Sunwave Paraphonic Ensemble (for VM Core)
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 9:34 pm
I wanted to create an Eminent / Solina tri-chorus ensemble using VM. I used 3 synced Super LFOs phase-shifted by 120 degrees each to generate a 'slow' chorus modulation and another 3 to generate a 'fast' modulation. This got close to the Solina sound. Be aware that it's a very fine balancing act trying to get the right combination of rate and depth settings to avoid making it sound 'churny', so I've dedicated the Perform knobs to the Ensemble unit so they can be tweaked together in one place.
Once I had the ensemble generator sussed out, I built upon it to create this 'Paraphonic Synth Constructor Kit', so that I could emulate different divide-down machines from the 1970s.
At the base is a 16-voice poly source, with each voice made up of a sawtooth oscillator, VCA and ADSR. There is a single dedicated LFO for vibrato.
The poly signal is then fed through a high-pass VCF, then a low-pass VCF, then into a voltage-controlled phaser. The phaser is made by cascading multiple all-pass filters. It is selectable from 1 to 6 phase shift stages for different characters. Positive and negative feedback is also available.
There is a single global modulation LFO which can be routed to LPF, HPF and Phaser. There is also a global ADSR which can be routed to the same destinations. Having and envelope-controlled phaser is a nice feature. I personally think this one sounds better than the Quadra phaser, but YMMV.
Finally, there is a stereo delay section.
I've had a lot of fun designing, building and refining this patch. I've always had a soft spot for paraphonic machines and this certainly scratches my itch in that department. I've provided 13 Variations to demonstrate some of its sonic potential, but I hope you have some fun tweaking it for yourselves.
YouTube demo
Once I had the ensemble generator sussed out, I built upon it to create this 'Paraphonic Synth Constructor Kit', so that I could emulate different divide-down machines from the 1970s.
At the base is a 16-voice poly source, with each voice made up of a sawtooth oscillator, VCA and ADSR. There is a single dedicated LFO for vibrato.
The poly signal is then fed through a high-pass VCF, then a low-pass VCF, then into a voltage-controlled phaser. The phaser is made by cascading multiple all-pass filters. It is selectable from 1 to 6 phase shift stages for different characters. Positive and negative feedback is also available.
There is a single global modulation LFO which can be routed to LPF, HPF and Phaser. There is also a global ADSR which can be routed to the same destinations. Having and envelope-controlled phaser is a nice feature. I personally think this one sounds better than the Quadra phaser, but YMMV.
Finally, there is a stereo delay section.
I've had a lot of fun designing, building and refining this patch. I've always had a soft spot for paraphonic machines and this certainly scratches my itch in that department. I've provided 13 Variations to demonstrate some of its sonic potential, but I hope you have some fun tweaking it for yourselves.
YouTube demo
