BASS STATION
Contents
1. vU mns STATION AMWALOGUE MOCELLING EUHTHEBIZEHR PLUG IH USER MANUAL anovation in music anything is possible Getting Started Editing sounds eee rrr rur T TM The BassStation s panel s can be edited much like the hardware BassStation s real panel not quite as direct perhaps as reaching out and tweaking a knob but Simply move your mouse over the control you want to change On the Mac the cursor will change to a hand and on a PC the cursor will change to a cross hair symbol The selected parameter and its value will be shown on the LCD CUTOFF Click on the control and move the mouse up or down As the control is moved the value changes in the display When a parameter has been modified an asterisk appears in the LCD next the program number to indicate that the sound has been changed in some way If you write the sound to memory the asterisk disappears Switches can be enabled disabled simply by clicking on them and sliding them to the required position In the example below it is clear that the RANGE is set to 8 and the WAVE is set to square RANGE WAWE The LFO has a drop down menu to select MIDI CLOCK SYNC SP SYNC Click and hold on these and make your selection by dragging down the drop down list and releasing the mouse on the value you wantto set Note If you have a mouse that is equipped with a wheel you c2. the sound passes onto the amplifier where the sound s volume envelope can be shaped The BassStation s sound generating process is all based around these basic principles except that it has two oscillators which can be mixed and combined in any number of ways to provide a far greater palette of raw waveforms than a single oscillator could ever produce The oscillators can also be detuned to create a denser sound consider the sound of a single violin compared with a string ensemble where several violins are playing together but all slightly detuned from each other These oscillators are then mixed together in a mixer and the output of this mixer passes to the filter The filter can be controlled by its own envelope but also by the LFO The signal then passes through a final amplifier that can be shaped with its own envelope Below is a very simplified block diagram of the BassStation OSCILLATOR 1 FILTER AMPLIFIER l OSCILLATOR 2 ENVELOPE ENVELOPE The various synthesizer sections will now be covered in more detail 11 Synthesis Tutorial Oscillators Tere nen err I nM LMMMMMMM MMM MMM The oscillator is really the heartbeat of the synthesizer It generates an electronic wave which creates the vibrations This waveform is produced at a controllable musical pitch initially determined by the note played on a keyboard or other MIDI controller The initial distin
3. 2 will force the cutoff frequency down and the decay release stage will cause the cutoff to rise or open However in the 12dB Octave setting the ENV control only has a positive effect In other words with ENV set fully counter clockwise there is slight envelope modulation and when set fully clockwise there is full envelope modulation 26 How The Controls Work Amplifier and Filter Envelopes The BassStation s envelopes are used to shape a sound throughout its duration ENVELOPE 1 determines the volume of the sound with respect to its duration ENVELOPE 2 can be used to control other sound elements of the synthesizer throughout the duration of the sound It can control oscillator pulse width filter frequency and oscillator pitch Using the controls associated with the two envelopes you can shape the sound Note on Note off Level Attack Decay Sustain Release ATTACK knob Sets how quickly the envelope rises to its maximum level when a note is struck Fully anticlockwise and this rise time or slope is very fast increasing exponentially to twenty seconds when fully clockwise To shorten attack times turn this control towards zero and to lengthen attack times turn this control towards maximum Note When the attack time is set to zero the instantaneous rise time of the Envelope ma produce audible clicks This is not a faulty condition and
4. 5 a perfect 4th 7 a perfect 5th 3 minor 3rd 4 major 3rd 8 minor 6th and 9 major 6th offer the best results OSC2 RANGE switch This allows you to set the basic octave for Oscillator 2 The range is referred in feet a convention which comes from the length of organ pipes An 8 setting is the same as Oscillator1 OSC 2 WAVE switch Use this switch to select between sawtooth and square pulse 23 How The Controls Work OSC 1 2 MODULATION This section allows you apply modulation to the two oscillators The controls are identical for both oscillators they are ENV knob Sets the amount of pitch sweep from Envelope 2 With the control set at the centre value 0 no pitch sweep is applied Set clockwise the pitch will rise through the envelope s attack phase and will then fall through the decay release cycles When turned counter clockwise the effect is inverted turned upside down pitch will fall through the attack and rise through the decay release LFO knob Sets the amount of pitch sweep by the LFO With the control set at the centre no LFO modulation is applied With the control set clockwise you will hear positive pitch sweeps Set counter clockwise you will hear inverted pitch sweeps Consider modulation by the LFO s sawtooth wave With the LFO control set clockwise the pitch will rise slowly and drop suddenly Set counter clockwise the control signal is inverted turned upsi
5. it is possible to overcome this In the SETUP page there is a preference AUTO WRITE which when enabled will automatically write programs to memory if another program is selected By default this is off With AUTO WRITE enabled selecting another sound will automatically write your edited version before the next sound is selected CONFIRM button As described above the CONFIRM button is used to confirm the act of writing a program to memory COMPARE button Clicking and holding this button when editing a sound allows you to compare the original with your edited version MIDI Reception The BassStation has an indicator that shows incoming MIDI data This flashes whenever a MIDI event is received If this LED does not flash when a note is played there is a problem with MIDI reception 34 How The Controls Work The BassStation Keyboard rM The BassStation has its own 4 octave keyboard allowing it to be played without necessarily needing an external MIDI keyboard connected to your Mac PC FED E PH DETEN IO DENT OF PLANTE FAN HUOM nME EF ETT Gn MM UN ETE t L i LT LT L3 E L T NE quinq qM Um Fumo 2 INTE AT Div p pu i i co BEnovatlion TERRE ALTE However this keyboard is actually velocity sensitive By clicking on different areas of the keyboard you can play a sound
6. may be useful for the creation of certain sounds for example key clicks on organ simulations If this is undesirable increase the Attack time until the clicks are inaudible DECAY knob Sets how quickly the envelope falls to a sustain level after the maximum level has been reached Set to zero this time is very fastincreasing exponentially to twenty seconds when set to maximum To shorten decay times move this control towards zero and to lengthen decay times move this control towards maximum SUSTAIN knob Sets the level at which the envelope remains following the Decay phase only while a key is being held on a controller keyboard orthere is a MIDI Note On command present When set to zero the envelope will decay to zero without being interrupted As the control is moved towards maximum the sustain level increases until when at maximum the sustain level is at its maximum level Note When SUSTAIN level is set to maximum the DECAY control has no effect with sustain at full there s nothing to decay down to RELEASE knob Sets how quickly the envelope falls from the sustain level to zero once the note has been released When set to zero this time is very fast instantaneous to the ear increasing exponentially to twenty seconds when set to maximum To shorten release times move this control towards zero and to lengthen release times move this control towards maximum 27 How The Controls Work VEL knob S
