Olga Manual

7/23/2019 Olga Manual

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USERMANUAL

V1


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OLGAisavirtualanalogsynthesizerunlikeanyother,designedfromfirstprinciplestobedistinctive.

Duringthegoldeneraofanalogsynthesis,manybreedscameandwent. Somewerepopular,somewere

instantlyforgotten,somebecameclassics. Onerarebreeddoesn'tfitintoanyeasycategory: handmade

experimentsfromunexpectedplaces,synthsthatwerefilledwithlifeandcharacter.Theyencourage

experimentationandexploration,andrewardyouwithunexpectedandexcitingsounds,vibrantand

human. Thesearethedustygemsyoucouldspendyourwholelifesearchingfor. ThisisOLGA.

OLGA's

architecture

is

that

of

a

classic

analog

poly-synth,

but

without

the

neurotic

conformity.

Approach

withasenseofadventure;turnknobs,pushbuttons,play. Olgawillrespondtoyourattentionsandyouwilldiscovernewsounds;youwilldiscoverinspiration;youwilldiscoveraduck.

OLGAsunique,livingsoundisderivedfromgroundbreakingsignalprocessingadvances,notfromthesameoldrecycledcodedressedupinchildishmarketingacronyms. It'sjustcoincidencethatthisnew

technology

happens

to

spell

out

...

BezierAntialiasedDynamicAnalogSynthesisSystem

AtrulynewapproachtoDSPwaveformgenerationfortheemulationofgloriousanalogimperfection.

OLGAsfreerunningoscillatorsareinaconstantstateofunstablevariation.Nomerepitchdriftbuta

subtleanddeeplymusicalinstabilityinthegenerationofthewaveformsthemselves,freeofaliasing

artifactsandlightonyourCPU.

GaussianReactiveOscillatorOverdriveVirtualEngineSometimesthejoyofananalogsynthesizercomesfromabusingit,pushinginternallevelsbeyondtheir

intendedlimitsinsearchofthosecherishednonlinearities.ThroughoutOLGAssignalpathlevelscanbepushedthroughsaturationandintofulloverdrive,spreadingasoundpaletteofwarmthandcharacter

throughtofilth,driveandpower.

WhytheRussian?Therightkindoflimitationscanbesurprisinglyliberating,eveninspiring. Mostpeople

"program"asynthbypickingapresetand,maybe,turningthecutoffknobabit. Wewantedtodesignaninstrumentthatwouldinvitemorecreativeplay,andcreateanenvironmentwhereyouwillturnaknobyou'dneverthinktoturnifyouthoughtyouknewhowitwouldaffectthesound. Olgaismeanttobe

approached

in

a

spirit

of

playful

experimentation

and

exploration,

and

our

hope

is

that

she

will

reward

your

senseofadventure.

Ofcourse,eventhebestadventuresbenefitfromamaptofindyourwayhome,soifyoufindwhereWhite

TieishidingonOlga,youcanalsofindsomeremediallanguagehelp.Havefun!


3/16

CONTENTS

SECTION1SynthesisControls

1.1Oscillators.................................. 4

1.2Filters...........................................51.3Amplifier.....................................71.4SyncRetrig................................ 81.5LFO2 ............................................81.6Effects......................................... 91.7Voice ............................................10

1.8

Performer's

Controls.............. 11

SECTION2UsingOlga

2.1Mouse&DirectInput............. 122.2TheKeyboard ............................ 122.3InterfaceSizing ........................ 122.4MIDICCs .....................................13

SECTION3Miscellaneous

3.1FAQ.............................................. 14

3.2

BADASS

&

GROOVE............... 15


4/16

1

Semitone

Tune

For

coarse

tuning

of

the

oscillator,fromanoctaveuptoanoctavedown,in

semitones.

2ShapeThemostfundamentalcontrolofthe

oscillator,choosingwhethertoproduceasquareor

atriangularwaveform.

3ShapeWidthFullyvariablemodificationofthe

characterofthewaveformselectedbycontrol2,

fromsawtotriangle,orthinpulsetosquare.

4ShapeWidthModulationbyLFO1Theactof

changingtheshapewidthwhileplayingcancreate

manyrichsounds,buthavingtoturntheknob

yourselfwillgetboringveryquickly...thiscontrol

tellsLFO1todoitforyou,byavariableamount.

