Oscillators. The raw sound source that spawns the diverse range of tones and timbres spewed by all synthesizers. They come in different shapes and can be produced by a variety of techniques to make your imagination audible. If you consider the fact that all of the sounds we hear are vibrations in air, oscillators are creating synthetic vibrations that become sound once connected to a speaker. Instead of moving back and forth like a guitar string, the oscillator cycles between positive and negative voltages. Continue reading “Synthesis Essentials: All About Oscillators”
Category: Gear
Review: Soulsby Synthesizers Oscitron
The Oscitron from Soulsby Synthesizers is a lot of things. It’s their first Eurorack synthesizer product. It’s an 8-bit digital oscillator with wavetable sampling, selectable audio engine resolution, multiple filter types, scale quantization, portamento, bit reduction and preset memory. Amazingly, they managed to squeeze all this functionality into just 14HP. This is achieved through the clever use of two knobs that also function as buttons. Continue reading “Review: Soulsby Synthesizers Oscitron”
Synthesis Essentials: Know Your Filters
The filter is arguably the element of a synthesizer that does the most to define its character. Words like squelchy, brassy, creamy, gritty and so on are often used to describe their impact, and reading those adjectives in this context probably made you think of a few specific synths. Perusing the various offerings in both the fixed architecture and eurorack markets presents a perplexing plethora of jargon. To make matters worse, many of these terms overlap, as manufacturers will often use different names to describe the same feature. So what makes all these filters different and how does that affect the way a synthesizer will sound? Continue reading “Synthesis Essentials: Know Your Filters”
Review: Pittsburgh Modular Lifeforms Percussion Sequencer
The Eurorack realm has no shortage of sequencer offerings, and for good reason. They can generate the pulse that drives an entire system, bring a patch to life with modulation, provide the rhythmic foundation to support your patch, or whatever else you can conceive. Because they are so critical to so many systems, and because there is such a diverse range of approach, the market still does not seem saturated. However, I imagine it’s becoming increasingly difficult for manufacturers to make sequencers that stand out by offering something unique and exciting. Pittsburgh Modular adeptly pulls this off by creating a relatively small, hugely functional, performance ready, four channel sequencer. Continue reading “Review: Pittsburgh Modular Lifeforms Percussion Sequencer”
Belizean Heat Live at the Maker Faire (and Octatrack Nerdery)
I was asked to play the Vancouver Mini Maker Faire again this year and I felt like playing something new. The last two years in a row I had played Sonidos de Cuba, although each performance was quite different as one used Ableton and the other used the Octatrack. Since returning from Belize I had started using those fresh recordings to create new music and I was excited to play it out and get some feedback. Continue reading “Belizean Heat Live at the Maker Faire (and Octatrack Nerdery)”
SUBLIME SOUND 