7. on CANCEL or OK as appropriate Note The RESTORE process will completely replace the sounds you have in your BassStation and there is no undo function please proceed with caution if you have created and stored any of your own sounds as they will be lost if you proceed with the RESTORE function IMPORT EXPORT The BassStation allows you to import sounds from a keyboard or rack BassStation and export a MIDI file that can be used to dump your BassStation sounds into a keyboard or rack BassStation The EXPORT function also allows you to back up your BassStation s internal sounds and or build up your own personal library of BassStation sounds To export click on EXPORT You will receive a prompt where you can name the file and also select whether the file is compatible with the BassStation keyboard or the BassStation Rack You can also navigate to where you wantthe file to be saved FR F FE US FH OUH I3 M P8 UN D 0 ae Export Format Bass Station Keyboard B Where 5 Documents v Select as appropriate and click on EXPORT At the end of the process you should have something like export mid or moodbass mid or whatever saved on your hard drive Repeat the process for the other programs To import a sound into the BassStation plug in first select the destination program you want to overwrite on the BassStation plug in Now click on IMPORT This will pop up a typical navigation window Select the
8. pitchbend The maximum range is 12 semitones 1 octave Aftertouch These controls allow you to set how much aftertouch will affect volume filter cutoff and LFO modulation The ENV control determines how much aftertouch will affect overall volume The FILTER control determines how much aftertouch will open and close the filter s cutoff frequency The PITCH control determines how much aftertouch will control LFO modulation vibrato Breath Much the same as the AFTERTOUCH controls described on the previous page these controls determine how much breath control will affect volume tone and LFO modulation The ENV control determines how much breath control will affect overall volume The FILTER control determines how much breath control will open and close the filter s cutoff frequency The PITCH control determines how much breath control will control LFO modulation vibrato Note The controls described above are stored as part of any sound that you edit create and their settings are written to memory when the sound is saved 38 Setup Panel Preferences POT CTRL AUTO WRITE NUMPAD The PREFERENCES switches allow you to set certain options that affect the way you work with the BassStation They are POT CTRL switch You can choose between two different types of controlling the knobs on the BassStation s panels With LINEAR selected moving the mouse vertically up or down will cause the knob to rotate When RO
9. point are increased in volume by this control Cutoff frequency As you can see those harmonics around the cutoff frequency are actually boosted in level whilst all those outside the shaded area are removed This is useful for emphasising certain harmonics of the sound and with increased resonance settings sweeping the cutoff frequency up and down causes the filter sound to change from the normal waa sound to a more distinctive weeow as the individual harmonics are picked out and emphasised As the RESONANCE is increased a whistling like quality will be introduced to the sound passing through the filter When set to very high levels RESONANCE actually causes the filter to self oscillate whenever a signal is being passed through it The resulting whistling tone being produced is actuallya pure sine wave the pitch of which depends on the setting of the FREQUENCY knob the filters cut off point This resonance produced sine wave can actually be used for some sounds as an additional sound source if desired 16 Synthesis Tutorial Amplifier and Filter Envelopes In earlier paragraphs it was determined how the pitch and timbre of a sound is synthesised This final part of the Synthesis Tutorial describes how the volume of sound is controlled The volume throughout the duration of a sound created by a musical instrument often varies greatly according to the type of instrument N
10. t d Lead Get Serious Bass Duck Lead Epic Bass Bass Clav Lead WowTalk Bass Whistle Lead Springit Bass Yaz 2 Lead Sussit Bass Sync 3 Lead Dirtysink Lead Resonant Lead Retro Bass Early Bass Weeow LeadBass Fuzz Bass Broken Race Car Ripe Bass Spinning Drunk Aftertouch Lead Simple Pulse 92 Lead Inside Robot Tinky Lead Porta Lead2 Subtle Bass Sweet Lead Click Lead Bounce Bass Blitz Kid Lead Bootit Bass 70s Funk Bass Use it up Bass All the factory programs can be overwritten with your own creations If you need to get the original s back use the RESTORE function described on the previous page be sure to back your own sounds up first though Appendix MIDI Controller Mapping Modwheel Breath Portamento Master Volume LFO speed LFO delay LFO sync rate OSC1 env mod depth OSC1 Ifo mod depth OSC1 PWM mod depth OSC2 semitone tune OSC2 fine tune OSC2 env mod depth OSC2 Ifo mod depth OSC2 PWM mod depth OSC1 2 mixer level Filter LFO mod depth Sustain pedal Filter cutoff frequency Filter resonance Filter env mod depth Amp env attack Amp env decay Amp env sustain Amp env release Amp env velocity mod Mod env attack Mod env decay Mod env sustain Mod env release Mod env velocity mod ii
11. TARY is selected you should move the mouse round in a circle to rotate the knob AUTO WRITE switch This option allows you to select whether loading external sounds into the BassStation will just be stored in memory or actually written to the BassStation s memory permanently When using your host sequencer s LOAD PRESET function or BANK or SETTING or whatever the terminology is that is used by your sequencer depending on the host these will only be loaded into the BassStation s local memory to store them permanently they need to be written to the BassStation s memory This can be done manually of course but this preference allows you to set the BassStation so that whenever a preset setting whatever is loaded it will automatically be written to the BassStation s memory You should consult your sequencer s documentation for details about loading presets banks Another use for this is for automatically writing sounds to memory when you have edited a sound Normally i e AUTO WRITE OFF when you edit a sound should you then select a different sound unless you have specifically written the edited version to the BassStation s memory your edits will be lost With this preference enabled should you select another sound when editing the edited version will automatically be written before the new sound is selected This sounds ideal when you select a new sound any edits you might have made to the previous sound won t be lost for
12. an use this to great effect with the panels When the cursor is over a knob or slider simply use the wheel to move it and set a value no need to click just place the cursor over the control and scroll the mouse wheel The mouse wheel can also be used with drop down menus as well place the mouse over a drop down and scroll Using the compare function After making any changes to a sound it may be useful to compare it with the originally stored program This can be achieved using the COMPARE function WRITE CONFIRM COMPARE To illustrate this select any program and tweak the panel controls move the filter change an oscillators octave setting whatever Now click and hold down the COMPARE button The sound you will hear will now be the originally stored program Releasing the COMPARE button will switch to listening to the edited sound again In this way you can decide whether the changes you have made are worthwhile or should be abandoned Getting Started Writing a program enna nM MTM If you make a change to a sound that you like the chances are that you will want to keep it for use later on Sounds may be saved in any memory location However it is recommended that the user locations 41 99 are used early on for saving new sound creations if only to prevent losing the original factory presets b
