Korg 01/W pro - Page 25

WaveShaping adds further nuances.
The 01/W pro has one more feature which can greatly effect the tone
of the sounds it produces. This is the WaveShaping function. Before
we explain this function, let's first listen to a program using it to see
how it works. Return to Program mode and select program A01 16'
Piano. This is a standard piano sound. Now enter Edit Program
mode and display page 1, then move the cursor to the W.S Table
parameter in the lower left corner of the display. Press the VALUE
key several times and listen to how the sound changes each time.
PROG AGI Pi: EMPAL S Pid. S. Table
Enphasis i Intensi
What do you think? The WaveShaping changes the sound quite radi-
cally in some cases. When sound synthesis consists of choosing a
basic waveform from the Multisound selection offered by the OSC
and then removing some of the harmonics using the VDF, it is pos-
sible to find a suitable waveform close to the one you want and then
get it close to the sound you imagine fairly quickly. However, it is a bit
harder to create sounds that are farther removed from any of the
available waveforms.
That is where the WaveShaping function comes in handy. This func-
tion actually alters the way in which the 01/W pro reads the wave-
forms stored in its memory---which means that you can create new
harmonics that were not included in the original Multisound, produc-
ing completely different sounds. And since the WS block comes be-
fore the VDF in order, you can apply filters to the reshaped waveforms
that you create using WS.
WS gives you a choice of 60 ways to reshape Multisounds. Some of
them provide rather predictable results. in many cases, however, the
effects of a WaveShaping selection will vary greatly depending upon
the basic waveform you combine it with: you won't know what it
sounds like until you try it! For this reason, sound synthesis with the
WaveShaping function involves a certain amount of trial and error.
Nevertheless, this function can provide some very dramatic changes
of tone, so please try to make use of it!
A few words about pitch.
Finally, let's consider the element known as pitch. The pitch of a
sound is determined by its frequency. Frequency is measured in
hertz, which is abbreviated Hz. One heriz represents the number of
times that a sound causes the air to vibrate in a second. The fre-
quency of a sound doubles each time the pitch rises an octave. Thus,
while A4 (the A above middle C) has a frequency of 440 Hz, the A one
octave above it has a frequency of 880 Hz.
Modern music is based on a musical scale of European origin which
divides the octave into 12 steps according to specific frequency ratios.
The methods of representing the pitches in this scale include the fa-
miliar five-bar musical staff and systems of note names; and a great
many instruments are designed to produce notes in accordance with
this scale when their keyboards or frets are fingered. The MIDI stan-
dard follows this system, as well: it assigns 128 note numbers (0 to
127) to consecutive pitches on the musical scale, so that (for ex-
ample) an instrument will play C4 whenever it receives note number
60.
However, although there might be some minor differences depending
on the frequency range, the sound of a piano is still recognizable as
such whether you play C3 or C6. As with volume, it is not pitch per se
that defines the sound of an instrument. How, then, does pitch help to
define the sound of an instrument? You've got it: once again, it is the
change of the characteristic over time that makes the difference.
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