PARASIT STUDIO Multiwave Mega User manual
MULTIWAVE MEGA
user manual
v1.0
www.parasitstudio.se
e Multiwave Mega
guitar synthesizer
Supply: 9V DC, negative center
Current draw: 56mA
1.
Index
Page 1.......................................................................
Page 2..........................................................
Page 3..................................................
Pages 4-5............................................................
Pages 6-7............................................................
Pages 8-11..........................................................
Pages 12-14........................................................
Page 15..................................................
Page 16.............................................................
Page 17..............................................
Page 18...............................
Page 19........................................................................
Page 20.................................................
Page 21.......................................................
Page 22.................................................
Page 23..................................................................
Index
Introduction
Buttons overview
Button 1
Button 2
Button 3
Button 4
Knobs overview
reshold
Sustain: footswitch
Sustain: SW MODE switch
Tips
Quirks and Bugs
Technobabble
Tiny oscilloscope
Credits
2.
Intro
e Multiwave Mega is a monophonic
wavetable-based guitar synthesizer
with an analog resonant lowpass lter
* Two oscillators with several waveshapes
* One oscillator that can be detuned
* Resonant lowpass lter with envelopes
* Sustain mode (aka “drone mode”)
* LFO’s for both the oscillators and lter
* OLED oscilloscope*
* only avaliable on the fully assembled version
KEY FEATURES
e two oscillators will be reered to here as the primary and
the secondary oscillator. When rst powering up you will only
hear the primary oscillator by default.
e secondary oscillator needs to be activated using the
Blend function - see page 6
Buttons
e Mega has four push buttons. In this manual we will
refer to them as button 1 through 4 (from le to right).
Each push button has three dierent functions
* Normal press - short press
* Long press - press and hold for at least 500ms
* Shi press - press and hold button 1 (marked “Shi”),
then press one of the other buttons
e LED will blink two times to indicate a long press,
and it will blink 3 times fast when doing a shi press.
is gives a nice visual indication of the button response.
3.
e row under the button describe the Shi press functions.
e top row describe the normal press functions.
the second row describe the long press functions.
OVERVIEW
Button 1
1/2
4.
WAVESHAPE
normal press
is will cycle through all the waveshapes
for the primary oscillator.
1. Sawtooth
2. Square
3. Pulse
4. Narrow pulse
5. Bell *
6. Sine
7. Noise **
* e “Bell” waveshape is an FM inspired shape that blends
sinewaves at dierent frequencies, to produce a bell-like sound.
** e noise is technically still a sinewave, but it starts from a
random postition within the wavetable to produce noise.
Button 1
2/2
5.
is will save the current waveshape as the waveshape for
the secondary oscillator.
See the Blend details on button 2 (page 6)
SELECT
long press
Press and hold this button, then press one of the other
buttons to activate their respective shi functions.
Shi functions are described under the buttons
on the same row as the “Shi” marking
SHIFT
Button 2
1/2
6.
DETUNE
normal press
is will detune the primary oscillator to a higher pitch.
It will toggle through 6 dierent steps. e rst step is just
slightly detuned, followed by 5 other musical intervals.
Note that only the primary oscillator will detune, so when the
blend is activated this will create a layered sounds between
the two oscillators, almost like playing chords. e rst detune
setting is just slightly out of tune so it will create a cool
phasey modulating sound.
Button 2
2/2
7.
BLEND
long press
is will activate the secondary oscillator
blended together with the primary oscillator.
e waveshape of the secondary oscillator can
be selected by doing a long press of button 1.
is way you can blend any* of the waveshapes
together using button 1 (toggle & select).
* except the noise (waveshape 7) that can only be
used with the primary oscillator.
OCTAVE
shi press
is will transpose the secondary oscillator
down one octave, so it can basically become a
"sub oscillator" to fatten up the tone.
Button 3
1/4
8.
ENVELOPE
normal press
When the VCF is activated (by doing a long press), this will
toggle through three dierent envelope shapes used to
sweep the lter cuto.
1. fast attack/slow release
2. slow attack/slow release
3. slow attack/fast release
If the VCF isn't activated, normal presses to this
button does nothing.
Button 3
2/4
9.