13. and press RETURN when you re done Getting Started Loading and saving banks TTL Most sequencer hosts allow you to load and save banks of sounds This is useful if you want to create your own library of sounds and you could for example create a set of say techno sounds on your BassStation these could be saved as a bank named Techno You might also create a series of vintage synth emulations again these could be saved as a bank called Vintage Whatever you can subsequently load all these sounds back into your BassStation at any time In this way you can build up your own private library of BassStation sounds It s also likely that banks of sounds will appear on the Internet which can be downloaded and used with your BassStation You should consult your sequencer s documentation for details on loading and saving banks Note We have used the term bank to describe a collection of sounds that can be loaded saved on a plug in Different sequencers use different terminology for the same thing Notes about loading and saving There are generally three ways to load and save items within your sequencer and to confuse the issue different sequencers either deal with this differently and or use their own terminology for what is basically the same process At the top level you can save your song This
14. armonics fall within the audio range This creates the classic PWM sound When modulated by the ENV2 pulse width is swept by Envelope 2 This is quite effective for creating clavinet and harpsichord sounds as well as dynamic sounds where the harmonic structure is changing throughout the course of a note The effect is most apparent when using fairly long Attack and Decay times 24 How The Controls Work The BassStation s filter is whatis known as a Low Pass type This type of filter is musically the most useful for the majority of sounds especially bass sounds at which the BassStation excels SLOPE FR SLOPE switch Controls how drastically the frequencies above the cutoff point are removed from the sound When the 12dB position is selected the cutoff slope is gentle so higher harmonics are not attenuated reduced in volume as sharply as they are when the 24dB position is selected Cutoff frequency Cutoff frequency 12dB Octave 24dB Octave Note The 12dB filter authentically emulates the Roland TB303 Bassline synth As such it has a limited frequency response that only extends to around 4 5kHz Also when the 12dB position is selected there is no keyboard tracking That is the cutoff frequency is constant regardless of the pitch of the note This allows the BassStation to emulate the Roland TB303 Bassline quite effectively In the 24dB position gentle keyboard track is applied FREQ k
15. at these in turn during this chapter 22 How The Controls Work OscillatOrS 2 77 2 2 2 0 The oscillators generate pitched waveforms as described in the Synthesis Tutorial chapter WAWE The controls that determine the pitch and waveform of the oscillators and how they react to modulation are in this area OSC1 MIX knob This allows you to set the balance between the two oscillators Fully counter clockwise you will hear only Oscillator 1 With the control set centrally you will hear an equal mix of both oscillators and set fully clockwise you will only hear Oscillator 2 OSC 1 WAVE switch Use this switch to select between sawtooth and square pulse OSC 2 DETUNE knob Sets the detune amount in cents for the Oscillator 2 If it is set fully clockwise the oscillator s pitch will be 96 cents sharper than its basic pitch fully anticlockwise and it will be 96 cents flat Slight detuning between each oscillator will enrich the sound by introducing a beating between the oscillators in the same way a 12 string guitar sounds richer than a 6 string Bass and lead sounds can be fattened up using a small amount of detune Large amounts of detuning will lead to more extreme effects OSC 2 SEMI knob Raises or lowers the Oscillator 2 s pitch in semitone increments up down by a full octave By setting the pitch of Oscillator 2 by differing amounts results in some musically pleasing intervals Settings of
16. ation perceived as sound is about twenty times a second which the brain interprets as a low bass type sound and the highest is many thousands of times a second which the brain interprets as a high pitched sound Nf NND Wave A VUVVVV Wave B If the number of peaks in the two waveforms vibrations are counted it will be seen that there are exactly twice as many peaks in Wave B as there are in Wave A Wave B is actually an octave higher in pitch than Wave A It is the number of vibrations in a given period that determines the pitch of a sound This is the reason that pitch is sometimes referred to as frequency It is the frequency of the waveform peaks which are counted during a given period of time Frequency is expressed in Hertz abbreviated to Hz For example 20Hz 20 Hz or 20 cycles per second 440Hz 440Hz or 440 cycles per second This is also known as concert A or A 440 and isthe pitch an orchestra tunes to It is also the common tuning reference for many other instruments 1kHz 1 000Hz or 1 000 cycles per second 10kHz 10 000Hz or 10 000 cycles per second Synthesis Tutorial Tone Musical sounds consist of several different related pitches occurring simultaneously The loudest is referred to as the Fundamental pitch and corresponds to the perceived note of the sound Pitches related to the fundamental are called harmonics sometimes also referred to as overtones and these are multiples of the fundamental
17. attempt to store a sound s settings Around 1977 however someone had the bright idea of digitizing the front panel controls i e have their position monitored by simple digital circuitry and use a simple processor to store their positions in battery backed up memory As a result patch memories were born and became a standard feature on all synths and it was possible to recall sounds with a simple press of a button Originally these programmable synths had only a limited number of memories typically 40 or SO but as processors got better and cheaper and memory became cheaper and readily available manufacturers were able to allow more and more sounds to be stored in memory Summary ee er rn rrr nnn e An analogue synthesizer can be broken down into five main sound generating or sound modifying modulating blocks 1 Oscillators that generate waveforms at a certain pitches 2 A Mixer that combines the outputs from the oscillators together 3 A filter that removes certain harmonics and which changes the tone or timbre of the sound 4 An amplifier that is controlled by an envelope generator that alters the volume of a sound over time when a note is played 5 LFOsand envelopes that can be used to modulate and control any of the above 6 The combination of all the above can be stored in memories for later recall Much of the enjoyment to be had with a synthesizer is with experimenting with the fac
18. can be mixed and detuned For flexibility a mixer section is usually included so that the level of each of the oscillators can be adjusted independently and mixed together to form a harmonically complex waveform 14 Synthesis Tutorial The BassStation is an analogue subtractive type of music synthesizer Subtractive implies that part of the sound is subtracted or removed somewhere in the synthesis process The oscillators provide the raw waveforms many of which have plenty of harmonic content and itisthe filter that subtracts unwanted harmonics in a controllable manner The filter in the BassStation is a Low Pass type A cut off point is chosen and any harmonics below that point are allowed to pass through unaffected and any above are filtered out The setting of the FREQUENCY knob on the BassStation panel dictates the point below which harmonics are removed This process of removing harmonics from the waveforms has the effect of changing the sounds character or timbre When the FREQUENCY knob is set fully clockwise the filter is set completely open and no harmonics are removed from the raw oscillator waveforms Cutoff frequency Here all the harmonics pass through and the sound is very bright However as the control is moved counter clockwise the cutoff frequency is reduced and the higher harmonics are removed Cutoff frequency In this example all those harmonics within the shaded area pass through unaffected whilst those above t