TIPTrysettingtheShapetosquare,ShapeWidth

tohalfandLFO1toamoderatespeed.Thenraise

thisknobfortheclassicPWMeffectattheheartof

many

great

string

sounds.

5LFO1LowFrequencyOscillator1generatesa

triangularcontrolsignal.Aswehavejustseen,it

can

be

used

to

vary

the

Shape

Width

of

Oscillator

1,itcanalsovarythefinetuneofOscillator2and

/orvarythecutofffrequencyofthefilter.Thisknob

controlsitsspeed.

6OscillatorLevelAdjuststhelevelatwhichthis

oscillatorissummedwiththeotherandpassedon

tothefiltertobeusedinyoursound.

TIPTheoscillatorlevelissimilartotheinputgain

knobonaguitaramplifier,notjustavolume

control,andsocanbeusedtointroducepleasing

non-linearitiestoyoursoundbyoverdrivingthe

summingamplifier.Ifyou'relookingforaclean

sound,keepitquitelowandcompensateforthe

reducedvolumeusingOlga'soutputknob.(p7)

7FineTuneOscillator2canbedetunedagainst

Oscillator1usingthisslider,forathickand

complexsoundthatcanbefurtherenhanced

using...

8FineTuneModulationbyLFO1sweepsthefine

tuningofOscillator2withLFO1,byavariable

amountdeterminedbythisknob.

OSCILLATORS.1

fig1.1a

Oscillator1

fig1.1b

Oscillator2


5/16

Olga'sfilterisasophisticatedemulationofa4-pole

analogladderfilter,offeringLowPassorachoice

oftwowidthsofBandPass,allwithresonance. A

separateHighPassfilterfollowsthemainfilterto

allowlowfrequenciestobetrimmedaway.

Thecutofffrequencyofthefiltercanbevariedby

LFO1and/oritsowndedicatedenvelope.

THEFILTERENVELOPE

1HoldAvariabledelaybetweenakeybeing

pressedandtheenvelopestartingtoopen.

2AttackThelevelofthecontrolsignalrisesfrom

zero

to

full

over

a

time

period

determined

with

this

slider.

3DecayAftertheAttacktimeiscompletedthe

controlsignalfallsfromfulltothesustainlevel(see

slider4)overatimeperioddeterminedwiththis

slider.

4SustainAftertheAttackandDecaytimesare

completed,thecontrolsignaloutputsatthelevel

determinedwiththisslider.Thislevelishelduntil

theendoftime,orthekeyisreleased,whichever

comesfirst.Atthatpoint,theenvelopeentersits

final

phase...

5ReleaseThelevelofthecontrolsignalfallsfrom

thesustainleveltozerooveratimeperiod

determinedwiththisslider.

TIPToexperimentwiththefilterenvelope,

adjustingafewothercontrolstothefollowing

settingsmaybeuseful:TheCutoffModulation

Source(p6)tofullyup,theCutoffModulationto

full,

Cutoff

to

zero,

The

Velocity

to

Filter

Envelope

Scalingtozero(p11)andtheAmpEnvelope(p7)to

zeroAttack,zeroDecay,fullSustainandfull

Release.

FILTERS2

fig1.2a

FilterEnvelope

fig1.2b

Stagesofthe

FilterEnvelope


6/16

WARNINGOlga'sresonancecontrolisliveammunition.Likeatrueanalogladder

filter,theresonancewillfeedback,self-oscillate,andgenerallytakeonalifeofitsown

when

the

knob

is

at

higher

levels.

Although

Olga

has

automatic

brickwall

limiting

at

-0.1dB,pleasetakecarewhenquicklyraisingtheresonancecontrol,ifyouvalueyour

delicateaudioperceptionsofttissues.

fig1.2c

Filters

THE

FILTERS

6CutoffModulationSourceAspreviously

mentioned,thecutofffrequencyofthefiltercanbe

variedbyLFO1andthefilterenvelope.Thisslideris

usedtodeterminewhatproportionofthesetwo

sourcesisused;whenthesliderisallthewayup,

onlytheenvelopeisusedtovarythecutoff

frequency;whenthesliderisallthewaydown,only

LFO1isused.

