Features/functionality you'd like to see

[Timo]

I thought it might be nice to hear of various aspects of the current workings of the "software" part of the Virus that people would wish to see, mainly in the Virus TI. - Not fantasies, but real possibilities. Purely as curiosity for us users, and feedback for Access. Not for demands.

Add your own!

Mine are based on experience with the Virus B only, so please correct me if these have been ammended in later Viri'.

* Tuneable Sub Oscillator - My B's Sub-Osc is "static" at -2 octaves below Osc 1. I'd love it if this were freely tuneable, including semitone and cent values. This would effectively give a flexible fourth oscillator.

* Extra wave-shapes for the Sub-Osc. On my B there's just square and triangle.

* In fact, oscillator functions feature as the same for all oscillators - so Osc1, and Osc3 have all of Osc2's features - like cent-detuning, FM, Sync, Ring-Mod etc..

* ... And to have the ability to select any specific oscillators you wish to Sync, or Ring-Mod' with another(s), as opposed to the current hard-wired option of just Osc2 being Sync'd to Osc1, and Ring-Mod affecting them all.

* Oscillator mixer feedback. - Would thicken up the sound incredibly.

* Importable PCM wave-shapes, for the oscillators and LFOs.

* Additional effects. Including better saturation algorithms.

* Accent/velocity-pattern control for the arpeggiator.

* The Polyphony setting to be placed next to the Unison setting in the menus, as I reckon they share a common link, and I find I use those two functions the most.

All I can think of for now.

Timo

[nrgy]

a virus powercore update with the same features as Virus TI

[grs]

Originally Posted by Timo

* In fact, oscillator functions feature as the same for all oscillators - so Osc1, and Osc3 have all of Osc2's features - like cent-detuning, FM, Sync, Ring-Mod etc..

* ... And to have the ability to select any specific oscillators you wish to Sync, or Ring-Mod' with another(s), as opposed to the current hard-wired option of just Osc2 being Sync'd to Osc1, and Ring-Mod affecting them all.

Timo

Well I gues you cant sync OSC1 to OSC2 if OSC2 is synced to OSC1. But I see your point on having all OSCs fully loaded.

Originally Posted by Timo

* Additional effects. Including better saturation algorithms.
Timo

There are heaps already, what other sorts are there?

Originally Posted by Timo

* The Polyphony setting to be placed next to the Unison setting in the menus, as I reckon they share a common link, and I find I use those two functions the most.
Timo

What is the 'Polyphony setting'? Do you mean the 'Priority' setting?

Alot of other points are intersting. It's kind of a funny time for this type of thread because alot of the things you have written about are in the TI. Programable arp etc.

[ben crosland]

What would you want to do with the 3rd Oscillator that you can't do already? The only benefit I can see is that it might make programming certain sounds a little easier, as you wouldn't have to think about 'building' them in a particular order, but really it does everything it needs to do already.

I don't really understand why you need detuning for Osc1 either?

I like the idea of more saturation algorithms and a compressor though

Originally Posted by Timo

- Not fantasies, but real possibilities.

Without an intimate understanding of both the hardware capabilities and the way the synth engine is coded, one cannot readily distinguish between the two..

[Timo]

Originally Posted by grs

Well I gues you cant sync OSC1 to OSC2 if OSC2 is synced to OSC1. But I see your point on having all OSCs fully loaded.

I'm thinking something along the lines of the Sound Interface Device (SID) chip in the old Commodore 64 (think Elektron SID Station), where there was the ability to sync all three oscillators - in a chain formation, if desired - so you could sync Osc3 to Osc2, Osc2 to Osc1, and Osc1 to Osc3 for some rip-snorting sounds and wacky effects. Plus you could elect to ring-modulate any oscillators against any others.
Another technique SID artists used to use is to use oscillators with Sync' and Ring Mod selected on several oscillators, chained together, and then mute them so you can't hear them, and then effectively use them as modulators to modulate a third oscillator.

...To expand on this further to include another idea (that SID musicians also used) would be to allow actual individual oscillators to be arpeggiated or played at different pitches independantly of other oscillators in the same patch program, so that the other oscillators could sync' to them, or use them as muted (silent) modulators. Not sure exactly how to do this without pre-sequencing oscillators to MIDI (SysEx would have to be used), but the ability of controlling individual oscillators in this way (even non-realtime) would be neat. Maybe even allow setting individual oscillators to clock to individual arpeggiators, as opposed to having one arpeggiator per global patch... So, like, having three oscillators in a patch, each playing their own arp-pattern following the keys you press.

I think the SID chip designers also later implemented something called "Lacing" (interlacing) into the chip to allow for interleaving of LFOs and EGs.
Incidently, can LFOs be chained together on the Virus, too? Ie. LFO1 be added or subtracted to LFO2, and then used as a modulator for any other destination as normal?

Originally Posted by grs

There are heaps already, what other sorts are there?

I think the saturation algorithms could be improved. I hardly use it at present as it seems to stunt patches, rather than enhancing them in a way that something like the PSP Vintage Warmer plugin does, for example. Admittedly the PSP plugin would require a fair amount of DSP resources.

Also, how come you can hear both the saturation and distortion effects in use when their values are set to 0, on the Virus?

Originally Posted by grs

What is the 'Polyphony setting'? Do you mean the 'Priority' setting?

Sorry, I meant "Keymode", where you can select between Poly and Mono etc... Would be handy if the Unison settings were just next door to the Keymode ones, as I find myself flicking directly from one to another quite a bit.

Originally Posted by ben crosland

I don't really understand why you need detuning for Osc1 either?

Possibly not, but if the second oscillator is detuned by +127, then the average pitch perceived when Osc1 and Osc2 are both played would be +64. Would've possibly have been more conventional if we could detune Osc1 down, and Osc2 up. Then Osc 3 could be brought in to play, if/when needed, to do whatever it wanted, modulated elsewhere or whatnot.
However, it's a moot point when Osc3 is brought in, as it can be a slave to Osc2, and when unison is brought into it, everything's mega-detuned anyway.....

[DIGITAL SCREAMS]

On the Virus you can manipulate the pitch of Osc 1. Fine tuning would serve no practical purpose. Obviously you need fine tuning on Osc 2 & 3.....but we have that already.

Likewise...fine tuning of a sub osc....would be of limited use and to be honest would sound very wierd lol

*What I would like to see however, is LFO 3 to have the same features as LFO 1 & 2.

DS

[Timo]

And a few more EGs. Are the only standard EGs available on the Virus (excluding LFOs in 'Env' mode) just the Filter and Amp EGs? Is there a Pitch EG somewhere?

[Blank]

I believe it does DC...Atleast that is what it looks like in the pictures...I could be wrong...
As for SID...if you want a SID chip go buy a monomachine or a sidstation...


peace
Blank

[tranzash]

hey guys, there is no power button on the back of tabletop TI or polar. The power button will be the alternative transpose button?(panic button on virC) 8O Hope it does'nt shut off when changing octaves

[MADSTATION]

A feature suggestion:

The new "remote mode" sounds cool, but it really is a shame that we can only assign KNOBS to midi CC. I would have liked to be able to use the virus buttons as well!