19. can be quite subtle but still contributes greatly towards shaping the final sound Where an Envelope is used to control a one off modulation event which occurs during the lifetime of a single note LFOs modulate by using a cyclic repeating wave pattern As discussed earlier oscillators produce a constant waveform which can take the shape of a repeating sine wave triangle wave etc LFOs produce waveforms in a similar way but at a frequency normally too low to produce an audible pitched vibration that the human ear can perceive The waveforms generated by the LFOs may be fed to other parts of the synthesizer to create the desired movements in the sound A typical LFO will generate a variety of different control waveforms These look exactly the same as those we have seen with the audio oscillators except that because their function is to modulate or control pitch tone and amplitude the effect they have is very different The usual waveforms are WAVEFORM WAVESHAPE Triangle wave PN The triangle wave will cause pitch to gradually rise and fall in accordance with its shape The triangle wave is commonly used at a fairly fast speed around 7Hz or a value of 75 on the BassStations LFO SPEED control to create vibrato effects When applied to the filter cutoff frequency it will cause the filter to gradually open get brighter and close get softer When the LFO speed is set quite fast it can be used to emulate the tremolo effect of in
20. ch as the modulation wheel 20 Synthesis Tutorial Memories rur e e The first generation of synthesizers produced many years ago were large modular instruments where each part of the synthesizer was housed in separate units modules These modules could only be physically connected together by combinations of cables known as patch leads or patch cords A typical sound produced by this method would often involve connecting dozens of patch leads and every time a new sound was required the leads would have to be physically disconnected and reconnected The positions and connections of the controls would also have to be noted down on paper if there was to be any hope of creating that particular sound ever again However it was discovered that nine times out of ten a typical patch i e the collection of modules followed the same signal path we have seen in this tutorial i e oscillators into mixer into filter into output amplifier with each of these controlled by a few envelopes and LFOs Thus manufacturers started making hardwired synthesisers where everything was connected together without the need for patch cords This made them easier to use less expensive and also portable However it was still not possible to store sounds and control settings had to be noted down in order to re create any sound In fact some synthesists would take Polaroid photos of the panel s in an
21. ctive tone ortimbre of the waveform is actually determined by the wave s shape Many years ago pioneers of musical synthesis discovered that just a few distinctive waves contained most of the useful harmonics for musical synthesis The names of these waves reflect their actual shape when viewed on an instrument known as an oscilloscope They are WAVEFORM WAVESHAPE HARMONIC STRUCTURE Sawtooth wave P di F1234567 891011 The sawtooth wave is probably the brightest sounding waveform of all and contains a wide range of odd and even numbered harmonics in equal proportion It is good for a wide range of sounds including strings brass and more Square wave F 3 5 7 9 11 The square wave is a very bright but hollow sounding waveform not unlike the tone of a clarinet It consists of a wide range of odd numbered harmonics On many synths the BassStation included it is possible to vary the width of the square wave 3 99 TET The so called pulse waves at either extreme have a very different harmonic content to the square wave and sound thinner and more nasal However because the pulse width is totally variable the harmonic content of each variation in between the extremes also differs If the pulse width is controlled by something like an LFO a very vibrant and animated sound can be created this is called Pulse Width Modulation 12 Synthesis Tutorial Another technique possible
22. cutoff SPEED knob Controls the speed of the low frequency oscillations An LED below the knob indicates the speed Faster speeds are set by turning the knob clockwise These are suitable for vibrato and tremolo effects Slower speeds are more appropriate for Pulse Width changes slow filter sweeps or special effects DELAY knob Controls how long after the note is struck the selected LFO begins to take effect Fully anticlockwise and the selected LFO effect will begin immediately Turning clockwise will cause the LFO effect to fade in The time of the fade in is dependent on the knob position This is used for delayed vibrato and other effects SHAPE switch Selects the LFO s waveform shape RDN Random At a regular interval governed by the SPEED knob the level of the LFO jumps to a new random level and stays there until the next jump This creates a rhythmic effect particularly if routed to the filter cutoff Routing this to pitch gives a less musical result but is useful for computer or machinery sound effects TRI The triangle waveform gives the smoothest continuous change in level to the LFO When routed to pitch it introduces vibrato or a siren effect dependent of its speed setting When routed to filter cutoff a wow wow effect results SAW The sawtooth waveform generates a rising level which then jumps back up to zero level Routed to the filter cutoff it produces a rhythmic pulse effect Routing itto pitch produces sire
23. de down Sed So the pitch will fall slowly and then rise abruptly PULSE W knob The function of the PULSE W knob is dependent on the selection made with the three position PWM switch to its right With the MAN setting selected the position of the PULSE W knob will manually control the pulse width of the square waveform of course the selected waveform for the oscillator must be square wave for this to happen With the PWM knob in the central position and with the square wave selected the wave is a perfect square wave and gives the characteristic hollow quality not unlike a clarinet As the knob is adjusted clockwise or anticlockwise the pulse width becomes narrower producing what is known as a Pulse Wave qeu ges 63 0 64 A pulse wave has a different complement of harmonics and sounds thinner and more nasal and more like an oboe With LFO selected as the PWM source the width of the pulse wave is modulated by an additional fixed speed triangle wave LFO dedicated to pulse width modulation not to be confused with the main variable LFO on the front panel The intensity of this modulation is determined by the PULSE W knob With the PULSE W knob at the central position there is no effect Turning clockwise or anticlockwise introduces the effect Continuous variations in the width of a pulse waveform constantly changes the harmonic content which is pleasing to the ear especially at lower pitches where all the associated h
24. ecalled along with the sounds you selected edited The WRITE and SAVE LOAD BANK or whatever options are more for building up a library of your own sounds Synthesis Tutorial Elements of a sound e rer rur To gain an understanding of how a synthesizer generates sound it is helpful to have an understanding of the components that make up a sound be it musical or non musical The only way that a sound may be detected is by air vibrating the eardrum in a regular periodic manner The brain interprets these vibrations very accurately into one of an infinite number of different types of sound Remarkably any sound may be described by just three elements and all sounds always have them They are Volume Pitch Tone What makes one sound different to another is the proportion of these three qualities initially present in the sound and how these three terms change throughout the duration of the sound With a musical synthesizer we deliberately set out to have precise control over these three elements and in particular how they can be changed throughout the duration of the sound These elements are often given different names volume is sometimes referred to as amplitude and or level pitch as frequency and tone as timbre Pitch Taking the example of air vibrating the ear drum pitch is determined by how fast the vibrations are For an adult human the lowest vibr
