Moog Music Forum

DSI P8 has a knob called slop that " introduces a bit of randomness to simulate the drift typical of analog oscillators that aren't digitally controlled." The original Oberheim SEM 2/4/8 voice naturally had this randomness since each SEM had to be matched by hand. The SEM had "slop" for all the knobs actually.

Is there a way to achieve this with poly chained slim phatties? It's a nice sound when each module is the same, but slightly different.

Well... maybe I'm wrong but the phatty having VCOs, you don't need to force that kind of subtlety, do you?

Even so, a "slop" function allows you to adjust how much randomness, from subtle to extreme. Also, it would be cool to have the option over all the parameters, filter, envelopes, etc...

It would be really close to the old poly oberheims. A quality that makes them special.

The phatties oscillators are pretty stable, at least the SubP is so you don't get the drift like older synths. I can see some situations where slop would be useful.

Ok, why not.
What about using different fine tune settings on each Phatty then?

I'm not sure the DSI algorithm does the same, but the SEM example is matching this method, isn't it?

What about using a random LFO?

It would be cool if it was one turn of a knob. All the parameters randomly drift a little or a lot depending how much you turn the knob. Then you don't have to go into each module. I wonder if it could be done. If they can add an exotic tunings option, I don't see why this couldn't be developed and added in a future update.

Anyone that's messed with old poly Oberheim SEMs knows the sound.

First, turn auto tune off. Then, Put a small DC fan inside and point it directly at the VCO circuit. Connect it to a potentiometer to adjust the speed of the fan. The faster it goes, the more slop!

S+H is basically a random LFO yeah?

What I like to do to is:

LFO SOURCE - S+H
LFO RATE - 0% (with LFO-speed set to low or mid range)
Under the hood set LFO to re-trigger every note

Now with your mod-wheel up, you can choose where you want a bit of randomness by turning up your PITCH, FILTER or WAVE AMT.

T

twelsch42 wrote:S+H is basically a random LFO yeah?

Sorta. It's usually part of the LFO on a synth. It's actually taking an input source (typically white noise) and scans the voltage, then "randomly" holds onto that voltage for the duration of the rate (or every gate). Sorry, I put my nerdcap on there

Usually, this is done with a S+H and a lag processor. There's one in the CP-251, but it might be a bit complicated to setup, because you still need to control the pitch with the keyboard.

subb wrote:Usually, this is done with a S+H and a lag processor. There's one in the CP-251, but it might be a bit complicated to setup, because you still need to control the pitch with the keyboard.

Buy a voyager OS. Done&done

As good as "slop" is in a poly synth, I don't think it makes much sense in a mono synth.

Howard Scarr wrote:As good as "slop" is in a poly synth, I don't think it makes much sense in a mono synth.

I'm talking about when you polychain slim phatties. Making each one slightly different even though they share the same preset. And making the option easy.