MOK Forum - Discuss all things MOK. - Recent questions and answers in Waverazor

newbie II - Filter: is it right, that the modulation off cutoff gets lost, when the filtertype gets changed

Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:49:35 +0000

Can I prevent this behavior?

newbie - what is the trick to get effect 2 and 3 to work?

Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:35:18 +0000

Visual feedback (animation) in the Waverazer editor is this possible?

Tue, 06 Jun 2023 22:06:10 +0000

WaveRazor is a fantastic synth that could be made almost perfect by adding visual feedback (animation) to the editor.

The macro controls on the synth are animated when they receive automation data from the DAW but the engine controls aren't exposed to the DAW so aren't automated via the DAW.

In ninety nine percent of synths it's possible to see all controls animated because they're exposed to the DAW.

It would be a great help if all controls that were being modulated in the engine would display their modulation in the form of animation (visual feedback) as are the macros controls when being controlled via the DAW.

Duplicate factory patches installed

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 15:19:45 +0000

I just installed the Waverazor trial on my Win 10 PC. I noticed that all factory patches and templates are duplicated in the patch browser. The named sets, (i.e., Devine, Hoffman, & Peter) are not duplicated. Is there a way to get rid of the duplicates? Thanks.

Answered: Plugin state not saving with Reaper project.

Mon, 11 Jul 2022 07:50:20 +0000

Yikes, that does sound like a bug and thanks for reporting it! I am working on a new build for beta (a week or two away) that should fix this issue, and will post here when that is available for testing. In the meantime I will investigate further, but at this point, this does appear to be a bug... the issue is that some DAWs will send a Program Number 0 after they send the State Information, which Waverazor is interpreting as a "please load the last patch". I didn't catch this earlier, because not all DAWs do this.

Cheers! - Rob

Answered: WaveRazor LE, cannot activate audio, even though I've registered, multiple times . . . I've tried everything

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 20:33:38 +0000

Hi there... this is Rob, the same guy that has been discussing this with you in the Tracktion support system ;).   A couple things I need to again make clear:

- There is only ONE Waverazor installer/download.   The Demo version, LE version, or full version are unlocked when you register, depending on the license you get from the Tracktion server.

- It appears we have a bug with your Audio device in the latest standalone App of Waverazor (plugins are not affected), and I haven't been able to reproduce this.    As I mentioned previously, a beta build will be arriving in the next week or so, and I would be happy to include you on that build

I will respond to your other reply on the Tracktion Support System.

Best regards,

- Rob / MOK

Answered: Are the sounds between the MiniRaze and WaveRazor interchangeable? Can one synth use the sounds developed in the other?

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 05:15:16 +0000

Miniraze and Waverazor are not patch compatible.   They are different.   Granted, you can find most of the 'components' of Miniraze in Waverazor, but Miniraze has some hardwired connections that do not exist in Waverazor.    In summary, no, you cannot develop patches in one for the other.

The idea behind these products is that they are different ways of approaching MOK's synthesis:

Miniraze is a dialed-in topography using many of Waverazor's features, but it is designed to be fast to tweak and program sounds, using a familiar Minimoog-style subtractive UI.   The deeper Filter and EFX settings are dialed in under-the-hood for the most common use cases. Miniraze also has the ability to send OSC3 to Filter FM, it also has the ability to use OSC2/3 as a RingMath Carrier/Modulator pair (though I do have plans to bring these features to Waverazor this year, but it will be in a less-hardwired way).

Waverazor gives you access to everything (in the Editor), you need to work for your patches, but you have a ton of flexibility in what you can do, and there are a lot of features in Waverazor that simply do not exist in Miniraze. Waverazor has way more Filters and EFX to choose from, with access to all of the deep and nerdy parameters of those components.

I hope that helps explain how these two products are different.   As we use the same oscillator in both products, I can see how it might appear that these are different flavors of the same thing, and in some scenarios they are very similar and in others they aren't so much.    If you want quick access to a lot of sounds and sound banks from a lot of great programmers, Miniraze is the way to go.   If you enjoy the deep dive and creating sounds nobody has ever heard, Waverazor is your tool.    And depending on your inspiration at any given time, they can both sit alongside each other in the toolbox.

Answered: Waverazor External Audio as an Effect

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 19:47:45 +0000

The Waverazor effects routing is extremely flexible, but that also makes it quite complicated. I have to stop and think about it myself whenever I want to set things up beyond the INIT patch.

In order to activate effects 2 and 3, you need to turn up levels in at least three places. Let's start from the INIT patch and use effects 2 for our example.

Under the AMP nav button, turn up EFX2 SND levels in both the Voice Amp Mixer and the Amp ADSR envelope. Then, under the OUT nav button, turn up the EFX2 RTN level. That will enable the whole effect bus and you should be able to hear whatever effect your choose for bus 2 at this time.

What I just described enables effects bus 2 in parallel to effects bus 1, but you can also have bus 1 feed into bus 2, or into bus 3. Additionally, you can have bus 2 feed into 3, or even go completely serial and feed 1 into 2 into 3. These routings can be set up under the MIX nav button. In the Pre FX Mixer, you will find levels for EFX1 -> 2 lev, EFX1 -> 3 lev, and EFX2 -> 3 lev. Use these levels in conjunction with the effects sends and returns to create the routing you want. The buses can be serial, parallel, or even some combination of both.

One additional thing to note about the INIT patch is that the AMP / Voice Amp Mixer / EFX1 SND level is set to zero. This is because we've assigned the main page FX MIX macro control to turn it up, allowing the player to hear the effect using that knob. The FX BYPASS control is also affecting the EFX1 SND level, turning it all the way down.

I hope this information helps.

All the best,

Taiho

MOK

Answered: SOLVED (Note-off in monophonic mode problem)

Wed, 13 Oct 2021 06:09:31 +0000

Thanks for documenting that Brendan. I went to verify this myself, found it all to be working correctly, and came back here to find you had already figured it out! Agreed to keep this here in case someone is searching for a Mono mode case in Waverazor.

