10 Producer’s Edge Jan-Feb 2009

I

t’s not a whole lot of fun to write a review for a product

that doesn’t need one. When it comes to the new flagship

product from Spectrasonics, what’s left to guess about.

That’s a horrible start, let me try again. At winter NAMM

2008 Eric Persing unveiled a sound design workstation

and sample assisted synthesizer instrument that stole

the show. The two hour demonstration [available on our

youtube.com/griffinavid channel] left everyone convinced

that a great and terrible beast was coming. The six month

countdown began. The buzz began to build- fueled by

the video episodes on Spectrasonics.net and a remix

contest using Omnisphere sound clips. The hype and user

expectations were exceedingly high and they should be.

This is the return-to-market product from a company that

doesn’t do entry-level, fun toy or I’ll-outgrow-this-someday.

They don’t bunt or think second base is good enough. They

have very few products, but each one is swinging for the

fences. Let’s take off and see if Omnisphere really does

belong in the clouds.

Bespin and Best in the Bin.

The six-disc install took over 2 hours. I expected this from my

prior experiences with Atmosphere and Trilogy and was prepared

with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Registration and

authorization was a snap with a quick copy and paste. Next we

updated for a few fixes, a reference guide and over 1,100 new

patches including the complete Atmosphere Library.

We open up on the MAIN CONTROLS screen with general

settings including Layer Mix, Master Filter, Pitch and Scale,

Arpeggiator and its preset bank. The Edit Page is where most

of your sound sculpting will occur. The panel is divided into 5

sections. The centered Modulation, Oscillator and Filter are

layer specific and the outermost Mix affects the entire engine.

We know from basic synthesis, modulate means to cause a

change and many synthesizers are lauded for their modulation

and routing abilities. A full bank of options is available

from the Edit Page. Zooming in to the Mod Matrix puts

24 modulation routings at your finger tips showing 12

per page. With over 60 different destination Targets

available, you’ll be here a while exploring. If this sort

of control is a little too much, you can simply right-

click any parameter and use the drop down menu

as a short cut. Think of modulation assignments as

automating knob tweaks and letting different aspects

of the sound dictate the pattern of your tweaks.

Spectrasonics

Omnisphere

Virtual Instrument Synthesizer

VST PC/MAC OSX 10.4.9

words by Drew Spence

$499 [MSRP] upgrade available for Atmosphere users

and special pricing for Atmosphere customers in 2008.

Deep VIP discount for users of all three virtual

instrument products See https://techshop.spectrasonics.

net/omnisphereUpgrade.php for more details

Installed html Manual and video tutorials available for

registered users

11 Producer’s Edge Jan-Feb 2009

Morphing flex Modulation mayhem

The far left modulation overview area is an indicator as to

“what’s doing with your mods". You’ll want to Zoom in to the

Matrix view to see all the assignments. The light blue titles

always indicate the currently active layer and a blue horizontal

line under the parameter tracks the amount of the modulation.

Morphing between settings or patches is nothing new, but

Omnisphere adds the ability to morph/crossfade between two

modulations.

http://www.producersedgemagazine.com/archives/

omnisphere/ SpectraOModMatrixExample01.mp3

http://www.producersedgemagazine.com/archives/

omnisphere/ SpectraOModMatrixExample02.mp3

Here, I’ve chosen to split the modulation duties between

Velocity and filter envelope and targeted cutoff. The wheel

is going to be my method of switching between the two

modulation sources. [Insert audio example]. As I rock the

wheel left velocity is modulating the cutoff and right switches

to the filter envelope. Obviously these routings are more

pronounced on the synth patches where modulation is useful

for adding character and movement. You can hear in these

audio examples how the same mod settings affect a core

patch and one of my own synth patches.

Arpeggiator

It’s the magic button on your sequencer that separates the

notes of a chord and creates a musical phrase while you …

well, do nothing. The Mode features popular choices from

synths past and present like up/down, random and a new

repeat X2 and X4. Clock decides the number of steps. Length

is note duration and a swing for enhanced grooviness. It’s a

very simple interface that’s intuitive and easy to use. An added

bonus is groove lock which matches the rhythm of the ARP

and syncs the timing to MIDI grooves from STYLUS RMX [and

any other MIDI file- GA] via drag and drop. Audio example 01

uses the expansion library Retro Funk and the second [Audio

Example 02] uses a loop from my custom bank. The potential

expands exponentially when you consider the available 8 parts,

each able to use its own arpeggiator. Yes, you can construct

an entire song using just the ARP page and when combined

with Stylus RMX and its own 8 slots for multis…

http://www.producersedgemagazine.com/archives/

omnisphere/spectraOarpexample01.mp3

http://www.producersedgemagazine.com/archives/

omnisphere/spectraOarpexample02.mp3

PART II:

“He should be quite well protected. If he

survived the freezing process, that is."

