Beiträge von ozon

    Yes, thanks. I actually tried more of the various FM options. And I can get some of the character, but what is missing are the strongly detuned harmonics and the chaotic behavior. The spectrum is very distinct for those siren/alarm style sounds. I think a comb filter (in the OSC filter section) would help a lot.

    Interesting topic. I know of the Roland/Yamaha confusion and that it's actually implementation dependent. But I find that while many VST Synth/Sampler plugins seem to produce a consistent pitch (with plain OSCs without transpose), the Virus is an octave off. Don't remember whether its higher or lower, OTTOMH.


    Not really an issue, but sometimes a bit confusing when swapping sounds.

    I'm still undecided which is best for the TI, Tracks or Racks.


    Racks.
    As you explained, the Instrument tracks are meant for single part instruments, Rack + MIDI Tracks are meant for multi-part instruments. VC is a multi-part instrument. Therefore it should go into a Rack. Also, check that you use the VST3 version. IME, it's more stable than the VST2 version.


    As for volume control: You can automate the volume (any any other CC) from the Cubase MIDI track. I wonder whether the MIDI Track volume fader directly corresponds to the VC volume.

    Yeah, would be cool if blending was available independent of the wave selection and pulse width. But that would also make it much more complicated.


    AFAIK to "blend" wave forms, you have to multiply a waveform with another waveform which is actually FM.



    I'd try the following:
    - OSC 1 with spectral wave
    - OSC 1 FM Mode "wave"
    - OSC 2 with square wave
    - OSC Balance all the way to OSC 2
    - slowly dial in FM


    Check the result with an Oscilloscope.

    I think that the contour behaves a bit differently depending on the LFO shape...Essentially it "skews" the shape.


    For example, if you use a triangle LFO, setting contour at the one extreme will make the triangle into a positive ramp; set the contour at the other extreme and it becomes a negative ramp. Now this effect is neither zooming in nor cutting the tail. Unless of course both the tail and the "head" of the wave are being "cut".


    We were only talking about the LFO Contour applied to the complex wave forms also available for the Classic oscillator
    For Sine, Triangle and Square, the LFO Contour does indeed something different as described in the Reference.


    Also exactly here is where I wish the graphic of the LFO wave would get updated in real time, just like in the OSC section...


    That would be very nice and help a lot with understanding and properly applying this parameter!

    Very interesting! I remember having read that when I started out on the Virus, but I had completely forgot about that by now.


    Just did a little experiment to verify the specification in the Reference Manual.
    - Put OSC 1 to sine wave (to focus on the pitch)
    - Set OSC Balance all to OSC 1
    - Put LFO 1 to a sine wave and rate 48
    - Set LFO 1 Trigger Phase to 1 (or 127)
    - Set LFO 1 OSC 1 modulation to about 50% (or higher)
    --> listen: you hear a steady modulation of OSC 1 pitch


    - Set LFO 1 to a wave form (Wave 3)
    --> listen: you hear Wave 3 modulating pitch of OSC 1


    - Now change LFO 1 Contour to a negative value (e.g. -43)
    --> listen: you hear only the first part of Wave 3 modulating pitch of OSC 1



    What's important to remember is that it only works for negative Contour values ("Zooming In"). You can also think of Contour as a control to cut the tail from the wave form.

    The bi-polar Triangle is what you would get if you use the mode "Wave" and set OSC 1 to a triangle wave form. The uni-polar triangle for FM is different: It will result in a very different spectrum. Try the following:
    - start with Init patch
    - set OSC 2 to sine wave
    - set OSC balance all to OSC 2 (!)
    now you hear only OSC 2. You will hear the full result of the any applied FM.


    Now try the following:
    - set OSC 1 to a sine wave
    - set FM mode to wave
    - change FM amount
    --> listen to result


    - set OSC 1 to a triangle wave
    - change FM amount
    --> listen to result (should sound different)


    - set FM mode to bi-polar triangle wave
    - change FM amount
    --> listen to result (should sound the same)


    - set FM mode to uni-polar triangle wave
    - change FM amount
    --> listen to result (should sound very different)

    The triangle waves override the wave from OSC 1. They just use the pitch of OSC 1.


    IOW, only the "Wave" mode actually uses OSC 1 directly as the FM source.


    Therefore you can use a classic complex waveform for OSC 1 but still have the more simple triangle available for FM.


    [..] I'll also note that the Virus TI Keyboard has been the single most inspiring instrument I've ever owned. For a long time, I kind of wrote off hardware VA's as being passe in the era of increasingly better softsynths, but after using the TI for a couple of months, it's become my go-to synth. I think it still holds up impressively well in 2016 with a very musical, smooth sound - something that means a lot more in practical use than being able to draw your own wavetables and having 50-segment envelopes and being able to turn cat pictures into harmonic spectra.



    Couldn't agree more! I'm also amazed over and over how well the Virus TI works for a lot of different types of sounds. Although it figures as a "virtual analog" synth, it can sound very up-to-date and powerful. And it sounds amazing used stand-alone as a traditional hardware synth (analog outs) in a band setting.