Sample Osc

SAMPLE MODE does not load a Soundsource by default. When starting from scratch, a Soundsource must be selected from the Soundsource Browser.

SOUNDSOURCE

The Soundsource/Waveform Display area displays an image of the loaded Soundsource. The steppers on the right allow you to step through Soundsources. Clicking on the display brings up the Soundsource Browser.

ANALOG

The ANALOG control allows inconsistencies to be introduced into the sample start and pitch of the Sample-based oscillator, adding the natural randomness commonly associated with analog synthesizers to any Soundsource in Omnisphere.

*This parameter is particularly helpful for adding variety to the attack of Soundsources and minimizing the machine-gun effect when playing repeated notes.

REVERSE

The REVERSE button appears at the bottom center of the WAVE Page when the SAMPLE tab is selected. When engaged, it reverses the playback of the selected Soundsource for that Layer. The button is highlighted in blue when it is ON.

When REVERSE is enabled, the loop points become inactive for the following reasons:

• You normally want to hear the attack when playing a sample in reverse, and it will not play if loops are active.
• Many times the looped section occurs at the tail of the sound, so that is all you would hear if loops were active.
• Samples which play something worthwhile when looped in reverse generally don’t sound much different when played forward or backward.

DRIFT

DRIFT simulates the pitch movement that occurs naturally in analog synthesizers, and applies it to any Soundsource in Omnisphere. When DRIFT is introduced, detuning happens over time as you hold notes.

TIMBRE

The TIMBRE slider alters the tonal characteristics of the Soundsource in different ways. There are two TIMBRE modes: CRUSH and SHIFT. The center-point of this bi-directional slider is null—meaning no TIMBRE change will occur.

• TIMBRE CRUSH MODE – Polyphonic Bit-Crushing (Distortion) and filtering are applied to the Soundsource. Bit-Crushing with a Low-Pass Filter is applied left of the center-point. Right of the center-point, Bit-Crushing with a High-Pass filter is applied. Timbre Crushing works effectively with any Soundsource.
• TIMBRE SHIFT MODE – Transposes the mapping of the samples in one direction and changes the pitch in the opposite. This results in significant harmonic changes in the Soundsource. Moving the TIMBRE slider to the right will transpose the sample mapping down and the pitches up and vise versa when moving it to the left. When SHIFT is applied in either direction, the character of the Soundsource can change significantly. When SHIFT is used as a Modulation Target, the character of the Soundsource can change dynamically. The more samples that are mapped across the keyboard, the more pronounced the TIMBRE SHIFT effect will be. Conversely, with a texture or other Soundsource that only contains a single sample, SHIFT will have no effect.

NOTE: Because of the way TIMBRE works, changes to the modulation of the TIMBRE slider must be re-triggered to hear the effect. TIMBRE changes cannot be heard on a sustained note.

START

The START control determines at what point in the sample it begins when the Oscillator is triggered. This setting will vary depending on the number of samples in the Soundsource.
This feature has several applications. First, it can remove sharp attacks or clicks at the start of a sample.

Soundsources can have a single sample (such as a Texture) mapped across the entire keyboard. Other types of Soundsources often have many samples mapped to different ranges on the keyboard. These ranges are called “Zones.”

The number of Zones determines the maximum range of the START slider. If the Soundsource has more than 12 Zones mapped (including Round Robins), the START slider’s range is 1 second. If it has less than 12 Zones, then the START slider’s range can be up to 90 seconds. Modulating the START time in the .5–.6 range can be especially useful for adding a random feel when working with long, evolving Texture Soundsources and using the Arpeggiator

*To add interesting motion to Patches such as Textures, try moving the Start Slider to the mid-range and modulating it with the Mod Source, “Random,” then turn the Arpeggiator ON.

NOTE: At certain START offsets you may hear attack clicks. These can be eliminated using the Start Fade parameter in Oscillator Zoom section.

START FADE

These are mode switches that control the shape of the start point and the duration of the fade-in. This can be useful for eliminating clicks that might happen at certain START offsets. These three mode switches set the duration of the fade-in: