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Ottava User’s Manual 

Analog Hybrid Performance Synthesizer 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Artisan Electronic Instruments©    2016 
All Rights Reserved 
 
www. ArtisanElectronicInstruments.com 
 

 
 

 

Summary of Contents for Ottava

Page 1: ...Ottava User s Manual Analog Hybrid Performance Synthesizer Artisan Electronic Instruments 2016 All Rights Reserved www ArtisanElectronicInstruments com ...

Page 2: ...e 12 Filter 13 VCA 14 Envelope Generators 14 LFOs 16 Trigger 17 Modulation Selection and Modifiers 18 Multiplier 20 Adder 21 Contour 21 MIN MAX 22 Quantizer 22 Lag 22 Patch Save Recall and Assign 23 Play Patch 23 Save Patch 23 Assign Button 1 10 and Quick Patch 24 MIDI and Mode Setup 25 Specifications 25 Parameter access and MIDI CC Assignments 26 ...

Page 3: ...r sequencer into the MIDI In port and go play Come back here when you re done and we ll fill in the rest See you later Welcome back So you twiddled some knobs and pressed some buttons and we hope most of that was intuitive and fun This manual will hopefully help with the rest We ll go over the Front Panel and let you know what all those buttons and knobs do Next we ll introduce the sound path and ...

Page 4: ...t the Baroque follows the exact same layout The panel is set out in 4 sections Data Source Tone and Modulation The Data section is where you can set Ottava s operational mode and MIDI channel update firmware store and assign patches dabble in alternate keyboard tunings and configure the modifiers The Source section is where the sound starts This is where you get to mix the analog waveshapes add th...

Page 5: ...elope generators can be triggered in 3 modes or set to a looping mode what could you do with 8 LFOs LFOs can run free be synced to the keyboard or set to run once providing 4 more AR like functions what could you do with 8 envelope generators Additionally the LFOs have rate modulation allowing very naturally flowing vibratos to wild time shifting modulation waveshapes The Trigger button allows Ott...

Page 6: ... and AXoR through the mixer to the VCF and VCA The red signals connect to knobs on the Front Panel the green signals are connections to the modulation matrix The Modulation matrix takes the output signals form the four LFOs four envelope generators various Modifiers adders multipliers etc and the keyboard and routes them to the various destinations All 21 modulation outputs are available to all 25...

Page 7: ...s Square to Spike waves The sub oscillators have a few tricks themselves and can have selections for 1 or 2 octaves down and produce both square and smooth waveforms As you can imagine all this provides wide sonic capability and control And then there is Hard Sync and the AXoR to really up the harmonic spectrum Hard Sync forces Oscillator 2 to reset its ramp core under the tyrannical control of Os...

Page 8: ...ete component op amp goodness The Saw wave is transformed by Triangle wave converter and Pulse Width Modulation circuits Additionally the core signal is passed to the sub octave circuit that divides the signal into 1 and 2 octaves down square waves which are passes through 2 pole Bessel filters to provide additional smoothed waves for the subs It s all these sub octave options found on both both o...

Page 9: ... down smooth shape One octave down Squarewave shape Two octaves down smooth shape Two octaves down Squarewave shape Within each section the mix level of the selected sub wave increases from 0 to 100 There is one difference between Oscillator 1 and 2 remember all modulations levels bend amounts glide etc are completely independent for the 2 oscillators and that is Hard Sync Hard Sync takes a sharp ...

Page 10: ...mental pitch The Big Kknob is chromatic and steps by semitones notes and the fine pitch allows precede one semitone 100 cents And don t forget the Glide knob each osc has its own glide rate and Pitch Bend amount That s the only one you need to get to through the parameter menu AXoR Function The AXoR function is unique as far as I know to Ottava The AXor is a digiat ring modulator on steroids and i...

Page 11: ...ously Here is how the Front Panel Source Controls function when in the AXoR selection mode Having the Osc 1 pitch available is a helpful as this I one of the most important sonic character influences Remember to turn the oscillator and sub oscillator mix levels off if you want to hear just the AXoR function BTW try Hard Sync with the AXoR sometime too Sub functions 1 8 Osc 1 Pitch Semitones Osc 1 ...

