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Vertigo, main page 1 Vertigo, envelope window

Demos:

Description:

In addition to Discovery Pro and Bliss, the team at DiscoDSP have developed an additive synthesizer application called Vertigo (version 3.6 shown above). Vertigo is a commercial poly/monophonic realtime virtual synth available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions for linux operating systems since version 3.5. A free demo (trial) version is available at the link below, which allows full use except for preset saving and automation capability.

The General section at the top center of Vertigo's GUI provides preset selection, overall amplitude gain, number of voices (max. 16-voice), envelope pitch range (controls pitch depth for the pitch envelope section) and pitchbend range. There is also a HQ button to limit the number of partials available for the operators when it is deactivated. This area also includes the preset management area, with Open, Save and Reset (Initialize) buttons. The four Zoom buttons enlarge the window beneath, and is useful for accurately adjusting, for example, individual partials with the mouse.

Rather than the standard wavetable approach, Vertigo was designed using Euler-generated partials. Vertigo provides a variety of synthesis capabilities, although it is, at heart, an additive synthesizer. The main sound generator consists of two "operator states," A and B, located in the upper lefthand area of the GUI. These states contain a potential total of 256 sine waves. They can be linked together (Link button) and morphed between each other through an external Mod-Wheel control, velocity control or host automation.

Primary control parameters for each state include: FFT, Partials, Formant and Envelope. Depending on which of these four control parameters is selected, specific controls will appear below it, and the graph window to the right will also change. If the Partials button is selected, for example, controls are provided for specific partial adjustment and solo signal output, phase, amplitude, harmonic frequency (relative to note frequency) and panning. When the FFT button is selected, different controls will be available, such as amplitude and frequency fading and harmonizing. An alternative graph window is also available in this case, which shows a spectral representation of the harmonics. The Envelope section (second screenshot above) allows to use adjust the envelope shape for various aspects such as amplitude and filter cutoff (transitions can be linear or exponential) and can allow up to 256 breakpoints! Copy and paste functions are provided for ease of copying one state's settings to the other.

Vertigo also provides a 128-band formant filter which can be modified with the mouse, and there are also two filters in the center area of the GUI just below the graph window, each with 6 filter types. These filters can be arranged in series or in parallel, and are activated and deactivated separately. They are also both controllable via keyboard tracking, velocity and mod-wheel CCs.

In addition, Vertigo provides a very unique synthesis function called "Resynthesis." This section on the righthand side of the GUI allows to load any WAV PCM file or BMP (bitmap) file for analysis and extraction of all available partials. Click the Import button to import your WAV or BMP file. (Hint: This can be very useful for obtaining interesting "sequenced" sounds when using WAV files that contain beats.) Since the WAV file data is used only once in order to obtain the partials, it is not necessary to have the actual WAV file available in the same location after the preset has been saved. In this way, presets can be saved and shared without needing to access the original WAV file. Four FFT algorithms an four "resolutions" are available for analyzing the imported file. The larger (8192) resolution will contain a more precise sample, at the cost of time resolution. The lower resolution (1024) may be preferred for rhythmic beats, sequences, etc. where speed is a concern.

The Frequency Pairing function will adjust the two operators' frequencies to similar proportions. The Oscillator section provides either of the selected operators with a standard saw, triangle or square waveform (either a single wave or dual waves with detuning adjustment provided below it).

Vertigo also includes an effects section with: distortion, flanger, phaser, EQ, compressor, chorus, delay and reverb. Clicking any respective blue button will display that effect's setting parameters. The adjacent green radio buttons, when lit, indicate that the corresponding effect is currently activated. A global FX button will activate/deactivate control of the entire section.

Patches:

Vertigo Presets My rolling collection of (6) presets for Vertigo. Copy the presets to your directory of choice, or in the Default preset folder which is accessed when saving any current setting state using the "save" button in the upper righthand area of the GUI. --Updated Apr. 05, 2018.

Vertigo Presets available at DiscoDSP There are free banks of sounds available directly at the DiscoDSP website.

Website:

discoDSP Website
discoDSP Website



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