7CutoffModulationAmountThecontrolsource

chosenwithslider6willvarythecutoffbythe

amountchosenwiththisknob.Ifitissettozero,

neithertheenvelopenorLFO1willhaveanyeffect

onthesound.

8FilterTypeOlga'spowerfulnon-linearfiltercan

operateinthreemodes:LowPass,whichremoves

frequenciesabovethecutoff,andachoiceoftwo

widthsofBandPass,whichremovefrequencies

aboveandbelowthecutoff.

9ResonanceFocusesthefilter'senergytightlyat

thecutofffrequency(seeWarning,below).

10

Cutoff

The

key

frequency

at

which

the

filter

operates.

11HighPassFilterThisknobsetsthefrequency

belowwhichthededicatedHighPassfiltertrims

awaylowfrequencies.Olga'smainfiltercan

generateconsiderablesub-harmonicfrequencies,

whichcanberemovedhere,oritcanbeusedto

removeunneededmid-rangefrequenciesfrom

brightsounds.

TIPIfthefilterisnotbehavingasexpected,check

thesettingsoftheKeytoFilterTrackingknob.(p11)

TIPThefilterhasagreatmanyusesbeyond

makingtrancesweeps.Please.TrysettingtheKey

toFilterTrackingknob(p11)to1(straightup),the

CutoffModulationamounttozeroandthe

resonancetofairlyhigh. ThenusetheCutoffknob

totunethefiltertoaharmonocallypleasingpitch.

Thispitchwillfollowthenotesyouplay,withthe

resonanceactinglikeathirdoscillator.Becauseof

Olga'sfilternon-linearities,agreatrangeof

excitingsoundscanbecreatedwiththistechnique.


7/16

AMPLIFIER.3

fig1.3a

Amplifier

1Drive Raisingthedrivelevelincreasesthepower

through

the

whole

system,

which

in

turn

increases

theoverallinstabilty,overdrive,distortionand

wildnessofthesound.

2OutputThisisOlga'smastervolumecontrol.

Automaticsoft-clippingwillbrickwalllimitthe

outputto-0.1dB,inthelikelycasethatOlgaslips

herleashnowandthen.

TIPIftheoutputlimitlightcomeson,andyoudon't

want

the

additional

saturation

that

the

soft-clipping

limiterwillimparttothesound,turndownthe

outputknob.

3DisortionFeedbackWhenengaged,thedrive

outputisfedbackintothedistortioncircuitfora

sharper,edgiersound.

AMPLIFIERENVELOPE

TheAmplifierEnvelopecreatesacontrolsignalthat

shapesthevolumeofeachvoiceinresponsetokey

articulation.ItissimilartotheFilterEnvelopebut

without

its

Hold

stage.

4AttackThelevelofthecontrolsignalrisesfrom

zerotofulloveratimeperioddeterminedwiththis

slider.

5DecayAftertheAttacktimeiscompletedthe

controlsignalfallsfromfulltothesustainlevel(see

slider6)overatimeperioddeterminedwiththis

slider.

6SustainAftertheAttackandDecaytimesare

completed,thecontrolsignaloutputsatthelevel

determinedwiththisslider.Thislevelishelduntil

thekeyisreleased,atwhichpointtheenvelope

entersitsfinalphase...

7ReleaseThelevelofthecontrolsignalfallsfrom

thesustainleveltozerooveratimeperiod

determinedwiththisslider.

fig1.4a

Stagesofthe

AmpEnvelope


8/16

SYNCRETRIG.4

fig1.5a

SyncRetrig

Innormalusetheenvelopesaretriggeredin

responsetonote-onandnote-offfromkeysbeing

played.Thissectioncanoveridethatbehaviourand

causetheenvelopestoberepeatedlyretriggeredin

synchronization

with

your

host's

tempo

setting.

TIPLeavethissectiondisabled('x'=disabled)if

you'renotyetclearonhowtheenvelopeswork.

1TempoSyncDivisionsAretriggercommandis

sentoneverybeatasyourhostplaysback,orona

subdivisionofeachbeat,asselectedwiththisknob.

'x'disablestheentiresyncretrigsection.

2TriggerFilterEnvelopeIfon,theretrigger

commandsareroutedtothefilterenvelope.

3TriggerAmpEnvelopeIfon,theretrigger

commands

are

routed

to

the

amplifier

envelope.

