M-audio IMPOSCAR user guide

Table of Contents

OSCar to impOSCar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

An Appeal - Please support developers, not pirates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

OSCar web resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

OSCar book resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Installing the impOSCar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Loading Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Cubase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Importing OSCar sounds via sysex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Oscillator Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Wheels Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Glide Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Mix Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

LFO Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Filter Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Env 1 – Amplitude ADSR controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Env2 – Filter ADSR controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Triggering Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Keyboard Velocity Response Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Filter Drive and Volume Knobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Arpeggiator and General controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Edit Mode Knob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Mouse Control (System Default window) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Panel Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Effects Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Creating and using User Waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Using the Arpeggiator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Using Duo Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

MIDI Continuous Control Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

MIDI Guitar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Logic Parameter List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Credits and thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

OSCar to impOSCar

In these days of affordable, and largely high-quality plug-in instruments, it’s easy to forget that many years ago, in the intrepid days of hardware behemoths, things were very different. For example, in the late 1970s the highly desirable Minimoog would set you back a whopping £1500 and only play one note at a time. And even an outlying Minimoog competitor would leave you needing a skin-graft, such was the size of the hole burnt in your pocket.

During this period, and inspite of the fact that every manufacturer’s mission was ‘affordable monophonic synthesis for all’, it was unclear how that could be achieved due to the high component costs.

The big breakthrough came in the UK in 1978 when the ﬁrst truly affordable monophonic synthesizer was released to an eager but unsuspecting world. Conceived by Chris Huggett and Adrian Wagner, the EDP Wasp, at a price of £199, heralded a new era of synthesis and was undoubtedly responsible for introducing legions of young adults to electronic sound exploration. Of course, in order to bring a synth in at approximately half the price of any competitor certain compromises had to be made, the most noticeable one being a ‘toy-like’ touch-sensitive keyboard. In terms of sound, the Wasp was far from a toy and featured multi-mode ﬁlters, resonance, portamento and three stage envelope generators. Needless to say, it was a huge success and reportedly provided Dave Stewart and Thomas Dolby with their ﬁrst synths.

After a succession of add-on devices, revised models and increased competition from US and Japanese markets, the EDP collaborators went their separate ways, but in 1983 Chris Huggett resurfaced with a new beast. The radical looking OSCar, resplendent with chunky rubber end-cheeks and front panel dividers, continued the theme started by the Wasp with some notable exceptions.

Primarily, it was certainly not a synth for beginners and it also had a real keyboard - the OSCar was a monster of a synth with a sound to match.

Although often lumped-in with rest of the analog contingent, in truth, the only thing analog about the OSCar (and the Wasp) was the sublime ﬁlter. Almost every other aspect of it was digital. In terms of features it was positively jam-packed, and included two oscillators containing sine, saw, square, and variable pulse width waveforms. portamento and glissando, a comprehensive arpeggiator, on-board sequencing and a cornucopia of ﬁltering options. The OSCar even boasted a unique additive synthesis feature which allowed users to construct and save their own waveforms using 24 fundamental harmonics. It even had patch storage too! All these features, plus the unique ﬁlter separation control and amazing ﬁlter overdrive had converged to create a truly magniﬁcent sounding instrument.

So why did the OSCar not become one of the greatest selling synths of all-time and why are they so rare today?

Firstly, in 1983 the OSCar cost £699, only marginally cheaper than Roland’s polyphonic Juno 60, and at a time when affordable polyphonic synthesis had succeeded affordable monophonic synthesis as the holy grail, it’s easy to see why it could be passed over in favor of a chord playing rival.

Secondly, 1983 was the year of MIDI, which was notably absent on the ﬁrst production run of OSCars, although it was quickly added after the ﬁrst few hundred had been shipped.

And thirdly, the reason for its rarity is simple - there were only around 2000 OSCars produced. However, those fortunate enough to have owned one have always remained convinced that this was one of the world’s great synths and their passion has helped elevate this instrument into the realms of synth folklore.