You are correct that the various Voice modes can be confusing, but they are there to provide specific types of allocation that might be applicable to certain playing situations. For Mono mode, using Direct voice stealing and Stage steal order is the most common (what you were looking for here I think). The patch, TunedFeedback, is one example of the traditional mono mode style.

Answered: Couple of slight errors in the user manual

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 23:23:18 +0000

Brendan, you're amazing, thank you! Few people ever read manuals, so I'm doubly thankful for both the proofreading and the fact that you're taking the time to really get to know Waverazor.

About "cur step", yes, you're right. I'm adding this to the manual:

Cur Step - This output maps steps 1 through 8 across the full range of modulation, and the modulation amount is equivalent to the current step being played.

And regarding Lag Down, yes, you're right on that one as well. You caught me in a copy paste error, and I've now fixed it just as you've written.

It may take a bit of time for the revised manual to propagate. We can update the website fairly soon, but the one imbedded in the plugin will have to wait for the next build. They will get done though. Thanks again, I really appreciate your help!

All the best,

Taiho

Answered: MOK - Waverazor 2.6 issues

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 18:57:52 +0000

I'm so sorry for this late response, and thank you so much for helping out with testing!

The Waverazor effects routing is extremely flexible, but that also makes it quite complicated. I have to stop and think about it myself whenever I want to set things up beyond the INIT patch.

In order to activate effects 2 and 3, you need to turn up levels in at least three places. Let's start from the INIT patch and use effects 2 for our example.

Under the AMP nav button, turn up EFX2 SND levels in both the Voice Amp Mixer and the Amp ADSR envelope. Then, under the OUT nav button, turn up the EFX2 RTN level. That will enable the whole effect bus and you should be able to hear whatever effect your choose for bus 2 at this time.

What I just described enables effects bus 2 in parallel to effects bus 1, but you can also have bus 1 feed into bus 2, or into bus 3. Additionally, you can have bus 2 feed into 3, or even go completely serial and feed 1 into 2 into 3. These routings can be set up under the MIX nav button. In the Pre FX Mixer, you will find levels for EFX1 -> 2 lev, EFX1 -> 3 lev, and EFX2 -> 3 lev. Use these levels in conjunction with the effects sends and returns to create the routing you want. The buses can be serial, parallel, or even some combination of both.

One additional thing to note about the INIT patch is that the AMP / Voice Amp Mixer / EFX1 SND level is set to zero. This is because we've assigned the main page FX MIX macro control to turn it up, allowing the player to hear the effect using that knob. The FX BYPASS control is also affecting the EFX1 SND level, turning it all the way down.

As for the speaker icon Mute button not working on the effects, those are all active for me in v2.6.0. You may have run into a bug where they became inactive, but I would need more information on how to reproduce the bug.

Once again, I really appreciate you contacting us, and I apologize for the late response! I hope this information helps.

All the best,

Taiho

MOK

Answered: Entering numerical values in the editor

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 00:10:15 +0000

Thanks so much for weighing in on this! I'm totally with you. We have a feature request logged for this already and I will add your vote. We just haven't had a chance to implement it yet.

The issue is always about balancing the different priorities of our 3-person company against our available time. I know that isn't very helpful, and I'm bummed I don't have a better answer for you... Currently, we are thinking about an update for Waverazor sometime after we release Miniraze. We'll have to see how it goes.

Waverazor will definitely get some love next year, as it's the 5th anniversary of its release. We have some new features planned, and we want to make improvements to the user interface for clarity, speed and ease of use. Typing in numerical values definitely fits within this group.

Once again, thanks so much for taking the time to let us know how important this is to you. For what it's worth, it's important to me as well.

All the best,

Taiho

MOK

Answered: I would like to try out the demo but there is no sound

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 11:30:04 +0000

Make sure you did not miss the muted speaker icon on the right of the UI. It took me a pretty long time to figure out the editor is muted by default :(

Answered: XY Vector controls and MIDI

Mon, 20 Jan 2020 14:03:03 +0000

I've found an alternative way to do the same thing in Cubase.

I'm posting it for future reference. It works for any VST instrument plugin. I've Cubase Elements 10.5 but it should work for any other recent version (Cubase LE has some limitations).

First a quick recap. In Cubase you have various way of twiddling VST parameters:

Using MIDI directly
Using Track Quick Controls
Using VST Quick Controls
Using custom mappings with a Generic Remote

To use the 1st option, the plugin must have an embedded option for MIDI Learning (or a predefined CC assignment), there's not a global Learn option like the ones in Ableton Live or Bitwig. Some plugins do have this option, some (as Waverazor apparently) don't. There's nothing you can do about it.

The 2nd option (the ones you can find at the bottom of an instrument track Inspector) shouldn't be used for instruments, but for mixing (i.e. Channel Settings: Inserts/Sends/EQs/...). The reason is that they're relevant only for the track they're set up in. If you add another instance, the assignments starts from scratch.

The 3rd option (the ones you can find in VSTi rack, not available in Cubase LE) allows you to set up to 8 VST instrument parameters to any control surface thing (typically a set of knobs). You can have only 8 of them at a time, but they can be paged in an unlimited(?) number of so called layers, so you can switch among small sets of 8 parameters (note: at the moment, you can switch layers only using the mouse on VSTi rack as far as I can understand!). You can reorganize and edit all these (including the first) layers through the Remote Control Editor. You can save a mapping from the instrument/rack and have different layouts and a default one that gets loaded at every new track with that instrument.
In Waverazor you can set, for example, these to the 8 macro knobs, save it as default and you'll be ready to twiddle for the rest of your life as soon as it loads!
Unfortunately a problem arises when your synth has XY pads and you have a control surface for knobs (I have a Behringer X Touch Mini with 8 rotary knobs) plus some other device with XY pads (a Korg nanoPad in my case). I want to use the 8 knobs (which would anyway be impractical to control XY, 2 knobs and 2 hands!) for the macro controls and the pad for the pad (quite obvious!), but only for some instruments (the pad should continue to work as usual on other instruments).