TIPTrysettingthefilterenvelope(p5)toasnappy,

decay-onlyshapebuttheampenvelope(p7)toa

longattackandrelease.Setthesyncretrigsection

torapidlyretriggerjustthefilterenvelope.Each

noteplayedwillsoundarunofsychronizedfilter

spikeswhosevolumefadesinthenout.

LFO2.5

fig1.5a

LFO2

LFOgeneratesatriangularcontrolsignalthatcan

beusedtoapplyglobaloutputlevelmodulation

(tremolo)orglobaltuningmodulation(vibrato)to

thesound.

1RateThisknobcontrolsthespeedofthetremolo

and/or

vibrato.

2TremoloThisknobcontrolsthedepthofthe

outputlevel(volume)modulation.

3VibratoThisknobcontrolsthedepthofthe

outputpitchmodulation.


9/16

EFFECTS.6

fig1.6a

Effects

Youcanapplyeitheraphaserorachoruseffectto

Olga'soutuput.

1EffectLevelControlswhicheffect,andhowmuch

ofit,isapplied. "Dry"(straightupontheknob)

meansthatnoeffectisapplied. Turntheknobleft

andthephaserisappliedwithincreasingstrength.

Turntheknobright andthechorusisappliedwith

increasingstrength.

2RateControlstheoscillationrateofthephaseror

choruseffect.

3DepthControlstheoscillationdepthofthephaser

orchoruseffect.

4Mono/StereoControlswhetherthephaseror

chorusrunsinmonoorstereo. Botheffectsoffera

gooddealofstereoimagemovementinstereo

mode.

PHASER

Wehavetosayherethatthisisthewildestphaser

we'veeverheard. Pleaseexpectyourbowelstobe

stirred. Thefollowingcontrolsaffectspecific

phasersettings.

5Phaser1-3Thephaserhas3resonant

frequencies. Adjustthesecontrolstochangethem.

Youcangetanamazingversatilityofsoundwith

differentresonantfrequencysettings. Changing

theorderoftheresonantfrequencieschangesthe

soundaswell. Thesecontrolsofferhighrewards

forexperimentation.

6PhaserFeedbackControlshowmuchofthe

phaseroutputisfedbacktoitsinput. Aswiththe

mainladderfilter'sresonancecontrol(p6),thisisa

live

ammunition.

The

output

is

always

brickwall-limitedto-0.1dB(seep7),butpushingthephaser

feedbackquicklycanstillcausesomebrain

membranepenetration.

CHORUS

Olgaoffersadeep,livelychoruseffectbasedon

thesameunstablenonlineararchitectureasthe

mainladderfilter. Thefollowingcontrolsaffect

specificchorussettings.

7ChorusDelayThiscontrolaffectsthe"roominess"

ofthechoruseffect,andalsointroducesaslight

initialdelay.

8ChorusSpreadThisaffectsthewidthbetween

differentvoicesinthechoruscontrol. Thewider

thespread,thestrongertheperceptionofseparate

voicesinthechorus.


10/16

Olgaemulatesthe'voiceboard'architectureof

analogpolyphonicsynthesizers.Notesyouplayon

thekeyboardareassignedtothenextavailable

voicedependingonthesettingsmadehere.

1VoiceModeThevoicemodesavailableare:

NOISETheoscillatorsarebypassedandallnotes

aresenttoOlga'snoisegenerator.Oscillator1's

level

knob

sets

the

level

of

low

frequency

noise.

Oscillator2'slevelknobsetsthelevelofhigh

frequencynoise.Mixedtogetherinequalparts,the

outputwillbewhitenoise..

MONOAllnotesaresenttothefirstvoiceonly,so

onlythemostrecentlyplayednoteissounded.

However,andyou'lllikethis,theplayingorderof

theothernotesisremembered,soifyourelease

themostrecentnote,thenextmostrecentnote(if

stillhelddown)issoundedagain.

UNISON2ThesameasMonomode,buttheactive

noteisassignedtotwovoicessimultaneously.The

voicesareslightlydetuned.


noteisassignedtofourvoicessimultaneously.The

voicesareslightlydetuned.


note

is

assigned

to

eight

voices

simultaneously.

Thevoicesareslightlydetuned,anditsoundsthick

....verythick.

DUOVoice1playsonlyOscillator1,Voice2plays

onlyOscillator2,andsuccessivenotesalternate

betweenvoices. Yousortofhavetoplayitto

understand.

