SY-300 - Stacker: Clean Complex Intervals/Chords with the Oscs; Needs Exp Pedal

Started by Rhcole, July 06, 2017, 11:25:44 PM

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Rhcole

This is a slight-of-hand patch, and it requires the Exp Pedal to pull it off. It has two progressive holds of Oscs 1 and 3 that trigger at different parts of the pedal's range. Closest to the heel, it holds Osc 1 so you can swell any held notes in. As you get to about 2/3 of the range, Osc 3 holds while Osc 1 remains held. Osc 2 is also active, and you can switch it in and out with the regular input using Ctl 1.

The result of this somewhat complicated Exp Pedal programming is that you can stack very complex intervals on top of one-another with perfect clarity. You need to develop the feel of your pedal but with a little practice you will find you can play material that would glitch-out on the SY-300 otherwise.

It may also inspire you to play the SY a bit differently, which could lead to creative explorations. The good news about this patch is that you could set the Oscs to many different settings and sounds.

I was inspired to program this as I have been interested in the power of the held Oscs to create stacked, clean synth sounds. I was forced to use the Exp pedal because, well I couldn't get anything usable out of Ctl 1 by itself and I no longer use Ctls 4 and 5. The secret of course is that glitches come from the pitch converters getting confused by complex intervals; when an Osc is held, it no longer listens and so it is perfectly clean when stacked with other intervals.

This is a nice and underused feature, I hope this opens up interesting possibilities for you.

lumena

looks great I will check it out over the weekend.
I recently stopped using 4/5 in favor of an expression pedal too, so I have been monkeying with the midi.
As always you are far ahead of my progress - so I am grateful that you are sharing your discoveries.

Rhcole

I worked with this some more last night. It really works! I adjusted the settings for the heel hold for Osc 1 to be a more narrow range and I changed it to a Triangle wave. I find that I can back the pedal down slightly from the toe position and re-trigger the Osc 3 holds. Obviously all of this requires careful technique but you get clean poly holds and drones.

I could imagine 20 or so patches from this approach that would all be unique and interesting.

gobi

wow, yes that's interresting! I had change a few settings to fit to my pedal, but now it's real great.
Wondering how often the "loops" will be enharmonic, in case of using more strings. Anyway, very inspiring!!! Thanks a lot.
...sorry  for my bad english, i'm from germany

ElliotG

It is a little tricky to find the sweet spot on the pedal where the first OSC is held.
I started in the heel position with a held chord, you can hear one OSC is held, the other tracks my playing, then I play the chord again and push the pedal to the toe position and 2 OSC are held, I play against the drone and then pull the pedal back to the heel as I hold a chord and fade out.

This example has CTL1 on for the clip.

mchad


Rhcole

Thanks.
It may work better if you calibrate for your own individual pedal. Small variations can make a difference.
The intention was to create several areas that you could swell in and out of with control of the holds.

ElliotG

I've done a few experiments, read all the docs, have a few ideas, and some questions.

First, as there is no calibration(that I am aware of for the exp on the SY300) I did the following test.  I set the act min/max range to (0,127); I set the target to OSC 1 AMP/Level.  This can accept a range of values from 0 to 200.  In the assigns I set the target min/max to (0,127).  I successfully see I get the full range of 0 to 127.  If I set the target min/max to (0,200) again I see the full range of values.  So it is clear the pedal is functioning correctly.

As I read the documentation:
Given an OSC hold is a switch, it turns on or off.  It is turning on or off at
("act range min+ "act range max)/2



The stacker patch had the following exp assigns:


Assign 1 range min/max (0,25) - This will turn the OSC1 hold on at 12 or higher on the expression pedal, and turn it off below 12 on the exp pedal.
Assign 2 range min/max (85,110) - this will turn the OSC3 hold on at 98 or higher on the exp pedal, and turn it off below 98.

So sweeping from heel to toe, at about 12 on the exp pedal OSC1 hold turns on,  continuing to sweep the pedal toward the toe at 98 the hold for OSC3 hold turns on.  As I move the pedal back towards the heel, as I cross 98, OSC3 hold turns off, and as I cross 12, OSC 1 hold turns off.

Is this consistent with what you hear and what you expect?

If so, think it is clearer to program the on/off points for the stacker effects so there is only a 1 unit difference between the ACT Range min/max.  Instead of programing ACT Range min,max as (0,25) program it as (12,13);  Instead of programming (85,110) program it as (97,98);  I believe this makes it clearer that this is the switch point on the pedal, and easier to tune to preference.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts... does this make sense?








Rhcole

You are overthinking a bit regarding how I programmed it. I adjusted by feel and trial and error for my pedal, a Boss EV-5. I knew what I was going for, but it was trickier getting three zones than I hoped. But, I found a feel that I liked that produced interesting and surprising results, especially if you work the pedal back and forth.

I didn't consult the manual at all.

ElliotG

Overthinking?  Perhaps  :o 
I do understand it now.  :)

A nice side effect if you move the ACT RANGE MIN and ACT RANGE MAX so the are right next to each other, you can move the switch point up by increasing the min or move the switch point lower in the sweep by decreasing the max.  This is a quick way to position the switch point.

This also makes it clear where the switch point is - so it is clear on how to align with other functions of the pedal, like the mixer adjustment as part of this patch.