SOMA Pulsar 23, User Manual

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PULSAR • 23 USER MANUAL
BASS SYNTHESIS MODULE
The BASS synthesis module is a powerful monophonic synthesizer with
two modes of operation — classic monophonic synthesis and percussion
synthesis of the author’s architecture. This allows you to create a wide
range of sounds, such as bass, lead, various types of low-frequency
and high-frequency percussion, and sound effects. In monophonic
synthesis mode, the pitch can be controlled by MIDI and CV (standard
1V/octave logarithmic dependence).
The synthesis module has a hybrid architecture: a digitally controlled
oscillator (DCO) followed by an analog processing chain containing
a low-frequency resonance filter (LPF) with saturation mode, a volt-
age-controlled amplifier (VCA) and an envelope generator.
A DCO is built on unique authoring algorithms of pure mathematical
synthesis making the sound and behavior of DCO close to analog. Most
digital synthesizers use wavetables to generate waveforms, which gives
the sound a characteristic digital deadness and stillness caused by the
fact that we essentially have a rompler that reproduces the same thing
all the time, and not a synthesizer that has natural living breath and
many small nuances. The DCO in Pulsar does not contain any tables
and instead generates waveforms through special recursive equations,
computing with very high accuracy (32 bit with floating point). This
makes our DCO sensitive to the smallest changes in control signals
and gives the sound a vibrant breath inherent to analog synthesis.
In addition, all DCO controls, except for MIDI, occur through analog
circuits, which also brings its behavior closer to analog.
CV IN pin is a logarithmic (volt-octave) input that allows you to control the pitch of a
note with a standard CV signal. It has an input voltage range of 0-4 volts (four octaves).
CV MIDI PRC
switch
— selects the DCO mode of operation. CV – CV control. MIDI — MIDI
control. PRC — synthesis of percussive sounds.
SHAPE knob — is a DCO synthesis parameter that controls the waveform. When turning
clockwise, the level of harmonics increases.
MOD pin associated with SHAPE: CV control of the SHAPE parameter.
WARP knob — sets the amount of loading of the waveshaper, located after the oscillator.
MOD
pin
associated with WARP: CV control of the WARP parameter.
In PRC (percussion) mode, the SHAPE and WARP knobs control many synthesis param-
eters at once, a clear description of which would take up too much space. Therefore, it is
easier to explore this experimentally.
TUNE knob — oscillator pitch settings. In MIDI mode it has a range of +/- 1/2 tones, in
other modes it has a range of 5 octaves.
MOD
pin associated with the AMT knob: CV control of the phase modulation of the DCO.
In PRC mode it becomes sidechain input.