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The Oscillator Group
Oscillators are the foundation of a patch. They generate the most basic component of the
sound, which is then shaped by other components such as Mutants, Filters, Envelopes, etc.
Hydrasynth has 3 oscillators per voice. Oscillators 1 and 2 can operate in two different modes
(Single and WaveScan); Oscillator 3 has only one mode (Single). The same waveforms are
available in both modes, but the features of each mode are very different.
The Mutant modules affect an oscillator the same way a mask or lipstick affect a face: they
change the way the underlying component is presented to the world. The Ring-Noise module
does a similar thing: it produces a sound based on the sum and the difference of two input
signals.
The Oscillator, Mutant, and Ring-Noise modules form the Oscillator group. We’ll cover them all
in this chapter.
Settings can be copied between identical modules (Osc 1 and 2, Mutants 1-4): Hold
[SAVE], press and release the source, and then press and release the destination. Then
release [SAVE].
Oscillators 1 and 2
The features of these oscillators are identical, so the following descriptions apply to both. For a
list of the available waveforms see the
at the end of this chapter.
Switching modes
To switch an oscillator between Single and WaveScan modes, access [OSC 1] or [OSC 2] and use
Control knob 1.
Oscillator mode: Single
This Oscillator mode provides only a single waveform to the sound, hence the name. There’s a
lot you can do with a single waveform, though: the Mutant modules and the Ring Modulator
make sure of that.
This mode has one page of parameters.
Parameter Range
Description
Wave
219 options
Choose a waveform as the starting point
Semi
+/- 36 semitones
Coarse tuning of oscillator pitch. Use [SHIFT] to
jump by 12 semitones.
Cents
+/- 50 cents
Fine tuning of oscillator pitch
Keytrack
0-200%
Sets keyboard pitch tracking. 0 = fixed pitch;
at 200% a 1-octave difference on the keyboard
changes the pitch by 2 octaves. Default = 100%.