25. ese keys you can transpose the whole sound up and down in octave increments 2 Depending on the speed of your computer s CPU there may be a lag delay between the actual movement of your external keyboard s controller and the BassStation s graphic s updating 33 How The Controls Work Program management eere enna T LT MTM Three buttons above the keyboard allow you to deal with saving programs These are WRITE button Allows you to write any sounds you edit or create to the BassStation s memory Clicking on this will put a prompt in the LCD WRITE CONFIRM COMPARE HOOGBRSS If you want to over write the existing sound simply click on CONFIRM the sound will be written to the current location Note The destination memory is always initially set to the currently selected program number If you wantto savethe sound in a different location thereby retaining the original sound in its original location using the PROGRAM up down buttons select the destination memory and click on CONFIRM To cancel the WRITE operation simply click on WRITE again Notes about editing programs When you select a sound you can start editing it immediately simply by tweaking the controls and no special edit mode is required However please note that if you do edit a sound should you then select another by default the edits you made to the previous sound will be lost However
26. ets the envelope s response to velocity On Envelope 1 this affects how much amplitude will be affected by your playing technique and on Envelope 2 it will affect the amount of filter sweep by Envelope 2 but also anywhere else Envelope 2 is being used i e oscillator pitch and or pulsewidth When set fully counter clockwise the BassStation s velocity sensitivity is effectively disabled and it doesn t matter how hard you hit your keyboard each note will be the same Set fully clockwise velocity sensitivity is at maximum soft keystrokes will open the envelope less and hard keystrokes will open the envelope fully TRIG switch This allows you to set various triggering options for the BassStation The options are SINGLE MULTI and AUTO Different monophonic synths over the years have used different triggering systems Moog and other synths used single triggering With this the attack decay of the envelopes is triggered with the first note but if that first note is held and another note is played the attack decay is not re triggered and only the pitch changes through the envelopes sustain phase This triggering technique is actually closer to the way real monophonic instruments are played Consider the flute the flautist doesn t usually re blow for every single note he she blows the first note but then simply continues blowing as new notes are played So the first note has a distinct attack but the rest don t Similarly
27. ever Except You might have edited a sound but made a right hash of it and it sounds worse than the original you started off with So you select another sound with AUTO WRITE enabled your abortive edit will be written to memory thus overwriting the original sound So whilst it s very useful to be able to auto save your edits you can cause problems for yourself if you re not careful NUMPAD switch This preference allows you to enable program selection using your computer keyboard s numeric keypad With this enabled programs can be selected by typing in a two digit number 00 99 Note Some sequencers use the numeric keypad for play stop locating and other functions Some sequencers allow you to re assign these so that you can use the keypad for other purposes Others however do not If your sequencer doesn t allow you to re assign the numeric keypad you won t be able to select programs numerically from your keypad You should switch NUMPAD off Setup Panel RESTORE IMPORT EXPORT With these buttons you can perform certain memory management functions RESTORE The RESTORE button allows you to restore the factory sounds originally supplied with the BassStation To restore the factory sounds simply click on RESTORE you will receive a prompt asking if you want to restore just the currently selected program or all programs Select as appropriate You will receive a further prompt asking Are you sure click
28. file you want to import and click on IMPORT After a short while the BassStation plug in s virtual LCD will inform you that the import completed successfully Please consult your hardware BassStation s manual for details on importing sounds 40 Appendix Factory programs list Name Name Moog Bass Single Osc Lead Wow 1 Bass Sync Up Lead Jacko Bass DnB Bass Soft Bass Porta Bass Electric Bass Sync Down Lead Birdland Bass Q Lead Percussive Bass Biaow Bass Eow Bass Interval Lead Power Bass Do Stay Lead Oo W O1 CO PO O Freakpower Bass Organic Lead TB303 Autoglide Bass Velo Bend Bass Spit Sine Bass Brassic Lead TB303 Eow Bass Log Bass TB303 Square Bass Popsicle Bass Thud Bass Ripping Lead Ambient Bass Gulp Bass Trance 1 70s Funk Lead Trance 2 Porta Lead1 Spit Techno Bass Rainman Detuned Bass Yazoo Lead Click Sync Lead Organ Bass Squarobilly Lead Clavy Lead LFO Swept Bass Puck Lead Square Bass Lfo Filter Fade Bass Square Bass Release Lead Thin Pulse Bass Wow 2 Bass Knuckles Lead Woweo Bass Noughty Lead hard Sync Lead Sub Bass Square Porta Lead Takebreath Bass Sync 0 Lead Stairway Bass Sync 1 Lead Dr Who is it PT Power Lead Cheapkey Bass Love Don
29. he cutoff frequency are removed and won t be heard With the cutoff set like this i e about halfway the sound will have mellower tone As the cutoff moves down so more and more upper harmonics will be removed In practice there is a gradual reduction in the volume of the harmonics above the cut off point How quickly these harmonics are reduced in volume above the cut off frequency is determined by the filters slope This slope is measured in volume units per octave Since Volume is measured in decibels this slope is quoted in the number of decibels per octave dB Octave Typical values are 12dB or 24dB per Octave The higher the number the faster the harmonics are cut and the more pronounced the filtering effect Cutoff frequency Cutoff frequency 12dB Octave 24dB Octave As you can see from the diagrams the 12dB setting has a more gradual slope than the 24dB setting which is steeper and even though the CUTOFF is the same in both examples more upper harmonics are allowed to pass through with the 12dB setting than the 24dB setting Some say that 12dB Octave filters are fizzier whilst the 24dB Octave setting sounds punchier and more like the original analogue synths The BassStation offers both types of filter slopes to be selected 15 Synthesis Tutorial A further important feature of the filter is the RESONANCE control Frequencies at the cut off
30. i e x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 etc The number of harmonics and their relative loudness to the fundamental determines the tone or Timbre of the sound Some waveforms contain both even and odd numbered harmonics i e fundamental plus x2 x3 x4 x5 etc others contain only odd numbered harmonics fundamental and x3 x5 x6 x7 etc Some contain lots of harmonics even and or odd whilst others only have a few Consider two instruments such as a clarinet and a trumpet playing exactly the same note at exactly the same volume Even though the pitch and volume are identical they sound completely different This is because the trumpet is rich in even and odd harmonics whereas the clarinet only contains odd numbered harmonics Consider also a flute another very different tone This is because a flute typically has very few harmonics When a sound has a lot of harmonics the sound will be bright when a sound has very few harmonics it will be mellow in tone However tone is rarely static on most instruments and varies during the course of the note Generally sounds start off quite bright and because higher harmonics have less energy they tend to die away first followed by lower frequency harmonics the result is that the sound gradually gets softer in tone throughout the note Other instruments start off with few harmonics but higher harmonics build up throughout the course of a note so that the sound gets gradually brighter Tonal cha
