Oberheim OB-Mx, User Manual

Page 1: ...OB M x User s Guide Oberhefm ...

Page 2: ...ax 510 261 1708 Technical Support 800 279 4346 Mini Moog is a registered trademark of Electronic Technology Group Inc Warnings There are thousands of parts inside but none are user servicable so kindly refrain from removing the covers Do not take the OBMx swimming or play it in the rain Custom designed for Oberheim by Don Buchla Manufactured by Oberheim Oakland California 1 CAUTION f RISK OF ELECT...

Page 3: ...und 10 Exercise 2 Tweaking Blind 12 Exercise 3 Saving and Naming Your Work 12 Exercise 4 Backing Up and Restoring Via MIDI 13 The Back Panel 14 Main Outputs 15 Individual Outputs Insert Points 15 MIDI Connections 15 Chapter 3 Explorations 77 3 1 Single Instrument Globals 17 Exploration 1 The Chorus Algorithm 17 3 2 Using Multiple Instruments 18 About Multiple Instruments 18 Exploration 2 Creating ...

Page 4: ... Chapter 5 Instruments Module 35 Chapter 6 Control Module 37 Changing Values in the Display 37 Program Button 38 Prgrm Parameter Descriptions Single Instrument Mode 38 Prgrm Parameter Descriptions Multiple Instrument Mode 40 Voices Button 42 Single Instrument Mode 42 Multiple Instrument Mode 42 MIDI Button 43 Store Button 47 Saving Edited Instruments 47 Copying and Swapping Instruments 48 Compare ...

Page 5: ...ameter Toggles 76 Continuous Parameter Knobs 78 Chapter 11 low Frequency Oscillators Module 81 LFO Selection Buttons 1 3 82 Parameter Toggles 82 Continuous Parameter Knobs 83 Chapter 12 Voice Status Module 87 Voice Usage Indicators 88 Part Selection Buttons 88 Patch Selection Buttons 88 Chapter 13 Tuning Module 89 Section 3 Appendices Charts Index M Instrument Definition Record C J MultiProgram Re...

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Page 7: ...s crazy idea What if we took the sounds of the 70 s the technology of today combined them with controls up the wazoo and an accessible user interface Could be interesting Welcome to the OB Mx Thanks to the members of the development team programming by Andy Corless and Lynx Crowe with assistance from Greg Higgs and Chuck Carlson Technical support from Keith Edwards Mark Leas Mike Lyon Kim Flint Hu...

Page 8: ...OB Mx User s Guide Section 1 Introduction Oberheim ...

Page 9: ...ize you with the most useful OB Mx features Reference where you can find detailed information on any function or parameter Appendices full of technical information are included at the back The Front Panel Instant Index on the very last page of this manual is a uniquely convenient index into the Reference section made possible by the OB Mx design philosophy of providing a dedicated button or knob f...

Page 10: ...Quick Start and Explorations sections in detail we think you ll find it fun and well worth the short investment of time It s not necessary that you go through all of the Explorations before you explore on your own but we believe that you ll find them quite useful ...

Page 11: ...y OB Mx sounds from an external MIDI keyboard drum pad controller guitar controller or other controller Use a MIDI cord to connect the MIDI Out port on your controller to the MIDI In port on the back of the OB Mx 3 In order to listen to the OB Mx either plug in a standard pair of stereo headphones with a 1 4 stereo phone plug into the Phones jack on the instrument s front panel or connect the Main...

Page 12: ... the top volume and you still don t hear anything through your amplifier or mixer then try plugging a pair of headphones into the Phones jack If you can t hear any sound then something is wrong Please call Oberheim Technical Support at the number in the front of this manual If you can hear sound through the headphones but not through your speakers then a setup problem most likely exists in the aud...

Page 13: ...ply then contact Oberheim Technical Support at the number in the front of this manual or your dealer Congratulations Your OB Mx setup is now up and running correctly and you can start exploring the instrument and having fun 2 2 Analog Synthesis Concepts Basic Analog Synthesis The OB Mx is based on the classic analog subtractive synthesis model see Figure 2 1 In this model a sound source rich in ov...

Page 14: ...on about envelopes see the Envelope Generators chapter in the Reference section Figure 2 1 The basic signal path for traditional subfradive synthesis Audio output Velocity information Keyboard or other controller Figure 2 2 A simple amplitude envelope Amplitude Sustain Level Release Time Time Key Pressed Key Released ...