4th option. The solution is to create a Generic Remote device and assign the XY pad only to specific instruments. First of all add a track with the instrument (ie. Waverazor). Just open Studio > Studio Setup and add a new device using the "+" symbol at the top left corner. Choose "Generic Remote" and delete, for example in my nanoPad case, all the entries. Now add 2 new entries for the X and Y pad movements (type in the CC parameters or use the Learn function) in the upper table (leave an R only flag on those rows, if your device is a simple pad with no visual feedback like mine, or RT if it accepts feedback) and add a new bank in the lower table (note: in the upper you set any device elements you might use, in the lower a bank-able series of function assigned). Edit the assignments on the lower table. Click on the "Device" value of the corresponding row and you'll find at the bottom of the list a set of entries for your current active VST instruments. Click on "Waverazor". The "Channel" column should be left to "Device". Click on the 3rd column ("Value") and assign it to the X movement parameter ("vector 1 x" in Waverazor). Do the same for the Y axis. Apply the settings. Now if you move your finger on the pad, you should see it moving in Waverazor too!
Only one problem is left. If you change track, the pad remains assigned to Waverazor! You can easily solve this by adding a new bank in the lower table in the Generic Remote page, leaving the entries unassigned. Rename this bank "Blank" (or whatever) and the Waverazor one as "Waverazor" (or whatever).
Now, if you go to the menu Studio -> "More Options", you'll find an entry for the Generic Remote device you added (you can add many, BTW, they get progressively numbered). It'll open up a small pop-up window where you can select the assignment bank. If you select Blank, the XY pad will have no effect, if you select "Waverazor" it'll work again in the synth. You can proceed with the same logic to create custom assignment banks for any VST instrument you might like to control this way and just switch to the required bank, even in realtime!
If you're adventurous and have the proper devices, you can assign the bank switching to some button/knob (using again the above procedure, assign it to Command/Remote/bank_name), so you can do that in real time without even touching the mouse!

Hope this helps! :)
Let me know if you have further informations to add or if I wrote something wrong.

Answered: Windows 10 32-bit ?

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 14:20:29 +0000

v2.1.3 of Waverazor fixes a bug that prevented installation on 32 bit Windows systems. We should be all good again on 32 bit Windows OS... if anyone is running 32 bit Windows?

Answered: Does Waverazor VST have audio in?

Tue, 03 Dec 2019 22:49:32 +0000

Thanks for asking about Waverazor's Audio Input! The plug-in version does have this feature, just like the module. However, rather than patch cables, the audio routing depends on your DAW. Some hosts require you to use the Waverazor FX version, included in the installer. Others need you to sidechain. Here's a short video I did demonstrating the Audio Input:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CXLEu0feBg

And here's the user manual, available through Tracktion, our software distributor:

https://www.tracktion.com/training/manuals#waverazor

Hope this helps! Let us know if you need further information.

Cheers,

Taiho

MOK

Answered: Will there be VCV Version?

Sat, 30 Nov 2019 17:40:19 +0000

Great question and thanks for the kind words!

Just o be clear, the full synth is not available in the module. It is only two Waverazor oscillators with slightly different specs than the plugin. For ease of use, there are 8 razor steps in the module oscillator, as opposed to 16 in the plugin, and the module offers oscillator FM routing, while the plugin does not.

I do think it's a possibility for us to bring the module to VCV rack, and it's definitely on our radar to support that platform, but we don't have official plans for releasing anything in the near term. Priorities could change if we hear from enough VCV users... Sorry I don't have a better answer for you right now! (We are still a pretty small company so we have to do a couple of other things first before we can get to this.)

Cheers,

Taiho

MOK

Answered: I need to map at least 8-10 banks for Ableton Push, how can I do this?

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 01:10:36 +0000

Unfortunately, mapping that many parameters in Waverazor isn't possible at the moment. All external controller mappings go through the macros (9 knobs, 3 buttons, 4 XY controls), and there are a few more mapped to the Arp On/Off button, Input Level and Output Level. 19 in total. In the future, we would like to add additional MIDI controller inputs that you can route through the modulation matrix.

We've set things up this way because of the flexibility in a Waverazor patch... which also creates inconsistent conditions... While other synths have fixed amounts of parameters and GUI pages that never change, Waverazor transforms from patch to patch according to how it's been set up. Each oscillator may have between 1 and 16 slices, and you can have between 0 and 24 filters. There can be 0 to 48 effects, and 0 to 128 modulation routes (some potentially with multiple destinations). You can have 0 to 128 mod sources, and they might be all LFOs, or they might be all Envelopes, or something else.

Since it's so open ended and "modular", there wasn't a good way to do direct mappings in Waverazor. We felt the next best choice was to have mappings go through the macro layer so they could be routed by the sound designer according to how the patch was programmed. However, we have recognized the need for more external control, so we are looking at implementing additional map points in future updates.

I wish we had a better answer for you currently, but we'll keep working on it. I certainly appreciate your question, and that you took the time to explain how you use the Push with your synths. That gives us a clear example to try and implement.

Many thanks and all the best,

Taiho

MOK

Answered: A short list of bugs and issues following One-Synth-Challenge Jan 2019

Sun, 03 Feb 2019 04:31:45 +0000

Hi Richard! Thank you for this detailed list, some of these we are aware of, and have an open bug, however the LFO rate and AmpEnv Velocity scale I was not aware of. I will take a look at these in the coming weeks.

And also, many thanks for all of the efforts, assistance, and tutorials during One Synth Challenge #119 !

- Rob

Answered: WaveRazor 2.0.5 + Cubase 9.5.4 = hangs?