Carbon Freeze Filters

Spectrasonics Filter Zoom

Omnisphere uses a dual-filter set up; meaning two filters

are active in series or parallel. Series is one filter following

the other and parallel means they run side by side and a

mix slider (fader) balances the ratio of filtering between the

two. Strangely enough I found the low-pass responded in

a typical software fashion and was default-set for general

tonal sculpting and Band-pass combined with cutoff offset

yielded the ‘filter out the highs’ and leave nothing but the

bass tones reserved for pieces like the legendary ASR-

10 with crystal clear…um…clarity. If you want Golden

Era mud please refer to specialty filter preset Rich and

Moogie2. These filters stay true to the definition of synth

filter and remove unwanted frequencies above, below or at

your choosing with precise execution. With 17 filter choices

and serial/parallel link choices, you could spend a long

time trying out different combinations. The only problem

is, many of the regular choices yielded similar results and

were more for fine tuning an idea. For radical changes to

the sound(s) you want to spend more time in the Modulation

Matrix or where we’re going next – THE FX!

It’s the familiar virtual rack of effect modules. Right click in the

open slot to select an effect and use the MORE > to revel more

editing controls for that particular effect. Clicking on the name

of the effect for bypass and the V arrow pops up the presets

menu. The entire effect engine is slanted towards guitar type

effects - many being retro in flavor, which is surprising for such

an incredibly futuristic instrument. I wished they still worked

and sounded the same, but maybe they should have changed

the names and wrapped them in something IG-88 would like.

You will certainly be using these effects in combination to

push the sound design envelope even further and you’ve got

enough included presets to always find a solid starting point,

BUT you will forget that you are using a product from the future

while you dial in effects on knobbage from the 50s’.

In the STYLUS RMX review, I did say I wanted to use these

effects as a separate product. I wouldn’t mind having their

classic studio effects like the PRO-Verb, Modern Compressor

and Parametric 3-Band EQ available in all my rigs, but the

addition of Ultra Chorus, Chorus Echo, Retro-Flanger and

Smoking Amp Simulator (gently used to crunchify drums) made

me drop this idea in the Spectrasonics suggestion box. We’ll

see what happens. Another new addition is the Formant Filter.

If you remember that formants surround the shaping of sounds

by the human…vocal….oscillator…box, then you have a pretty

good idea of what the Formant Filter will do to. As if the singing

monk graphic wasn’t enough. Think of it as an organic band-

pass filter. Here it is in effect on a raw oscillator waveform.

http://www.producersedgemagazine.com/archives/

omnisphere/SpectrasonicsOmni_formant_example.mp3

Psychoacoustic Sounds and Sampling

The appeal of Omnisphere truly starts with the sound design

and work ethic of company owner and visionary Eric Persing.

You have access to a library over 10x the size of Atmosphere

including enhanced versions of all the Atmosphere presets.

[Episode 3 Embedded Psychoacoustic sampling video]

You’ve seen (or heard more accurately) fine examples of

sound design where organic sounds are layered in a mix to

suggest more than what’s heard clearly. Did you hear the

lion’s roar in the classic truck sequence in Raiders of the Lost

Arc or as recently as the Babylonian battle in Alexander.

This creative use of sound sources and recording techniques

ensures you will be using a unique sound set exclusive to

Omnisphere owners. Stories about burning pianos and custom

build instruments will certainly awe friends and colleagues,

but the most important aspect is the ability to bring organic

and powerfully emotive sounds to your compositions and

sound design work without treading familiar territory.

Live Mode

Live mode is about combining multiple patches into an

ensemble up to 8 parts. Visually, it’s about being able to

clearly see the most important aspects of the interface and

make fast changes to your performance set up without

interrupting your workflow and more importantly the sound

of your instrument live on stage! Yes, I mean you can hold

down a set of keys and use touch mode [using a MIDI learn

preset to load the next patch!- GA] and switch patches

while the current sound continues and then switches as

the next set of keys are pressed. Live mode Zoom brings

you to the page for selecting how your keyboard will

interact with your patch selection. You can use keys or

controller dials and knobs to trigger different combinations

of patches and even turn them on and off. Dual mode splits

Omnisphere using the familiar A and B and is a solution

for using multiple MIDI controllers at once. I find this mode

best for locking into your keyboard and diving into your

composition from there.

Stack Mode

It’s all about the layers and splits. In stack mode set to

Notes, you’ll choose which keys trigger what patch. You

can drag the bottom corner to extend the range and

dragging the topmost corner creates a fade corner. Your

left hand might play bass from B4 down and the right hand

might play a melody with a different patch from C4 going

up. Velo adjusts the split by velocity (how hard to strike the

keys) and CC uses MIDI controller data.

13 Producer’s Edge Jan-Feb 2009

PART III:

I breathe in grade-A aerated in Darth

Vader’s’ ventilation chamber

STEAM Engine:

The Sample and the Synth Oscillator

Spectrasonics has been very clear in defining this product to

include the synthesizer label. The switch to their own in-house

developed STEAM Engine provides long term expansion options

and compatibility across platforms. For must of us STEAM will

be the catchy title applied directly to the Omnisphere synthesizer

and it’s the engine that powers every aspect including the direct

sample streaming, synthesis, effects and even patch browsing.

