = when input=max or input=min (see example below)

// Utilities
VB3.log(text) // prints text to the output window
VB3.get() // retrieves the last value

Methods must be chained so that an input becomes an output, sources first, destinations and channels at the end.

PLEASE NOTE: the code has an execution timeout of only 1 second. This code is a one-shot execution, has no loop and has the sole purpose of creating a list of directives that is then processed by VB3-II. If the code contains error, invalid instructions or if it compiles without error but does not create any directives, the processor is immediately deactivated.

Examples: 

// Transforms incoming CC 7 to CC 11 on the same channel
VB3.fromCC(7).toCC(11);

// Same as above but applies the transformation only if the CC 7 comes on channel 4
VB3.fromCC(7).toCC(11).fromChan(4);

// Same as above but listens to channel 4 and sets channel 1
VB3.fromCC(7).toCC(11).fromChan(4).toChan(1);

// Transforms RPN (or NRPN) with MSB=20 and LSB=8 to CC n. 1
// You can either specify the 14-bit RPN number (in this case it's 2568) or use bitshift operators
VB3.fromRPN((20 << 7) + 8).toCC(1); // Same as VB3.fromRPN(2568).toCC(1);

// Transforms byte n. 4 of a SysEx string to CC 10 on channel 1
// If the SysEx string contains less than 4 bytes, this directive will be created but won't have any effect
VB3.fromSYX(4).toCC(10).toChan(1);

// Use aftertouch (channel pressure) to toggle Rotary Speeds between slow and fast
// PLEASE NOTE: this could conflict with the global option "Rotary Speed via Aftertouch", make sure it's turned off
VB3.fromAft().toCC(1).withToggle(1);

// Use a key switch mapped to note 36 (C) to toggle Rotary Speeds between stop and fast
VB3.fromNote(36).toCC(1).withToggle(1).withRange(64, 127);

Here's an example of how to use the Pitch Bender to switch Rotary Speeds (slow/fast);
hit the bender lever or wheel max position to switch to fast, hit min position to switch to slow 
VB3.fromPB().toCC(1).withToggle(2);

You can also use for loops to create more directives at once, for example: 
// Transform RPN 501 to 509 to CC numbers from 12 to 20:
for (cc = 12; cc <= 20; cc++)
{
    VB3.fromRPN(501 - 12 + cc).toCC(cc);
    VB3.log("NPN " + VB3.get() + " to CC: " + cc);
}

An alternative method of adding directives is the add keyword that can accept all parameters at once: 
VB3.add("CC", 7, 11); // Transforms CC 7 to 11
VB3.add("CC", 7, 11, 4); // Transforms to 11 only CC 7 coming on channel 4, leaving channel unchanged
VB3.add("CC", 7, 11, 4, 1); // Transforms to 11 the CC 7 coming on channel 4 and sets channel 1
VB3.add("RPN", 2568, 1); // Transforms RPN MSB=20 LSB=8 to CC 1
VB3.add("SYX", 4, 1, 0, 3); // Transforms 4th byte of incoming sysex string to CC 1 and sets channel 3
VB3.add("PB", 0, 1); // Transforms the Pitch Bender value to CC 1 
VB3.add("NOTE", 40, 1); // Transforms the Note #40 on/off to CC 1 values 0 or 127
VB3.add("AFT", 40, 1); // Transforms the Aftertouch (channel pressure) to CC 1

Once your script is complete, flip the RUN switch to test and apply it. If it's correct, you'll see a confirmation log message. If you want it to be applied permanently and run automatically every time you launch VB3-II, you must first save it to a file, then apply it once again. Also please note that if you're using the iPad version, the script must be saved in VB3-II's document folder or it won't be reloaded, because of some iOS security restrictions.

If you've done something interesting, you might want to share it with other users via the free Cloud service. Use the two icons on the top of the screen for this. A script will be uploaded to the cloud only if it's valid. Please add comments to explain who made it and what it is for. Inappropriate content could be removed.


BACK TO MAIN - NEXT PAGE: License Activation

 

License Activation on Desktop computer

PLEASE NOTE: this chapter only applies to the Desktop version (Mac/Windows) of VB3-II.

If you haven't bought a license yet, the software runs in Demo Mode, which applies some limitations to its functionalities.

In VB3-II the DEMO limitations are:
  1. the sound goes silent for 2 seconds every 30;
  2. all file operations (import/export, load/save) aren't accessible;
  3. the free Cloud service can't be used.

