u-he Bazille User manual

Modular PD & FM Synthesizer
user guide
version 1.1.1
19. Nov 2020
u-he • Heckmann Audio GmbH • BERLIN

Introduction 4
Installation 4...........................................................
Resources 5...........................................................
Synth Overview 6...................................................
GUI Components 7................................................
MIDI Specialities 8.................................................
The Control Bar 9...................................................
Multicore / HQ 10...................................................
Oscilloscope 10......................................................
Patch Browser 11
Overview 11...........................................................
Directory Panel 12.................................................
Presets Panel 14....................................................
Patch Info 15..........................................................
Drag & Drop Functions 16.....................................
Tagging 17.............................................................
Search Functions 18..............................................
Oscillators 20
Pitch 21..................................................................
Phase / FM 22........................................................
Phase Distortion 23................................................
Fractal Resonance 24............................................
Outputs 24.............................................................
LFOs 25
Filters 27
Envelopes 29
Outputs 30
Processors 31
MIDI & More 32
Noise 32.................................................................
MIDI Control Sources 32........................................
Internal Control Sources 33...................................
CV Inputs 33..........................................................
Multiplex 34

Modulation Sequencer 36
Divide, Time and Trigger 36...................................
Snapshot Dial / Rotate 37......................................
Snapshot Values 38...............................................
How to Trigger Envelopes 39.................................
Tweaks & FX 40
Overview 40...........................................................
Voice 41.................................................................
Pitch 42..................................................................
Glide 42..................................................................
Stack Voice Tuning 43...........................................
Microtuning 43.......................................................
Mapping Generators 44.........................................
Envelope Extras 46................................................
Filters 3 and 4 47...................................................
Ramp Generators 47.............................................
Effects 48
FX Control 48.........................................................
Distortion 48...........................................................
Delay 50.................................................................
Phaser 51...............................................................
Spring Reverb 52...................................................
Configuration 53
MIDI Learn 53........................................................
MIDI Table 54.........................................................
Preferences 55.......................................................
Tips & Tricks 57
General Tips 57......................................................
Oscillator Tricks 58.................................................
LFO Tricks 60.........................................................
Filter Tricks 60........................................................
Stacking Tricks 61..................................................
Mapping Tricks 62..................................................
Processor Tricks 62...............................................
Multiplex Tricks 63.................................................
Sequencer Tricks 64..............................................
Envelope Tricks 65.................................................
FX Tricks 65...........................................................

TOC INTRODUCTION
Introduction
To follow this user guide it helps if you already know a thing or two about patching modular synths,
as well as the basics of FM and PD (phase distortion) synthesis. If you have any questions that an
Internet search can’t answer, please feel free to post a message in our user forum at KVR!
Installation
Go to the Bazille product page at u-he.com, download the appropriate installer for your computer
and unzip the compressed file. Open the Bazille folder and start the installer app.
The only demo restriction is a mild crackling that occurs at irregular intervals after about two
minutes of use. The demo is otherwise fully functional. Those crackles disappear after you have
entered a serial number. For more information, refer to the ReadMe file included with the installer.
CPU usage and audio quality
As a polyphonic modular synth, Bazille can be quite CPU-hungry! Monophonic operation without
voice stacking should be fine, even on older computers. Activating Multicore, which distributes
voices evenly across all available CPU cores, can help maximize the number of playable voices.
Note: Due to inherent technical limitations of the synthesis method, Bazille’s PD-based oscillators
are prone to aliasing. If you have Bazille installed on a high-performance system you should try
activating the HQ (higher quality) option.
Better Bazille
Early Bazille adopters should notice some improvements in this version, especially the powerful
new preset browser. The minor fixes include much better envelope LFO-triggering. Although this
particular fix affects some old patches, we feel that it was worth implementing – especially in such
a “geek machine” as Bazille! See the explanation in the Tips & Tricks chapter.
