Native Instruments Razor Manual page 21

Overview of RAZOR Ensemble
Overview of Signal Flow
tioned oscillators, filters, dissonance effect and even the stereo effects are simulated by
this one big oscillator. Their settings are used to calculate the individual frequency, ampli­
tude and phase of each partial.
As you can see in the Signal Flow graphic above, the second oscillator doesn't have its own
'sine bank'. It, like all mentioned 'additive' sections, affects the same set of partials. Mix­
ing two oscillators just results in alteration of the partials' amplitudes, it doesn't change
the numbers of partials nor their frequencies. This partial sharing means that detuning the
oscillators to each other is restricted to certain frequency ratios. Setting the two oscillators
to beat to each other is possible, but this is just a simulation. RAZOR simulates the ampli­
tude modulation of each partial that occurs when two oscillators beat to each other. For
more on that subject please read the explanation of 'RATIO' in the oscillator section below.
The reason not to have an independent second oscillator is to save CPU consumption: the
numbers of partials would have to be doubled, which would double the CPU consumption
too.
The Stereo Effects are part of the additive engine. They alter the partial amplitude for the
right and left stereo channel independently. They do not process an audio signal. Some
like 'auto-pan' set the partials panning, 'chorus' simulates differently tuned comb filters
for each channel. Reverbs are mixing a filtered noisy tail to the dry signal. This mixing is
similar to the oscillator mix: the wet signal is not an additional 'sine bank' or the output
from a delay network like normal reverbs. It just changes the amplitude of the 'sine bank'
partials, the very same that generate the dry signal.
The frequency ratio of the partials in relation to the fundamental frequency is affected on­
ly by the Dissonance Effects. If they are not active the partials have a harmonic tuning.
That means their frequencies are integer multiplies of the fundamental frequency. The po­
sition of the dissonance effects in the signal flow of the other sections like Oscillators and
Filters cannot be pinned down. It depends on the selected filter types. But in most cases
the dissonance effect is applied to the Oscillator mix before it is filtered.
The phases of the partials are set at the beginning of the note. They are affected by the
Phase Controls in the Voicing section and by waveforms of oscillator 1.
The output of the additive engine is fed into the Dynamic Effect section. These are the only
'real' effects as they process an audio signal.
RAZOR - Manual - 21