Page 15: ...cillators instead ofjust one and each of the oscillators is capable of putting out three types of waves simultaneously each with a different harmonic content which you can mix and match to your liking Each note can also make use of two special filters The first filter is the MM Filter a low pass filter designed to recreate the sounds of the venerable Mini Moog synthesizer The output of this filter...

Page 16: ...d a lot of knobs and switches logically grouped into modules The modules are all labeled with names like VOLTAGE CONTROLLED OSCILLATORS VOLTAGE CONTROLLED FILTERS and INSTRUMENTS The module directly under the display controls many system level operations like storage and editing global parameters and is called the CONTROL module see Chapter 6 It s Safe To Experiment Editing is completely safe on t...

Page 17: ...a front panel button The leftmost buttons in most modules will call a set of parameters into the display For instance pressing the button marked 2 in the Voltage Controlled Oscillators module in the upper left part of the panel we ll call this the VCO 2 button in the future for convenience and we ll refer to other buttons similarly brings the parameters for VCO 2 into the display The button itself...

Page 18: ...s sending a middle C MIDI note 60 to the synthesizer from an external controller The corresponding Note Off message is sent when you release the button It s very convenient when you re programming and testing sounds especially ifyour controller isn t right next to the OB Mx Key PointJ Press the Trigger button at any time to hear the current Instrument Exercise 7 Deconstructing An Existing Sound In...

Page 19: ...se parameter of about 40 out of 100 This allows smooth variation of any parameter from it s currently set point but has the disadvantage that you might have to use the following technique to dial in the full range of any knob Key Point In order to extend the range of a knob control to it s maximum twist the knob all the way up and then all the way down Then set it to the value you desire C Since o...

Page 20: ...ssed a filter button to select a filter to affect The Noise knob changes the Noise parameter for the filter whose Selection Button is lit regardless of whether it is flashing or not This is great for fast edits there s a lot that you can just reach right out and grab Key Point Selection Buttons that are lit but not flashing determine which object is affected by edits turning knobs and pressing but...

Page 21: ...ument Now let s change the name 1 Press the Cursor button to move the cursor underneath the Instrument name 2 Press the Enter button 3 Turn the Data Adj knob to change the first letter of the name Key Point The alphabet is stored in the order of SPACE capital letters lower case letters numbers and special symbols Giving the Data Adj knob a healthy counter clockwise twist towards the off position i...

Page 22: ...s turned On 3 Send the dump from your sequencer to the OB Mx You ll see a series of messages indicating that the dump was successful See the Reference section for details on dumping and restoring smaller chunks of data The Back Panel The back panel of the OB Mx contains MIDI In Out and Thru ports the Main Outputs and individual outputs insert points for each voice see Figure 2 3 There are thousand...

Page 23: ... Main Outputs Use it as an insert point Plug in a TRS cord Tip Ring Sleeve and connect it to a signal processor The voice s VCA output will be sent to the processor Tip and the processor s output will be returned to the OB Mx Ring and sent to the Mixer module s Pan processor Ignore it The voice s output will be mixed with the other voices and sent out the Main Outputs MIDI Connections There are 3 ...

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Page 25: ...trument That s because those parameters are global that is they apply to all Single Instruments You can change them by using the Cursor and keys to position the cursor under then and then turning the Data Adj knob to change them Exploration I The Chorus Algorithm The Al setting in the Instrument display refers to the voice allocation algorithm This determines how voices are allocated to incoming M...

Page 26: ... note and steals its oscillators It s a cold cruel world 4 If you wish change the Al back to Rotate for more conventional musical uses For more information about Instrument Globals see the list of global parameters on pages 39 40 3 2 Using Multiple Instruments About Multiple Instruments A Multiple Instrument also called a MultiProgram in the display or simply a Multi convenience is a way of groupi...

Page 27: ...es to create a Multi that plays Instrument 129 Pie Oh on the lower half of the keyboard and Instrument 157 Soft Solo on the upper half Furthermore let s transpose the left half up an octave after all it goes pretty low and layer the entire keyboard with Instrument 182 Padding Phase see Figure 3 1 Also let s pan the Pie Oh mostly to the left and the Soft Solo mostly to the right Figure 3 1 A layere...

Page 28: ...for Parti 6 Press 2 to examine Part 2 7 Using the Cursor buttons and Data Adj knob choose Instrument 157 for Part 2 8 Press 3 to examine Part 3 9 Using the Cursor buttons and Data Adj knob choose Instrument 182 for Part 3 Now the Single Instruments are layered Let s customize Part 1 1 Press 1 to examine Part 1 2 Press the Parts button to see detailed information about Part 1 3 Move the Cursor unde...

