> plugins quick guide / xils-lab polykb II cm
PLUGINS QUICK GUIDE
PolyKB II CM
Making its first appearance in 173,
XILS-lab’s PolyKB II CM is a retro-inspired
workhorse singing out classic synth tones
that never go out of fashion. Creamy Moog-
style basses, sexy leads, velvety arps,
lustrous effects and plenty more besides –
this beauty really is a go-to generator of
vintage goodness.
When you’re composing, producing or
remixing, speed often counts. You don’t always
want to get bogged down in hours of patch
design and tweaking, so if you need a silky-
smooth analogue synth sound as soon as
inspiration strikes, then look no further. The
toolbar along the plugin’s top edge is where the
magic begins. PolyKB II CM houses 185 presets
divided up into 18 intuitive categories, so you
can quickly locate a suitable patch for your
current composition. First select a category on
the far left to filter presets by Type, Author, Style,
Feeling, Bank or Projects, then use the
accompanying dropdown menu to navigate to a
desired preset. These two menus are then
repeated to let you filter by a second category if
you wish. Finally, the Preset menu shows all the
available filtered patches depending upon your
previous categorisations, complete with
1> SETTINGS/ARPEGGIATOR
3>PITCH/MOD/HOLD
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scrolling arrows for instant patch-switching
and auditioning.
After selecting a patch, you’ll want to tweak
its settings, and PolyKB II CM’s four Macro
Controls handily sit slap-bang in the middle of
the plugin’s interface. This quartet of user-
assignable knobs allows you to select and
manipulate four of the patch’s most important
parameters at a time, providing a harmonious
blend of speedy programming and streamlined
functionality.
On the right of the preset bar sits the Options
tab, housing display options and wheel
increment settings. You can also assign the
aforementioned Macro Controls to your
controller keyboard for instant hands-on
gratification. Simply fire up the MIDI Settings
panel, click Parameters and choose from the
dropdown menu; click the Learning button,
move a dial on your MIDI controller to assign its TECH INFO
MIDI CC number to that parameter. PC: 32-/64-bit VST/RTAS
The final tab (marked ‘?’) gives more Mac: 32-/64-bit AU/VST/RTAS
information about PolyKB II’s keyboard
shortcuts and mouse commands. PolyKB II CM is based on PolyKB II
If you enjoy PolyKB II CM, be sure to check and PolyKB II Player, available from
out the full (and fantastic) PolyKB II and other www.xils-lab.com
XILS-lab products over at www.xils-lab.com.
2>MACRO CONTROLS
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1>SETTINGS/ARPEGGIATOR
PolyKB II CM’s largest knob is the
Level parameter, which sets the plugin’s
output level. Next to that is Tune, which
controls the overall output pitch and can
reach 48 semitones sharp or flat. It’ll
remain at your chosen value even when
changing presets. The number of synth
voices (between one and 16) are set with
the NBR Voices dropdown. Activating
the Stereo parameter will pan these
voices around the stereo field, and
deactivating it will leave them in the
centre (mono).
The Arpeggiator is a basic but
powerful affair, allowing you to play
simple sequences of notes when a key is
held down. It’s enabled/disabled via the
On button. By default, the sequence will
monophonically play a chord’s notes one
2>MACRO CONTROLS
PolyKB II CM takes a performance-based
approach to synthesis. Four user-defined
Macro Controls can be tweaked with
your mouse or MIDI controller, or
controlled via automation. Setting up the
macros is easy: clicking on a slot opens
up a dropdown menu where you select
the parameter you’d like to adjust, then
once assigned, just turn that slot’s knob
to set the parameter to the desired value.
Even though you don’t get separate
controls for each of PolyKB II CM’s under-
the-hood parameters (you’d need to get
the full PolyKB II for that), the ones you
can manipulate via the macro knobs are
useful and versatile. To start, you can
change either OSC1 or OSC2’s Tune or
Wave type, as well as Osc 2’s Level.
Control the Attack, Decay, Sustain and
Release of the amplifier envelope
(ADSR1) or the filter envelope (ADSR2).
Speaking of the filter, PolyKB II CM
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at a time, while activating Poly will cause
notes to play together simultaneously.
The two Arrow buttons control the order
of the notes played, upwards from lowest
or downwards from highest. Pressing
down both arrow buttons activates Up/
Down mode (lowest to highest, then
back down again). When neither are
pressed, notes will play in a random
order. The Oct setting plays the same
sequence an octave higher before
looping back to the start again.
When lit, the M. Sync control enables
the synchronisation of the arpeggiator’s
clock to your current host project’s
tempo. The Clock rotary controls the
arpeggiator’s speed in note divisions
when synced to host BPM, and in Hz
when free-running.
3>PITCH/
MOD/HOLD
This section houses virtual versions of
the traditional pitch and modulation
wheels that can be found on most
hardware and software synthesisers.
The Pitch Wheel can be used to bend a
employs a classic low-pass design, and
note’s pitch, and movements can be
you can tweak its Frequency and
either recorded in via your MIDI
Resonance amounts to taste. Applying
keyboard’s pitchbend wheel or
some Filter Drive will push some
automated in your host DAW.
thickening saturation into the modeled
The Modulation Wheel manually
circuit’s tone (especially noticeable at
modulates another parameter in
high resonance values) and the Filter
addition to the four Macro Controls.
Keyb setting controls how much the
Each preset has a parameter already
filter will open when higher MIDI notes
assigned to the mod wheel, and
are played. Increasing Glide values will
although you can’t reassign it to another
increase the amount that each note’s
parameter, it’s always worth giving it a
pitch will bend into that of the next.
wiggle to see how it affects a preset.
Three modulation effects are also on
The Hold button is a handy
board – a Delay, Chorus and Phaser –
performance tool. If engaged, when a
with basic Dry/Wet controls.
MIDI note is played, it will be held until
It’s worth mentioning that when you
you disengage the Hold button. This is a
re-assign a macro to a new parameter,
great way to tweak a patch and
your previous one will reset back to its
experiment with different arpeggiator
default setting. Your macro assignments
settings without painfully holding a note
can’t be saved in their own dedicated
down for ages.
preset, but that particular instance’s
settings will be saved in your project.
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