SOUNDThe following samples demonstrate a small part of the OSCar's infinitely variable sound repertoire. This is an effort to illustrate the wide range of types of sound an OSCar can produce - it is not an attempt to demonstrate subtlety or musical prowess. In the hands of a skilled musician an OSCar is capable of much more than I have been able to show here. Notes: For those that care about these things, the samples were recorded directly into my PC via the mixer on an old Tascam Portastudio (If a couple of samples are a little noisy it is probably down to the mixer and not the OSCar). No effects were used and the mixer tone controls were set in neutral positions. The samples were done at 16-bit resolution and a sampling frequency of 44kHz. The original .WAV files produced by WaveStudio were huge so I re-saved them using ADPCM compression. More recently, I managed to produce MP3 versions of the samples. In some cases I took the opportunity to apply a bit of processing to try to eliminate some of the noise from the old mixer. |
Description |
MP3 files |
.WAV files |
|---|---|---|
| A low bass sound (unfortunately includes some hiss due to poor setting of record levels and subsequent attempts at compensation) | low_bass.mp3 (176K) |
low_bass.wav (939K) |
| Demonstration of the repeat envelope facility | bass_env_reps.mp3 (382k) |
bass_env_reps.wav (248k) |
| Deep sound with a classic slow analogue filter sweep | low_wow.mp3 (114k) |
low_wow.wav (157k) |
| A simple demonstration of the inbuilt sequencer using a "lead" sound | lead_seq.mp3 (171k) |
lead_seq.wav (171k) |
| A crude approximation of the oscillating filter sweep noises from the beginning of the Hawkwind track "Silver Machine (a sound that had a lot to do with starting my fascination with old synths) | silver2.mp3 (802k) |
silver2.wav (1,111k) |
| A combination of noise source and subtle filter resonance - the idea was for a soundtrack noise suitable for something like the Star Wars "Death Star" | giant_sp_stn.mp3 (382k) |
giant_sp_stn.wav (2,100k) |
| A variation on the above (and at a higher frequency range) | space_cruiser.mp3 (474k) |
space_cruiser.wav (656k) |
| I stumbled on this and it reminded me of an accordion sound | accordion.mp3 (93k) |
accordion.wav (128k) |
| A rough attempt at emulating a Theremin | theremin.mp3 (145k) |
theremin.wav (200k) |
| This came out of trying to emulate a percussion sound on a recording by the late, great Raymond Scott - but it also sounds a bit like a sonar ping. | sonar.mp3 (131k) |
sonar.wav (181k) |
ExtraI found a short sound clip on a website run by a firm called Music Control, which supplied and repaired vintage music equipment. The URL (www.music-control.co.uk) went dead for a while and now seems to be owned by someone completely different. If I find a new URL for them I will post it here. In the meantime I thought I might as well post the sound clip for completeness. oscar.aiff (61k) Note: I am posting this clip for information purposes and not for any personal gain. Given that it was originally made available as a demo I have assumed that this use is in line with any licence that may apply. If you are the copyright holder for this clip and you want it removed from this site please contact me through the feedback page and I will be happy to oblige. |