Sat, 08 Dec 2018 22:37:35 +0000

@fresha : Following up on this, with v2.0.9, updates should be super fast and a clean install (with no db) should be faster than before.

Answered: Rescaling v2.0.3 - differences between VST2 and VST3

Thu, 08 Nov 2018 18:50:33 +0000

v2.0.3 VST2 works fine in Reason, rescale window all good. It does take a while for the patch database to build (I presume this is what is happening in the background while the daw is 'hanging', but once finished WaveRazor appears). On restarting any DAW the plugin loads up instantly. This patch database build seems to have happened on both my machines (Win10 x64, laptop and pc), so both were fresh installs uniquely.

If it is possible to have the popup progress bar for the patch database build for newbie users to understand something is happening and not bug out or mash up a half build database that might be a good approach. Something to do with:

mokzen - mokReBuildUserPatchEntries, patchFolder is NOT directory stat: patch << this was in the log file today, after I installed 2.0.3 on top of 2.0.2 (without uninstalling)

hope this helps a bit more

Log Files and Useful Locations

Tue, 06 Nov 2018 20:35:58 +0000

When bugs happen, it can be useful for us to get log files or other information to help figure out a bug. Occasionally, you may want to remove your preferences file, or locate the source patch files referenced by the database. For all those situations, here are the locations of those things:

OSX

Log File: ~/Library/Logs/mok/waverazor.log

Installer Log File: ~/Library/Logs/mok/waverazor_installer.log

Patch Database: ~/Library/Application Support/mok/waverazor/waverazor.patch_db

User Patch Files: ~/Library/Application Support/mok/waverazor/patch/

Settings File: ~/Library/Application Support/mok/waverazor/waverazor.settings

WINDOWS

Log File: C:\Users\<user-name>\AppData\Roaming\mok\waverazor.log

Installer Log File: C:\Program Files\MOK\Waverazor\InstallationLogFile.log

Patch Database: C:\Users\<user-name>\AppData\Roaming\mok\waverazor\waverazor.patch_db

User Patch Files: C:\Users\<user-name>\AppData\Roaming\mok\waverazor\patch\

Settings File: C:\Users\<user-name>\AppData\Roaming\mok\waverazor\waverazor.settings

LINUX

Log File: ~/.config/mok/waverazor.log

Patch Database: ~/mok/waverazor/waverazor.patch_db

User Patch Files: ~/mok/waverazor/patch/

Settings File: ~/mok/waverazor/waverazor.settings

Answered: Cutoff relation to tuning adjustments

Thu, 01 Nov 2018 19:45:31 +0000

No worries, it probably isn't obvious at first... the Frequency and Tuning parameters are just two different ways to set the cutoff frequency of the Filter. If you set it by Oct/Note/Cents, the frequency will change accordingly, and vice versa.

Answered: Is there any Waverazor documentation?

Thu, 01 Nov 2018 19:43:08 +0000

There is a Waverazor Manual and Quick Start Guide available from the "?" menu in the upper right of the UI.

Answered: Uninstalling Waverazor

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 21:17:31 +0000

On Windows, if you want to find the plugin files yourself, or remove specific plugins manually:

VST2 Plugins:

NOTE: You were able to choose your own location for 32 and 64 bit

VST plugins during installation, so this might be different for you.

The following is the default location the Waverazor installer uses.

C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins\Waverazor64.dll

C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins\WaverazorFX64.dll

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steinberg\VSTPlugins\Waverazor32.dll

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steinberg\VSTPlugins\WaverazorFX32.dll

VST3 Plugins:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\Waverazor64.vst3

C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\WaverazorFX64.vst3

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\VST3\Waverazor32.vst3

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\VST3\WaverazorFX32.vst3

AAX Plugins:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins\Waverazor.aaxplugin

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins\WaverazorFX.aaxplugin

Answered: Is Waverazor going to get MPE?

Sat, 29 Sep 2018 16:37:52 +0000

Hi!

Good question... MPE is not abandoned, but it may take some time before it's implemented. We do think that Waverazor, with its extensive modulation capability, is ripe for MPE control. Unfortunately, implementing it is a huge job for a crew as small as MOK. We do have another update coming soon, but won't be able to get MPE in this time around, and it remains on our (rather long) list of features to add. Sorry for the wait! As MOK grows, we'll be able to get features implemented much faster...

All the best,

Taiho

Answered: What about a genetic algorithm to find sounds? I can program those!

Thu, 27 Sep 2018 15:52:01 +0000

Hi Elden,

Thanks so much! We're honored that you would share this with us! :)

I love your enthusiasm and vision for how genetic algorithms could work with Waverazor, but unfortunately we need to proceed with caution, if at all. I'm not saying that you would do this, but sharing ideas could open MOK up to being sued if there is some dispute over the origin of the ideas. Disputes could even be coming from a third party not related to either of us if they take issue with our work.

Just so you know, we have been thinking about genetic algorithms already, mostly inspired by SonicCharge's Synplant and Patternarium designs, but I have also heard of Ewolverine and think you have done some impressive work. I don't talk specifically about future plans in public, but I can say that we may someday release something in this area of interest. It would be hard to track the origins of ideas without some legal structure for documenting each of our company's IP prior to sharing, and that probably involves some lawyers.

At my previous company, Avid / M-Audio, we had a legal department that could provide this sort of structure, and even then, there was a fairly strict policy of not interacting with offers of IP unless it was already protected by a patent. That way, the legality of ownership was not in question. At MOK we are a bit looser, since we understand the spirit of collaboration in the synth community, but at the same time we don't want to risk losing our business, even if the chance of that happening is very small.

All that to say, working with us could end up being a slow and costly process (unless you have a patent), and we don't really have the resources to pursue that sort of thing right at this moment. At the same time, the door isn't closed and we may end up working on this together in the future if favorable conditions exist. Another route to consider might be for you to not wait for us and just develop your own Waverazor related genetic algorithm product. We would be happy to provide you with Waverazor support and some co-marketing of such a thing.

