Novation Bass Station Rack Owner's Manual

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Contents

13Oscillators 1 & 2 SectionEach oscillator is a sound source producing the elec-tronic equivalent of the vibration in the air which makesa sound (the speakers you are using to listen to theBassStation convert the electronic signal into anacoustic one you can actually hear). Oscillation is atechnical term for vibration. The actual timbre of eachoscillator depends on its harmonic content which isdetermined by its Waveform. Each oscillator has thisswitch allowing you to switch between two differentwaveform types which have their individual set of har-monics. The two waveforms are:Sawtooth (or Ramp)So called because a series of sawtooth oscillations resembles the teeth on a saw. Thesawtooth waveform contains every harmonic in the hannonic series in decreasing vol-ume. Sawtooth waveforms make a very rich sound.Pulse (including Square)This waveform switches between maximum and minimum values, giving the blockylook to the waveform. The harmonic content of the pulse waveform is dependent onthe relative width of the maximum and minimum values. If these are equal, then thewaveform is referred to as a square wave and has a very similar harmonic content toa clarinet. ie. all the odd-numbered harmonics in decreasing volume which gives ahollow quality to the sound. The width of the pulse wave is controlled by the PulseWidth knob and the modulations innarrower (to the far right of the knob), the fundamental (the basic pitch) of the oscilla-tor becomes very quiet and is increasingly over-powered by the higher harmonics pro-ducing a very thin sound.Osc 1/2/External Mix - RotaryThis knob controls the relative volumes of the two oscillators and the external audioinput. All the way to the left will give you just the external signal - if nothing is connect-ed to the External Audio Input socket the BassStation’s filter can be heard without theoscillators. As the knob is turned to the right, oscillator I will be gradually introduced.At the "I & 2" position both oscillators and the external signal will be equally loud.Moving the knob all the way to right gives you just oscillator 2. For more informationon the External Audio Input see page 16.Detune - RotaryThis knob controls the amount of fine tuning difference between the two oscillators. Init’s central position the oscillators will be exactly in tune with each other. Turning theknob anti-clockwise will make oscillator 2 increasingly "Hat" in relation to oscillator 1.Turning the knob in a clockwise direction will make oscillator 2 increasingly "Sharp" .Slight detunings 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) allowing you to ‘fat-ten’ up bass and lead sounds. Greater amounts of detuning will lead to more extremeeffects. Use according to your own taste.Semi-Tone - RotaryThis knob allows you to switch the musical interval between the oscillators in semi-tones up to a full octave, by raising the pitch of oscillator 2. The most conventionallyuseful intervals are set by switching to 5 (a perfect 4th). 7 (a perfect 5th), with 3 (minor3rd), 4 (major 3rd). 8 (minor 6th) and 9 (major 6th) following closely behind. Otherfixed intervals are only for the more experimental.Oscillator 2 Range - SwitchThis switch allows you to select the octave difference between the oscillators byswitching oscillator 2 up or down. The range is referred to in feet (16’. 8’. 4’ & 2’). aconvention which comes from the length of organ pipes. The 8 setting puts the twooscillators in the same octave range.HOW THE CONTROLS WORK