After my next Venom release sometime this fall, I plan to start work on a VCO/LFO - not everything you have asked for, but a lot
My plan is to implement anti-aliasing strictly through over sampling. Not the best for CPU, but it should handle all types of modulation equally well. I can’t say the same for most of the existing VCOs out there. And since oversampling can be easily turned off, I see no reason not to provide a switch for audio VCO and LFO all within the same module.
I have done some experimenting with FM using existing modules, and have run into various disappointments. I worked with Bruce (@Squinky) on a prototype VCO using over sampling, and was thrilled with the result.
At this point my hope is to support:
polyphony
5 basic waveforms
saw
ramp
square
triangle
sine
At least hard sync, possibly others if I can get a better understanding of what they are really doing.
Octave control (knob and CV)
multiple modes
VCO
LFO
0 Hz Carrier wave FM (I have yet to find a good existing VCO for this that works well with all wave forms)
Multiple oversampling options, including off. LFO mode automatically turns oversampling off
FM
Exponential
True linear FM
Possibly linear phase modulation (frequently called linear FM)
PWM
DC offset removal option
Bipolar or unipolar and points in between via variable offset
The remaining may be in one or more expanders
Independent phase control of each wave form
Other modulation for the different wave forms. Not sure what I want here
I am pretty sure I want user control of segment shapes (log to linear to exponential) for triangle and saw
Tilted/skewed sine
An attenuverting mixer for the different wave forms for a blended mix. Possibly with an option for saturation.
Time will tell if I can actually implement the above and still have acceptable performance
I’ve thought about unison, but I think polyphony coupled with my Poly Unison module is enough.
I’ve also thought about multiple phases for the same wave form, but again I am thinking polyphony can handle this.
Sounds great! Can’t wait to play with this oscillator when it will be released… It looks like super useful thing for sound design (by which I mean not just making sounds, but like soundscapes and such)
Terrific ideas here, should be a fine component. I really like the drift and unison functionality in Surge XT, perhaps consider these things too for your work, they are powerful for making something really pleasant to listen to.
But great to hear you are working on this crucial building block and including so many useful features, big fan of well implemented FM and sync.
Nice! I’ll be happy to advise, of course. Interesting collection of features. Some only “make sense” for an LFO (the phase and shape, for example, probably won’t be amazing for audible stuff, but very useful for LFO stuff).
When I made “Kitchen Sink” it was supposed to “have everything”, but of course it didn’t nearly have that (but it did have more than most!). btw, the triangle <> saw morph on that is pretty useful (among the many things I didn’t invent, but I forget now where that came from.
tilted skewed sine - you should look at the LFO waveforms in my “Chopper”. It’s not quite what you are looking for probably, but pretty cool, imao.
Of course the implementation of those waveforms is suitably sleazy/fast…
The Moog One has a Wave Angle control in its oscillator section which works on its choice of triangle and sawtooth waves. That would be pretty cool to see…
If I had a wishbone I would wish for a harmony module that is top down in approach instead of bottom up.
What I mean to say is that there are several very cool harmony type modules that use the bass note and chord type to determine your outcome, not a bad way to do it. That was how I learned to play guitar and lots of folks just get that far with harmony, the chords you strum or hammer and sing or jam over those chords, cool beans.
But as I progressed on my instrument I learned more ways to harmonize on guitar and piano and one that always sounds incredible to me and is so much fun to use for a standard or other recognizable tune is input the melody and chord type and the output would be “block” style drop2 chords that voice lead smoothly with the note at the top of each chord would be the melody of said tune.
This sort of thing is detailed very well by Mark Levine on piano and Randy Vincent on guitar, in their respective Drop2 technique books. In Randy’s book especially he shows you how see the chords look everywhere in all inversion and use the inversion that has your note on top and move smoothly to your next melody note.
The big trick is to assign a chord like C6 and make sure the melody notes that appear over that chord that are actually in C6 are harmonized with some inversion of C6 and any other melodic notes over that chord are harmonized with passing chords like dim7, augmented, 7sus, or whatever fits the style and key best. Older style tend to use the dim7 and more modals styles use any kind of quartal grip that has the right melodic note in it as well.
Its sort of rule based system and doesn’t do everything you want with chords but if your passage has a fairly quickly moving melody that you would like kind of block chord harmonized this is the jazz cheat to do it with a system.
In other words it is all based on the highest note in chord and chord type and bass note is not as important, because this style would assume another player on bass or a left hand of the piano to catch that thing.
Yes, you would would pick the chord in a typical way, v/oct root note is just fine. But that root would not always appear at low position. Once you give the basic chord over the measure the module may need to take over, but with some switches to get into the right feel for your style.
In practice, I open up the real book, learn the melody to a tune, figure out the exact key or keys the tune progresses within, then looking at the chord progression with that perspective think of the function of each chord and how to flow thru the melody harmonizing with drop2 voicings. And the main rule is notes that appear in the chord above the measure get an inversion of the chord and other melody notes get a passing chord. The style would evolve from the 40s horn charts into jazz piano and jazz guitarists of the 50,60,70s; so the passing chords evolve over time too, lots of diminished in swing era and lots of quartal and dissonant in the modern eras. Great Improvisors can even flow into out of these voicings and mix with other types, but the block drop2 base is very flowing and musical, it’s basically how Bill Evans plays most 60s trio records, flow flow flow.
And I don’t describe the rules well. The main rules for traditional jazz is each chord is harmonized with the attendant “bebop” scale. Like a major7 chord would be formed from the bebop major scale, but the bebop scales aren’t really scales per se. They are a fusing of the main chord with a dim7 chord on the leading tone. In traditional jazz they replace the major7 with major6, so C bebop is CEGA and BDFAb, so in a row, C, D,E, F, G, G#/Ab, A, B.
Then if my melody goes C, B, A, D, I play C6(3rd inv drop2. AKA root pos Am7), Bdim7(3rd inv drop2 AKA Abdim7), C6(2nd inv drop2 C6/G) and then leap up to Bdim7(root position drop 2), then into next measure/next chord/ melody note.
You know how we like to harmonize from the seven tone scales like major or minor or even Dorian or Lydian, well this is more cellular, each chord type in the piece is given a new 8 note bebop scale that works over just the measures where the chord appears. These bebop scales don’t have 7 chords like the modal scales but just 2 chords in different inversions, so that C bebop major ( C D E F G Ab A B) when you skip tones like we learn for modal harmony gives only 2 chord choices. CEGA, DFAbB, EGAC, FAbBD, GACE, AbBDF, ACEG, BDFAb. So for that measure I just hear C6 and Bdim7 in diff forms. And to play most smoothly on gtr or not too closely packed on piano, drop2 voicings are preferred and these few rules create the creative limits in brief. Then you master bebop minor, bebop dominant, and pretty much treat every thing with that simple a brush at first, it’s either major, minor or dominant and that’s it initially and sounds very old fashioned like ragtime or swing.
New idea! EQ mixer/crossfader. How I think it should work:
So we have something like 6-band EQ and a sound input for each of the bands. So it’s basically PEQ6 but in reverse. Give me a sec. Let me steal their design and make it worse in Paint.
Something like this. A subtle saturation would be also cool to have. to kind of glue everything together. Also it might be cool to have a “mute original source” toggle if you want to replace one of the bands with a quiet sound and in this design the only way to replace the original signal would be to slide the fader all the way down, making the inserted sound very loud
Here are 2 oscillators playing 2 different chords, and their frequency bands can be crossfaded. I’ve set them differently in the patch though (the frequency bands)
The LFO business on the left is just to modulate the crossfading.
Lots of potential here I think, especially if you use samples.
Yes you did! Your realization of this idea is perfect. And this whole effect section could be packed into PatchMaster or something, so we probably don’t need a dedicated module now. Although it would be cool if someone decides to make it officially… Because it would be cool to have this but with ffb that is more advanced. You know, maybe with odd\even outputs and maybe vocoder features and all the bells and whistles. But your way of recreating it with modules that we already have is great!
Yep! Shaping drums also. Also maybe creating two patches in one project and mixing the masters… Possibilities are endless, hahaha
