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Table Of Contents
Chapter 23 Ultrabeat 313
Phase Oscillator
The waveform of the Phase Oscillator can be “twisted” with the Slope, Saturation, and
Asymmetry parameters, and shaped into almost any basic synthesizer waveform. The
effects of these three parameters are graphically illustrated in the waveform display
within the oscillator section. Setting all three parameters to zero values will cause the
oscillator to produce a sine wave.
The Slope parameter determines the slope or steepness of the waveform. The higher
the Slope value, the steeper the waveform. The resulting sound takes on an increasingly
nasal character as steepness is increased.
Increasing Saturation values clip the waveform, gradually molding its shape towards a
rectangular waveform. This results in a corresponding increase in odd numbered
overtones.
Sine and rectangualar waves (and all variations in-between) are achieved with the Slope
and Saturation parameters. Asym (Asymmetry) “tilts the waveform in the direction of a
sawtooth wave, making the sound more edgy.
The Saturation parameter can be modulated by the sources found in the Mod and Via
menus. This allows you to create dynamic sound changes at the oscillator level. The
effect of the Mod and Via modulations are adjusted with the small sliders to the left
and right of the Saturation slider. The range affected by the modulations is colored blue
(Mod) and green (Via). If no source is selected in the Mod and Via menus (set to Off),
the Mod and Via sliders remain hidden.
Note: Oscillator 1 differs from Oscillator 2 as it is Saturation not Asymmetry that can be
modulated. This difference means that when both oscillators are in Phase Oscillator
mode they can produce different types of sounds.
Sample
A selection of multi-layer drum and percussion samples that were specially created for
Ultrabeat and its function set are included with Ultrabeat. You can load these via the
sample function in Oscillator 2. You can also load your own samples in AIFF, WAV or SDII
stereo interleaved format.
To accomplish this, activate the button labeled Sample in Oscillator 2. You can see how
the control elements of Oscillator 2 change—among other things, a waveform display
appears.