Page 29: ... should be set at 0 3 Press the Enter button to make the number receptive to MIDI keyboard input 4 Play middle C on a connected MIDI keyboard if you have one or turn the Data Adj knob until the number 60 appears in the display 5 Press the Escape button 6 Using the Cursor buttons and the Data Adj knob set the MIDI Channel Ch to 1 7 Set the Pan to 7 which is 70 over to the right 8 Check that Attn is...

Page 30: ...es an interesting question Suppose we could painstakingly balance the different Single Instruments in a Multi to our taste Could we raise or lower the volume of the whole mix without changing the balance If the MIDI Volume message were our only tool the answer would be No At the first sign of a Volume 90 message in channel 1 all 3 instruments would assume volume 90 wrecking whatever balance you d ...

Page 31: ...o the same Single Instrument 3 3 Modulation The Matrix Modulation means change In the OB Mx it means affecting the parameters of an oscillator filter or other Instrument component with the output of another component or even the same component creating a feedback loop The component being changed is called the modulation target or destination and the component doing the changing is called the modul...

Page 32: ...isplay will tell you that the Period of this LFO is 100 seconds While that s not exactly glacial you could easily achieve subtle continuous timbral variations over the course of a piece by using this LFO to modulate the pulse width of an oscillator or the resonance of a filter In this case you d want to use a triangle shaped LFO to avoid a sudden jump at the end of each cycle If you use the output...

Page 33: ...ut we ll examine a few of the key ones with hands on explorations here Exploration 4 EG 4 and The VCA Key Point Envelope Generator 4 controls the VCA Envelope Generator 4 is hard wired to the VCA it s the one source that always affects its target fully without any modulation amount parameter to dilute its effect It s critical for playing notes 1 Load Single Instrument 128 InitialConditions Press t...

Page 34: ...gering key or button is held down This is in contrast to the non Freerun envelope which proceeds immediately to the Release stage when a Note Off comes in without necessarily completing the Attack or Decay Freerun especially handy for use with percussion controllers which typically generate Note Ons only 4 Turn Freerun off and reset the attack to a short time Now we re ready to explore velocity se...

Page 35: ...l the value is 1 00 Now J play your keyboard it s been turned upside down High keys sound low j notes and vice versa 6 Set the Trek value to 0 50 Play a middle C a C one octave above it and a C one octave above that It now takes two octaves on the keyboard to make a one octave change in the pitch of the Instrument The pitch difference between adjacent keys is now a quartertone not a semitone Explo...

Page 36: ... complete cycle is known as the duty cycle of the pulse wave As the duty cycle changes the pitch remains the same but the timbre of the note changes Key Point Pulse Width Duty Cyclew up time period up time frequency The frequency determines the pitch the pulse width determines the timbre 1 Load Single Instrument 256 InitialConditions 2 TurnoffVC02 3 Select VCO1 Shut off the triangle wave output an...

Page 37: ...ngle Instrument 256 InitialConditions 2 Press the Matrix button The parameters for Patch 1 will appear in the display and the 1 button in the VOICE STATUS module will flash A Patch is a connection between a modulation source and a modulation destination along with a scaling multiplier to set the amount of modulation You can program up to 12 Patches for each Single Instrument 3 Turning the Data Adj...

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Page 39: ...O B Mx User s Guide Section 2 Reference Oberheim ...

Page 40: ...ds in various interesting ways and also lets you control how note stealing is to occur Note stealing happens when you try to play more notes than you have voices for for example if you play a keyboard with your entire forearm or send a thick multi part arrangement to the synthesizer from a sequencer or if you have just a few voices installed in less extreme situations You can watch the algorithms ...

Page 41: ...ceably In the Rotate algorithm a 2 note trill played in the right hand during the sustain with the same long release time would quickly steal voices from the sustaining chord especially in systems with less than the maximum number of voices installed Using Repeat however causes only two voices to be used for the trill and leaves the sustained chord intact Another reason for using Repeat mode is th...

Page 42: ... If for instance you set the LFO 1 waveform to be Random then each Note On will trigger a new different value in each of the voices and will modulate the oscillator pitches to different values which should thicken the sound considerably Unison Each new note gets all the voices in the instrument Chrs 3 Chrs 4 Chrs 6 Chorus A fast and easy way to get thicker sounds Each new note gets 3 4 6 or all of...

