In addition to that each Oscillator receives slightly different key-tracking information, which
means that even if all oscillators should be perfectly in tune for one note, they may be a little
bit off on another note. This may sound like a flaw but it is actually absolutely crucial to ana-
log sound. It has such a huge impact on the sound that there are many options to fine-tune
this behavior in View B. See
↑
5.3.5, OSCILLATORS Section
for more information.
OSCILLATOR 3
is also used for modulation purposes in MONARK. For this reason it can be
decoupled from key-tracking and function as an LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) or provide
drones. In this case, it only uses its
RANGE
and
FREQUENCY
parameters for tuning. If used as
a modulation source the
LO
setting in the range parameters suddenly makes a lot of sense be-
cause this is its main purpose, e.g. to provide vibrato. The oscillators can be modulated by the
MODULATION
source if the
MOD
(modulation) switch is on. The amount of modulation can be
controlled using the modulation wheel. For more information on modulation see
↑
5.2.4, CON-
TROL Section
.
Advanced Oscillator Information
While MONARK offers a small selection of different pulse widths for the pulse wave, pulse
width modulation seems to be a noticeable omission. Here's a little trick, though: since the
third oscillator has a reversed sawtooth you can create pulse width modulation by combining it
with a sawtooth of any of the remaining two oscillators. Set the oscillators to the same range,
and make sure that they have an equal output level. If you detune the oscillators slightly you
get a result similar to pulse width modulation.
The output of an analog synthesizer sometimes contains signals that shouldn't be there, con-
trary to the signal flow. For example, if the volume of an oscillator is turned all the way down in
the
MIXER
section or even off (see
↑
5.2.2, MIXER Section
) probably you'd expect it to be si-
lent but you will notice that you can still hear a small portion of the oscillator's signal. If you're
bothered by inactive oscillators leaking into the output it is possible to reduce these signals:
set the waveform to triangle and the range to
LO
. That should do it!
Oscillators in analog synthesizers don't stay perfectly in tune. There are fluctuations in the
power supply, the temperature may change the behavior of some components and of course
sometimes you just look at the instrument the wrong way and it will go out of tune! This drift-
ing and detuning of the oscillators is one of the little things that add to the analog sound and
is therefore modeled by MONARK. For some users these drifting and leakage signals can be
annoying and therefore in View B it is possible to turn down the leakage as well as the drifting
of the instrument. See
↑
5.3.5, OSCILLATORS Section
for more details.
Overview of MONARK Ensemble
View A—Overview of MONARK User Interface
MONARK - Manual - 22