Again, I'm so inspired by your spirit of innovation, enthusiasm, openness and generosity! It pains me that we can't just get started making cool, fun music tools together immediately, but unfortunately others have ruined it for us... Still, I think your heart is in the right place and I hope we keep in touch (and remain optimistic) about future opportunities.

Warmest regards,

Taiho

Answered: Some feedback and some suggestions for updates

Thu, 09 Aug 2018 06:35:30 +0000

Hi Taiho, hi Rob,

can you already reveal some information about a bigger GUI in a possible upcoming update?

Thank you a lot and a joyful time to you.

Cheers

Upgrade from Waverazor 1.0.4 to 2?

Sat, 14 Jul 2018 23:26:13 +0000

What is the process for getting Waverazor updated to 2.0? Should this happen within the Tracktion web site? (it hasn't yet. only full purchase seems to be available).

... ummm ... never mind ... I didn't scroll far enough down the window (been using Tracktion since before the Mackie days)

Answered: Are new or user defined colour skins possible?

Fri, 13 Jul 2018 06:28:46 +0000

Thank you so much for this share!

Answered: MOK Waverazor

Sat, 30 Jun 2018 17:44:58 +0000

Yes, that post on KVR is definitely speculation (as the author noted), and incorrect... Now I think you've come to the right place. :)

Waverazor has 3 oscillators and each one is composed of a Razor (wave slicer) and anywhere between 1 and 16 independent waves occupying the slices, or steps, and these steps are played through sequentially in order to generate a concatenated output wave.

The Razor and its component waves are all phase coherent (perfectly aware of phase and frequency), which allows you to maintain a consistent wave shape, with each slice contributing harmonics to the oscillator output according to its waveform content. Furthermore, any discontinuity going from step to step also contributes pulse-like harmonics to the output timbre.

The steps themselves can be anywhere between 1/64 of a cycle to 64 cycles long (in reference to a single cycle at standard tuning), and this step size along with the number of steps can have an affect on the fundamental frequency. The perceived fundamental is determined by the repetition of a wave pattern, which is affected by these settings and the contents of each slice.

Variations in frequency (that are not hard sync reset) can break phase coherence and create shifting harmonics as different parts of the wave are captured by the slice at different points in time. This also affects the discontinuities at slice boundaries. Any detuning of wave slice frequencies can effectively sound like multiple detuned oscillators even though, technically, the oscillator output is a singular wave. And shifting the frequency of the Razor in relation to the component waves can create phase slips across all slices at once, making additional harmonics from the new frequency relationships.

In addition to Pitch, the volume, phase and DC offset parameters can all be set and modulated per step. Any one of these sonic dimensions is capable of generating significant timbral shifts, and all are available simultaneously. Furthermore, the duty cycle of the slices can be modulated from 0 to 100 percent, favoring one set of slices or the other. And lastly, we have a new parameter called "constpol" (constant polarity) that keeps a slice's wave energy in the correct polarity in accordance with the current cycle position.

Waverazor's synthesis is different from the other types the KVR post mentioned in that Wavetable is normally based on single cycle samples and it crossfades between shapes, while Granular is not phase coherent. The Waverazor oscillator's system of phase coherent slicing and concatenation is unprecedented, so we've applied for a patent, protecting our wave slicing method as a new form of synthesis. It makes new synthesis techniques possible, such as Multi-Sync, which is hard sync applied individually per slice, allowing for multiple hard sync points within a single cycle or beyond a single cycle, and Mutant AM, which is amplitude modulation based on the tapestry of harmonic content spread over a sequence of wave slices... Neither of these has ever been done before, and we are making more discoveries all the time!

And finally, although Waverazor's oscillator is its main differentiator, there are a lot of other powerful and groundbreaking new features in the synth:

3 filter blocks that can be run in series, parallel or mixed, and each block can hold a filter bank sub-configuration containing up to 8 filters. That's a total of up to 24 filters per voice.
3 Effect buses that can be run in series, parallel or mixed, and each bus can contain an effect bank sub-configuration encapsulating up to 16 effects, including all the filters. That's a total of up to 48 simultaneous effects.
Up to 128 modulation sources (LFOs, Envelopes, etc.) and 128 modulation routes, with up to 48 of those routes having multiple destinations (as many as 16 each).
An innovative Contextual Editing System that allows you to focus on any section of the synth and surrounds it with only the items that are directly connected to it. For instance, when viewing an oscillator, you may see a vibrato LFO on its input and the Pre-Filter Mixer on its output.

Alright, I hope that helps! I know that's a lot to digest, so if you have any follow up questions, I'll be more than happy to provide further explanation. We at MOK really appreciate your interest in Waverazor, and thank you for being a part of our forum community.

All the best,

Taiho

Answered: Waverazor 2.01

Mon, 09 Apr 2018 16:56:23 +0000

Thanks for reporting this, Mark! I'm adding it to our bug tracker for Rob to take a look... If it's possible for you to generate a crash log, that would really help us track things down more quickly.

Sorry for the interruptions to your wave slicing! We'll get on this right away.

All the best,

Taiho

Answered: Waverazor 2.0!

Sun, 08 Apr 2018 05:55:52 +0000

Thanks for the encouraging and kind words!

Answered: 32bit compatibility on Mac/OSX

Sun, 08 Apr 2018 05:55:11 +0000

Waverazor does support 32bit, on OSX 10.8.5 and above. This was added in v1.0.2 - 2017.May.10

Answered: Note-on per-voice random?