Page 43: ...nd by pressing the Parts button in the CONTROL MODULE and the number of the Part you wish to edit in the VOICE STATUS module Most of the choices are identical to those in the Single Instrument definitions listed above and supercede them The Hex Chrs 6 Unison and Chorus are absent but there is a new choice Legato Each note triggers all the voices assigned to the Part When a new Note On comes in bef...

Page 44: ...ined in the CONTROL MODULE section following this one Most people will use Single Instrument mode for creating and testing individual sounds and use Multis for creating performance presets splits and layers and for addressing multiple sounds on different MIDI channels with sequencers When you press one of the buttons in this module to change modes you are prompted first to save any Instruments be ...

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Page 46: ...ssignments in Multis Changing Values in the Display As you ve no doubt already observed many parameter values in the display are changed by first using the Cursor and buttons to position the cursor underneath the parameter and then turning the Data Adj knob If you find that a parameter in the display is not accessible i e you can t position the cursor under it that means that a parameter knob in t...

Page 47: ...ument Name Pan O Vol 127 AhRotate Mode Poly TT 1 Instrument A number in the range of 1 to 256 which loads a Single Instrument When you attempt to load a new Single Instrument you ll be asked ifyou want to save any changes you ve made to the current Single Instrument If you answer Yes by pressing Enter then you ll be able to save your Instrument to any user location If you answer No by pressing Esc...

Page 48: ... and they are not changed when you load a new Single Instrument For storable versions of these settings use a Multi Pan Pans the Instrument in the stereo main outputs This control is additive with the Pan parameter in the Instrument definition Its range is 10 full left to 10 full right with 0 representing the center Vol Responds to MIDI Volume Continuous Controller 7 messages and lowers the output...

Page 49: ... Part 1 Inst 58 24 Character Instrument Name MultlProgram A number in the range of 1 to 256 which loads a Multi When you attempt to load a new Multi you ll be asked ifyou want to save any changes you ve made either to the Multi or to any Single Instruments assigned to Parts in the Multiple Ifyou answer Yes by pressing Enter then the Multi is saved first and you are presented with additional prompt...

Page 50: ...ield of an active Part Pressing Escape will deactivate the Part If a Part is deactivated the word Part is displayed with only the first letter capitalized Also the Enter button will flash when the cursor is positioned in the Part field of a deactivated Part Pressing Enter will activate the Part See Explorations 2 and 3 for information about using Parts Inst The Single Instrument number for the cur...

Page 51: ...Voice number indicates that the voice is turned on a blank space indicates that it is off Only voice numbers that are actually installed in your system will appear in the top row Multiple Instrument Mode Voices Multi 127 Voice 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 12 AsgmUser Part 112226655555 This screen is where you specify how many voices are assigned to each Part Each Voice in the top line is assigned to the...

Page 52: ...n t sound until you activate the Parts see the VOICE STATUS module chapter for more detail Pressing the Voices button a second time while in Multi mode brings up the display listed under Single Instrument mode above It functions identically in Multi mode MIDI Button Sends System Exclusive dumps and determines global MIDI settings for the OB Mx MIDI Send Instr 137 BaseCh 1 SysEx O MPC On Control A ...

Page 53: ...1 64 Multi 65 128 Sends out a bank of 64 Multis Instnnnn A pair of parameters the first indicating that an individual Single Instrument will be sent and the second indicating the number of the Single Instrument You can send any Single Instrument in RAM numbers 1 128 this way Note ROM Instruments 129 256 cannot be sent via MIDI Copying to RAM locations will allow you to send these Intruments via MI...

Page 54: ...I channel from 1 to 16 It affects the following functions Multi numbers are changed by MIDI Program Change messages coming in on the Base Channel providing the MPC parameter is turned On If the Base Channel is the same as a channel that a Part is assigned to only the Multi will be affected by the Program Change See Using Multiple Instruments in the Explorations chapter for a detailed explanation T...

Page 55: ...se Continuous Controller 73 for instance to modulate the cut off frequency of the MM filter you d set Control A to 73 here then in the Matrix use Control A as the modulation Source and set the MM VCF parameter Frequency as the modulation Target DefaultBend Determines the maximum number of semitones that a note can be bent with a MIDI Pitch Bend message It can have a value from 0 to 12 one octave W...

