> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nomn.jp/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Sound > Instruments, timbre, envelope, effects, the room and the master section # Sound Click **Sound** at the right of the console to open the SOUND panel. It is there in the app, the VST3 and RESERVOIR Instrument. The panel sets what each part sounds like and where it sits in the room. **AUDIO ENGINE** in its header turns RESERVOIR's own sound on and off. ## Choosing parts The layer strip across the top has one numbered cell per part, a level bar under each, a **DRM** cell for the drum kit, and a **SOLO** cell. * Click a cell to edit that part. Click it again to deselect it; with no part selected, the caption reads **all layers** and edits apply to every part. * **SOLO** plays only the selected parts. While it is on, clicking a cell adds it to the solo set or takes it out. * When there are more parts than fit, **\< p/n >** turns the page. * A cell marked **!** has an instrument that is not installed. A dot means the part has its own pitch settings. The PITCH card on the main screen follows the same selection. ## INSTRUMENT Choose an instrument for the selected parts. Type in **filter instruments** to search. **GM PROGRAMS** lists the General MIDI set, and **NOMN Drum Computer** is the drum kit. The box beside it sets how a sampled instrument changes pitch. The choice is saved with the instrument. | Mode | Sound | CPU | | - | - | - | | **VARI** | Plays the sample faster or slower. Tone colour moves with pitch, as on a tape machine. | 1 unit | | **R2** | Keeps the tone colour as pitch changes. | about 5 units | | **R3** | Keeps the tone colour with fewer artefacts on held notes. | about 11 units | The console's **Voices** line counts these units against the voice cap. ## TIMBRE Seven knobs from 0 to 1: **Brightness**, **Inharmonicity**, **Body**, **Density**, **Effort**, **Breath** and **Prominence**. Each changes the tone of the selected parts. Alt-drag or right-drag a knob to set its destination. **MORPH** sets how long, from 0 to 120 seconds, the knob takes to travel to its destination, so the tone changes slowly over a passage. ## ENVELOPE Drag the curve to set attack (**ATK**), decay (**DEC**), sustain level (**SUS**) and release (**REL**) for the selected parts. ## EFFECTS ### REVERB | Knob | Range | What you hear | | - | - | - | | **AMOUNT** | 0 to 1 | How much of the part goes to the reverb | | **DECAY** | 0.3 to 23 s, default 2.5 s | Length of the tail | | **PRE** | 0 to 120 ms | Gap before the reverb starts | | **TILT** | -1 to +1 | Left darkens the tail, right thins its low end | | **RES** | LOW, MED, HIGH | How smooth the tail is | | **TEXTURE** | TONAL, SLOW, DENSE, FLAT | Character of the tail. FLAT is not available at RES HIGH. | | **ROOM** | XS, S, S+, M, M+, L, XL; default M | Size of the space | | **DIFF** | 1 to 8, default 4 | How quickly echoes blur into a wash | | **DAMP** | 1 kHz to 15 kHz, default 5.7 kHz | How fast high frequencies die away | | **MOVE** | 0 to 1 | Chorus-like movement inside the tail | On a multichannel room the reverb uses every speaker. ### DELAY | Knob | Range | What you hear | | - | - | - | | **SEND** | 0 to 1 | How much of the part goes to the delay | | **TIME** | 1/1 to 1/64, dotted and triplet (T) | Echo spacing, locked to the tempo | | **FB** | 0 to 0.95 | How many echoes | | **TONE** | 0 to 1 | Echoes from dark (800 Hz) to bright (12 kHz) | | **DRIVE** | 0.2 to 0.9 | Where the repeats start to saturate. Lower values give grittier repeats. | | **RETIME** | 5 to 40 ms | Crossfade when TIME or the tempo changes. Shorter follows faster; longer smooths a tempo ramp. | | **SPACING** | 0 to 1 | At 0, one echo per repeat. Above 0, two more echoes follow, each this much further out. | | **TAP DEC** | 0 to 1 | How much quieter each of those extra echoes is | | **LOWCUT** | 20 to 500 Hz | Removes low end from the echoes | ## SPACE **SPACE** has three tabs. ### ANCHOR Click the pad to place the selected parts around the listener. **FRONT** is marked at the top. **SPREAD**, from 0 to 1, widens a part from a point into an area. ### ROOM The speaker layout. Pick a preset (Stereo, Quad, 5.1, 7.1, Atmos 5.0.4, 7.1.4 or 9.1.6, rings of 4 to 32, a Cube of 8, Boxes of 8 to 32, Domes of 9, 17 or 25) or build your own: drag a speaker marker on the floor, or type its **X**, **Y** and **Z**. Save and load layouts from the same menu. Parts are placed between the nearest speakers, so the same anchor works on any layout. ### FIELD FIELD moves the parts through the room as a group. **FORM** sets the shape they make: POINT, PAIR, POLYGON, CLUSTER, ARC, RING, CONSTELLATION, OPPOSITION, BURST or SPIRAL. Each part can have its own FORM; select a part first, or select none to set the form for all. | Knob | Range, default | What it changes | | - | - | - | | **ROTATE** | 0 to 1, 0 | Turns the shape around the listener | | **RADIUS** | 0 to 1, 0.5 | Distance from the centre | | **SPREAD** | 0 to 1, 0.75 | How much of the circle the shape covers | | **SYMMETRY** | 0 to 1, 1 | How evenly the parts are placed in it | | **FOCUS** | 0 to 1, 0.75 | How narrow each point of sound is | | **IRREG** | 0 to 1, 0 | Random offset from the ideal shape | | **RADIAL** | 0.05 to 0.5, 0.15 | How far each point spreads toward and away from the centre | | **DENSITY** | 1 to 8, 3 | How many points of sound the shape has. Between whole numbers the next point fades in. | These are rest positions. The **Spatial** depth on the ECHO STATE NETWORK card moves the parts around them. With **DRM** selected, **ENSEMBLE** places the whole kit as one group and **PER HIT** gives each drum hit its own place. In PER HIT the polar view shows a cloud of where the hits land. ## MIX **STAGE** shows each part's frequency range as a bracket. Drag the selected part's bracket to move it, and the fill shows that part's share of the mix. The **FUSE ↔ SEPARATE** meter reads how much the parts blend into one sound. **LEVELS** has the input and output meters and the **MASTER** fader. ## OUTPUT | Knob | Range | What it does | | - | - | - | | **MASTER** | -40 to +12 dB | Output level | | **DRIVE** | -12 to +12 dB | Level into the compressor | | **THRESH** | -48 to 0 dB | Level where compression starts | | **RATIO** | 1:1 to 8:1 | How hard it compresses | | **MAKEUP** | 0 to 12 dB | Level after compression | The console shows the gain reduction as **GR**. ## BANDS and EQ **BANDS** has eight knobs, **\<63**, **125**, **250**, **500**, **1K**, **2K**, **4K** and **>4K**, one per compressor band, from 0 to 1. Each sets how much of that band's compression you hear, and draws its gain reduction. **EQ** comes after the compressor: a low shelf, three peaks and a high shelf. Drag a node to set its frequency (20 Hz to 20 kHz) and gain (±15 dB), and use the mouse wheel for its width (Q 0.3 to 8). The tab reads **EQ ON** while the curve is not flat. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.