INSTRUMENTS / GENERATORS

Toxic Biohazard - Oscillators

Oscillators

Oscillators are the basic source of sound in a synthesizer. Toxic Biohazard contains 6 Oscillators (or Operators as they are called on FM synthesizers), each with identical controls and functions.

Oscillator controls

  • Turning an oscillator on: To activate an oscillator, click your mouse pointer on the window that appears under the waveform name. When activated, the oscillator's chosen waveform and name will be displayed in the oscillator display window.
  • Choosing a waveform: To bring up the waveform selection menu for each oscillator, click your mouse pointer on the waveform's title (i.e. Sine) and choose a waveform from the list. If Custom is selected, a file browser will be opened, requiring you to select the desired waveform in .wav format.
  • PITCH: The pitch control adjusts its respective oscillators course tuning within a range of -99 to +99 semitones. To increase the pitch, click-and-drag your mouse pointer upwards, while hovering over the Pitch window. The same action, in the opposite direction, will decrease the value into the negative numbers.
  • DETUNE: This control, located underneath the Pitch Window, allows you to adjust the fine-tuning of each oscillator within a range of -99 to 99. To increase the value, hover over the Detune Window, then click-and-drag your mouse pointer upwards.
  • FREQ OFFSET: This knob determines the frequency offset of the chosen oscillator. To increase its value, click-and-drag your mouse pointer upwards while hovering over the knob.
  • PHASE: Use to adjust the chosen oscillator's phase, from 0 to 360 degrees. To increase its value, click-and-drag your mouse pointer upwards while hovering over the knob.
  • FREE: This button determines whether the chosen oscillator is key-synced or free-running. In its default OFF stage, the button will appear gray in color, and the oscillator will be key-synced. When ON this button emits a yellow glow indicating that the oscillator is free-running.
  • VEL: The 'Velocity' slider determines how sensitive the specific oscillator will be to velocity MIDI CC's. To increase its value, click-and-drag your mouse pointer upwards while hovering over the slider. Drag down to decrease its value.
  • INIT: The 'Initial' slider determines the initial value the Attack stage of the envelope generator starts from. Values can be increased in range from 0 to 100%.  To increase its value, click-and-drag your mouse pointer upwards while hovering over the slider. The opposite action is taken to decrease its value.
  • ADSR envelope: Each oscillator has 4 controls that affect the amplitude of the chosen oscillator. ATK: Attack determines how quickly the oscillator fades in, DEC: Decay determines how long the oscillator takes to reach the sustain point, SUS: Sustain determines the hold level at the end of the decay. The level is held until the note is released and REL: Release, the rate at which the note fades after the the key release.