Page 56: ... you won t go wrong If you ve made changes to a Multi and or one or more Single Instruments while in Multi mode the Escape and Store buttons will blink when trying to load a new Multi and the following message will be displayed Save Changes to MultiProgram lnstruments Escape NO EntenYES You re being asked whether you want to save any changes at all here Program refers to Multis and Instruments ref...

Page 57: ...ou ll be returned to the MultiProgram screen with the same Multi still loaded The logic behind this is that if you really wanted to move to a different Multi without saving anything you would have pressed the Escape button when you were first given the chance Taking the safest path to protect your changes the OB Mx puts you back at the start of the process Copying And Swapping Instruments The Stor...

Page 58: ...st 23 24 char name of instrument with Inst 128 24 char name of instrument These displays work like many of the others in this module use the Data Adj knob to change the Instrument number and press Enter to complete the operation or press any Selection Button to bring up a different display and exit without storing or moving anything Compare Button Switches the current Instruments between the store...

Page 59: ...n Multi mode This is used to edit most of the parameters that go into a Part You can change which Part is displayed by pressing the numbered buttons 1 6 in the VOICE STATUS module Porte PART 6 Bnd 0 Zon 0 127 Xpose 0 Ch 1 Pan 0 Vol 127 AI Rotate AttmOdb TT 1 Parameters Part Use this for changing the Part that is displayed and for activating and deactivating Parts The Part number can be 1 6 and you...

Page 60: ...refers to the lowest note in the range and the second to the highest The possible values for each are from 0 to 127 There are two ways to change either the lower or upper value for a particular Zone The first is simply to use the Cursor buttons and Data Adj knob as with the other parameters in this display The other way is to move the cursor to the field you want to change press Enter and then pla...

Page 61: ...ounds without altering the balance set by the Attn parameter See Exploration 3 for more details TT The number of the active tuning table for this Part This will only effect VCOs in the Single Instrument assigned to the Part which have their Track parameters set to TT Matrix Button This allows you to map modulation sources to destinations For an introduction to its use see Modulation The Matrix in ...

Page 62: ...n Sources Pressure MIDI Channel Pressure also known as Aftertouch Velocity The velocity of each MIDI Note On message Note The pitch of each MIDI Note On message ModWheel MIDI Continuous Controller 1 usually sent automatically by Mod Wheels on keyboards PitchWhl MIDI Pitch Bend messages usually sent automatically by Pitch Bend Wheels on keyboards Breath MIDI Breath Controller Continuous Controller ...

Page 63: ...dulator will have its maximum effect on the destination while a value of LOO means that the modulator will have its maximum inverse effect i e as the source increases the value of the destination parameter decreases Destination Module This can be any of the voltage producing modules You can select a VCO VCF LFO EG or the Mixer to receive modulation As you change modules different choices become av...

Page 64: ... From 60 to 60 semitones EditTuneTable Press Enter when the cursor is in this field to edit the tuning tables Note that simply editing a Tuning Table doesn t activate it it also must be the chosen table for a Part or for the current Single Instrument and the Single Instrument s VCO s must have their tracking parameters set to TT There are 19 Tuning Tables in the OB Mx Tuning Tables 10 19 are store...

Page 65: ...ng Esc will exit to the Options menu without saving any changes while pressing Enter will save the changes and also exit to the Options menu Unit Tuning Table number Default 1 Range 1 to 19 MIDI Key This is the key number whose frequency is determined by the remainder of the display line When this tuning table is active both in the Part or the Single Instrument and only if the VCO tracking paramet...

Page 66: ...riggered by the incoming note number indicated by the MIDI Key field Unit Cents Default Varies from ROM table to table In the standard equal tempered Tuning Table 10 all values are 0 Range 0 to 99 Demo 8 brief demonstration pieces may called up and listened to Move the cursor into the Demo parameter area use the Data Adj knob to choose one and press Enter to hear it play The Demo will continue to ...

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Page 68: ... Module 59 CHAPTER 7 Voltage Controlled Oscillators Module Pitch Fine Track Port P Width Sync A Source VCO Env 1 LF01 En2 LF2 VOLTAGE CONTROLLED OSCILLATORS I triangle wave a sawtooth and a wave simultaneously pulse ...

Page 69: ...ses one oscillator s source output to alter the other destination When Sync is on in the destination oscillator it causes the oscillator s cycle to restart every time the source oscillator s output starts a new cycle see Figure 7 1 This results in a classic timbral effect A close examination of the Figure will reveal that the destination oscillator has a new cycle with a period equal to that of th...