31. idea of control settings from looking at the knobs whilst the LCD shows the control s values as your mouse hovers over the control However if you adjust the control the value updates in the LCD allowing you to set precise values The LCD also shows other functions and sometimes prompts and other information under other circumstances These are described and shown in the relevant sections of this manual PITCH CONTROLLER wheels These replicate the pitchbend and mod wheels or equivalent controllers on your keyboard However it is possible to adjust them with your computer s mouse if you want Please note however that any settings you might make with your mouse are overridden when your keyboard s actual pitchbend modwheel or equivalent controllers are adjusted The pitchbend and mod wheel graphics on the BassStation update in real time as you manipulate your external keyboard s physical controllers2 PROGRAM UP DOWN leys These allow you to select programs sequentially nudging through them one by one When you first try out your new purchase this isa good way to familarise yourself with the sounds on offer NOTE It is also possible to select sounds more directly using your computer keyboard s numeric keypad more on this later in the section that describes the SETUP panel You can also select programs remotely from an external keyboard using MIDI program change OCTAVE UP DOWN keys By clicking on th
32. n type sounds SYNC The SYNC menu allows you synchronise the speed of the LFO to the sequencer s MIDI clock at a variety of sync rate intervals Menu Item MIDI Clocks Synchronised to Menu Item MIDI Clocks Synchronised to OFF Manual rate 8th D 18 8th Dotted 32nd T 2 32nd Triplet 4th 24 4th 32nd 3 32nd 2nd T 32 2nd Triplet 16th T 4 16th Triplet 4th D 36 4th Dotted 16th 6 16th 2nd 48 2nd 8th T 8 8th Triplet 1bar T 64 1 Bar Triplet 16th D 9 16th Dotted 2nd D 72 2nd Dotted 8th 12 8th 1bar 96 1 Bar 4th T 16 4th Triplet 30 How The Controls Work When the SYNC menu is set to OFF the speed of the LFO is controlled by the LFO s SPEED control and is totally free running independent of the sequencer s tempo However when set to any of the SYNC divisions the LFO will run at a rate determined by the sync division For example if the sync division is set to 16th the LFO will output its control waveform at 16 cycles per bar i e one cycle for every 16th note If set to 1 BAR there will be one LFO cycle per bar When sync d to MIDI clock the LFO s SPEED control is greyed out to show that it has no function Note Many sequencers do not transmit MIDI Clock messages at all when they are stopped and so when playing the BassStation when the sequencer is idle if you play the BassStation the LFO will have no effect 31 How The Controls Work Master section eere r
33. nc on between the two oscillators With this enabled a wider range of waveforms and sounds can be created not least of which is the distinctive tearing sync sweep effect CREATING THE CLASSIC SYNC SWEEP EFECT Switch OSC SYNC on Set the RANGE of OSC2 to 4 or 2 set SEMI as required Select the SQUARE wave on both oscillators Set the MIX control fully clockwise Turn ENV in the OSC2 MODULATION section to a positive i e clockwise position make sure there is no modulation for OSC1 Set ENV2 attack to 0 decay to 5 sustain to 0 and release to 0 Set FILTER FREQ to maximum resonance to zero Play a note You should hear the distinctive tearing sync sweep sound that is not unlike a thick flanging effect Try experimenting with the following controls to alter the sound ENV2 DECAY MIX OSC2 ENV mod OSC2 SEMI 32 How The Controls Work Controller Section The controller section to the left of the keyboard contains a virtual LCD pitchbend and mod wheels and program and octave UP DOWN keys LCD This allows you to see the selected program name and its number 3HUTOGLIDE E PROGRAM LE a E OCTAVE ur M S BITCH COHTROGLLER However when you move the cursor over any knobs and switches after a short delay the parameter name and its value is shown on the LCD CUTOFF In this way you can get a rough
34. nd is handled by different sections on a music synthesiser OSCILLATORS generate the basic waveforms which provide the pitch of the sound along with its raw harmonic content tone This passes into a section called the FILTER which is responsible for further altering the tone of the oscillators basic waveform It does this by removing filtering certain undesired harmonics Lastly the filtered signal is fed into an AMPLIFIER which determines the final volume of the sound The simplest synthesizer would look something like this OSCILLATOR FILTER AMPLIFIER However additional synthesizer sections LFOs low frequency oscillators and ENVELOPES provide ways of altering the pitch tone and volume of a sound by interacting with the oscillators filter and amplifier They introduce changes in the character of a sound that evolve throughout the duration of the sound Because the LFOs and Envelopes only purpose is to control modulate the other synthesizer sections they are commonly known as modulators A more advanced synthesizer might look like this and the controllers are shown in red OSCILLATOR FILTER AMPLIFIER ENVELOPE ENVELOPE The oscillator generates the basic waveform but can be controlled or modulated from the LFO for effects such as vibrato etc The oscillator s signal passes on to the filter where the basic waveform can be modified further and the filters envelope can cause tonal changes to take place over time Finally
35. nges are often linked with level changes i e the harder you hit pluck scrape or blow something not only is it louder but itis usually brighter in tone Volume Volume which is referred to as the amplitude or loudness of the sound is determined by how large the vibrations are Think of a guitar string pluck it softly so that it hardly vibrates and the sound will be low in level Pluck it hard however so that it moves a lot and the sound will be louder eae ne OPN Od In the diagram above the waveform on the right is quieter than the one on the left However volume is not a static element of a sound as it tends to change throughout a note s duration Consider the sound of a piano and say an oboe the piano is initially very loud but dies away over time The oboe on the other hand has a soft start but sustains during the course of the note though not always Other instruments amplitude varies in different ways as well some sounds start slowly bowed instruments for example whilst other sounds ring on for a long time after the note has sounded a gong for example The way in which a sound varies over time is known as the envelope 10 Synthesis Tutorial Putting it all together Having shown that just three elements make up any sound these elements now have to be related to a musical synthesizer It is logical that each element of the sou
36. nob This controls the basic cutoff frequency of the filter Set fully clockwise the filter is wide open allowing all frequencies harmonics produced by the oscillators to pass through Cutoff frequency As the knob is turned anticlockwise the filter closes cutting out harmonics starting with the highest then increasingly lower ones until only the fundamental or nothing at all is allowed to sound fully anticlockwise Cutoff frequency 7 Note If there is silence when the VOLUME knob is turned up it is most likely that the filter is fully closed Turn the FREQ knob clockwise to open the filter 25 How The Controls Work RES knob This knob controls the resonance of the filter The control will boost frequencies at the cutoff frequency Cutoff frequency On some synthesizers this control is known as Emphasis since it will emphasise certain frequencies At the zero position i e fully counter clockwise there is no effect Turning clockwise slowly introduces the emphasis Set fully clockwise the filter will begin to self oscillate producing a new pitched element similar to feedback on an electric guitar Note At least a small signal must be fed into the filter in order for the resonance to take effect It is not possible for the filter to self oscillate if no signal at all is fed into it If the BassStation produces a high pitched whistling sound it is probably due to this knob is being adjusted too far cl
