Presenting the MacBeth X-Series Dual Oscillator! The heart of a of a good synth are great oscillators. I designed the Dual Oscillator Module based on some of the design in both the M3X and M5/N synthesizers. Some say these oscillators sound very powerful and raw- I wanted to continue using these within the X-Series Modular. ...here is an example of the MacBeth X-Series Dual Oscillator Involved in the X-Series Modules has been over a year and a half of ongoing research and development. Seeking that 'Fat' sound has been as usual, the priority. I have spent some time analyzing ancient circuits, schematics, parts etc. and have really come to the conclusion that to synthesize the old sounds, you are going to ultimately use old part types. Luckily- these are still currently, freely available. I'm talking half watt 5% and 10% Carbon Resistors. I'm also to talking about basic ceramic plate capacitors, mylar and polypropylene capacitors. Tech heads will shake their heads and raise questions about the use of such outmoded parts. Surely these days- we have to use Surface Mount Devices (SMD) no? No. It's surprising- but some of the worlds' best loved analogue synths feature circuitry using what was cheap and available- with a few exceptions- the latter-day synths feature what could now be considered poor quality parts. But none the less- these old instruments are the bench mark for todays' products. Even the virtual synths for computers model themselves on the old synths. ...here is an example of some 'fat' bass from the MacBeth X-Series Dual Oscillator! I guess it is because the old synths had more character than the ones made these days. The MacBeth Dual Oscillators offer good stability, but I will not say that they will span a seven octave range perfectly- try five and that's about right. From what information I researched- many musicians actually seek an imperfect tracking oscillator. On the M5 and M5N synthesizers, I was careful to implement a 'stability' control on the third oscillator so that it's keyboard tracking could be anything but perfect. I wanted to get rid off the Course Tune/Fine Tune controls that are on most modular oscillators. By using high quality 10 Turn Potentiometers- I can do radical tuning fast, but also keep the fine tuning element. Add to that the Octave Shifting and you have something really special. This is musical stuff! I also included separate glide controls for each oscillator- it is a neat addition. There is no doubt that when a rectangle waveform has its duty cycle altered- in synth terms- Pulse Width Modulation- a single oscillator can mimic the sound of two. To do this kind of modulation- a second low frequency oscillator is often used. On the Dual Oscillator Module- that function is built in- on both oscillators. Each oscillator has its own PWM modulation oscillator which doubles as a Frequency Modulating oscillator too...! ...listen for the glide on one of the oscillators here! It is common knowledge that the placement of the oscillators is indeed important. The spacing between each oscillator can determine how well they work as individual units. Areas of the oscillator circuitry are prone to 'radiate' and this can have a bad effect that becomes apparent especially when very subtle detuning is required. If the Oscillators are positioned to close to each other, an effect known a 'soft synching' can occur- this unfortunate phenomenon can occur just when the player wants a tiny amount of drift from unison. The oscillators can 'lock' on to each other at this point. The result is a bold, but rather flat sound- similar to using just one oscillator. This can be hard to overcome- but the best answer is to space the circuits apart enough to allow for no interaction and to give both separate paths to ground. The 5U, 6 space format of the X-Series Dual Oscillator Module is an ideal format for two oscillators to function perfectly. It also allows for more control facilities and good ergonomics... anyway- for just now- listen to these sounds- they are multitracked mini songs to demonstrate the X-Series Modules. Song 1 Song 2 Song 3 Song 4 'Please also note- that while every effort has been made to make the sounds and tracks musical on here, I am no keyboardist! But in the hands of the skilled player- these things would sound truly awesome!' |