Page 70: ...ound reedy fl_ Pulse Wave This turns the pulse wave output of the oscillator on and off Pulse waves are exceptionally flexible for synthesis purposes because it s easy to change their tonal content without affecting their pitch This is done through a process called Pulse Width Modulation See Exploration 7 for more information Continuous Parameter Knobs Pitch Determines the number of semitones half...

Page 71: ...d as usual the number of cents in the Fine parameter will be added to the pitch read from the tuning table There are 19 Tuning Tables in the OB Mx Editing instructions can be found in the Reference section relating to the Options button in Chapter 6 The active Tuning Table is determined by a Single Instrument Global variable when in Single Instrument mode or is set in the Parts display when in Mul...

Page 72: ...put is turned on See Exploration 7 in Chapter 3 for a detailed explanation of its usage Units of time pulse wave spends in Up position Default 50 Range 0 to 100 Modulation Section fm vco The frequency of the VCO being edited can be changed continuously by the output of the other VCO This results in timbral and pitch variations unique to FM The ratio between the pitch of the Units of total modulati...

Page 73: ...ob to the left of center will increase the amount of pulse width modulation due to Envelope 2 Clearly then you can choose to modulate the pulse width with one or the other of these sources but not both unless you also use the Matrix to achieve a second modulation Pulse Width Modulation is additive with the basic pulse width parameter If the value of the Pulse Width parameter is 50 a value of LF2 P...

Page 74: ...h means that it attenuates frequencies by 24 dB per octave in other words frequencies one octave above the cutoff frequency are 24 dB quieter when they leave than when they entered and frequencies two octaves above cutoff are 48 dB quieter The OB Filter is a state variable filter which simultaneously produces low pass high pass and band pass outputs Its slope is 12 dB per octave The balance among ...

Page 75: ...also flashing its parameters are currently visible in the display The MM button calls up this display MM MM Inputs Frq Res Modulation 1 100 2 100 N 100 63 100 En1 1 00 LF1 1 00 The OB button calls up a similar display OB OB Inputs Frq Res Modulation 1 100 2 100 N 100 63 100 En2 1 00 LF2 1 00 The main difference between the displays is that EG 1 and LFO 1 are default modulators for the MM filter wh...

Page 76: ... track the input pitch proportionally The formula is filterChange pitch ofMIDINoteln pitch ofmiddle C scalingfactor where filterChange is the number of Hz to be added or subtracted to the filter s frequency It adds to any other modulations that may be in effect pitch of middle C 523 25 Hz scalingfactor 1 3 or 2 3 depending on which button is lit Continuous Parameter Knobs VCO I The percentage ofVC...

Page 77: ...h or low the sounds may pass out of the range of human hearing When set to 0 with keyboard tracking off and no other VCF modulation the filter s frequency would be that of middle C Unit Semitones Default 28 5 Range 15 5 to 48 0 Reson Changes the filter s resonance It boosts the filter s output in a narrow range centered at the filter s cutoff or center frequency High values produce useful ringing ...

Page 78: ...tions you can use this to create filter sweeps Unit Multiplier Default 0 00 Range 1 00 to 1 00 LFO 1 2 This scales the amount by which LFO 1 for the MM filter or LFO 2 for the OB filter will modulate the frequency of their respective filters Among other applications you can use this to create dynamic timbral variations for sustained notes Unit Multiplier Default 0 00 Range 1 00 to 1 00 ...

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Page 80: ...s the outputs of the VCFs to a mono signal and pans the resultant signal in the stereo output field It s also responsible for boosting the base output level of the VCA a function particularly useful for self playing patches Disp Selection Button Brings the Mixer parameters into the display Disp H MM OB Pan 100 LP 100 BP 100 HP 99 8L I VCA R 100 ...

Page 81: ... the OB filter s lowpass output that is mixed into the final output signal Unit Percentage Default 100 Range 0 to 100 OB VCF Bandpass The percentage of the OB filter s bandpass output that is mixed into the final output signal Unit Percentage Default 0 Range 0 to 100 OB VCF Hipass The percentage of the OB filter s highpass output that is mixed into the final output signal Unit Percentage Default 0...

Page 82: ... Its most frequent use is probably for creating self playing Instruments In this case the VCOs oscillate continually regardless of whether the VCA is turned down to 0 or up to 100 For traditionally played notes a Note In triggers EG 4 which turns up the VCA output and lets the note out a water pipe is a good analogy with the water pressure always there the faucet as the VCA output level and your h...

