Oscillator
Simple tone generator
Sine (waveform)
Sounds good for bass, smooth sound, filters have little to no effect
Sawtooth (waveform)
Sounds like buzz of amp feedback, bright, filters have strong effect
Square (waveform)
Hollow-sounding, buzzy, filters have strong effect
Triangle (waveform)
Few harmonics, “hollow” sound, filters have little effect
Mix knob
allows you to adjust the balance between the two oscillators
Oct button
changes the octave of the generated tone
Ring modulation
Makes a bright, bell-like tone
Noise Generator
Played alone it’s good for drums, used w/ tones it adds distortion
White Noise
bright, like hi-hats or a hiss effect
Pink noise
Dark, like a kick drum or booming effect
Noise decay knob
Adjusts the length of the noise in each note (on noise generator)
Frequency Modulation
works by making one oscillator modulate the other, best when the osc’s re tuned to different pitches in some interval
Amp Envelope
varies dynamics of sounds from start to finish
Attack (amp envelope)
regulates the onset of a sound and how fast it reaches its max volume
Decay (amp envelope)
controls the drop in sound from its peak to the sustain stage
Sustain (amp envelope)
controls how loud the sound is from decay to release
Release (amp envelope)
How quickly the sound fades after it is released
Filter Envelope
increases/decreases brightness, needs amp envelope for sound
LFO (low frequency oscillator)
don’t make tones but do affect tones w/ low or slow frequency waves (create vibrato)
Insert effect
effect that sits between the instrument and the mixer
Dry/wet knob
controls how much effect is present in sound
DDL-1
echo effect, “Digital Delay Line”
RV-7
digital reverb
RV7000
Reverb that operates in stereo and has more presets than RV7