Malström Synthesizer Introduction The Malström is a polyphonic synthesizer with a great number of different routing possibilities. It is based on the concept of what we call “Graintable Synthesis” (see below), and is ideally suited for producing swirling, sharp, distorted, abstract special effect types of synthesizer sounds. In fact, you could go so far as to say that the Malström can produce sounds quite unlike anything you’ve ever heard from a synthesizer. For a complete run-down of the principles behind it and thorough explanations of the controls, read on... Features The following are the basic features of the Malström: • Two Oscillators, based on Graintable Synthesis. See “The Oscillator section” for details. • Two Modulators, featuring tempo sync and one-shot options. See “The Modulator section”. • Two Filters and one Shaper. A number of different filter modes in combination with several routing options and a Waveshaper makes it possible to create truly astounding filter effects. • Three Envelope generators. There is one amplitude envelope for each oscillator and a common envelope for both filters. See “The amplitude envelopes” and “The Filter Envelope” for details. • Polyphony of up to 16 voices. • Velocity and Modulation control. See “The Velocity controls”. • A number of CV/Gate Modulation possibilities. See “Modulation Input”. • A variety of Audio Input/Output options. You can for instance connect external audio sources for input to the Malström, and you can also control its output. See “Audio Input” for more details. Theory of operation There are a number of different synthesis methods for generating sound, e.g. subtractive synthesis (which is used in the Subtractor), FM synthesis, and physical modelling synthesis to mention but a few. To give you a clear understanding of the inner workings of the Malström, it might be in order with a brief explanation of what we call Graintable Synthesis. What we refer to as graintable synthesis is actually a combination of two synthesis methods, granular synthesis and wavetable synthesis. • In granular synthesis, sound is generated by a number of short, contiguous segments (grains) of sound, each typically from 5 to 100 milliseconds long. The sound is varied by changing the properties of each grain and/or the order in which they are spliced together. Grains can be produced either by a mathematical formula or by a sampled sound. This is a very dynamic synthesis method capable of producing a great variety of results, although somewhat hard to master and control. • Wavetable synthesis on the other hand, is basically the playback of a sampled waveform. An oscillator in a wavetable synth plays back a single period of a waveform, and some wavetable synths also allow for sweeping through a set of periodic waveforms. This is a very straightforward synthesis method, easily controlled, but somewhat more restricted in results. The Malström combines these two into a synthesis method that provides a very flexible way of synthesizing sounds with incredible flux and mutability. The Malström combines these two into a synthesis method that provides a very flexible way of synthesizing sounds with incredible flux and mutability. It works like this: • The oscillators in the Malström play back sampled sounds that have been subjected to some very complex processing and cut up into a number of grains. • A set of these periodic waveforms (grains) are spliced together to form a Graintable, which may be played back to reproduce the original sampled sound. • A Graintable may be treated just like a wavetable; e.g., you may choose to sweep through it, to move through it at any speed without affecting pitch, to play any section of it repeatedly, to select from it static waveforms, to jump between positions, etc., etc. • It is also possible to perform a number of other tricks, all of which are described further on in this chapter. Loading and Saving Patches Loading and saving patches is done in the same way as with any other Reason device - see “Loading patches” and “Saving patches”.