Applies to Summit and Peak
This article is about the various functions of Components for Summit and Peak.
Components is a tool for managing firmware and templates on many of our products. A standalone version is able to download when you register your Peak/Summit, or access our web-based version in browsers that support WebMIDI such as Chrome, Opera and Microsoft Edge from this link: https://components.novationmusic.com
If using a browser, you may need to allow the page access to your MIDI devices, as prompted when first loading the page:
You do not need to log in to use Components, but doing so allows you to back up all of your data to your account.
You can browse patches and create libraries regardless of Summit/Peak being connected. To see if the synth is connected, check the indicator in the top right which can be one of 3 colours:
Red: this means that the device cannot be detected by Components:
Yellow: this means the device is connected and recognised, but is in the wrong state, in this case, it could mean the Summit/Peak is in Bootloader mode. Restarting will let it start as normal. If not, please try reinstalling the firmware from the Updates page (found in the menu on the top right).
Green: The synth is connected and is ready to use.
Banks
This is the main screen of Components. On the left-hand side, you can browse from the factory banks, your won saved banks and the additional banks we've provided from artists. These are packs are for both Peak and Summit:
Select a pack to see more information about it as well as a chance to preview the sounds if the Summit/Peak is connected:
Previewing the patch in this way loads into the RAM, as if it had been loaded from a bank on the unit, so you can use the keys to fully demo the patch.
Multibanks can be expanded to view the two single patches that make up the multipath:
The top of the browser can be expanded to allow you to search and filter patches:
You can use "Show Trash" to show deleted patches.
The right-hand side of the screen allows you to retrieve the patches from your Summit, create a Single Patch bank (for Single Mode) and Create a Multi Patch Bank (for Multi-Mode). You can also use this screen to upload a patch bank from a SysEx file stored on your computer or import a bank of patches originally created for Peak.
How to import SysEx patches/banks into Components and send them to your Novation devices
Once a bank has been loaded you be able to see its details. You can preview the patch, see and change its category, replace the patch with another, download it, and clear the patch to replace it with an initial patch.
Categories match those seen on the unit:
The bar at the top allows you to rename the banks, save the bank (either to Components or as a SysEx file) and edit the bank settings:
Wavetable Editor
The Wavetable editor allows the creation of wavetables for Peak and Summit. If a unit is connected, the wavetable can be edited in real-time - changes will be audible so long as the relevant UserWavetable has been selected on the synthesiser. The wavetables on these synths have 5 slots, so you'll be able to customise 5 different waveforms. This page is accessed with the Wavetable Editor button.
Once on the page, you can either get the Wavetables from the synth, create new ones, upload one from your system or use one from a saved bank on the left.
Once one of these options is selected you'll be taken to the Wavetable editor:
You'll be able to use the keys on this screen to sample the sound through the browser, or you can use "Live Edit" to sample the wavetable on the synth (as long as the relevant wavetable is used on an oscillator on the synth). The 5 waveshapes can be selected along the top.
The tools section has various options for drawing waveshapes, you can either use the Pencil to draw freehand (which will then be smoothed to the grid), the line tool to draw your own shapes, or one of the predefined shapes.
Changing the grid size will allow you to draw more simple or complex waveshapes.
The partials of the waveform can be adjusted with the "Level" option above the keyboard. For more information about the harmonic series of waveforms see here.
You can also change the phase of the waveform:
It's possible to import audio into the Wavetable Editor to take a sample of the audio and turn it either into a waveshape or a wavetable. To begin, click "Import":
You can either Import an audio file, or a third-party wavetable from another synth, like those from Serum or similar.
Once a file is imported you'll be shown the player where you can playback the sound and find the part of the file to import either as a single waveform (512 cycles) or wavetable (2560 cycles). As you click the scroll bar you'll hear a sample of what the waveform at that point sounds like.
Click Import Waveform or Import Wavetable as needed.
Be sure to explore the Wavetable Editor, it may have some surprises!
Tuning Tables
The tuning tables on the synths allow notes to be re-tuned outside of conventional western tuning. Both synths can store 8 different tuning tables.
You can upload a Tuning Table onto this page and set the reference pitch as needed to send to one of the tuning slots:
You can find a link to ready-made tuning tables from a third-party site on this page as well.