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TOC INTRODUCTION
Resources
File locations (default)
Win
patches (local) C:\Users\YOU\Documents\u-he\Bazille.data\Presets\Bazille\
patches (user) C:\Users\YOU\Documents\u-he\Bazille.data\UserPresets\Bazille\
preferences C:\Users\YOU\Documents\u-he\Bazille.data\Support\ (*.txt files)
microtuning C:\Users\YOU\Documents\u-he\Bazille.data\Tunefiles\
alternative skins C:\Users\YOU\Documents\u-he\Bazille.data\Support\Themes\
Paths containing non-standard characters are not supported. If a previous installation into the
VstPlugins folder did not cause file permissions problems, you can safely reinstall there.
Mac
patches (local) Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Presets/u-he/Bazille/
patches (user) Macintosh HD/Users/YOU/Library/Audio/Presets/u-he/Bazille/
preferences Macintosh HD/Users/YOU/Library/Application Support/u-he/com.u-he.Bazille...
microtuning Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/u-he/Tunefiles/
alternative skins Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/u-he/Themes/
Online resources
•For downloads, news articles and support, go to the u-he website
•For lively discussions about u-he products, go to the u-he forum
•For friendship and informal news, go to the u-he facebook page
•For video tutorials and more, go to our youtube channel
•For soundsets and bundles, go to u-he soundsets
•For 3rd party presets, go to Patchlb
Team 2020 (Q4)
•Urs Heckmann (big concepts, big code)
•Jayney Klimek (office management)
•Howard Scarr (user guides, presets, grump)
•Rob Clifton-Harvey (IT admin, backend development)
•Sebastian Greger (GUI design, 3D stuff)
•Jan Storm (framework, code)
•Alexandre Bique (all things Linux)
•Oddvar Manlig (business development)
•Viktor Weimer (support, presets, the voice)
•Thomas Binek (QA, bug-hunting, presets)
•Henna Gramentz (office supervision, support)
•Frank Hoffmann (framework, browser)
•Alf Klimek (rock-star vocals, studio)
•Sebastian Hübert (media, synthwave)
•David Schornsheim (more code)
•Stephan Eckes (yet more code)
Special thanks
•Clemens Heppner, Thomas Helzle and Fritz Hildebrandt for help during early development
•Everyone who contributed presets!
•Brian Rzycki for maintaining the original patch library
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TOC INTRODUCTION
Synth Overview
Click on the SYNTH tab at the top left. This arrangement of modules was designed to minimize the
lengths of patch cords required for two independent layers of 2 oscillators →filter →output:
Basic synthesis panels in the SYNTH window
Basic synthesis panels
In the centre below the data display and oscilloscope are the output and main filter panels. On
either side are four audio oscillators, flanked by two LFOs (low frequency oscillators). Beneath
the oscillators are the four envelope generators.
Signal processor and modulation panels
Beneath each LFO is an unlabeled panel containing the following signal processors:
•1 x sample & hold (left panel only)
•1 x quantizer (right panel only)
•4 x lag processors (in pairs, with shared attack and release times)
•2 x inverters, 2 x rectifiers
At the bottom left is a panel called MIDI & MORE containing several modulation sources (wheels,
key velocity etc.) plus two noise sources.
Although most of the patching is achieved with virtual cables, several parameters have a fixed set
of modulation sources which are available in drop-down menus (see Selectors on the next page).
That’s where the pair of CV (control voltage) inputs come into play: Anything you plug into a CV
socket can be used to modulate the LFOs, envelopes, mapping generators or filters 3 & 4.
The MULTIPLEX panel bottom centre contains four identical ‘multiplex’ units. Unlike the standard
‘multiples’ in analogue modular synths, these can be used as mixers, ring modulators, amplitude
modulators and more. Owners of Bazille’s little cousin ACE should be in familiar territory here!
At the bottom right is the MODULATION SEQUENCER with which you can morph or step through
up to 8 snapshots of 16 steps each, splittable via the 4 outputs (“taps”).
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TOC INTRODUCTION
GUI Components
This section is an introduction to the basic components of Bazille’s user interface.
Knobs and sliders
There are two types of controls: unipolar
and bipolar. Unipolar knobs and sliders only
allow positive values, while the bipolar
knobs and sliders allow negative values,
often within a range of -100 to +100.
The image above shows the two oscillator tuning controls – the Tune
knob is clearly unipolar and the Modify knob is bipolar. Envelope sliders
are unipolar (despite the central line), while sequencer sliders are bipolar.
All knobs and sliders allow the following methods of adjustment:
•Coarse control: Click+hold with the left mouse button, then drag up and down.
