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Chapter 22 ES2 229
Osc Start
The oscillators can run freely, or they can begin at the same phase position of their
waveform cycle each time you hit a key (every time the ES2 receives a note on
message).
When Osc Start (Oscillator Start) is set to free, the initial oscillator phase startpoint is
random, with each note played. This gives the sound more life and a less static feel—
just like an analog hardware synthesizer. On the other hand, the output level may differ
each time you play a note, and the attack phase may sound less punchy.
If you set Osc Start to soft, each initial oscillator phase will start at a zero crossing every
time a note is played. This mimics the sonic character of a normal digital synthesizer.
If Osc Start is set to hard, each initial oscillator phase begins at the highest possible
level in its waveform cycle every time a note is played. This punch is only audible if the
ENV3 Attack Time is set to a minimal value—a very fast attack. This setting is highly
recommended for electronic percussion and hard basses.
Note: Osc Start soft and hard result in a constant output level of the initial oscillator
phase every time the sound is played back. This may be of particular importance when
using Logic’s Bounce feature, at close to maximum recording levels.
Flt Reset
If you increase the filter’s Resonance parameter to higher values, it will begin to
internally feed back and will start to self-resonate. This resonance results in a sine
oscillation (a sine wave), which you may be familiar with, if you’ve used subtractive
synthesizers before.
In order to start this type of oscillation, the filter requires a trigger. In an analog
synthesizer, this trigger may be the noise floor or the oscillator output. In the digital
domain of the ES2, noise is all but eliminated. As such, when the oscillators are muted,
there is no input signal routed to the filter.
When Filter Reset is engaged, however, each note starts with a trigger that is used to
make the filter resonate immediately.