Inserting a license will remove these limitations.
In Demo mode, every time the software is launched, the registration screen appears automatically.

AUTOMATIC ACTIVATION

If your computer is connected to the Internet and the GSi website is reachable, in case you have purchased a license, all you have to do is copy/paste the 24-character license code into the registration form and click REGISTER. If everything is right, the software should authorize itself in a matter of seconds.
Instead, if the computer is offline, you have to use an online computer to create an authorization code and continue the process manually in a few steps.

MANUAL ACTIVATION


To leave the license manager screen, just click on the dark area.

Activating a Desktop license on iPad

If you own a desktop license of VB3-II you can also use it to activate the iPad version. On iPad, launch the VB3-II Standalone App (not the AUv3 plugin), and tap on the colorful banner you see on the top left corner of the main screen. A page containing detailed instructions is displayed.


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END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

This License Agreement is a legal agreement between the User, hereafter called "you", and GenuineSoundware regarding VB3-II software. VB3-II in the following of the contract includes the computer software named VB3-II and associated media, CD and product documentation. VB3-II also includes any updates and supplements to the original VB3-II provided to you by GenuineSoundware. By installing, accessing or otherwise using VB3-II, you agree to be bound by the terms of this License Agreement.

1 - VB3-II License

Subject to the limitations described below, GenuineSoundware, as licensor, hereby grants you, the licensee, a non-exclusive, perpetual License to use VB3-II in accordance with the documentation provided by GenuineSoundware.
1.1 GRANT OF LICENSE This License Agreement grants you the following rights:
(a) Software. You may install and use VB3-II for an unlimited period on at most three Computers provided that these Computers belong to you and that VB3-II is used only on one Computer at a time.
(b) Reservation of Rights. All rights not expressly granted are reserved by GenuineSoundware.

1.2 LIMITATIONS

(a) Strict personal use. Your use of VB3-II is limited to strict personal use. You may not rent, lease or share VB3-II with another user. Transfer of License to another user is allowed once for each licensed product. A License transfer fee must be paid by the current License holder before the transfer takes place. For this purpose, please contact support@genuinesoundware.com.
(b) Sound produced by VB3-II can only be distributed within a musical context, and not in forms that allow the sounds to be used as sample based instruments or sample libraries.
(c) Limitations on Reverse Engineering, Decompilation, Disassembly and Modification. You may not reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or modify VB3-II.
(d) Limitations on usage. You may not merge VB3-II into another software nor create derivative works based on VB3-II.
(e) Separation of Components. VB3-II is licensed as a single product. Its component parts may not be separated.
(f) Termination. Without prejudice to any other rights, GenuineSoundware may terminate this Agreement if you fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this Agreement. In such en event, you must destroy all copies of VB3-II and all of its component parts.

1.3 COPYRIGHT

VB3-II is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. All title and intellectual property rights related to VB3-II are owned by its authors. Unauthorized copying of VB3-II, in whole or in part, is expressly forbidden. All title and intellectual property rights in and to the content which may be accessed through use of VB3-II is the property of the respective content owner. This Agreement grants you no rights to use such content. You may print one copy of the documentation provided in VB3-II.

1.4 BACKUP COPY

After installation of VB3-II, you may keep one copy of the file provided by GenuineSoundware solely for backup or archival purposes, provided that its component parts are not separated. You may not distribute copies of VB3-II or accompanying documentation.

1.5 OWNERSHIP

VB3-II is licensed to you, not sold nor given. This License Agreement does not constitute a transfer or sale of ownership rights for VB3-II. Except for the License rights granted above, GenuineSoundware retains all right title and interest for VB3-II including all intellectual property rights therein.

2 - WARRANTIES

VB3-II is licensed without any warranty. It is provided on an "as is" basis.

3 - LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

You agree that in no event will GenuineSoundware be liable for any kind of damages, material, immaterial or corporal, that arise as a result of the malfunctioning or misuse of VB3-II. You assume full responsibility for all possible consequences of your use of VB3-II.

4 - DISPUTE

This License Agreement is governed by the laws in force in Italy, and, in respect of any dispute which may arise hereunder, you consent to the jurisdiction of the courts sitting in Treviso, Italy.

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Exported by VB3-II version 2.3.0 - Date: 23 Aug 2024 10:29:07