POLY8Uptoeightsimultaneousnotesareplayed

andassignedtothefirsteightvoices

polyphonically.Whenaninthnoteisplayed,the

oldestvoiceissilencedandreassignedtothenew

note.

When

using

long

release

times,

this

mode

maysound similartothefullPoly16mode,but

saveonCPUload.

POLY16Allsixteenvoicesareused,assignedto

thesixteenmostrecentnotes.Whenaseventeenth

noteisplayed,theoldestvoiceissilencedand

reassignedtothenewnote.

2PortamentoWhenthisknobissetabovezero,

andtheVoiceMode(see1)settoMono,Unison2,

Unison4,Unison8,orDuo,legatoportamentois

activated.Playanotewhileanotherishelddown

andthepitchoftheoscillatorswillsweeptothe

newnote.Thetimetakentoperformthesweepis

determinedwiththisknob.

TIPTrystringinganumberofnotestogetherinthis

legatostyle,andtheywillcontinuetosweepfrom

notetonote.Olgawillnotretriggertheenvelopes

untilallnotesarereleased,so,forexample,along

filter

attack

could

be

used

to

ramp

up

the

filter

over

theperiodofthephrase.

fig1.7a

Voice

Controls

VOICE.7


11/16

ThissectioncontrolshowOlgarepondstothemost

directsourceoftheperformer'sexpression:note,

notevelocity,pitchbendandmodulation.

TIPForthemoreinvolvedperformer,allofOlga's

knobsandswitchesrespondtoMIDIControl

Changes.

(p13)

1ModulationWheelGreatsingersand

instrumentalistsoftenusevariationsinmodulation

toaccentorsoftenphrases,andtodevelop

sustainednotes.Olga'smodulationwheelcanbe

usedtointroducemodulationsinoscillatorshape,

finetune,tremoloand/orvibratobyscalingthe

depthoftheLFOs.

2ModulationLFOScaleTheseknobsdeterminethe

amountbywhichthemodulationwheelscalesthe

depthofLFO1(p4)and/orLFO2(p8). Whenaknob

isonfullitmeansthatthecompletetravelofthe

modulationwheelwillscalethatLFOsdepthfrom

zerotoitsnormaldepth.

3PitchBendWheelBendsthepitchofthe

oscillatorsupordown.

TIPIfacan't-stop-widdlingguitaristisdirupting

your

recording

session,

set

him

(its

always

a

him!)

upwithOlga,someheadphones,andshowhim

whatthePitchBendwheeldoes.Comebackinan

hourorso.

4PitchBendRangePitchBendcanindependently

bendthepitcheachofOlga'soscillatorsbya

variable

amount,

determined

with

these

knobs.

5VelocitytoAmpEnvelopeScalingCausesthe

playingvelocitytoaffectthescaleoftheAmp

Envelope'scontrolsignal(p7),andthusthelevel

(volume)ofthenote.

6VelocitytoFilterEnvelopeScalingCausesthe

playingvelocitytoaffectthescaleoftheFilter

Envelope'scontrolsignal(p5).IftheFilterEnvelope

issettoalterthecutofffrequency,thiswillresultin

achangeinthetimbreofthenote.

7KeytoFiltertrackingScalingDeterminesthe

degreetowhichthepitchofeachnoteplayedalters

theCutoffFrequencyoftheFilter(p6).Whenthe

knobispointingdirectlyupwards,thiskeytracking

willbe'perfect'-i.e.asemitonechangeinthenote

playedwillresultinasemitonechangeinthe

CutoffFrequency.

PERFORMER'SCONTROLS.8

fig1.8a

Performer'sControls


12/16

Knobs,sliders,buttons,andothercontrolsinall

Schwaaudioplugins(pleasevisit

www.stillwellaudio.comtoseethemenagerie)can

be

manipulated

in

various

ways.

Mouseclick/drag:movesthecontrol.

Mouseclick/control-drag:movesthecontrol

veryslowly,toallowfineadjustment.

Mousedouble-click:resetsthecontroltothe

initialvalue.

Mouse

right-click

:

opens

a

number

entry

windowoverthecontrol,forkeyboardentryof

precisevalues. Ifyougrabthecontrolbehindthe

numberentrywindowwiththemouse,youcansee

theexactvaluechangeasyoudragthemouse.