•Fine control: For 0.01 steps, hold down one of the SHIFT keys beforehand.
•Mouse wheel: If your mouse has a scroll wheel you can hover over the knob/slider and roll
the wheel. For fine control hold SHIFT at any time. If your mouse wheel is rastered (it has
subtle ‘clicks’), go into the Preferences and switch on the Mouse Wheel Raster option.
•Reset to default value: Double-clicking a knob reverts to a useful default value, often zero.
Selectors
The orange-on-black text fields contain a list of options. Note that
some of them also serve as labels for the accompanying knob.
Click on a selector to open the list, or roll your mouse wheel to scroll
through the options.
Sockets and cables
Bazille’s modules are connected together (‘patched’) using virtual cables. The
sockets are colour-coded: inputs are grey while outputs are red .
To make a connection, drag and drop between an output socket and an input
socket (either direction will work). Outputs will happily accommodate several
cables, while inputs accept just one (any existing connection is replaced).
As a rule you can’t connect two inputs together, but there’s one exception: Dragging a cable
from an unused input to one that is already in use creates a ‘daisy-chain’. The source will be
patched to both inputs. Try it!
By clicking on active sockets, you can…
•move inputs: drag+drop the input end to a different input socket.
•duplicate cables: shift+drag the input end to create another cable from the same output.
•move outputs: right-click on the output end, drag+drop onto a different output.
•remove cables: either double-click the input end, or drag+drop away from the socket.
•change cable colour: click on the input end of the cable until it appears in the desired
colour. If you double-click by mistake (removes the cable), click on the UNDO button.
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TOC INTRODUCTION
Parameter locking
Right-clicking on any knob, slider or selector lets you ‘Lock’ that parameter. You can
still adjust the value, but it won’t change when you switch presets. To unlock
again, right-click and untick ‘Locked’.
While individual parameter locking is great for keeping the Microtuning or Fine tuning fixed while
changing presets, it is less suitable for sequencer values, for instance, as locking them all would
mean working with 8 x 16 = 128 locks! Future versions of Bazille might include panel locking.
GUI size and skin
Right-clicking anywhere in the background opens a context menu containing the user interface
size options as percentage and width x height in pixels.
The menu also lets you choose between at least two alternative interface designs (‘skins’). The
‘GearPorn’ option shows all synthesis parameters on a single page - try it! However, this user
guide was written assuming that you are using the ‘Original’ skin. Both these settings are
temporary. For permanent settings, see the Preferences page.
Computer keyboard
The following modifier keys are used in the mapping generators and the patch browser:
MIDI Specialities
Multichannel MIDI
This feature supports a growing class of expressive ‘performance’ instruments (e.g. Haken
Continuum, Eigenharp, Roli Seaboard, Linnstrument, Osmose) that can send each note via a
separate MIDI channel. For Bazille to respond correctly, your host must be able to route multiple
MIDI channels to a single instance of a plug-in. Each voice/note will then react individually to the
performance controls pitch bend, Channel Pressure (aftertouch), Modulation (MIDI CC #01),
Control A (MIDI CC #02 by default) and Control B (MIDI CC #11 by default). See About MIDI CC
in the Configuration chapter.
While multichannel MIDI is received the voice modes Poly, Mono and Legato are practically
identical. In each case Bazille behaves like several (up to 16) mono synths set to the same
sound. However, the maximum number of Voices setting (TWEAKS panel) still applies as voices
can still be ‘stolen’ across multiple channels. Note: The Duo mode is not channel-aware i.e.
MIDI channels are merged.
Single trigger modulation sources (e.g. LFOs with the Phase mode set to ‘single’) listen to the
channel of the first voice being played. Caveat: Implementing single triggers in a multichannel
environment is rather tricky – we might have to spend some more time on this feature.
Poly pressure (polyphonic aftertouch)
As well as the more common channel aftertouch, Bazille recognizes and reacts appropriately
to polyphonic aftertouch – each note (e.g. within a chord) will receive separate aftertouch data.