It’s a combination of Frequency, Ring Modulation and Wave

Shaping. Here you’ll be creating new sounds from scratch in a

variety of ways.

Sample mode uses the core library as base material for sonic

sculpting. TIMBRE Crush is a bit reduction and Shift (please

try this at home) transposes in one direction while sending the

pitch in the opposite direction. In truth, this is what I was looking

for from a dedicated effects area. Expect to find a great setting

and spend time exploring what happens when it’s matched with

different samples.

Synth mode It’s a tight focus on a few controls at a time that

keeps Synth Mode from becoming a big screen of programming

confusion. The minimal presentation and small frame you work

in betray the sound you get …out. Trust me, if every module

was shown at once, you’d get this…

And don’t forget the dual layer system where you basically

have two synths or sampled-powered wave shapers or one of

each combined. All the usual synth programming tricks work as

expected including unison, analog styled detune and phase-

shifting. The door slides open and Han sees the surprise dinner

guest Vader. Harmonia adds four additional oscillators per layer,

each with controls for pan, level and detune. Unique to synth

mode are controls for phase (similar to unison), shape

(adjusting [morphing/distorting] your main oscillator shape)

and (pulse-width) symmetry and (hard) sync. Wave shape

is actually choosing the wave shape (triangle, saw etc).

The results are incredible and it’s here that the Omnisphere

almost leaves all the other VSTs behind and the synth

engine stands just behind the psychoacoustic samples.

I tinkered around doing my usual patch creation and made

some keepers. It was easy enough to craft a sizzling

lead and thundering bass. It took two seconds to dial

in Harmonia and get a super think tone. I finished with

Granular synthesis to add a sharper bite. Simple stuff,

really. With the amount of material and number of patches

available, and hundreds more on the way, I can easily see

a producer never doing more than tweaking the included

sounds, but it will be a shame if the synthesis abilities of

Omnisphere are overlooked. You can really have some

unique sounds going by layering a synth/sample oscillator

with the core library.

I’ve been reverse engineering and stripping down all the

synth patches to get back to the raw oscillators- just to be

sure I wasn’t falling in love with the expert patch design,

imaginative sampling and creative effect settings. Here’s

an example of a great preset stripped to the bone. [Audio

Example 04] It’s a single layer first and then the mix of the

two layers. It’s followed by the actual default preset with

effects turned on and finally the performance with a dose of

expression. It’s the Broken Amp Sim that’s usable right out

the gate.

Chaos Filters image

Chaos Envelopes

Edit/Filter/Envelope (zoom) takes us to the Chaos envelope

page where we can get in and do precise editing to the

envelopes using Bezier curves. It’s a graphical interface for

the ADSR along with four addition MOD envelopes you can

tweak away and assign as modulators. With the right side

buttons I can snap-to-grid, restrict my movement to the

XY axis and increase the envelope size while maintaining

the overall scale. As seen above, a right click brings up an

options menu where I can add points and edit their shapes.

14 Producer’s Edge Jan-Feb 2009

If all those choices are still not enough, I can always engage the

CHOAS and adjust the amount of level and curve for random

mayhem. The benefits of surgical editing become apparent

when my zany envelope designs are applied to the AMP, Filters

and MOD Matrix. I tracking lights running across the top indicate

your place along the timeline as I choose between a repeating

Loop and Sync and adjust the Speed, Velocity and Depth of the

modulation.

S

o what, exactly, do we have here. I’m going to

purposely avoid that last paragraph that summarizes

a product, and in this case would include a long list of

happy-user adjectives. Let’s just agree that Spectrasonics

have indeed struck back with an incredible combination

of samples and synthesis. It’s a galaxy far, far away

that offers an ocean of sound design directions- placed

behind an intuitive interface that gives you a little bit a

time so you never get lost. This is a product that holds

your artificial hand on the bridge of the medical frigate

and allows you to ponder the awesome possibilities while

staring into space. It’s the first choice for a composers

movie score and any producer’s secret weapon. The

included library is worth the price of admission alone,

not to mention the clearance level cross-grade pricing

of $199 or $149 if you own all three virtual instruments.

When considering all the original and unique touches

you can add to arrive at your own signature sound- on

top of what Eric Persing and team Spectrasonics have

already done, this an obvious go to product. It’s what we

expected and more. Congratulations on a job well done.

Now, the only thing missing is the ability to import your

own samples. A whispering voice said they might Return

with that functionality and I hope when they do- it doesn’t

happen anywhere near Endor. Spectrasonics.net

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL USERS:

• 2GB or more of RAM

• Dual Layer compatible DVD-ROM drive

• 50GB of free hard drive space

Mac Recommendations:

• 2.0 GHz or higher processor

• G5 PowerPC compatible - Intel Core2Duo or higher

recommended

• OSX 10.4.9 or higher

• AudioUnit, VST 2.4 or RTAS capable host software

• Native Universal Binary for Intel Macs

Windows Recommendations:

• Pentium 3.0 GHz or higher (Intel Core2Duo recommended)

• VST 2.4 or RTAS capable host software

• Microsoft XP SP2 or later

• Microsoft Vista compatible