37. ockwise If this self oscillating effect is not desired keep the resonance control away from the extreme clockwise setting Increasing the resonance is very good for bringing out modulation movement or change in the filter cutoff frequency such as in Acid bass lines and other very edgy sounds LFO knob Controls the amount of change to the filter cutoff set by the FREQUENCY knob by the LFO In its central position there is no change to the filter cutoff frequency Adjusting the knob clockwise from centre will introduce an increasing amount of positive modulation i e the filter will open and close at a rate set by the LFO s SPEED control Adjusting the knob anticlockwise from centre will introduce an increasing amount of negative modulation i e the filter will close and open at a rate set by the LFO s SPEED control ENV 2 knob Controls the amount of change to the filter cutoff set by the FREQ knob by ENVELOPE 2 In its central position there is no change to the filter cutoff frequency In the 24dB octave setting adjusting the knob clockwise from centre will introduce an increasing amount of positive modulation the cutoff will rise through the filter envelope s attack and will fall through Envelope 2 s subsequent decay and release stages Adjusting the knob anticlockwise from centre will introduce an increasing amount of negative modulation and Envelope 2 s effect will appearto be upside down i e the attack stage of the Envelope
38. ote on Note off Level Time _ gt An organ sound above quickly attains full volume when a key on the keyboard is pressed It stays at full volume until the key is released at which point the volume level falls instantly to zero Note on Note off Level Time _ gt A piano quickly attains full volume when a key is pressed and gradually falls back down to zero after several seconds even if a key is held Note on Note off Level Time 9 A string section emulation attains full volume gradually i e it swells in gracefully with a slow attack when a key is pressed It remains at full volume while the key is held down but once the key is released the volume level gradually falls to zero On an analogue synthesizer changes which occur throughout the duration of a note are controlled by a section known as an Envelope Generator Note On the BassStation there are no controls in a section on the main panel which deal with the amplifier directly The only way to hear and control an audio signal passing through the amplifier is to modulate it by using Amp Envelope controls The BassStation has two envelope generators one controls overall amplitude the other controls the filter amongst other things Each envelope generator has four controls which are used to adjust the shape of the envelope Note on Note off Level Attack Decay Sustain Relea
39. other woodwind players trumpeters violinists and so on The result is a more fluid performance Of course if every note is individually articulated the attack decay will be triggered for each NM Other synths ARP and others used multiple triggering With this the attack decay of the envelopes istriggered every Boe regardless RS a S This option is useful if it is important that every note has a clear and distinct envelope articulation 28 How The Controls Work The BassStation allows you to choose either SINGLE or MULTI and you can decide which trigger method is best for the sound you are working with The BassStation also offers another triggering option AUTO With this selected triggering is of the single triggering type but if a note is played and held and another note is played the pitch will slide up or down to the new note at a rate determined by the PORTA control see later AT O O N ON This is very useful for certain instrument emulations fretless bass for example but also for emulating the Slide effect of Roland s TB303 Bassline synthesizer 29 How The Controls Work Low Frequency Oscillator LFO The BassStation s LFO produces regular electronic variations which are too low to be heard but can be used to modify or control various elements of the sound such as pitch vibrato pulse width or filter
40. rennen TT TMMMMMMM M M Although not labeled as such this section on the far left of the panel houses certain master controls that affect the BassStation overall VOLUME knob This control adjusts the overall output volume on the main master audio outputs This control can be useful for preventing distortion on your sequencer s mixer PORTA knob Portamento sometimes known as GLIDE is an effect where notes will slide smoothly from one pitch to the next Normally when you play notes change pitch instantly as you would expect However with portamento applied the notes will slide from one to another at a rate determined by the PORTA control This can be useful for simulating certain instruments such as fretless bass trombone etc but is also a rich source of synth sounds and effects not least of which of course is an emulation of the famous Theremin With this control set to zero when the keyboard is played the pitches of notes change instantly from one pitch to another Turning the portamento TIME control clockwise will increase the time taken for the pitch of the one note to reach the next note played Note When AUTO is selected in the envelopes TRIG switch this control sets the glide time when mono legato playing techniques are used TUNE knob This tunes the BassStation 50 cents half a semitone and can be used to bring the BassStation in tune with other instruments SYNC switch This switches oscillator sy
41. se 17 Synthesis Tutorial When controlling volume these controls adjust the following phases of the envelope as shown in the illustration Attack time Adjusts the time it takes when a key is pressed for the envelope to climb from zero to full volume It can be used to create a sound with a slow fade in Decay time Adjusts the time it takes for the envelope to decay from full volume to the level set by the Sustain control while a key is held down Sustain level Sets the level that the envelope remains at while the key is held down after the decay time has expired Note It is important to realise that the SUSTAIN parameter isa level control not one that sets time like the other envelope controls Release time Adjusts the time it takes when key is released from the sustain level to zero It can be used to create sounds that slowly fade away in volume after you have taken your finger s off the keyboard Synthesis Tutorial Low Frequency Oscillator LFO Like the Envelope Generators the LFO section on a synthesizer is a modulator That is to say instead of forming a part of the sound generating process it is used instead to modify modulate other synthesizer sections For example altering the oscillator pitch or filter cutoff frequency Most musical instruments produce sounds that vary not just in volume but also in pitch and timbre Sometimes this variation
42. struments such as flute With extreme settings it can create distinctive bubbly effects Sawtooth wave ys The sawtooth wave will cause pitch to rise gradually and then drop suddenly When applied to the filter the filter will open gradually then close suddenly It is often possible to invert this waveshape i e turn it upside down so that pitch falls gradually then rises abruptly and the filter closes gradually and opens abruptly Generally speaking the sawtooth wave and its inverted variation is used for special effects Random wave RUP Most synths feature a random wave When fed to the oscillators this will cause random repetitive jumps in pitch and when fed to a filter will cause random repetitive changes in tone Its most clich d use isfor creating computer effects but has many other uses besides 19 Synthesis Tutorial Another common parameter found on LFOs is a DELAY control This causes the control waveform to fade in gradually after a note on is received Level DELAY TIME Note on TIME NNN A gt How is this useful Well with most instruments vibrato is not always on it tends to be gradually introduced during the course of a note Think of a violinist or an opera singer they start at a certain pitch and then gradually add vibrato The LFO DELAY parameter allows us to simulate this although it must be said that vibrato effects are more naturally controlled with a performance controller su