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Mac / macOS
PC / Windows
shift = shift, ⇧
shift = shift, ⇧
opt = option, ⌥, alt, alternate
ctrl = control
cmd = command, ⌘, apple…
alt = alternate

TOC INTRODUCTION
The Control Bar
Along the top is a bar containing page switches, the data display plus a few global elements:
Page switches
SYNTH patching, all basic parameters....................
TWEAKS & FX filters 3 and 4, maps, extra envelope settings, global settings, effects...........
PATCHES the preset browser / librarian................
Data display
The Data Display normally shows the name of the current patch. Clicking on the triangles to the
left and right steps through patches. Clicking on the patch name lets you select a patch in the
current directory. Since version 1.1.1 you can even load a preset by dragging it from your
desktop (or any system window) onto the data display. While editing a patch it shows the
parameter name and value for a few seconds before reverting to the patch name.
New feature: If you drag a Bazille preset from elsewhere (e.g. your desktop) and drop it onto the
data display, that preset will be loaded but not automatically saved anywhere. See Drag & Drop.
Initialize
To load a simple template, right-click on the data display and select init (initialize). If you want to
start from scratch every time you open an instance of Bazille, save this under the name default
into the Local root directory.
Undo / Redo
Use the UNDO / REDO arrows to fix recent mistakes. Although the number
of undo steps is limited to 10, you can even undo a change of preset: So
switching presets before saving doesn’t mean losing your work!
Save
Stores the preset into either the currently selected folder or the User folder, depending on the
Save Presets To setting (see Preferences). To select a different folder, click on PATCHES and
navigate in the directory. Then click on [Save], give your preset a suitable name and enter any
details you would like to appear in the INFO area of the browser. Please avoid using the
following characters: (\ / ? % * : " > < =).
Right-clicking on [Save] opens a menu with a choice of file formats. h2p is our standard cross-
platform format, while h2p extended includes extra readable information. The native option is
the standard format of your system (.fxp for VST and AAX, .aupreset for Audio Units).
MIDI
To the left of this label is an indicator which flashes whenever MIDI data is received.
Output
The main volume control and signal / overload indicator (turns red if you overload the output).
Revision number
Please quote this number when you report any trouble to our support.
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TOC INTRODUCTION
The u-he badge
Clicking on the [u-he] logo opens a menu containing links to this user
guide, to the Bazille documents folder, to our homepage, to our support
forum as well as to our presence in various social networks (Twitter,
Facebook, YouTube).
At the bottom of the u-he badge menu is the entry Install Soundset… Unless you are running
Linux, you should not need this – see Installing soundsets.
Multicore / HQ
To the left of the oscilloscope are two switches:
Multicore causes voices to be distributed across multiple CPU cores, which usually allows more
voices to be played simultaneously. This works well on recent processors such as the Intel i5 and
i7, but performance can even be reduced if your CPU is older. Note: Some hosts have their own
multicore support, and activating both can lead to poorer performance. In such cases, please
switch either Bazille’s or the host's multicore option off.
HQ switches various algorithms over to higher quality versions, but this comes at the cost of much
higher CPU usage. The two options as they appear in the data display are called ‘Good’ and ‘High’
– the former is almost always good enough, there’s no need to waste CPU for little or no gain.
These two elements are in the oscilloscope panel because there wasn’t enough room for them in
the control bar (where they arguably belong).
Oscilloscope
Oscilloscopes were always useful tools for synthesizer sound design, and that’s reason enough to
include one in Bazille. You can check and adjust waveforms, monitor the effects of audio-rate
modulation or filtering, view envelope shapes etc.. Or watch it purely for entertainment!
The oscilloscope shows a mono sum of both outputs, pre-effects. The trigger is synchronized to
MIDI notes as well as to zero-crossings, and is also updated whenever a longer scan is completed.
As synchronization is automatic, Bazille’s oscilloscope requires very few controls: The Frequency
knob adjusts horizontal resolution while Scale adjusts vertical resolution. Perfect synchronization is
not always possible, so try playing a different key.
eco, fast, glow, fire, wind
A right-click in the oscilloscope window lets you switch the style: glow, fire and wind add different
fade-out effects at the cost of some extra CPU. These modes are also a bit more sluggish than eco
or fast. To minimize CPU-usage, choose the eco option.
This setting is temporary. To make it permanent, change the ‘Oscilloscope’ option in Preferences.
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