Concepts
Whether you’re a newcomer or an experienced sound designer, understanding these key concepts will give you a solid foundation to start creating with Ultra.
UltraWave
UltraWave is Ultra’s patented wavetable synthesis engine. It provides several enhancements, including stereo wavetables, integrated amplitude and pitch information, and attack samples, enabling a broader and richer sound palette.
Patch
A Patch is a complete sound preset that contains an UltraWave along with additional settings for filters, envelopes, effects, and modulation. A patch defines how an UltraWave is processed and modulated, giving you the final sound you hear when you play a note.
You can create your own patches from scratch, or by modifying any of the patches provided in the factory library. Packs of community designed patches are available to purchase in the Ultra Store.
Pack
A Pack is a collection of Patches. Packs are useful for organizing your sounds by type, genre, or use case. For example, you could create packs for “Bass Sounds”, “Lead Synths”, or “Ambient Textures”. Packs can be shared privately with other users, or published to the Ultra Store for anyone to purchase.
Effect
Effects are used to shape and transform the sound of a Patch. Ultra offers a wide range of effects, including distortion, chorus, delay, reverb, and more. Each has its own controls for customizing the effect.
Effects can be stacked and routed in different ways to create complex sound transformations.
Envelope
An Envelope controls how a sound parameter changes over time. Ultra uses AHDSR (Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain, Release) envelopes, which can be applied to parameters such as amplitude, pitch, or filter cutoff.
- Attack: The time it takes for the envelope to reach its peak after a note is pressed.
- Hold: How long the envelope stays at peak level before entering the decay phase.
- Decay: The time it takes for the envelope to decrease to the sustain level.
- Sustain: The level the envelope holds while a note is sustained.
- Release: The time it takes for the envelope to fade away after the note is released.
Library
Located under the Sounds tab, the Library is where all your Patches and Packs are stored. It provides an easy way to browse, organize, and manage the sounds you have access to. In addition to sounds you've created and those included with Ultra's factory library, you'll also find any content that's been shared with your or which you've purchased from the Ultra Store.
Store
The Ultra Store is an online marketplace within the app where you can browse, download, and share Patches and Packs. You can earn credits by publishing your own creations or use your credits to download patches designed by other users.