EDIT PAGE – Oscillator Voice Multiplier - Unison

 

 

 

In vintage analog polyphonic synthesizers, Unison was used to trigger all of the voices cards of the synthesizer at the same time for a rich, detuned monophonic sound.  Omnisphere takes Unison to the next level by offering polyphonic Unison, with numerous enhancements and controls.  Just a few or many unison voices can be added, so each note played will sound several voices - each with different detune, spread and octave.

 

UNISON POWER SWITCH

This turns the Unison effect on and off to quickly compare the sound with and without it.

 

UNISON PHASE CONTROL (SYNTH mode only)

The Phase Control option is unique to the SYNTH mode.  The Phase Control means the initial phases of the Unison voices can be randomly spread across a range.  The width of the range they are spread is controlled by stepping through the five Phase Control options, which range completely from In-Phase to 180° out of Phase.  Perfectly in-phase produces results like digital synthesizers.  Out of phase settings produce classic analog-like results.

 

UNISON DETUNE

 

This determines to what degree the unison notes will be detuned compared to the original OSCILLATOR.  This setting does not affect the pitch of the original OSCILLATOR, just the unison voices.

The Unison Detune control is modulateable.

 

UNISON DETUNE FINE/COARSE

These mode switches determine the range of the DETUNE slider.  If FINE is selected, then the DETUNE slider will only detune the UNISON voices up to a half step (99 cents).   This works for classic Unison and “SuperSaw” types of sounds.

When COARSE is selected, the range of the DETUNE slider is increased to a fifth or an octave above the note, depending how many are added. When the Detune slide is used in COARSE mode, the Unison voices will gradually glide to the final chord, producing the classic “THX” logo effect.

 

DETUNE OCTAVE

The Octave switches specify at which octave the unison notes will sound, up to two octaves above or two octaves below.  This is not a traditional transpose control, as it only pitches the UNISON voices up or down – the pitch of the Oscillator will still be at the same pitch.

 

UNISON DEPTH

 

The DEPTH slider controls the amount of UNISON voices added.  Increasing the setting of this slider increases the number of UNISON voices.  The more Unison voices used, the richer the sound, but the higher the demand on the CPU.

The maximum number of Unison voices is eight.

 

UNISON SPREAD

 

UNISON voices can panned across the stereo image. Spread controls the extent of the stereo imaging.  When the mini-slider is at minimum setting, the UNISON voices are all in the center of the stereo image.  When set to maximum value, the UNISON voices are panned across the stereo field.

Both the UNISON DEPTH and SPREAD are modulatable.

Range 0.000 to 1.000