In terms of sound potential, it’s difﬁcult to categorize the OSCar. On one hand, by utilizing the additive synthesis functions, it was possible for it to sound very digital and harsh. On the other hand, by using the PWM in conjunction with the overdriven ﬁlter, screaming leads and corpulent bass sounds were without doubt the order of the day for many.

With regards to its overdriven power, sound designer and programmer Paul Wiffen, who had been a key part of the EDP and OSCar team, recalls that many synth players like Billy Currie and Jan Hammer were putting their synths through distortion pedals to create their own unique sounds, and during development he suggested to Chris Huggett that a similar effect could be achieved by applying an internal overdrive to the ﬁlter. Using this feature he came up with an emulation of the classic Ultravox lead which eventually became the OSCar default sound. This turned out to be a clever marketing move too, because when he demonstrated the OSCar to Ultravox some months later, the band each bought one to take over tour duties from their now aging ARP Odysseys.

During its life, the OSCar has appeared on countless tracks, acting as the main instrument on Ultravox’s Love’s Great Adventure, as well as performing bass duties on Stevie Wonder’s track, Skeletons, (taken from the ‘Characters’ album). In fact, the entire world became unwittingly aware of the OSCar sound via its bass on Band Aid’s ‘Do they Know it’s Christmas’ in 1985. Returning to slightly more hip territory though, Mark Moore of S-Express used it for the bassline on ‘The Theme From S-Express’, and it’s also appeared on a host of Underworld tracks from ‘Rez’ to ‘Rowla’.

GMEDIA Music has had a long term love affair with the OSCar too. Some time ago Dave Spiers was asked by Underworld to ﬁnd a back-up for their instrument. This he did but was so taken by its character that he was unwilling to give it up – having to ﬁnd another for the band!

“After hearing it, my wife insisted that I should keep it, despite the fact that she’s usually totally disinterested in synths. After that, the OSCar quickly became part of any programming project I worked on, and in early 2002 after I’d voiced my concern as to how rare and expensive they are becoming to Jon Hodgson, he offered to begin the detailed task of turning it into a virtual instrument.”

“Of all the monosynths the OSCar has always been very interesting to me, for two main reasons,” says Jon. “The ﬁrst is that it’s different - the double ﬁlter with separation, the different waveforms, the additive synthesis. It does things in its own slightly unique way and I like that in an instrument. The second is that it’s the only one of what you might call the ‘old school’ of monosynths that I can actually remember seeing adverts in magazines for. I guess it must have been in it’s last days when I ﬁrst started getting interested in synths and music, and it certainly was eye catching!”

Over the ensuing two years the impOSCar was developed by Jon regardless of cost or effort. Capturing the sonic essence and tonal characteristics of the original instrument was absolutely paramount.

Of course, in this day and age it would have been foolhardy not to have incorporated certain new features, such as the ability to sync the tempo of both the arpeggiator and LFO to the sequencer host, as well as adding polyphonic capability, velocity sensitivity and an additional effects section.

Regarding many of the enhancements, Jon comments: “Many of these, in particular the new ﬁlter modes, were achievable on the original OSCar with a scalpel, some wire and a soldering iron, so I don’t think it goes against the spirit of the original. In fact I hope people will ﬁnd that, if anything, many of the enhancements will add to the fundamental character of the original instrument. The OSCar could transmit polyphonically from the keyboard and as a result many musicians wondered what a polyphonic OSCar would sound like - now’s their chance to ﬁnd out.”

So that’s the story behind the impOSCar. But given that the sounds and features of this eminent beast are still so highly soughtafter today, what happened to the team behind the original instrument who provided the inspiration for this plug-in? Well, we’re glad to say that they have enjoyed (or perhaps endured) long careers within the Musical Instrument Industry. Paul Wiffen is now an Apple consultant in the UK, as well as being a highly respected industry journalist, while Chris Huggett went on to develop operating systems for Akai Samplers and, more recently, heads the design team for Novation.