Fri, 06 Apr 2018 15:51:26 +0000

Not annoying at all! More great stuff, and important to discuss. Many thanks! Let's parse this out again:

LFO unique random per voice - Yes, there is a way to do that, but trying it now, I think there may be a bug. Let me explain... First, to set it up, make an LFO with Shape set to Random S0-9 (doesn't matter which number), Trig Mode set to Random, and Mode set to Unipolar or Rectified. Now, the frequency of the LFO doesn't go slow enough, so you have to freeze it. The easiest way to do this is to set up a mod route with your Amp Env "latchout atk" as the source. That output is a Gate signal that goes high and stays high as soon as the voice starts. Then for the destination, choose the "freeze gate" input of the random LFO. That tells the LFO to freeze when it sees a gate high input (with gate low, it's unaffected, so hitting it with a square wave or other shape from a different LFO is interesting). With all that set up, you'll get a unique, static, random value for each voice you launch.

However, with some random generations, I'm getting intermodulation that results in audio artifacts. Sometimes it's clicking. Sometimes weird beating. I don't know what that is, so I'm logging a bug for it. Honestly, I like how it sounds, but I don't like that I can't control it. We'll take a look at it.

Additionally, it might be easy enough to create another type of modulation source that's a random number generator with a static output. That way, you don't have to freeze the LFO when all you want is one random value. This is going on the list as well.

Modulator visual indication - The issue with this is choosing which polyphonic voice to visualize, and then when you're playing multiple voices, what you're seeing may not match what you're hearing. We could give some choices about which voice gets visualized, but that adds some user interface complexity, and with everything involved, it's a bit of hit to the CPU. Doesn't mean it can't be done, though. We'll put it on the list and see if Rob has a conniption.

Copy and Paste - Yes, very much agreed. It's already on our list as the ability to copy from one module to another module of the same type. I'll add your vote.

Parallel Filter Bug? - I actually think this is not a bug. Here's why... When I went to verify this, I set up the stereo split filter routing (which you did correctly, btw), and instantiated filter 2 with the same filter as filter 1. They definitely sounded different as you said, but I realized that filter 1 was already programmed with some different filter settings and modulation routing in the patch that I called up to test (Lead-Bass Chop Saw). With filter 1 in focus, I selected MTRX on the Input column so I could view the mods going specifically to filter 1, and then I muted them all. Finally, I double clicked on the parameters in Filter 1 to set them to default. (I suppose a quicker way would be to change filter types and then recall the original filter type.) At that point, the parallel filters sounded identical to me. If you're getting different results after trying this let me know.

Organic and Acoustic - Yes! I'm glad you notice that. I'm a big fan of that vibe in my own sound design style, so I love to run a lot of random mods to different places, even if it's just for a subtle effect. It gives the sound life!

Once again, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us. We appreciate the collaboration!

All the best,

Taiho

Answered: Possible bugs, feature request, and some basic questions

Fri, 06 Apr 2018 01:48:30 +0000

Setting the Destination of a Modulator - To me this is the converse to your impulse to right click on a destination and pick a source. In both cases, what's missing is the modulation route in between, and those are currently set up in the Modulation Matrix (MTRX nav button). In a modular synth paradigm, the matrix mod route is the equivalent of your patch cable, but a digital mod route adds a ton of capability that a cable can't. For instance, you can split the "cable" from one source to up to 16 different destinations using a 1xN route, or set the modulation response with different curvatures, or change modulation modes for different overall behavior. You can even use a mod route to modulate the parameters of another mod route! To do that in a modular, you'd need a bunch of other modules and a bunch of cables...

I suppose the funny thing in Waverazor is that, at the moment, you sort of need to start with the "cable" itself. Once you identify the need for a modulation, head over to the matrix (MTRX nav) and select either the VOICE or GLOBAL Focus tabs. (Essentially, a Voice level mod route is polyphonic, while the Global level is monophonic. It should be noted that a Global route can modulate downward to Voice level destinations, like oscillator tuning, but Voice routes can't modulate upward to Global level destinations, such as the bus effects parameters.) To the right of the Voice and Global tabs is a drop down menu for adding new mod routes, and it gives you a choice of 1x1 (one routed to one) and 1xN (one routed to many). Once you select the route type, it's added to the matrix list and you can fill in your Source modulator and your Destination parameter, and then set levels for each. Inside the route is a triangle pointed at the destination, and if you click on it, you can change the advanced settings for altering the route's behavior.

I'm trying to steer the conversation to the modulation matrix because I think the routings need to live there in order to keep the rest of the user interface clean. All the routes are there in one place. Beyond that, there are additional reasons for separating routes from the source and destination modules. One is that when segregated to the mod matrix, your routes can have clear, independent or group-able modulation amount levels, if multiple destinations are routed after the source. And Two, both source and destination modules would otherwise get bloated with mod routes hanging off of them, and that clutter would make it harder to see other modules in the same section.

However, I think the desire to route directly from a source or destination module is valid. I'm open to discussion as always, but probably the way to go is to allow initiation of a modulation route from a source or destination module, but then jump the focus to the route that has just been created. By focusing on the individual route, you would also bring up the source module in the Input column, and the destination module in the Output column, so the entire chain can be visualized.

Getting signal to and from an Effect - Yes, this one is tough because you have a lot of mixing options. I think it will help once I get the audio block diagram into the manual (as of this writing, it's not quite there yet). And we're also already looking at improving the mixing workflow in general, wherever it appears in the synth. But in the meantime, the way to configure an effect send is to turn up the desired effect send bus on the active Amplitude Envelope Mixer(s), and in the Voice Amp Master Mixer. To do this, press the AMP nav button, and then the VOICE AMP focus tab. Once there, you will find the EFX1 bus levels (let's use EFX1 as an example), and since the active envelopes feed the master mixer in series, both the envelope bus and the voice amp master bus effect levels need to be turned up. That will get signal to the effect block, where you can populate EFX1 with your desired bus effect. Next, click the OUT nav button and turn up the EFX1 bus level there, which is the effect output level parallel to the Main output level.

