ARTURIA – ORIGIN – USER’S MANUAL
109
9.1.1.1.3
CS-80 oscillator
This oscillator is an emulated version of oscillator found on the Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer. Due to
the characteristics of the waveforms, the CS-80 oscillator has a unique “natural” sound. Using this
module, Origin is capable of generating the analog strings, brass and pads the CS-80 was famous for,
while weighing only a fraction of the original synth. The CS-80 has been used by, for example,
Vangelis, Stevie Wonder, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel and Daft Punk.
The CS-80 oscillator
•
The Pitch:
The pitch is defined by the oscillator frequency. You can set the frequency with 2 controllers:
-
The [
feet
] slider sets the range frequency of the oscillator expressed in feet. 16’ brings
the lowest frequencies, 2’ brings the highest audible frequencies.
-
The [
tune
] slider allows you to tune the oscillator more precisely. It ranges from minus 1
to 1 semitone.
•
The waveforms:
The waveforms define the sonic characteristic of the oscillators sound.
-
The [
sawtooth
] presents the richest audio signal of the waveforms. It contains all of the
harmonics at decreasing volume levels in high frequencies. Its sound is ideal for brass
sounds, bass sounds or rich lead and pads.
-
The [
square
] possesses a more «hollow» sound that the sawtooth. It only contains odd
harmonics with lower amplitudes for higher harmonics. This waveform can be used for
sub-bass sounds that comes out well in the mix (the square oscillator is often set an
octave below that of the sawtooth), wood sounds (clarinet, if the square signal is a little
filtered), etc.…
-
The [
sine
] is the purest available waveform. It contains only one harmonic referred to as
the “fundamental”. Use it for example to reinforce the low end of a bass sound or as a
modulation source in FM routings.
-
The [
white no
] (“white noise”) waveform produces acoustic energy across a broad
spectrum of frequencies with no discernible “fundamental” or harmonic signature. For
this reason, the noise module is used to create different noises like the imitation of wind
or special effects.
-
The [
PW
] slider allows you to manually modify the waveform cycle of the square wave.
This feature is only available when the square waveform is selected.
•
The Input connections:
-
[
FM
]: The FM modulation allows you to modulate the frequency of the oscillator. You can
connect for example a LFO for vibrato effects, of use another oscillator for FM sounds.
This can yield interesting results for inharmonic sonorities like bell sounds, but it can also
be quickly distorted if you introduce a square or sawtooth signal.
