Operation Manual

MALSTRÖM SYNTHESIZER
125
The Oscillator section
The two oscillators (osc:A and osc:B) of the Malström are the actual sound genera-
tors, and the rest of the controls are used for modulating and shaping the sound. The
oscillators actually do two things; they play a graintable and generate the pitch:
•A graintable is several short, contiguous segments of audio (see above).
• Pitch is the frequency at which the segments are played back.
When creating a Malström patch, the fundamental first building block is usually to se-
lect a graintable for one or both of the oscillators.
D To activate/deactivate an oscillator, click the On/Off button in the top
left corner.
When an oscillator is activated, the button is lit.
An activated oscillator
D To select a graintable, either use the spin controls or click directly in the
display to bring up a pop-up menu with the available graintables.
The graintables are sorted alphabetically into a number of descriptive categories,
giving a hint as to the general character of the sound. Note that the categories are
only visible in the pop-up menu, not in the display.
Setting oscillator frequency
You can change the frequency - i.e. the tuning - of each oscillator by using the three
knobs marked “Octave”, “Semi” and “Cent”.
D The Octave knob changes the frequency in steps of one full octave (12
semitones).
The range is -4 – 0 – +4 where 0 corresponds to middle “A” on your keyboard at
440 Hz.
D The Semi knob changes the frequency in steps of one semitone.
The range is 0 to +12 (one full octave up).
D The Cent knob changes the frequency in steps of cents, which are 100ths
of a semitone.
The range is -50 – 0 – +50, i.e. down or up by up to half a semitone.