When you're feeling more adventurous, you can feed the main EFX blocks into each other by using the level controls at the bottom of the Pre FX Mixer (press the MIX nav button to the left of the EFX blocks to get there). You can also load up each EFX block with a Bank if you want to get nested multi-effects chains going. That stuff is crazy!

Tutorial videos - Yes, I absolutely want to do tutorial videos! I'd like to do more to explain patch creation and even get into Waverazor synthesis theory, particularly around the never-before-seen oscillator parameters. The first video I've done in this series is an introduction to the editor - did you see it? You can find it here on MOK's YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoHEXUSH580

Giving a tour of a basic subtractive patch from end to end is a good idea. I'll try and do some stuff like that soon.

Once again, thanks for getting in touch with us and sparking a discussion! I think Waverazor will be improved for everyone because of this. :)

All the best,

Taiho

Answered: Sell me on Waverazor as a sound-design tool?

Wed, 07 Feb 2018 17:24:18 +0000

Great question! (But I don't think I can really answer it...) Not to get too philosophical, but everyone's experience of the world is their own, so you'll have to decide for yourself whether or not Waverazor is the instrument for you.

That said, you can definitely get a feel for the essence of Waverazor by downloading the demo. The main GUI page does currently let you edit aspects of the individual wave segments, like Volume and Pitch, Phase and DC offset, and the Shape itself. Changing these aspects, and the wave discontinuities resulting from these changes, create new harmonic spectra in the wave.

Oftentimes on the main GUI page, there are also controls for how the waves get sliced. The four knobs on the right side are usually set up to change the razor/slicer parameters. Step Size changes the length of all the slices in either fractions or multiples of a single cycle. Step Frac is like a fine tune for Step Size. Step Duty is similar to pulse width modulation of of the slices, favoring one set of alternating slices versus the other. And finally, Mutant AM changes the frequency of the razor in relation to its slice contents.

What you can't change yet are things like the number of slices in the oscillator, or other modulations like LFOs routed to the oscillator that give it animation. You'll have to wait for the editor for all the deeper stuff. However, there are many template patches that are great starting points for a wide variety of experimentation, and there's more than enough control in there already for you to get a decent feel for how this form of synthesis generally behaves. Additionally, any edits you make now can be saved for further editing later when the full editor arrives.

Finally, there are three main discoveries in Waverazor (so far), in regard to pushing the boundaries of synthesis. One, is how waveforms behave when sliced together with phase coherence at audio rate. Nothing else does this and it's the basis of our patent-pending design. Two, we can perform "Multi-Sync", which is multiple hard sync points within a single cycle or beyond a single cycle. Previously, all we had in the world was hard sync, which is a single phase reset at a single cycle. And three, we have "Mutant AM", which is a complex ring mod matrix, sequenced by your choice of slice content. Traditional ring mod is one oscillator wave modulating the amplitude of another oscillator wave. In Waverazor, the amplitudes of the fundamental and its harmonics are dependent on the contents of each slice, so they may be on or off, or at any amplitude in between, creating a tapestry of amplitudes across the frequency spectrum.

Alright, I hope this helps, and no worries if Waverazor is not your cup of tea. If you get a chance, I'd love to hear what you eventually conclude and why. We definitely listen to all feedback, both positive and negative, as it helps us create better experiences with our instruments in the future. Cheers for your question, and I hope we hear from you again soon.

All the best,

Taiho

Answered: Waverazor and New Editor

Tue, 06 Feb 2018 19:24:19 +0000

Wow! Thank you for the kind words! Yes, it's definitely our mission at MOK to push the boundaries of synthesis, and we hope that our little company takes off so we can support Waverazor and bring you many more innovative new instruments in the years to come.

Fortunately, we are slowly getting more and more exposure, but it definitely helps whenever anyone talks about us. That's grassroots marketing in the social media age... :)

As of this writing, we're still on track for release of the Waverazor editor version in March, so things are looking good, and I can't wait to hear all the new sounds and music everyone will make!

All the best,

Taiho

Answered: Demo Version - I only keep getting Waveform but not Waverazor

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 17:36:36 +0000

Hi rob, thanks for your answer - I followed all these steps, but still not working. I can only get a free trail of Wavefrom, but no Waverazor. Unfortunately I cannot add a screenshot here to show you my view, but it's definitly not there.

Answered: Parameter reset to patch default

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 16:26:08 +0000

Totally agreed... double-click makes sense for reset to default of a parameter.

Currently on OSX you can use Cmd+Click to reset a parameter. On Win/Linux, it should be Alt+Click, but that combination can be problematic in some situations as the Alt doesn't always get passed to my code, so it isn't reliable.

Answered: [Linux] Sync to external (DAW) BPM ?

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 16:18:49 +0000

Showing the current external BPM is on my list of things to do.

We don't have a way to attach screen shots here yet, but we will in the very near future.

Answered: Waverazor v1.0.4 Linux - some reports of problems

Sat, 13 Jan 2018 18:24:14 +0000

I have some great info from the guys on the KVR post, and am looking into this.

Figured I would post here in case anyone has this same problem and stumbles here while searching for a solution.

Answered: Isn't it a kick in the teeth to those of us who bought Waverazor 8 months ago to now offer it for $37.50 ?

Sat, 13 Jan 2018 00:10:53 +0000

Not at all, we got WAVERAZOR 8 months before the pack and thats worth well more than a measly $37.50

Answered: When does the intro pricing end?

Fri, 12 Jan 2018 18:06:06 +0000

Waverazor v1.0.4 was released today. In the release notes, particularly relevant to this thread is this snippet:

"We've been working hard on the patch Editor, getting ready to show at Winter NAMM, and making nice progress in all areas of the Waverazor code. Version 1.0.4 is not the editor release, but this will likely be the last update before the Editor version when Waverazor’s introductory sale pricing ends. At that time, the price will increase from $75 to $150 USD, but anyone who has already purchased Waverazor will get the Editor update for free."