Page 12: ...losion effects No problem for Ottava That s because Ottava allows both the Color Pitch and the Level to be modulated Basically the Noise Source has its own VCA into the final mixer pre filter Add an Envelope generator to the Level and Pitch modulation and Booom Explosions space drums or percussive attacks to organ or flute sounds Here is how the Front Panel Source Controls function when in the Noi...

Page 13: ...cutoff can be modulated by 2 different sources of your choice from 21 different modulation sources Keyboard tracking can be set from 2x inverted tracking to 2X positive We know you will love sweeping this filter so Ottava has a nice big knob right in the middle of its panel You can thank us later Here is a basic look at the Filter Signal flow Select Cut off Modulator 1 2 VCA Modulator Amount VCA F...

Page 14: ...e signal chain It also has two modulation inputs Typically these are set to an Envelope and a LFO but replace one of these with the Offset modulation source and you have a Drone box Envelope Generators There are 4 identical Envelope Generator in Ottava We resist using the ADSR term because they are more than that We could use DAHDSR as that is a more accurate abbreviation and you will find this te...

Page 15: ...te Soft The Envelope will re trigger on each note back to the Attack phase starting at the present level Hard The Envelope will re trigger on each note back to zero and restart at the Delay stage Looping The Envelope will run through the Delay Attack Hold Decay and Release stages and will restart again over an over as long as there is a key down Soft Trigger Hard Trigger Looping Trigger ...

Page 16: ...0 to 100 modulation only you can always get negative modulation by turning any Mod Amount knob CWW past the center detent The LFOs will run in one of 4 modes Free waveform is just running at the LFO rate set Sync Waveform always starts at 0 at the first key press and then runs free Once Waveform starts at the keypress and runs one and only one complete cycle like a mini envelope generator Repeat L...

Page 17: ... it says Parameters and then press the Data Knob Rotate the Data Knob 7 clicks CCW to Trigger Note The Y Right knob will now select the MIDI Note that will be played when the trigger is pressed You can play Ottava and edit the sound while in the Parameter Mode so go ahead and press the trigger adjust the pitch play again who knows you could get good at this Try playing Mary had a Little Lamb come ...

Page 18: ...anel The second line of the OLED display will show the presently in use modulation for that destination To change the modulation used rotate the Y Right data knob a list of modulations sources will scroll through You can ply the synth and hear the results of the modulation on the fly Just stop on the one you like Note that you have a few seconds after pressing the Modulation Section button to star...

Page 19: ... LFO 2 LFO 3 LFO 4 Envelope 1 Envelope 2 Envelope 3 Envelope 4 Multiplier 1 Multiplier 2 Adder Contour MIN MAX Quantizer Lag Offset apply a constant modulation actually useful Pitch The MIDI note The RED modulations are Modifiers Modifiers take a modulation source and apply some mathematical function to create new unique modulations ...

Page 20: ... modulation and modify it Multiplier The Multiplier takes two modulation signals and multiplies them Big Surprise But it does a few other things too It never lets the total value go above 100 modulation and it is a 4 quadrent multiplier so it takes into account the sign of the modulation as from the LFO bipolar signals It also allows you to invert the second modulation signals That what the you se...

Page 21: ... and the Multipliers you can see the clipping that occurs this can actually be useful The adder can be useful when you need more than the allotted number of modulation inputs provided like for pitch modulation there is only one you can add an LFO and Envelope together to get 2 modulation effects on pitch Use the Multipliers first with a 50 Offset input before the adder and you can eliminate the cl...

Page 22: ...ngle smooth modulation and converts it to a series of steps If the step parameter is set to 10 then the modulation input is chopped into 10 evenly spaced steps A ramp wave becomes a staircase Random notes can be limited to even pitches This is great for 8 bit type sounds or simple arpeggios Lag The lag modifier adds a simple one pole exponential lag filter to the selected modulations High Time Con...

