User Manual

107
Prophet X User’s Guide
Using Sampled Instruments
Making a Loop into a Single-Cycle Waveform
Now lets manipulate the loop and turn it into a waveform similar to the
Prophet VS waveforms we worked with earlier.
When you are creating loops, there are three different loop modes: Regu-
lar, Pitched, and Sync. Pitched mode is most appropriate for creating
single-cycle-type loops because the smallest loop setting in this mode
is 32 samples and the loop size is always a multiple of the root pitch of
the sample. This ensures that the single-cycle-type loop is accurately
pitched, making it function almost like an oscillator.
In contrast, Regular loop mode does not always allow you to make a
loop small enough to reliably create a single cycle waveform. Sync loop
mode loops the sample content at the chosen beat-synced rate (as set by
the front-panel BPM knob).
To create a single cycle-type loop:
1. Press Soft Button 3 (inst1 loop) then turn Soft Knob 2 (loop mode) to
set loop mode to pitched. (In pitched mode, the loop becomes a pitch
period calculated based on the assigned note of the sample.)
2. Press Soft Button 4 (inst1 edit) then turn Soft Knob 2 (loop size) to set
the loop size to 1. The loop is now a single pitch period — in essence a
single-cycle waveform.
3. Play a chord. The wobble is gone and the instrument sounds much
more like a traditional oscillator. Add a bit of rotating speaker effect
and this would make a perfectly acceptable organ.
4. To hear what the instrument sounds like when loop mode is not set to
pitched, press Soft Button 3 (inst1 loop) then turn Soft Knob 2 (loop
mode) and set loop mode to regular. It’s very different because the
loop is so short that the speed of its repetition creates harmonic arti-
facts.
As you can see, it’s easy to create a single cycle waveform. Creating
longer loops, however, requires some practice. You usually have to nd
an area in a sample where the volume and harmonic content remains
relatively consistent. See the next section for more details on this.