Will there be any Ion/Micron/Miniak or Venom similarities ?

Thu, 11 Jan 2018 14:52:18 +0000

Im looking forward to whats in store at NAMM ! I use a Miniak and have owned a Venom and keep hoping there will be some evolution from those synth engines. Mainly the modulation tracking generator and the awesome JP8 filter. In the case of the Venom I used to love the way you could assign any wav from the sources list to modulate FM. Its to bad development stopped on that one. Sometimes when I set Waverazor to slowly pulse through the different wavs I think I hear a similar type of effect.

When will the full editor be available?

Mon, 25 Dec 2017 00:00:08 +0000

Any estimate on when Waverazor will have a full editor? I really love the idea behind this synth, but I feel like I can only scratch the surface of what it's capable of without being able to access a full editor. I am thinking of purchasing a copy, and I understand it is discounted right now due to the limitations, but if I'm going to have to wait a long time for full editing capabilities, I don't know how much use I'll really get out of this synth in the meantime.

Very Disappointed

Mon, 23 Oct 2017 15:30:24 +0000

I just purchased Waverazor and let me tell you...... not too happy. $75 for a program with 21 presets and no ability to create your own? It screams that even you couldn't come up with sounds for the thing, not very promising. This should have been free open beta until it was ready. I mean this thing is basically useless until its updated. I guess us early adapters are funding it and maybe one day we will see if it was worth it or not....................................

Linux Waverazor

Thu, 07 Sep 2017 17:29:44 +0000

Hello,

Any idea when the Linux version of Waverazor will emerge?

Many Thanks,

Adrienne

Biotek sound designer and Starr Labs Ztars..

Sun, 20 Aug 2017 05:07:53 +0000

Thank you both for your very comprehensive (and not long-winded at all) answers Taiho and Rob.

Yes, Taiho, I was aware of your sterling work on Venom, and think it an excellent synth, which was why I mentioned it.. (I also have a Novation Supernova and it compares very favourably with Venom sonically, although Venom's inteface is far more laborious than Supernova's assigned knobs.) ..Yes, you gets what you pay for, of course..

I understand that the business decisions of Avid were totally outwith your control. I was just afraid that the development of the new and more comprehensive editor for Waverazor might suffer the same fate, and would thus be relegated to promised, but never-to-be-realised 'vapourware'

Thanks again for your assurances, and in restoring my confidence that this won't be the case.

---------

On another note, I just bought Traction's Waveform DAW and Biotek etc.. Can I apply for the Sound Designer software for Biotek?

Of course, I am happy to submit sounds and voices.

My interests are mainly in creating melodic voices and pads for use with Starr Labs Ztars as midi controllers, (as well as midi guitars).

I want to develop 'expensive' sounds similar to the sounds that my wavetable Waldorf Blofeld does so well, and which Biotek (and Waverazor) I think, can do better, and with more movement within the voices, and with easier programmable modulations, and subtly assigned sonic unpredictabilities. I like Wolfram Franke’s and Wolfgang Palm's sonic work, and the purity of their voice architecture very much.

I have many synths which can do FM. or PD, or raspy, bleepy, farty, tearing, or explosive sounds easily, but few do expensive and convincingly beautiful solo and pad voices. The ability to access Bioteks multiple LFO's are crucial here, along with programability of movements within the main UI controller.

Why use Starr Labs Ztar?;

Ztar allows totally unique and unusual chord voicings and notes which fall easily under each hand, in the Ztar's polyphonic -notes-per-'string' mode, played in 2 x hands-on the neck 'tapping' style..

A ztar single 'string' is seen as a double octave of 24 switches, and a 'string' can be played polyphonically. So two fingers can span three octaves, and ten fingers can play ten notes on one 'string'. A Ztar can have 6 or 12 ‘strings’.

As you may realise, these harmonic intervals are impossible to play on any standard midi keyboard, or indeed any other midi controller, (maybe on an isomorphic keyboard, but not so easily) and the note range, with 288 assignable notes on the Ztar Mini 12's neck for example, exceeds those of a grand piano, or 88 note controller. Multiple midi zones and up to 32 midi channels (in Midi mode 4) can similarly fall under each hand.

----------

Given the new Sound Designer software's ability ( I hear ) to recognise and assign many more CC's to its modulation sources, the Ztar can also send a huge variety of very useable parameters in its data stream. (any Ztar note, string, sensor, pad, key, ribbon, or breath controller, can send any combination of assignable CC's.)

This should open up Biotek's sonic possibilities for Ztar use immeasurably, and in very musical ways, and given the similar architecture and wealth of modulation destinations, this should also be applicable to Waverazor.

( just a few long-winded reasons why I need the Sound Designer Software :-)

Many thanks for your help, and best regards from very sunny (and hot) Bulgaria..

richard

Just great! I also need to know how many iterations I can install.

Fri, 18 Aug 2017 12:39:40 +0000

Hi..

Totally magnificent synth! My compliments on its development..

I am not really a great fan of software synths, but I do have Air Loom, Hybrid 3, and Sugar-Bytes Factory and also Native Instruments Maschine Studio and Arturia V Collection.. ( IMO arguably very able s/w synths) but Waverazor seems to go to some very different sonic places and spaces.

I am also a happy owner of M-Audio Venom, (also an excellent synth) but was very disappointed with the Vyzex/ Psicraft editor's sudden halt in development and Avid's sudden lack of support for it.(virtually as soon as I bought it :-( I pray that this won't happen with Waverazor.

I have a large studio facility, and with this in mind, how many iterations of Waverazor can I install across my multiple studio machines and workstations??

Do I need to purchase multiple Waverazor licenses?

I intend to purchase Traction's Waveform also ( am a licesed Cubase 7 user) and I need to install the two programmes across at least 2 or 3 of my studio PC's.

I look forward to your assistance, and to being a happy new Waverazor user..

best regards

richard

riverside music co.

bg

(Bulgaria)