Operation Manual

Steinberg Documentation Team: Cristina Bachmann, Martina Becker, Heiko Bischoff, Lillie Harris, Christina
Kaboth, Dennis Martinez, Insa Mingers, Matthias Obrecht, Sabine Pfeifer
Tobias Escher
Translation: Ability InterBusiness Solutions (AIBS), Moon Chen, Jérémie Dal Santo, Rosa Freitag, GiEmme
Solutions, Josep Llodra Grimalt, Vadim Kupriianov, Roland Münchow, Boris Rogowski, Sergey Tamarovsky
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© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2023.
All rights reserved.
Iconica Sketch_1.0.0_en-US_2023-11
 Table of Contents

4 Iconica Sketch
4 Window Overview
5 Parameters

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 Iconica Sketch

Iconica Sketch offers you a complete orchestra with 34 different instruments in an exceptionally
intuitive interface. It features 140 of the most important short and long articulations (including
legatos), all recorded in one space at the legendary Funkhaus Berlin, with the musicians playing
in the correct orchestral seating.

The original recordings from Iconica have been carefully selected and re-mastered to achieve
a well-balanced, high-quality orchestral experience. At the same time, they are extremely
lightweight in file size and CPU performance.

Bring your orchestral ideas to life with Iconica Sketch!

Window Overview
The content is composed of programs and layers, with the two associated macro pages differing
slightly from each other.

For layers, the macro pages contain a single articulation of an instrument and the parameters
for this articulation. Macro pages for programs offer a row of buttons that allow you to switch
between the available articulations.

1 At the top left, an instrument is represented by an icon and the instrument name.
2 The dynamics display provides you with visual feedback on the currently playing dynamic.
3 For programs, you can activate MIDI Follow. This makes the control panel follow articulation
changes that are triggered via MIDI, for example, via key switches or MIDI controller
messages.
4 For programs, a row of buttons allows you to select an articulation.
For layers, the articulation of the layer is shown in the center of the panel.

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Parameters

5 In the parameter section at the bottom of the panel, you can make settings for the selected
articulation.

Parameters
In the parameter section at the bottom of the panel, you can set up the parameters for the
articulations. The range of available parameters depends on the type of articulation.

Adaptive True Legato

Iconica Sketch uses an Adaptive True Legato system that employs recorded legato transitions
for playing realistic connected lines. The legato reacts to the playing speed: in a slow line, the
full length of the legato transitions is played. When playing fast, transitions are shortened, for
a tighter and more agile playing style. Adaptive True Legato is focused on providing smooth
connected lines, preserving the note boundaries. It does not employ portamento or similar slides
between notes.

Key Switches
In programs, every articulation button is assigned to a key switch. You can select a different
key switch by double-clicking the note name and entering a new value, or by clicking the note
name and dragging up/down. While you can only assign an articulation button to a single
key switch, you can assign a key switch to multiple articulation buttons, which allows you to
stack articulations. On pressing a key switch, the corresponding articulation is activated, and its
articulation button lights up.

Articulation Parameters
The parameter section at the bottom of the panel shows the parameters for the selected
articulation. The available parameters differ for the individual articulations.

NOTE

The selected articulation is not necessarily the articulation that is currently playing. You can
identify the selected articulation by its white outline. The articulation button of the articulation
that is playing changes color.

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Parameters

Level
Sets the volume of the articulation. By default, the articulations are pre-balanced.

Attack
Determines the duration of the attack. The lower the values, the later the sample start,
and the tighter the playing style – at the expense of the attack characteristics.

NOTE

● In legato articulations, the Attack parameter influences the attack of the first note
in a sequence; all connected notes remain unaffected.
● For percussion instruments, the attack can only be lengthened, not shortened.

Release
Controls the length of the release.
If True Release is activated, the release sample is affected. If True Release is
deactivated or no dedicated release samples are available, Release controls the fade-
out time of the sample.

True Release
Allows you to make settings for the use of True Release samples.
For legato articulations, the following options are available:

● Legato+Release – True Release samples are always played, both for single notes
and for notes within a connected legato sequence.
● Legato – As long as connected legato notes are played, True Release samples are
played. The last note in a legato sequence can be freely adjusted and/or extended
in its release.
● Off – True Release samples are off.

Other articulations that support True Release feature a checkbox that allows you to
activate/deactivate the use of True Release samples.

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Parameters

NOTE

If True Release is activated, the release tail can only be shortened, not lengthened,
because the natural release tail is the upper limit of the release time.

Stop Key
The Glockenspiel, Harp, Timpani, and Tubular Bells instruments feature a Stop Key
parameter.
Usually, these instruments resonate for a long time. Pressing the assigned Stop Key
dampens playback for all sounding notes, allowing you to make them end more quickly
without being too abrupt. If the Stop Key is not pressed, the sound of the instrument
decays naturally.

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