Waldorf Q Rack, User Manual

Page: 72 / 174

Sound Parameters – Oscillators
Waldorf Q User’s Manual 72
Oscillators Panel Controls
The most important controls of the oscillators can be found on the front panel. The following picture
of the Q’s front panel shows the Oscillators section:
Tri Sine
Alt1
Alt2
Saw
Pulse
Octave Semi Detune Pitch Mod Source
Shape
Pulsewidth PWM Source
Octave Semi Detune Pitch Mod Source
Shape
Pulsewidth PWM Source
Octave Semi Detune Pitch Mod Source
Shape
Pulsewidth PWM Source
Active
Glide Rate
Mode
Pitch Mod Source
Edit
Oscillators
1
Tri Sine
Alt1
Alt2
Saw
Pulse
Tri Sine
Saw
Pulse
2
3
Sync
Picture 15: Oscillators section Q Keyboard
Selecting an Oscillator on the Q Rack
Press one or more
Oscillator Select
buttons to select one or more Oscillators on the Q Rack to be
edited with the Panel Controls.
Octave
128’…1/2’
Sets the basic pitch of the oscillator in steps of an octave. The
Octave
setting is shown as register
value, a common measurement based on the length of organ pipes. The reference pitch for the
oscillator is generated at MIDI note A3 (note no. 69) when
Octave
is set to 8’,
Semi
and
Detune
are
set to 0 and no pitch modulation is applied. In this case, the oscillator’s frequency will be the same as
set in the global
Tune
parameter (usually 440Hz).

Set
Octave
to 16’ for bass sounds.

Set
Octave
to 8’ if you are creating typical keyboard sounds.

Set
Octave
to 4’ if you are programming strings or other high pitched sounds.

When you use an Oscillator to modulate other Oscillators or the Filters, experiment with the
Octave parameter. Low settings might result in periodic modulations while high settings might
add a bell character to the timbre.

Ultra-low settings like 128’ can create very nice rhythmic changes when used with the ring
modulator. If this is still not low enough, you can use the Standard Modulation Matrix to apply
MAXIMUM to the respective oscillator pitch with a negative amount.
Semi -12...+12
Sets the pitch of the oscillator in semitone steps. The standard setting for this parameter is 0, but there
are cases where different values are interesting as well.