An Appeal - Please support developers, not pirates.

If you’re reading this from the printed manual, the chances are you paid for this software and as such we’d like to say a heartfelt thanks. The money that we receive from sales of the impOSCar will be channelled back into further development projects and used to create other interesting and valid musical products. However, if you did not pay for this please take the time to understand the implications of piracy for small companies such as ourselves. This product took almost two years to produce and has involved the small development team in many personal and ﬁnancial sacriﬁces - Nonetheless we have tried to keep the cost of the instrument at a realistic level and make the copy protection as unintrusive as possible. As such we would kindly ask you not to support the pirates and not to post the impOSCar on any newsgroup or P2P group. Many thanks.

OSCar web resources.

www.airburst.co.uk/oscar/intro.htm

www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/sep99/articles/oscar.htm

www.sonicstate.com/synth/osc_oscar.cfm

OSCar book resources.

A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers (Part Two. N - Z) - Pete Forrest

Vintage Synthesisers - Mark Vail.

Installing the impOSCar

Included on the Master CD are multiple versions of the impOSCar. The impOSCar installer allows you to install any or all versions via a single installer, one for Mac and one for PC.

PC -

Insert the impOSCar Master CD into your CD-ROM drive. From the setup window select the “Install” option and follow the

onscreen instructions carefully, entering your unique User Name and Registration codes EXACTLY as you ﬁnd them printed within this Getting Started guide.

During installation, 14 sound banks—each containing 36 presets—will be installed to your desktop; these can later be moved to a location of your choice.

Mac -

Insert the impOSCar Master CD into your CD-ROM

drive. Double-click on the GForce impOSCar disc icon to open the disc. Double-click on the impOSCar.dmg ﬁle and then run the impOSCar Installer, following the onscreen instructions carefully and entering your unique User Name and Registration codes EXACTLY as you ﬁnd them printed within this Getting Started guide. During installation, be sure to click on the Next button until the installation routine is complete.

During installation, 14 sound banks—each containing 36 presets—will be installed to your desktop; these can later be moved to a location of your choice.

Special note about .fxb sound ﬁles:

During installation, the impOSCar sounds are installed to your desktop in a folder called “impOSCar.” You can load the .fxb’s by dragging and dropping one of the ﬁles to the impOSCar user interface.

Mac installer shown

Registration

Please take the time to register your impOSCar on-line at www.gmediamusic.com/registration/

Registration is required to receive free technical support.

Loading Sounds

Cubase

ImpOSCar sounds are loaded and saved as Banks. To load a Bank, simply click on File>Load Bank, navigate to the impOSCar folder and select the desired Bank. Once a Bank has loaded, you can use the normal Cubase Patch Management system to scroll through each sound.

Importing OSCar sounds via sysex

Although we have included the original OSCar presets as an impOSCar Bank, it is also possible to import original OSCar sounds via sysex or tape. This is done via a standalone program which is freely available to Registered users from the support area of the GMEDIA Music web site.

Oscillator Controls

• OSC1 Waveform Knob

Because the Oscillators on the OSCar were digital they were referred to as OSC1 and 2 (as opposed to VCO 1 and 2). OSC1 contains the following waveforms: Triangle, Sawtooth, Square, Variable Width Pulse, Pulse Width Modulation, Full Organ, Harpsichord, Strong Lead, Double Pulse, Gritty, UserWave1 and UserWave2. The waveform selected is displayed in the blue screens above the Waveform Knobs.

Note: When selecting either UserWave1 or UserWave2, for either OSC1 or OSC2, the waveform used will be that created and selected from within the USER WAVES section.

• OSC2 Waveform Knob

Features exactly the same waveforms as OSC1 but, whereas with OSC1 you can simply select a waveform shape, OSC2 offers a few more options listed as follows:

• OSC2 Oct Shift Knob (OCT SHIFT)

This allows you to change the octave position of OSC2 across a six octave range.

