Elektron Sidstation - Manual (Page 21)

SIDSTATION
Owners Manual
21
By accessing the second screen to the right you can edit the pitch wheel and portamento
settings:
The range of the pitchbend wheel is controlled by the PB parameter. This parameter gives the
interval of the wheel. If the PB parameter is set to 12 then the pitch can be varied from –12 to
+12 semitones by the pitchbend. The maximal pitchbend range is –24 to +24 semitones.
Portamento controls the sliding between two consecutive notes played. A slow portamento
speed gives the effect of a slow pitch-bend up to (or down to) the next note. The portamento
speed is controlled by the Port parameter. The portamento of the SidStation is the same that
can be found on for example the TB-303, e.g. it uses the same amount of time to slide between
any two notes.
The fine tune is controlled by the Detune parameter. Detune is useful when the oscillators are
“too much in phase” with each other and the result sound dull. To avoid this and make the
sound more alive, detune one or two oscillators a bit. The interval is –63 to +64. The maximum
settings moves the pitch one half note higher or lower.
Vibrato (Vib)
Vibrato is used to give the sound a bit more “expression”. This can be explained by listening to a
violinist playing. On some notes he or she vibrates the tone so that some more “feeling” is
introduced. In SidStation we do this by using the vibrato settings. Using more extreme vibrato-
settings crazy video game sounds can easily be done.
First you have to select which LFO of the four available in SidStation that will generate the
vibrato modulation. The LFO parameter selects this. Please see the “Low Frequency Oscillator”
section for more information on the LFO in SidStation.
The Dpth parameter controls the depth of the vibrato. The range is 0-127.
The WhDpth parameter sets the amount of which the modulation wheel should add to the Dpth
value. The range is 0-127.
Waveform table (Tabl)
A waveform table is a concept unknown to most people unknown of music creation techniques
of the Commodore 64. It is a bit similar to what is used in the Wave-synthesizers by Waldorf, but
with the SID it is usually not used to do sweet sweeping pads. SID tables are often harsh
transitions for dramatic effects. The difference from "wave sequences" known from the Korg
Wavestation, is that the SidStation tables are usually played through much quicker to create
percussive effects. Or, it can be used at a lower speed as a conceptual sequencer, with control
over waveform, synchronisation, ringmodulation notenumber (transpose). Viewed on the whole,
it sounds very different from what is known from other synthesizers.
If you’ve searched for the secret on how to do those Rob Hubbard effects from classic
Commodore C64 games like Commando or Delta, or how the cool drums of SID-songs are
made - tables are the answer. It takes some practice to master the technique, but the results
can be radical.