.1MOUSE&

DIRECTINPUT

Olga's

interface

keyboard

can

be

used

as

a

handy

wayoftestingsoundsbyclickingonthekeys.The

effectsofvelocitycanalsobetested;clickingatthe

topofthekeyproducesalowvelocitynote,atthe

bottomofthekeygeneratesafullvelocitynote.

In

keeping

with

almost

all

fictional

synthesizers,

Olga'skeyboardis4.4167octaveslong.Note,

however,thatthesynthesisenginewillrespondto

thefulloctaverangeofMIDInotes.

.2 KEYBOARD

fig2.3a

Keyboard

Olga'sinterfacehasseveralviewmodes,whichare

selectedwiththeinterfacesizingbuttons.Thelarge

left-hand

button

sets

the

overall

size

of

the

interface,betweenfullandreducedzoom.Theright-

handbuttonsselectwhetherthekeyboardand

performer'scontrolsareshown,allowingyouto

flip

between

the

smallest

view

(reduced

zoom,

no

keyboard)tofullviewwithoneclick.

.3

INTERFACESIZING

fig2.4a

InterfaceSizing

Controls


13/16

.4 MIDICCs


14/16

Q:IsOlgaFree?

A:No. Olgaisnot"freeware"or"donationware."

Olga

is

a

paid

software

product

just

like

one

you

buyinaboxfromastore. Itrepresentsalotof

hardworkbyus.

ButwesubscribetotheReaperEthic.Firstly,we

believethatnobodyshouldbetrickedintobuying

somethingtheydon'tneed,sowewantyoutobe

abletofullyevaluateOlgabeforeyoubuyit.

Secondly,webelievethatcrippledevaluations

(beeps,hisses,timelimits,intentionallydisabled

functionality)

and

copy

protection

schemes

(dongles,passwords)serveprimarilytodegrade

theexperienceoflegitimateusers,whileproviding

onlyminorprotectionagainstillegitimateusers.

Basically,ifyouwanttostealOlga,there'snot

muchwecandotostopyou. ButifyoutryOlga,

andlikeit,andyougetvaluefromourhardwork,

wetrustthatyouwillvisitwww.stillwellaudio.com

(youcangettherebyclickingtheword

"unregistered" onOlga)andbuyalicense. A

license

also

buys

you

enthusiastic

support

directly

fromus,thecreatorsofOlga.

Theonlydownsideofalicenseisthatyoudon'tget

towatchtheamazinglycoolcountdownintro

screenanymore.

Q:WhatisOlga'sresourceuselike?

A:Wethinkit'sverygood. Anyseriousvirtual

instrumentneedstostrikeabalancebetweenits

useofCPUandRAMresources. Wherepossible,

wehavetriedtouseRAMtosaveCPU,while

keepingoverallRAMusewithinreasonablelimits.

Herearesomedetails:

-AlmostallRAMresourceuseissharedamongall

activeinstancesofOlga,soonlythefirstOlgawill

useanymeaningfulRAM. RAMisessentiallyfree

forallsubsequentinstances.

-

All

else

being

equal,

unison

voice

mode

will

use

moreCPUthanmono(p10),poly16voicemodewill

usemoreCPUthanpoly8(p10),thephaseror

choruswillusemoreCPUonthanoff(p9),andlong

filterorampenvelopereleasetimeswillusemore

CPUthanshortreleasetimes(p5&p7). Polyvoice

modewithlongenvelopereleasetimescanbe

especially

CPU

hungry.

Q:Ihaveanawesomesongwith13

instancesofOlgarunningsimultaneously.

HowcanIkeeptrackofwhichinstanceisthe

KillahLeadandwhichistheBigBootyBass?

A:We'reastepaheadofyou!Trychoosing

differentclutterforvisualcues.

Q

:

What

is

SSE2

and

why

should

I

care?

A:SSE2isanextendedCPUinstructionsetfirst

availableonprocessorsmadein2001and

supportedbyvirtuallyallprocessorsmadeafter

2004. OlgamakesextensiveuseofSSE2to

minimizeCPUload. Notableolderprocessorsthat

donotsupportSSE2arethePentium3andpre-64

AthlonXPseries. Computerswiththese

processorswillsimplynotrecognizeOlgaasa

loadable

plugin.

