3. Tune and Modify modes
To get the most from the powerful synthesis features of Bazille CM’s oscillators, we must first get a handle on their Pitch sections, which are unusually flexible and open up a number of exciting possibilities when it comes to modulating one oscillator with the other.
If you’d like to follow along and try out our demonstrations for yourself, load up the patch CM Tutorial » 1. Tune & Modify, which routes Oscillators 1 and 2 directly to the left and right stereo channels. Next place an instance of Vengeance Sound’s Scope (yours for free in our
Plugins collection), with its Sync Mode set to Pitch, and Input Gain at +12dB. Play a C3 note to see the waveforms for Oscillator 1 (top) and 2 (bottom) clearly on the Scope.
Alternatively, sit back and let us to do all the hard work – we’ve created a video for you that shows all of this in action!
SEMITONE
The default Tune Mode sets the base oscillator pitch in semitones – ie, musical notes – just like most synths. Each time you play a new note, the waveform drifts across the oscilloscope display at a different speed, sometimes changing direction, due to slight pitch randomisation of each note introduced by Bazille CM’s Drift function. Disable this option in the Voice panel so it doesn’t interfere with our pitch experiments.
CENTS
The Cents Modify Mode offsets the tuning in hundredths of a semitone, known as cents. Adjust the Tune Modify control on Oscillator 1, and you’ll see its waveform speed up/down on the oscilloscope, causing a familiar detuned effect. Reset Modify by double-clicking it, then increase Tune to 19 for an “octave plus perfect fifth” interval.
See how Oscillator 1 is still ‘drifting’ in relation to Oscillator 2? That’s because the system of semitones – 12 divisions per octave – that we use to make music is not harmonically perfect, so intervals are always a tiny bit out of tune with each other.
Set Modify to 1 cent to ‘lock’ the oscillators more tightly and the sound suddenly becomes more solid and static. 3 cycles of Oscillator 1 are now (almost!) exactly the same length as one cycle of Oscillator 2 – Oscillator 1 is tuned to a harmonic overtone of the base pitch of C3.
However, Oscillator 1’s waveform is still drifting very slightly. We could hold Shift to finely adjust the Modify knob some more, but thankfully, there’s a better way…
OVERTONE/UNDERTONE
Enable the Overtone Tune Mode to see – and hear – how Oscillator 1 steps through exact multiples of the base frequency. Similarly, you can set the Tune Mode to Undertone to produce subharmonics, lowering the pitch of the oscillator so that it covers a number of cycles of the base frequency. All of this is extremely useful for synthesis, as we’ll see later.
HERTZ/CLOCKED
Because Bazille CM is a true modular synth, there’s nothing stopping us using its two main oscillators as modulation sources – after all, an LFO is just an oscillator that runs at a low frequency. u-he have provided two Tune Modes for this purpose: Hertz, which sets the oscillator frequency from 0-48Hz; and Clocked, which allows setting the oscillator in musical beats, synced to your DAW.
5 HERTZ/BEATS
When using basic semitones ‘n’ cents detuning, a noticeable rhythmic beating effect is sometimes produced, with beating that gets faster with higher notes, and slower with lower ones. But what if you want the beating to stay at a constant speed no matter what note you play? You’d need an oscillator that can be offset in Hertz instead of Cents – and that’s what the 5 Hertz mode does. The Beats mode is very similar, but allows the rate of beating to be set in host-synced musical beats.
MODIFY MODE: MULTIPLY
The final Modify mode is Multiply, which multiplies the base frequency by a specified value. The knob increments by default in whole numbers and gives results similar to the Overtone Tune Mode. And remember, you can use Shift-click to achieve fine-tuning – try setting the Modify knob to 1.25, for example, for a justly intonated major third interval. Note how this sounds different to just tuning the oscillator up four semitones, giving a more ‘static’ sound with no shimmering detune effect.