• OSC2 Transpose Knob

Allows transposition of OSC2 by either + or - seven semitones.

• OSC2 Detune Knob

This enables you to detune OSC2 against OSC1 in order to create ‘thicker’ or ‘chorus’ type sounds.

• Pulse Width Knob (PW)

Provided either one, or both, Oscillators are using Pulse Width or Pulse Width Modulation waveforms, this knob applies an independent LFO to the waveform(s) in order to modulate them. Turned to the left, the PW Knob will have a minimal effect and will create a more ‘hollow’ sound. As this knob is turned further to the right it will create a ‘thicker’ sound as a result of the increase in modulation.

• Octave Transpose LEDs

Clicking on the red lights will transpose both Oscillators globally. Use this in conjunction with the OSC2 transpose knobs to create relative transpositions.

Wheels Section

• Bend Knob

This allows you to determine the effect the pitchbend wheel – on either the impOSCar interface or your master keyboard – has on the impOSCar sound. You can select any amount between 0 (off) and 24 semitones (two octaves).

• Mod – Pitch Amount Knob

Here it’s possible to choose the amount of pitch modulation introduced by the modulation wheel. Both + and

- pitch modulation settings are available, with a zero setting at 12 O’clock. The speed of this modulation is governed by the LFO rate.

• Mod – Filter Amount Knob

Similar to the aforementioned Pitch Mod function, only this time the modulation wheel will affect the Filter Amount. Again the speed of Filter Modulation is determined by the LFO rate.

Glide Controls

• Glide Type Knob

The impOSCar contains an exceptionally comprehensive set of Glide options. The six modes are as follows:

Normal: A simple portamento where the time between each note is governed by the Glide Time Knob.

1. In the ﬁrst three ‘unﬁxed’ modes the Glide Time is the time taken to slide one octave, which means that the larger the interval the longer the glide time.

Auto: The same as Normal mode except that in monophonic mode glide is activated only between notes

2. that are held.

Gliss: The Glissando mode is similar to Normal mode but instead of a smooth transition between each

3. note you actually hear the semitone steps.

Normal - Fixed: As per Normal mode with the exception that in the Normal Fixed mode the glide time

4. is the time taken between any two notes, no matter how large the interval.

5. Auto - Fixed: As per Auto mode whereby portamento is only triggered by legato notes, except that the glide time is the time between any two notes, no matter how large the interval.

6. Gliss - Fixed: As per the previous Glissando mode except that in this case the glide time is the time between any two notes, no matter how large the interval.

Mix Controls

• Osc Balance Knob

Determines the relative balance between OSC1 and OSC2.

• Noise Balance Knob

Alters the balance between the combined tones of OSC1 and OSC2 and a ‘white-noise’ generator.

LFO Controls

• LFO Waveform Knob

While the original instrument had six LFO waveforms, this amount has doubled on the impOSCar. The original OSCar waveforms were:

Triangle, Sawtooth, Square, Filter Env, Random and Kbd. The latter was replaced by Guitar (a positive-only wave, so vibrato will happen only above the key pitch).

Additional new waveforms include:

Triangle 3 Step, Sawtooth 4 Step, Triangle 5 Step, Sawtooth 8 Step, Pattern1 and Pattern 2. Selected LFO waveforms are displayed in the blue screen above the Waveform Knob.

• LFO Filter Amount Knob

Controls the depth of the LFO and, in turn, the effect the LFO has on the ﬁlter. This parameter has both negative and positive values and the resultant effect is directly related to both the LFO Waveform shape and the LFO rate.

• LFO Rate Knob

This governs the speed of the LFO. There are four LFO modes which are dependent on the position of the LFO Sync Knob. For example, with the Sync Knob set to ‘Free’ the speed is given in Hertz, but if the Sync Knob is set to ‘MIDI’ the value is displayed in Cycles Per Bar. See LFO Sync Knob (below) for more details on sync modes.

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