Page 2: Waldorf Wave

Wave Analysis

A mention should be made of the wave analysis facility. The Wave will take a sampled sound and extract a wavetable full of spectrums from that sample. You can then edit the wavetable, and utilise it accordingly. It sounds complicated, but all the fancy footwork is done by the Wave, so you don't really have to think too hard.

I took a note from a track I'd created using Mac Sound Tools and saved it in Sound Designer I format. I then formatted a floppy in the Wave, transferred the SDI file onto this disk using Apple File Exchange, then loaded the file into the Wave. After 20 to 30 seconds I was presented with a complete wavetable, and although it initially sounded rather raspy, with a bit of judicious harmonic editing and smoothing I was able to create a wavetable that had the characteristic quality of that sound (a big string sound). I could then use the rest of the Wave's technology to make that wavetable really come alive. At this stage we're running out of space, but I'm sure you get the idea.

Wavetable Synthesis is a remarkable system, and Waldorf have gone to extraordinary lengths to make constructing your own wavetables as simple and as intuitive as possible. The facility to process existing samples in this way is a revolution and will lead to a whole host of new sounds, I'm sure. A complex, fiddly business has been made relatively effortless, and the end results are truly rewarding.

Feature Summary

• Dynamic Spectral Wavetable Synthesis.
• Analogue multi-mode filter.
• Sample Analysis for user-generated wavetables.
• Dynamic panning.
• Real-time just intonation.
• Master keyboard facilities to control up to 32 external MIDI devices.
• MS-DOS floppy disk drive, HD and DD, for data storage and Sound database functions.
• Software Expandable.
• Hardware Expandable (up to 48 voices).

Wave Technical Structure

The Wave is based on a multi-processor system, with an open hardware architecture in order to facilitate future hardware updates. This is similar to the way in which computers allow cards to be plugged into their internal bussing system.

• The main CPU is a Motorola 68000 running at 16MHz. Each additional voice board has its own 68000.
• 512Kb of S-RAM (with battery back-up) and 1Mb of workspace RAM are provided. At present, there is no additional ROM except a small boot ROM for controlling the loading of the system from disk.
• Digital tone generation is achieved using two ASICs per voice board. Each ASIC corresponds to the digital tone generation board of one PPG Wave 2.2 or 2.3.
• Each voice has its own D/A converter, followed by a Curtis filter chip (this includes 24dB/octave and 12dB/octave filter networks). The signal is finally routed to the three stereo output pairs.

The Sounds

The Factory sounds supplied with the Wave I reviewed are, I'm told, the same as those that will ship with the instrument. Obviously, programming sounds for a new instrument comes right at the end when all the sales team and accountants are hassling the production team to get the thing out there. Consequently it's a little bit unfair to judge them too harshly. Having said that, when you get an instrument to appraise as a reviewer, or if you're in a shop or at an exhibition, the first thing you do is try the presets — it's inevitable. You don't reach for the manual and start programming, do you? You sit down, maybe stick on a pair of headphones, and go through the factory sounds. If you did this with the Wave you might initially be disappointed, doubly disappointed if you were simultaneously looking at the price tag. So preset sounds can be important, especially in creating a good first impression.

Over the next few months, I'm sure that Waldorf will improve on the Wave's presets. Although programming is made easy by the design of the machine, getting a collection of good sounds does take time. One point to consider is that the Wave, being a top-flight, pro instrument, isn't going to sell in huge numbers, therefore there won't be a large user-base coming up with new sounds and circulating them — so Waldorf have to make sure that they themselves have a good base of sounds for the Wave.

So what do we have at present?

There are two Banks (A and B) of 128 Performances, each Performance consisting of up to eight Sounds, though for the most part the Waldorf programmers have only used one or two Sounds.

'WaveStrings' and 'SynStrings1' are superb string sounds. I don't think I've ever heard such a good synthesized string sound as 'WaveString'; its got everything — and that's dry, with no effects. There's depth and space and movement here, all in one, and that's pretty typical of a lot of the sounds, many of which explore the possibilities the Wave offers, and provide ideas for programming. For example, a Performance labelled '1-2-3-4-5' utilises a wave analysis of someone counting to five and processes this in a startling manner. With the exception of the strings, don't expect great imitations of other instruments from the Wave's sound banks — that's not what the Wave is about.

Where the Wave really stands out is with pads, and although some don't sound too special when you play them, stick them into a track and they'll sit there doing their job beautifully — they don't get in the way, but add an air of expensiveness and quality. I was recording a couple of library music tracks when reviewing the Wave, and luckily discovered this in time to take advantage of it!

The preset banks include lots of bell-like timbres, which seem to be fillers, but you'll find great sounds dotted all around, amid such fillers. Many strong bass timbres are provided, and PPG 2.3 owners won't be disappointed by some of the recreations of its ancestor — especially 'Classic PPG', a really full, hard-hitting synth sound.

