Novation Ultranova User Manual

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Novation Ultranova User Manual Manual pdf 15 page image

14RE7: DensityDisplayed as: O1DenseInitial value: 0Range of adjustment: 0 to 127The density parameter effectively adds copies of the oscillator waveform to itself. Up toeight additional virtual oscillators are used for this, depending on the value of the param-eter. This produces a “thicker” sound at low to medium values, but if the virtual oscillatorsare detuned slightly (see RE8 below), a more interesting effect is obtained.RE8: Density DetuningDisplayed as: O1DnsDtnInitial value: 0Range of adjustment: 0 to 127This parameter should be used in conjunction with the Density control. It detunes thevirtual density oscillators, and you will notice not only a thicker sound, but the effect ofbeating as well.The Density and Density Detune parameters can be used to “thicken” the sound,and simulate the effect of adding additional Voices. The Unison and UnisonDetune parameters in the Voice Menu can be used to create a very similar effect,but using Density and Density Detune have the advantage of not needing to useadditional Voices, which are inite in number.Per-oscillator parameters (Page 2)RE1: Pitch wheel rangeDisplayed as: O1PtchWhInitial value: +12Range of adjustment: -12 to +12The pitch wheel can vary the oscillator pitch by up to an octave, up or down. The units arein semitones, so with a value of +12, moving the pitchwheel up increases the pitch of thenotes being played by one octave, and moving it down takes them down an octave. Settingthe parameter to a negative value has the effect of reversing the operating sense of thepitch wheel. You will ind that many of the factory patches have this parameter set to +2,allowing a pitch wheel range of ¼1 tone. It is worth noting that (like all per-oscillator param-eters) the value can be set independently for each oscillator.RE2: Wave Table InterpolationDisplayed as: O1WTIntInitial value: 127Range of adjustment: 0 to 127This parameter sets how smooth the transition is between adjacent waveforms in the samewavetable. A value of 127 will create a very smooth transition, with the adjacent waveformsblending together. With a value of zero the transitions will be abrupt and obvious. With ahigh 01WInt value set, it is possible retain a mix of adjacent waveforms if the modulationvalue remains ixed. When modulating the wavetable Index (via LFO, etc.), the wavetableinterpolation parameter sets how smooth (or not!) the transition is.Common Oscillator parametersThe remaining parameters in the Oscillator Menu are common to all 3 oscillators. They areavailable whichever oscillator is selected by the SELECT button [10].RE3: Single Fixed NoteDisplayed as: FixNoteInitial value: OffRange of adjustment: Off, C# -2 to G 8Some sounds need not be chromatically-dependent. Examples would be certain percus-sion sounds (e.g., bass drums), and sound effects, such as a laser gun. It is possible to as-sign a ixed note to a patch, such that playing any key on the keyboard generates the samesound. The pitch on which the sound is based may be any semitone note in a range of overten octaves. With the parameter set Off, the keyboard behaves as normal. With it set to anyother value, every key plays the sound at the pitch corresponding to the value.RE4: Vibrato depthDisplayed as: ModVibInitial value: 0Range of adjustment: 0 to 127Adding vibrato to an oscillator modulates (or varies) the pitch of the note cyclically, addinga “wobble” to the tone. This parameter determines the vibrato depth, and hence how obvi-ous the “wobble” is. The mod wheel is used to apply vibrato, with the ModVib parametervalue representing the maximum depth of vibrato that can be obtained with the mod wheelin its fully ‘up’ position. On the UltraNova, VibMod and MvibRate (below) are commonparameters that affect all oscillators and do not require the use of the LFO section.RE5: Vibrato RateDisplayed as: MVibRateInitial value: 65Range of adjustment: 0 to 127This parameter sets the rate (or frequency) of the vibrato from very slow (value = 0) to veryfast (value =127).RE6: Oscillator DriftDisplayed as: OscDriftInitial value: 0Range of adjustment: 0 to 127When the three oscillators are set to the same tuning, their waveforms are perfectlysynchronised. Old analogue synthesizers were unable to stay perfectly in tune, and Oscil-lator Drift ‘emulates’ this imperfection by applying a controlled amount of detuning so thatthe oscillators are slightly out of tune with each other. This adds a “fuller” character to thesound.RE7: Oscillator PhaseDisplayed as: OscPhaseInitial value: 0degRange of adjustment: Free, 0deg to 357degThis adjusts the point in the waveform at which the oscillators start, and is adjustable in3 degree increments over one whole waveform cycle (360¼). The effect of this is to add aslight “click” or “edge” to the start of the note, as the instantaneous output voltage whenthe key is pressed is not zero. Setting the parameter to 90¼ or 270¼ produces the mostobvious effect. With the parameter set to 0º, the oscillators always start precisely in step. IfFree is set, the phase relationship of the waveforms is unrelated to when a key is pressed.RE8: Noise Source TypeDisplayed as: NoiseTypInitial value: WhiteRange of adjustment: White, High, Band or High-bandIn addition to the three main oscillators, the UltraNova also has a noise generator. Whitenoise is deined as a signal with “equal power at all frequencies”, and is a familiar “hissing”sound. Restricting the bandwidth of the noise generator alters the characteristic of the“hiss”, and the other three options for this parameter apply such iltering. Note that thenoise generator has its own input to the mixer, and in order to hear it in isolation, its inputwill need to be turned up and the oscillator inputs turned down. (See 15.)the mIxerThe outputs of the three oscillators and the noise source are passed to a simple audiomixer, where their individual contributions to the overall sound output can be adjusted.Most of the factory patches use either two, or all three oscillators, but with their outputssummed in various combinations of levels. Pressing the MIXER button [12] opens theMixer Menu, which has two pages. One of the PAGE buttons will be illuminated, indicatingthat further menu pages are available. A total of 6 inputs and two FX sends are available foradjustment on Page 1, and each input can be solo’d on Page 2.As with any other audio mixer, don’t be tempted to turn all the inputs up. Themixer should be used to balance sounds. If multiple sources are in use, theneach input setting should be about halfway – about 64 or so, and the moreinputs you are using, the more careful you need to be. If you get this wrong, yourisk internal signal clipping, which will sound extremely unpleasant.Mixer parameters (Page 1)RE1: Oscillator 1 LevelDisplayed as: O1LevelInitial value: 127Range of adjustment: 0 to 127This parameter sets the amount of Oscillator 1’s signal present in the overall sound.O1PtchWh O1WTInt ModVib MVibRate OscDrift OscPhase FixNote NoiseTyp+12 127 0 65 0 0deg Off WhiteMIXER O1Level O2Level O3Level RM1*3Lvl RM2*3Lvl NoiseLvl PreFXLvl PstFXLvl127 0 0 0 0 0 0dB 0dBO1Solo O2Solo O3Solo NoisSolo RM13Solo RM23SoloOff Off Off Off Off OffVOICE PortTime PortMode PreGlide PolyMode Unison UnDetuneOff Expo 0 Poly1 Off 25LFO L1Rate L1RSync L1Wave L1Phase L1Slew L1KSync L1Comn L1OneSht1-3 68 Off Sine 0 0 Off Off OffL1Delay L1DSync L1InOut L1DTrig0 Off FadeIn LegatoVOCODER On/Off Balance Width SibLevel SibTypeOff v67 m 0 127 40 HighPass