Page 83: ...74 OB Mx User s Guide Output Level 100 Sustain Level Note OK Figure 10 1 An OB Mx envelope ...

Page 84: ... T his module controls the 4 envelope generators available to each voice It also has a a convenient Trigger button for playing notes from the front panel Envelope 4 is by default routed to control each voice s VCA and hence its volume Envelopes 1 and 2 also have default routings which are indicated in Table 3 1 on page 25 Figure 10 1 shows an OB Mx envelope with all its numeric parameters We ll re...

Page 85: ...his alters the functions of the knobs in the module When the Alt button is unlit the dials change the parameters printed above them When the Alt button is lit the knobs change the parameters printed below them Freerun The entire envelope is performed regardless of when the Note Off occurs This is often used for percussive sounds When Freerun is on if the Note Off occurs before the Sustain portion ...

Page 86: ...pe proceeds immediately from the end of the Decay stage to the Release This parameter can be used to create mandolin like tremolo effects among other things If both the Repeat and Freerun lights are lit in envelope 4 any note will repeat forever Special This button is reserved for use by possible future software upgrades Its current effect is to turn all the envelope generators into simple rectang...

Page 87: ...as pianos The amount of time compression or expansion is proportional to the incoming note s distance from middle C This function can also be accomplished by using a number of Patches in the Matrix but this button is more convenient if you don t need to customize the time scalings Continuous Parameter Knobs Attack Delay Time to wait between receiving a Note On and initiating the Attack portion of ...

Page 88: ...e level that the VCA reaches at the end of the Decay stage Unit Percentage of maximum level Default 90 Range 0 to 100 Sustain Decay The slope of the decay once the Sustain stage has been reached Literally this is the number of seconds that it would take the VCA to decay from 100 to 0 see Figure 10 1 If the Sustain level is near 100 think of this as the number of seconds before the sound dies out e...

Page 89: ... On Unit Seconds Default 0 52 Range 001 to 30 None Velo Sens Determines the envelope s responsiveness to changes in MIDI velocity In particular edit this parameter for EG 4 to control the way that note dynamics respond to changes in playing intensity Specifically this controls the amount by which the envelope s levels are attenuated decreased by incoming notes with velocities less than the maximum...

Page 90: ...OSCILLATORS This module controls the 3 low frequency oscillators LFOs available to each voice LFOs are extremely useful modulation sources LFOs 1 and 2 have default modulation routings which are indicated in Table 3 1 on page 25 Unlike the envelope generators the LFOs are free running that is they run continuously and are not triggered by incoming MIDI notes ...

Page 91: ...t S H WShape 4 9s 5 0Hz 200s 100 Off Random Parameter Toggles The parameter toggles in this module determine which waveshape the LFO generates Since each LFO can only produce a single output these buttons are mutually exclusive pressing one shuts the others off Sawtooth The LFO produces a sawtooth wave starting from 0 and rising to 100 gradually then abruptly dropping back to 0 and starting over a...

Page 92: ... changing buth with random direction and slope The Rate knob controls the average rate of change with higher values providing faster random change Continuous Parameter Knobs Delay When this is non zero it fades in the LFO effect over the number of seconds specified See Figure 11 1 Unit Seconds Default 000 Range 000 to 30 Figure 11 1 A non zero value for LFO Delay creates a fade in for the modulati...

Page 93: ...o do a little math for you and display the Period which is the time it takes for the LFO to complete a cycle Period l Rate Unit Hz cycles per second Default 5 0 Hz 0 200 s period Range 010 Hz to 30 Hz periods from 100 to 0 033 seconds Figure 11 2 The effects of different offsets on LFO output Parameter Value Offset 0 Parameter Value Offset 50 Parameter Value Parameter max value Offset 100 ...

Page 94: ...is application using S H would create discrete individual pitches rather than the sliding pitches that you would get with the S H parameter set to Off S H is named after a traditional analog synthesis technique called sample and hold OB Mx S H produces effects similar to that of the traditional sample and hold circuits but the way that it achieves them is quite different A traditional sample and h...

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Page 96: ...TUS Multi P8 timber Matrix patch number The buttons in this module serve multiple purposes as follows To indicate voice usage by incoming MIDI notes To bring the parameters for different Parts into the display for editing To bring the parameters for different Matrix Patches into the display for editing ...

Page 97: ... is one subtlety to be aware of here if a note is played in a Part whose Single Instrument has a long release time the voice for that note will actually remain in use after the Note Off message is received until the Release stage of Envelope 4 is completed and hence after the Voice Status light goes out Additional incoming notes may steal a sounding note even though the Voice Status button for tha...

