Artisan Electronic Instruments Ottava User manual

Ottava User’s Manual
Analog Hybrid Performance Synthesizer
Artisan Electronic Instruments© 2016
All Rights Reserved
www. ArtisanElectronicInstruments.com

Contents
Your Ottava Performance Analog-Hybrid Synthesizer ................................................................... 3
Right Up Front................................................................................................................................. 4
Ottava’s Voice ................................................................................................................................. 6
Sources............................................................................................................................................ 7
Oscillators.................................................................................................................................... 8
AXoR Function........................................................................................................................... 10
Noise Source ............................................................................................................................. 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

Your Ottava Performance Analog-Hybrid Synthesizer
So you just un-boxed your Ottava.. nice feeling isn’t it? If you are like me, you just want to get
playing... Well that’s easy, let’s do it!
Plug in the adapter
Turn on the switch
Hit the Trig button (it’s the upper button on the far right side of the front panel)
Woah!
So what just happened? Ottava, when powered up, automatically loads the patch assigned to
quick-patch button #1. The Trigger button acts like 1/12th octave keyboard and plays a note
just as if a MIDI keyboard was attached. (You can change this note and this initial patch it you
want… we’ll get into that later.)
If you love this sound as much as we do, just plug in a MIDI keyboard or 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 modulation routing
Then we go into detail on each section of the synthesizer
The next section will go into detail on how to assign modulation and make new
modulations using the Modifiers
Then we will go through the other menus and describe how to save and play patches,
update software, apply tuning, get to “secret” parameters and setup the MIDI
functionality.
Finally, we have the obligatory specification page. He, we’re proud of this thing and we
love to show off its dimensions and power.

Right Up Front
Ottava has 25 knobs and 15 push buttons for direct control of most functions. Very little menu
diving is required to setup a patch… wouldn’t be a performance synthesizer if it did, right? But
we did need to keep this thing compact while providing so much under the hood…
…So several knobs are used to control different banks. These banks are selected by the Source
and Modulation Select buttons and indicated by the corresponding LEDs.
Let’s just take a look; this is the Atomic version, but 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 the sub oscillators, engage the hard sync and choose the AXoR functions.
Pitch and shape modulation sources and amounts are directly accessible. The Noise Source can
Source Selector
Modulation Selector
Data Section
Source Section
Tone Section
Modulation Section
External Pedal/CV IN
MIDI I/O & Audio Out

be brought in and has both pitch and level modulation. All this is mixed and sent to the next
stage…the filter.
The Tone Section contains the controls for the 4 pole cascade low pass filter. This 24db filter
starts with an over-drivable asymmetric soft clip distortion stage and mixes in the feedback to
create smooth to sharp singing resonance. In addition to the adjustable key-tracking, there are
2 selectable cut-off modulation sources and amount controls for a wide range of harmonic play.
The tone section ends in a classic VCA also with 2 modulation sources and amount controls.
The final section provides direct control of 4 six-stage envelope generators and 4 eight-
waveshape LFOs. Envelope 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 Ottava to play on its own. A simple way sample the sound or to use
Ottava as a drone box.
TIP: To read the present value of a sound parameter without changing the value, press and
hold the Green button and then slightly rotate a knob that you are interested in and the
present value will be displayed on the OELD, unchanged.
By the way, the power switch is on the top panel, just to the right of the Audio Out ¼” jack… Of
course you know that, but just thought we should say that somewhere in this manual.

Ottava’s Voice
All those knobs and buttons and LEDs on the Front Panel exist for one basic purpose, accessing
the sound engine under the cover. Without this, Ottava would just be a cool looking MIDI
controller. Thank goodness there is that second PCB.
Behold!
On the left, you can follow the analog signal path from dual VCO, subs, Noise 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 destination inputs
simultaneously. Why have modulation matrix limits?
Any every setting and routing can be recorded in a patch. Nice.

Sources
The harmonic character of a sound starts with the oscillators, so Ottava was designed to
provide a wide range of control and capabilities in its stable oscillators without sacrificing the
warmth and feel that can only be derived from a discrete analog design.
There are two “nearly” identical analog oscillators in Ottava. The waveform generation starts
from a classic Ramp-core, from which Triangle and Pulse waveforms are derived. The sub-
oscillator is also driven from this core. After generation, all 4 waveforms are sent through the
digitally controlled analog mixer.
The Shape Modulation morphs a Ramp, into Blade and Triangle waveshapes and the Pulse
Width Modulation produces 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 Oscillator 1.
It’s hard to describe the unique sound this produces and small variations of pitch offset can
create wide ranges of tone.
Waveshape
Modulation
Amount
Select Pitch Modulator
Hard Sync Button
Hard Sync Indicator
Section
Sub Oscillator Shape,
Octave and Level
Pitch Semitones
Selector
Pitch Modulation Amount
Section
Pitch Cents
Section
Glide Rate
Section
Waveshape: Saw to
Triangle and PWM
Select
Waveshape
Modulator
Button
Osc 1, 2 AXoR, Noise indicator
Wave Level
Levelection

Last but definitely not least is the AXoR oscillator combining, wave mangling advanced logic ring
modulator. This takes both oscillators and both sub-oscillators and generates 17 different wave
functions producing mild bell-tones to wild thrash.
Wait, how could we forget the Noise Source? This is no ordinary noise generator. It has both
independent Color and Amplitude modulation capabilities. This guy can create everything from
a pulsing breathy flute character to deep rumbling explosions.
So in the end, there are 10 sound sources running into the mixer and feeding that filter. 10!
Oscillators
The Oscillators are true VCOs, voltage controlled saw-core frequency discrete 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 oscillators that give rise and credence to the OTTAVA name.*
The Waveshape knob morphs the core waveshape from Saw through blade through Triangle
waves continuously. Shape modulation directly effects this morphing and can add subtle
texture to the sound.
Beyond the half-way 12 o’clock point, the Waveshape knob waveform changes to Square wave
and the position of the waveshape knob controls Pulse Width. Shape modulation now provides
that classic and wonderful PWM* sound.

* PWM modulation can change the shape from 0% to 100% pulse width. 0% and 100% are
actually useful... it is a neat trick to remove an oscillator from the mix dynamically
The Wave level knob controls the mix level of the fundamental waveshape.
The Sub-Oscillator shape control knob combines functions; Sub-Level, Sub Octave and Sub
Shape. Thus the knob has 4 sections;
One octave 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 pulse from the edge of Oscillator 1 and resets the Saw-core generator
of Oscillator 2. Normally, you would then take Osc1 out of the mix and listen to Osc 2 as that is

where all the fun is happening. To turn on Hard Sync, just press the button and the LED will
light up, telling you its on.
This is what Hard Sync looks like.
Osc 1
Osc 2
Result
You can see that the result has one more peak and that the Osc 2 waveform (what the
waveform would have been if not for the Hard Sync) was “cut short” in two places because of
the reset by Osc 1. The result contains new harmonics and a new fundamental pitch… can be
quite dynamic. Small changes to Osc 1 or 2 frequencies can create large harmonic changes.
There are 2 knobs to control fundamental 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 it shows. Most ring modulators take in 2 sources, the AXoR takes in 4. The PWM
from each Oscillator and the two Sub-oscillators. It then allows 3 types of Waveform
Transforms, 2 of which have 8 sub-functions.
The three transforms are
Bells (Combines the 2 oscillator’s PWM waveforms)
Clanks (Combines the 2 Sub-oscillator’s waveforms)
Thrash! (Combines all 4 waveforms!)