We

provide

a

special

non-SSE2

buildofOlgaforthesemachines,whichhasexactly

thesamefunctionality,usageandlicensingterms,

butsomewhathigherCPUload.

Q:Howdidthatoneguymakethatcrazy

coolsoundwithOlga?

A:PleasecheckoutthedemosongsontheOlga

pageatwww.stillwellaudio.com. Thesongscover

abreadthofmusicalstylesandtherearemany

differentkindsofOlgasoundsrepresented. For

eachsong,theartisthasgraciouslyallowedusto

posttheentireprojectasaReaperprojectfile

(pleasevisitwww.reaper.fmifyoudon'talready

haveReaper). Youcanopentheprojectfilesand

seeexactlyhoweachsoundwascreated.

Q:Where'sthe"VanHalenJump"preset?

A:Goaway.Wehearsomegenericbland

synthesizer

calling

you.

.1 FAQs


15/16

whatisBADASS?

Analogequipmentisunpredictable. Grumpyold

handmadeanalogequipmentismorethan

unpredictable:it'salive. Digitaleffortstoemulate

analogunpredictabilityandlivelinesstendtofall

intotwocategories.

There'stheKindaSoundslikeitapproach,wherefor

example

waveshaping

is

used

to

create

tube

saturation. Waveshapingdoessoundkindoflike

tubesaturation,inthatit'ssortoffuzzywhenyou

playloud. Butwaveshapinghasnomovement

overtime,soitcan'teversoundaliveanddynamic

thewayrealhardwarecan.

Thenthere'stheRandomlyChangeitapproach,

whereadigitalsoundiscreatedandthenrandomly

twiddledinanefforttosoundunpredictable. Many

analog

emulations

rely

on

random

pitch

modulation,forexample,whichaddsawobbleto

thesound,butagainthere'snodevelopmenttothe

sound. It'sstilladigitalsignalbeingchangedina

digitalway.

We'vetakenanewapproach:ourBezier

AntialiasedDynamicAnalogSynthesisSystem,

whichwecallBADASS,withatonethatwe

calculateisironicandpatronizingyettongue-in-

cheekandcleverinjusttherightblendtoappealto

you,gentlereader. Attheheartoftheapproachis

newDSPtechnologythatbandlimitsarbitrary

Beziercurvesinrealtimetoallowessentially

freehanddrawingofwaveformswithnoaliasing

artifacts. Wethenlayeronauniqueorganic

algorithm,whichallowsthebezierwaveformsto

grow,changeshape,anddevelopovertime.

Whatthisallmeansisthatratherthancreating

digitalsoundsandattemptingtodigitallymodify

them

to

sound

analog-like,

instead

Olga

has

life

and

motiondesignedintotheveryfoundationofthe

waveformsthemselves.

what

is

GROOVE?

There'sauniquesensationyougetwhenyoustand

infrontofanoldguitarampandturntheinputgain

way

up.

Will

my

eardrums

survive?

Will

the

amp

explode? ItsoundsOKwhenIplaynormal

dynamics,butifIslamapowerchord,willIdie

instantly? Yousimplycan'tgetthatthrillfroma

pieceofsoftware. We'vetriedtocapturethat

sensationofbarelycontrolledchaoswithournew

GaussianReactiveOscillatorOverdriveVirtual

Engine.. GROOVE,likeBADASS,managestobe

nerdy,hip,self-deprecating,andsmugallatthe

sametime.

GROOVEmodifieseverypartofOlga'svirtual

circuitrysothatthemorepoweryousendthrough

it,thewildertheoutputis. ThekeytoGROOVEis

thattheoutputbecomeslesspredictableinstant-to-

instant,yetremainsstructured,andneverflies

completelyoutofcontrol. Well,sometimesitcan

flycompletelyoutofcontrol,ifyou'reoverly

libertinewiththeresonance(p.5)orfeedback(p.5)

controls.

Tohearwhatwemean,slowlyincreasethe

oscillatorlevelknobs(p.4)tooverdrivetheladder

filter(p.5),orincreasethedriveknob(p.7)to

overdrivetheoutputamplifier. Thedistortionwill

developandmoveovertime.GROOVE: More

ThanJustFuzz!(tm)

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Documents

Olga Manual