No matter how good your headphones are, use monitors to check out the Wave's Sounds if you possibly can — headphones, by their very nature, can't do justice to the Wave.

In short, then, there are some real gems in the preset banks, but there should be more — the Wave is certainly capable of providing them, and it would be a shame for prospective buyers to be less impressed by this lovely instrument for the want of a few hundred sound-programming hours.

DIY Wavetables

The wavetable is the Wave's basic timbral foundation. 64 factory preset wavetables are included, and 64 locations are available for creating your own — a task which is fairly straightforward, and very rewarding.

First select a wavetable to Edit. You can now fill this with existing waves or edited versions of existing waves, or you can create new ones. There are various ways to create and edit waves

• HARMONIC EDITING: lets you specify levels of individual harmonics up to the 64th.
• GRAPHIC EDIT: allows you to draw the waveform using the display faders to edit down to individual wave samples.
• FM SYNTHESIS: lets you create waves by specifying parameters of an 8-operator FM Synthesis algorithm.

Clipping, normally a phenomenon to be avoided at all costs can, in the case of wave production, be gainfully employed to produce striking results. If you add lots of harmonics together, you may get clipping; however, by manipulating the clipping using one of three techniques — digital clipping, analogue clipping, and inverse clipping — you can positively utilise the additional harmonics this 'distortion' creates.

Certain macros are available to expand, compress and manipulate harmonic structure for specific effect. New waves can also be created by blending, mixing, multiplying, dividing, and indexing (too complicated to explain here) two or more existing waves.

Once the waves have been constructed/edited, they are then simply positioned within the wavetable. Again, there are various macros to facilitate the filling of the wavetable, and for ensuring (if desired) that adjacent waves sit happily with one another. For example, you might have a series of waves where one has a rogue 23rd Harmonic. A macro will sort this out. Another will look at all the waves in the wavetable and adjust them en masse, to bring out a stronger fundamental frequency, for example.

Specifications

• Dimensions: Width 1175mm; Depth 550mm; Height 305mm (display panel up),135mm (panel flat)
• Keyboard: 61-note, C-to-C, velocity sensitive, with channel aftertouch
• Performances: 256 on-board locations, as many as you like on disks
• Sounds: 256 on board
• Wavetables: 128: 64 Factory set, 64 User programmable
• Polyphony: 16-voice
• Multitimbrality: 8-part
• Sequencer: Transport controls above keyboard for controlling external sequencer only
• Floppy Disk Drive: 3.5-inch DD/HD, MS-DOS

Connections

Waldorf Wave offers an abundance of rear panel connections.

AUDIO:

• Main Out (x2)
• Sub Out 1 (x2)
• Sub Out 2 (x2)
• Aux Send
• Aux Return (x2)
• Analogue In (x4)

MIDI:

• In
• Thru
• Out (x2)

OTHER:

• Headphones
• Mains Power In
• Sustain
• Pedal (x2)

Cooking With The MicroWave

Launched in 1989 (see review in the December 1989 issue of SOS), and a rare example of an instrument with staying power, Waldorf's MicroWave offered a compact (2U rackmounting), more reliable, easier to use and (importantly) cheaper redeployment of the legendary and rather expensive PPG Wave range of instruments. Both families of instrument feature a form of wavetable synthesis, and share a 'family' sound. The MicroWave produces its sounds by manipulating a wavetable that is processed through a comprehensive range of subtractive synthesis-type parameters.The resulting sounds can be almost impossible to obtain with traditional subtractive analogue synthesis or the sample + synthesis instruments that are most prevalent today. The general consensus on Waldorf's signature sound is that adjectives such as industrial, heavy and metallic apply. The instrument is capable of rich sounds with a lot of depth and movement — a side effect of producing sound by sweeping through a wavetable and utilising the MicroWave's extensive modulation possibilities to the full. Note that Richard Norris and Dave Ball of The Grid use a MicroWave with a selection of voice cards and wouldn't be without it! See the interview with The Grid elsewhere in this issue.

The MicroWave's basic spec is as follows:

• Two oscillators per voice with three modulation inputs, each driving a wavetable memory with four modulation inputs per oscillator.
• 30 factory wavetables make up a wave memory of nearly 2000 waveforms.
• Built-in mixer for wave and noise sources, with four modulation inputs.
• True analogue filter with four modulation inputs and resonance.
• Three assignable envelopes — one ADSR, one ADSR plus delay, one loopable modular envelope with eight time and level parameters.
• Two LFOs, each featuring four waveforms.
• 8-part multitimbrality.
• Stereo output, with four assignable individual outs.
• Real-time parameter access over MIDI.

The MicroWave is still available new (priced at £999) and is distributed in the UK by Turnkey Studio Systems; you can find contact details at the end of the main Wave review. Derek Johnson