Novation Ultranova User Manual

Contents

Novation Ultranova User Manual Manual pdf 14 page image

13Synth eDIt SectIonHardware NavigationSee page 4 for an overview of the UltraNova and a brief description of what each of the toppanel controls do.On the UltraNova, all the menus which control the sound generation and sound processingblocks are accessed by the buttons in the Synth Edit area of the top panel.When a menu is called up, the parameter values displayed are those of the currently-selected patch.Each menu is accessed by its own dedicated button, and has between one and four pages.If a menu has more than one page, one of the two PAGE buttons [4] will be illuminated,and these can be used to scroll through the additional pages. Up to eight parameters ofthe menu are displayed on the LCD, and each is varied with the rotary encoder immediatelyabove the parameter text.Using the menu buttons [11] to [22], you can go directly from one menu to another with asingle button press. Some of the sound generation/processing blocks are duplicated (e.g.Oscillator), and the SELECT buttons [10] are used to select which particular block of thattype is to be controlled. The UltraNova remembers which block was last accessed, andalso which menu page, and when that menu is recalled, it re-opens with the last settingsvisible.oScIllatorS 1, 2 anD 3The UltraNova has three identical oscillators and a noise source; these are the synth’ssound generators. Pressing the OSCILLATOR button [11] opens the Oscillator Menu,which has two pages for each oscillator. One of the SELECT buttons and one of thePAGE buttons will be illuminated, indicating that more than one oscillator is available to becontrolled and that further menu pages are available. A total of 16 parameters per oscillatoris displayed for adjustment, eight per page. However, note that ive of these are common toall three oscillators, and another to the noise source; these six parameters appear on menuPage 2 for every oscillator.Per-oscillator parameters (Page 1)Oscillator 1 is used as the example in the descriptions which follow, however all 3oscillators are identical in operation.RE1: Coarse tuningDisplayed as: O1SemiInitial value: 0Range of adjustment: -64 to +63This parameter sets the basic per-oscillator tuning. Incrementing its value by 1 shifts thepitch of every note on the keyboard up by one semitone for the selected oscillator only,thus setting it to +12 effectively shifts the oscillator tuning up one octave. Negative valuesdetune in the same manner. See also Transpose at page 38.RE2: Fine tuningDisplayed as: O1CentsInitial value: 0Range of adjustment: -50 to +50This parameter lets you make iner adjustments to the tuning. The increments are cents(1/100 of a semitone), and thus setting the value to ¼50 tunes the oscillator to a quarter-tone midway between two semitones.RE3: Virtual Oscillator SyncDisplayed as: O1VSyncInitial value: 0Range of adjustment: 0 to 127Oscillator Sync is a technique of using an additional “virtual” oscillator to addharmonics to the irst, by using the virtual oscillator’s waveform to retrigger that of the irst.This technique produces an interesting range of sonic effects. The nature of the resultingsound varies as the parameter value is altered because the virtual oscillator frequencyincreases as a multiple of the main oscillator frequency as the parameter value increases.When the Vsync value is a multiple of 16, the virtual oscillator frequency is a musical har-monic of the main oscillator frequency. The overall effect is a transposition of the oscillatorthat moves up the harmonic series, with values in between multiples of 16 producing morediscordant effects.To get the best out of Vsync, try modulating it using the LFO.Try assigning it to the MOD wheel for ‘hands-on’ control.RE4: Oscillator waveformDisplayed as: O1WaveInitial value: SawtoothRange of adjustment: See table at page 40 for full detailsThis selects the oscillator’s waveform from a range of 72 options. As well as analoguesynth-type waveforms like sine, square, sawtooth, pulse and 9 ratios of sawtooth/pulsemix, there are various digital waveforms and 36 wavetables consisting of nine individualwaveforms per wavetable, plus the two audio input sources.If audio input sources are selected, then any additional oscillator parameterswill have no effect on the sound. The audio input will be used as the source forsubsequent manipulation (e.g., ilters, modulation, etc).To hear either of the audio inputs a note must be played on the keyboard.It is possible to create a MIDI gate effect on vocals using audio inputsas the source.RE5: Pulse Width/Wave Table IndexDisplayed as: O1Pw/IdxInitial value: 0Range of adjustment: -64 to +63This control has two functions, depending on the waveform selected by RE4. With pulsewaveforms, it varies the pulse width of the oscillator output. This basic effect can mosteasily be heard by adjusting RE5 with RE4 set to PW; you will note how the harmoniccontent varies and at high settings the sound becomes quite thin and metallic. A pulsewave is essentially an asymmetric square wave; when set to zero, the waveform is a normalsquare wave. (See page 9.) RE5 has a different function if the oscillator waveform is set tobe one of the 36 Wave Tables (see RE4 above). Each Wave Table consists of nine relatedwaveforms, and the setting of RE5 determines which is in use. The total parameter valuerange of 128 is divided into 9 (approximately) equal segments of 14 value units, so settingthe value to anything between -64 and -50 will generate the irst of the 9 waveforms, -49to -35 the second, and so on. See also the Wave Table Interpolation parameter (RE2on Oscillator Menu Page 2), which can be used to introduce further variation in the waywavetables are used.RE6: HardnessDisplayed as: O1HardInitial value: 127Range of adjustment: 0 to 127The Hardeness parameter modiies the harmonic content of the waveform, reducing thelevel of the upper harmonics as the value is decreased. Its effect is akin to that of a low-pass ilter, but operates at oscillator level. You will note it has no effect on a sine waveform,as this is the one waveform with no harmonics.CILLATORS O1Semi O1Cents O1VSync O1Wave O1PW/Idx O1Hard O1Dense O1DnsDtn0 0 0 Sawtooth 0 127 0 0O1PtchWh O1WTInt FixNote ModVib MVibRate OscDrift OscPhase NoiseTyp+12 127 Off 0 65 0 0deg WhiteO2Semi O2Cents O2VSync O2Wave O2PW/Idx O2Hard O2Dense O2DnsDtn0 0 0 Sawtooth 0 127 0 0O2PtchWh O2WTInt FixNote ModVib MVibRate OscDrift OscPhase NoiseTyp+12 127 Off 0 65 0 0deg WhiteO3Semi O3Cents O3VSync O3Wave O3PW/Idx O3Hard O3Dense O3DnsDtn0 0 0 Sawtooth 0 127 0 0O3PtchWh O3WTInt FixNote ModVib MVibRate OscDrift OscPhase NoiseTyp+12 127 Off 0 65 0 0deg WhiteFILTERS F1Freq F1Res F1Env2 F1Track F1Type F1DAmnt F1DType F1QNorm127 0 0 127 LP24 0 Diode 64FBalance FRouting FreqLink ResLink-64 Parallel Off OffF2Freq F2Res F2Env2 F2Track F2Type F2DAmnt F2DType F2QNorm127 0 0 127 LP24 0 Diode 64FBalance FRouting FreqLink ResLink-64 Parallel Off OffNVELOPES AmpAtt AmpDec AmpSus AmpRel AmpVeloc AmpRept AmpTTrig AmpMTrig2 90 127 40 0 0 OFF Re-TrigAmpAtSlp AmpDcSlp AmpAttTk AmpDecTk AmpSusRt AmpSusTm AmpLvlTk LvlTkNte0 127 0 0 0 127 0 C 3FltAtt FltDec FltSus FltRel FltVeloc FltRept FltTTrig FltMTrig2 75 35 45 0 0 OFF Re-TrigFltAtSlp FltDcSlp FltAttTk FltDecTk FltSusRt FltSusTm FltLvlTk LvlTkNte0 127 0 0 0 127 0 C 3E3-E6 E3Att E3Dec E3Sus E3Rel E3Delay E3Repeat E3TTrig E3MTrig10 70 64 40 0 0 OFF Re-TrigE3AtSlp E3DcSlp E3AttTk E3DecTk E3SusRat E3SusTim E3LvlTk LvlTkNte0 127 0 0 0 127 0 C 3VSync = 0VSync = 5VSync = 16