43. thesis Tutorial you should now be able to make meaningful edits to any of the preset sounds on offer or even create your own sounds from scratch In the next section we ll look at some of the lesser used but no less important functions of the BassStation 36 Setup Panel Setup Panel oru rre rrr rr TT Pressing the SETUP button will show this panel i f 4 4 FED 7 BH DEDE I FLOR FILS ONF FILTEN Pore Eee FILTEN TTC i Co scu LT LL S Ua oS ELT P tion Elia ID E 7 WU Just over half the panel changes to show not only some lesser used sound creation parameters but some options and preferences that affect overall operation of the BassStation It s in the SETUP pages as well where you can restore the factory presets and import export sounds from to either a keyboard BassStation or a BassStation Rack module These are described over the next few pages 37 Setup Panel Modwheel Pitch bend The FILTER control determines how much the mod wheel will open and close the filter s cutoff frequency The PITCH control determines how much the mod wheel will control the depth of LFO modulation vibrato to the two oscillators The PITCH BEND RANGE control sets the range of pitch bend from the pitch bend wheel The range is stepped in semi tone increments i e a value of 2 is equal to two semitones hence 1 tone of
44. tory preset sounds and creating new ones There is no substitute for hands on experience Experiments with altering knobs and buttons will eventually lead to a fuller understanding of how the various controls interact and alter and help create new sounds Conclusion eee nnne rr rennen TI en en nn en ne nen neennen Armed with the knowledge in this chapter and an understanding of what is actually happening in the machine when tweaks to the knobs and buttons are made the process of creating new and exciting sounds will become easy In the next chapter we ll see how all this theory relates to the BassStation 21 How The Controls Work BassStation main panel The BassStation s MAIN panel is laid out like a conventional analogue synthesizer Im DENT PF PANE FAN HUA NE AREE ETT G Mo Gn Nn 1 L n L T 7 G ane ND a a Fam jT DIETO arro bd mam frown tion i i Wu a MAUL The design is based on the keyboard version of the BassStation and if you have any experience with that synthesizer the BassStation will be immediately familiar to you The main panel houses all the main parameters associated with the creation and editing of a sound The sections are logically laid out to be representative of the signal flow i e oscillators into mixer into filter into amplifier We will look
45. ut if you are confident enough to overwrite the factory presets with your own creations feel free it s up to you to decide All the BassStation s 100 factory presets can be overwritten if desired Once these factory presets are overwritten they may only be retrieved by performing a factory restore To actually save the sound click on the WRITE button below the LCD The display will prompt you to select a memory location WAITE CONFIRM COMPARE HGB If you want to over write the existing sound simply click on CONFIRM the sound will be written to the current location Note The destination memory is always initially set to the currently selected program number Take care not to accidentally overwrite a treasured preset If you wantto savethe sound in a different location thereby retaining the original sound in its original location using the PROGRAM up down buttons select the destination memory and click on CONFIRM To cancel the WRITE operation simply click on WRITE again Renaming programs rrr rrr rn MTM It also possible to rename programs in the BassStation This is particularly useful if you have created your own sounds To rename a program simply click on the LCD you will see a contextual menu H DOGEASS Click on this to pop up a name field WRITE CONFIRM amp H Lu GBASS it MOOGBASS OCTAVE L Type in a name
46. will not only save the music you have recorded but it will also save the current settings of the BassStation and any other plug in s you may have running When you subsequently load that song the BassStation s sound s will also be recalled Even if you have edited a sound the edited version will be recalled when the song is opened again At the next level you can save or write individual sounds to the BassStation s internal memory Thus whenever you use the BassStation in any song the sounds you have edited created can be used in that song However once you start building up lots of sounds of your own creation you can save these as a bank or preset or setting or whatever it is your Sequencer calls them and these can be loaded into the BassStation quite separately from the song To illustrate this you could be working on a song but can tfind the right sound You can load a different bank of sounds into the BassStation where you have access to 100 different sounds Some sequencers also allow you to save single sounds and these can subsequently be loaded into the BassStation at a later date Don t be confused by all of this however most of the time you will simply insert instances of the BassStation into your song select sounds as required maybe even tweak them to suit the song and then you ll just save the song s sequence file When you load that song again the instances of the BassStation will be r
47. with differing velocity levels Clicking on the front of the note i e the bottom of the keyboard graphic high velocity will be used by clicking on towards the back of a note i e towards the top of the keyboard graphic low velocity will be used Velocity Velocity Level Level 001 pp 001 pp 064 mf 064 mf 127 ff 127 ff This is useful for checking and or creating editing sounds that use velocity when an external keyboard is not available for whatever reason The keyboard also has other unique performance features If you press your computer keyboard s SHIFT key while holding down a note on the keyboard moving your mouse left to right does pitch bend and moving it up down does mod wheel In this way you can use your mouse as a kind of joystick for pitchbend and modulation Also on the PC version only holding down the CTRL key allows the first held note to remain down This is very useful in many situations For example click on a note press CTRL and now you re free to use the mouse to edit the panels Another use might be click on a note and press CTRL you can now click on another note to check for example portamento No doubt you ll find your own uses for these unique features 35 How The Controls Work Conclusion re ner n rr n enn r MITT That concludes our examination of the main panel Armed with the knowledge you have hopefully gained here and the Syn
48. with the oscillators is that known as OSCILLATOR SYNC This synchronises the outputs of two oscillators to create new waveforms Normally when two oscillators are free running they interact and the resulting waveform is an animated constantly evolving sound Oscillator 1 Oscillator 2 Mixed waveform However when two oscillators are synchronised one oscillator s waveform is constantly being reset to the other Oscillator 1 Oscillator 2 Sync waveform The result is a new waveshape with different harmonic components and the interval between the two oscillators and the waveforms selected for both oscillators determines the harmonic content of the final waveform Some very interesting new waveforms can be made in this way and used subtly many digital sounding waveforms can be created However by sweeping the frequency of the synchronised oscillator many distinctive sync sweep effects can be created that can sound like thick flanging great for aggressive leadlines and distinctive bass sounds 13 Synthesis Tutorial To extend the range of sounds that may be reproduced a typical analogue synthesizer often has more than one oscillator By using more than one oscillator when creating a sound it possible to achieve very interesting harmonic mixes It is also possible to slightly detune individual oscillators against each other which creates a very warm fat sound The BassStation has two independent oscillators which
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