Page 98: ...tton 50 Patch 53 Pedal 53 Pitch 57 61 Pitch Bend 46 Pitch Env 1 63 Pitch LFO 1 64 Pitchwhl 53 Poly 40 Portamento 62 Pressure 53 Prgrm button 38 Program Change 23 Program name 40 Pulse wave 61 Pulse width modulation 28 Q Quad 33 Quartertone 26 Quick Start 3 f Random 54 Rate 84 Release 80 Repeat 32 77 Reset 77 Reson 68 Resonance 68 Reverse sawtooth 83 Rotate 32 s S H 85 Saving Instruments 12 Sawtoot...

Page 99: ...0 52 62 Tune 55 Tune VCOs 89 TuneT 44 Tuning Module 89 Tuning tables 40 55 56 u Unison 33 34 Utility buttons 9 Velocity sensitivity 26 Vibrato 27 Voice Allocation 31 Voice Status 87 18 20 31 Voice usage 88 Voices button 42 Vol 39 52 Voltage Controlled Filters Module 65 Voltage Controlled Oscillators 5 59 Volume 53 X Xpose 51 z Zon 51 VCA 25 VCA offset 73 VCF 5 VCOl 67 VCO2 68 VCO 5 Velo Sens 80 Ve...

Page 100: ...Voltage Controlled Oscillators Low Frequency Oscillators 1 OBMx Instrument Definition Record 12 Envelope Generators Attack Decay Sustain Release A Delay D Delay S Decay Vel Sens in I 8 ...

Page 101: ...C 2 OB MX User s Guide Multi Program Record OB Mx MultiProgram Record ...

Page 102: ...Frequency Oscillator Rand CO D O OJ Ql X TJ Rear Panel Insertion Point signal Rjght Outputs Module i Module O O_ VCA or Multiplier SYMBOLS O _Switch or Multiplier _ Panel Switch _ Panel Knob Panel Knob Line indicates that controlled parameter is a potential des tination for matrix patches Summed with signals from up to eleven additional voices OB Mx Voice Architecture D Bucnia March 1994 3 o CO ...

Page 103: ...C 4 OB Mx Matrix Table MATRIX SOURCES AND DESTINATIONS Patch 1 12 ...

Page 104: ...MIDI Implementation Chart C 5 ...

Page 105: ...ENTS Prgrm Voices MIDI Store 38 42 43 47 Data Adj Compare Parts Matrix Options Escape 37 n y Cursor 49 Enter 50 52 54 37 37 76 76 Attack r Attack Delay Decay Decay Delay Freerun Sustain 79 Sustain Decay Reset Release 80 Velo Sens Repeat 76 76 76 77 77 4 vca Special Copy Trigger Kbrd 76 77 77 78 78 ENVELOPE GENERATORS Track POWER 10 12 87 87 VOICE STATUS Multi pan number Matrix patch number loct 1 ...

Page 106: ... will you be able to enjoy increased polyphony but the additional voices will also allow you to make greater use of the multi timbral and voice stacking capabilities of the Oberheim OB Mx With a little care preparation and patience installing voices can be quick and easy You will need a clean and well lighted workplace several minutes of your valuable time and a common screwdriver When handling th...

Page 107: ...ews somewhere safe and lift off the top Stepl Opening the unit Step 2 Identifying the Card Slots With the top now off take a look inside the OB Mx On the Left hand wall hangs the Power Supply Directly behind all the knobs is the Main Control Circuit Board At the rear of the unit is the 1 Two Voice Board that came with your OB Mx You will also see five empty card slots Each one will hold an additio...

Page 108: ...nit locate the first available empty card slot Align the edges of the OB Mx Voice Card with the channel guides on the inside walls These guides will direct the Voice Card to the proper Card Socket and will ensure that all the contacts meet correctly Slide the Voice Card all the way down and press firmly on the top edge of the Voice Card so that the gold contact fin gers fit snuggly into the Socket...

Page 109: ... 5 si 8 9 10 11 12 Enable Status f Program Voices MIDI Store nata _ Compare Adj Parts Matrix Options Escape Cursor Enter Next in the Control Module press the button labeled Voices You must be in the Single INSTRUMENT mode fig 2 The top line of the display shows the Voice Numbers of all the voices currently installed in the OB Mx Beneath each Voice Number is the status of that voice An asterisk ind...