Page 23: ... sound will be ready to play in about 1 10 second You don t have to stop playing while selecting a patch Hit the Red button to get out and not select a patch Save Patch When the Save Patch is displayed the Y Right knob will scroll through the 60 patches by name and number Select the patch you want write to and press the Data Knob The display will now say Edit Patch Name At this point the X Left kn...

Page 24: ...tate the Y Right knob to select the patch you which to assign Press the data knob to set the assignment Now you can quickly access that sound directly from the front panel Press and hold the Green button and then press any of the 10 numbered buttons you have assigned a patch to Bam new patch in 100ms Note that whatever patch you assign to button 1 will be set when Ottava powers up Hold this Press ...

Page 25: ...e the last note pressed has precedence plays In Duophonic mode the if only one note is played both oscillators will sound on that one note much like the Monophonic mode but if a second not is pressed the other note is held the oscillator2 will play at the new not and oscillator 1 will play the last held note If two keys are played simultaneously Osc 1 will take the low note and Osc 2 the high Spec...

Page 26: ...so respond to MIDI CC albeit to a lower 0 127 resolution MIDI CC Parameter 1 OSC_1_SEMITONES 2 OSC_1_CENTS 3 OSC_1_BEND 4 OSC_1_GLIDE_RATE 5 OSC_1_WAVE_SHAPE 6 OSC_1_WAVE_LEVEL 7 OSC_1_SUB_CONTRL 8 OSC_1_PITCH_SRC 9 OSC_1_PITCH_MOD 10 OSC_1_SHAPE_SRC 11 OSC_1_SHAPE_MOD 12 OSC_2_SEMITONES 13 OSC_2_CENTS 14 OSC_2_BEND 15 OSC_2_GLIDE_RATE 16 OSC_2_WAVE_SHAPE 17 OSC_2_WAVE_LEVEL 18 OSC_2_SUB_CONTRL 19...

Page 27: ... 50 ENVELOPE_1_HOLD 51 ENVELOPE_1_TYPE 52 ENVELOPE_2_ATTCK 53 ENVELOPE_2_DECAY 54 ENVELOPE_2_SUSTN 55 ENVELOPE_2_RELSE 56 ENVELOPE_2_DELAY 57 ENVELOPE_2_HOLD 58 ENVELOPE_2_TYPE 59 ENVELOPE_3_ATTCK 60 ENVELOPE_3_DECAY 61 ENVELOPE_3_SUSTN 62 ENVELOPE_3_RELSE 63 ENVELOPE_3_DELAY 64 ENVELOPE_3_HOLD 65 ENVELOPE_3_TYPE 66 ENVELOPE_4_ATTCK 67 ENVELOPE_4_DECAY 68 ENVELOPE_4_SUSTN 69 ENVELOPE_4_RELSE 70 EN...

Page 28: ...VED_1 94 RESERVED_2 95 RESERVED_3 96 RESERVED_4 97 RESERVED_5 98 MULTPLY_1_X_SRC 99 MULTPLY_1_Y_SRC 100 MULTPLY_1_Y_INVT 101 MULTPLY_2_X_SRC 102 MULTPLY_2_Y_SRC 103 MULTPLY_2_Y_INVT 104 ADDER_X_SOURCE 105 ADDER_Y_SOURCE 106 ADDER_Y_INVERT 107 MIN_MAX_X_SOURCE 108 MIN_MAX_Y_SOURCE 109 MIN_MAX_Y_INVERT 110 CONTOUR_MOD_SRC 111 CONTOUR_SHAPE 112 BIT_CRUSHER_MOD 113 BIT_RESOLUTION 114 LAG_MOD_SOURCE 11...

Page 29: ...121 TRIGGER_NOTE 122 MIDI_MODE 123 MIDI_CHANNEL 124 EXT_PEDAL_CV 125 AFTER_TOUCH 126 MODULATION_WHEEL 127 PITCH_BEND ...

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