VCF ON
long press
is will activate the VCF = Voltage Controlled Filter.
e lter cuto is normally controlled by the "cuto/rate"
knob. But with the VCF activated, the lter is insted
controlled by an envelope that will sweep the lter cuto
automatically, just like having an invisible robot turn the
lter cuto knob for you, when hitting a note. :)
is envelope is triggered by the guitar input (by default).
For this to work, the threshold needs to be adjusted to suit the
guitar signal-strenght. - See page 15 on the threshold control.
Button 3
3/4
10.
VCF ON (cont.)
In VCF mode, the lter is normally "closed", just like turning
the cuto pot fully clockwise (full treble attenuation).
When you hit a note and the threshold LED comes on, it
will go through the attack portion of the envelope
- the lter will open up and hold it open until the signal
has dropped below the threshold (and the LED turns o
again) - then it will go through the release portion of the
envelope.
In VCF mode, the lter cuto knob now acts as a rate knob
insted. It now controls how fast it goes through the envelope.
From slow sweeps to fast wah'ish sounds.
Button 3
4/4
11.
LFO (lter)
shi press
is enables automatic repeats of the lter envelope, insted
of being triggered by the guitar signal, basically turning it
into an LFO = Low Frequency Oscillator.
e rate is controlled by the cuto/rate knob, and the same
selection of envelope shapes can still be toggled through
with normal button presses.
e lter envelope LFO and the main LFO are totally
independent, so both can be running simulaniously with
dierent rates and shapes.
Button 4
1/3
12.
LFO SHAPE
normal press
When the LFO is on (by doing a long press), normal presses
will toggle through 4 dierent waveshapes for the LFO.
1. Sinewave
2. Sawtooth
3. Ramp (inverted saw)
4. Pseudo random
When the LFO is o, normal presses to this button does
nothing.
Note that the random shape sounds alot faster than the other
LFO shapes, so turn down the rate when using it (or max the
rate to use it as a noise creator...)
Button 4
2/3
13.
LFO ON
long press
is will turn on the LFO.
is function is pretty quirky and wierd, but too fun to not
include and can create some unexpected sounds... :)
e LFO has two modes. In both modes it will respond very
dierently depending on the oscillator waveshape.
For example; for square waves it will do a clean amplitude
(volume) modulation, like a tremolo. But if the oscillator is
running a sawtooth, it will modulate the amplitude, but also
the waveshape and frequency as the amplitude goes up and
down (this is most noticable at low LFO rates).
MODE
shi press
Button 4
3/3
14.
is will change the mode of the LFO to an alternative
mode that does a more intense and harsher sounding
frequency modulation with less amplitude modulation.
One of my favourite settings is using this LFO mode together
with the random wavshape, which will create what sounds
like a random note sequencer. :)
Knobs
1/2
15.
LEVEL - controls the overall output volume
RESO - control the amout of lter resonance
CUTOFF - controls the lter cuto frequency
RATE - controls the speed of the LFO
In VCF mode the cuto knob insted becomes a rate control for
the envelope & lter LFO.
THRESHOLD
e threshold control sets the guitar signal trigger point.
is is used for both the lter envelope and the sustain
mode (see pages 10 and 17).
It needs to be adjusted so that the threshold LED (next to
the threshold pot) only lights up when you hit a note, and
turn o as soon as the note starts to decay.
Tip: Turn the pot fully clockwise (the LED will turn on) and
then turn it slowly counter-clockwise until the LED goes o.
Just around this point there's a small sweetspot that will
trigger the envelope/sustain mode) just the right way. Note
that the guitar output may be very low when playing on the
highest notes thus not triggering the threshold at all. is is
normal. Just nd a good compromise between sustain and
tracking.
Knobs
2/2
16.
Sustain
1/2
17.
e Sustain footswitch
e Multiwave Mega has a sample and hold feature that will
sustain a note forever (aka “drone Mode”). is is enabled
with the Sustain footswitch.
When the sustain mode is enabled the LED (next to the toggle
switch) will turn on.
ere are two dierent sustain modes, depending on the
position of this toggle switch.
Down position - In this mode the footswitch will hold the
note forever (basically bypassing the guitar input), until
pressed again.
Up position - In this mode the footswitch will enable
guitar signal triggered sustain. When the threshold LED
turns o, as the signal falls below the threshold, it will hold
the current note.
Sustain
2/2
18.
e SW MODE switch
For the guitar triggered sustain mode to work the reshold
needs to be set up correctly- see page 15.
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