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Summary of Contents for Tiptop Audio Z300 MKII Smart VCO
- Page 1 MKII Z 3 0 0 0 FREQUENCY Smart VC -Osc illato r FREQUENCY/NOTE/OCTAVE HIGH FINE TUNE WAVE 1V/Oct EXT-IN SHAPER CV IN INPUT HIGH PULSE WIDTH SYNC INPUT INPUT FM 1 CV IN INPUT Linear FM FM 2 INPUT Tipt p A u d i o...
- Page 2 Z3000 Smart VCOmkII Design - Gur Milstein Special Thanks Matthew Davidson Shawn Cleary Richard Devine Bobby Voso Rene Schmitz Mark Pulver Gene Zumchack Surachai Andreas Schneider MADE IN THE USA Tiptop Audio 2010 All Rights Reserved...
- Page 3 Welcome. This quick start guide provides an introduction to the operation of the Z3000mkII. The Z3000mkII is an analog voltage controlled oscillator with a built-in digital pulse counter. It displays constant pitch data at a refresh rate of one update per second in three different modes.
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Page 4: Frequency Mode
Frequency Mode. Frequency Mode is the Z3000mkII’s first mode and is the mode that the module starts in when powered. It works by counting the wave cycles generated by the VCO for one second and then shows the results on the display with a resolution of 1Hz. -
Page 6: Extended Frequency Range
Frequency Ratios. - Continued Audio synthesis relies heavily on frequency ratios, so using them appropriately can be very helpful no matter what the application: modulate the pulse width of another VCO, for frequency modulation, modulate the cutoff of a filter or any other parameters in a given system’s modules. - Page 7 Musical Note Mode. The Musical Note Mode works by comparing the VCO frequency to a table of stored values corresponding to Western musical notes. In this mode, the display will show the numerical frequency reading, but once a specific frequency is reached that is equivalent to a known note value, the display will show the name of the note.
- Page 8 Musical Note Mode. - Chords Musical Note Mode is very useful for creating tonal music with a modular synthesizer. It allows multiple VCOs to be set to specific notes or semitones, space several Z3000mkIIs apart to build chords, or set any VCOs to a specific musical key to match a music piece.
- Page 9 Octave Mode. Octave Mode improves upon the functionality of a mechanical octave switch. With an ordinary VCO in a modular system, setting the relationship between the note pressed on a keyboard and what is heard is often requires an independent reference at a known pitch, usually a non-modular synth.
- Page 10 Octave Mode. - Continued Setting up the Z3000mkII to use Octave Mode is simple. First, configure a keyboard through a MIDI to CV converter and plug the CV output of the converter into the 1V/OCT input on the Z3000.mkII. Z 3 0 0 0 FREQUENCY S ma rt V C-O sci llat or FREQUENCY/NOTE/OCTAVE...
- Page 11 1V/Oct CV Input The Z3000mkII’s 1V/Oct CV Input has a very high resistance-input designed to allow you to stack CV signals from a CV source before entering the unit without encountering tuning error, or “CV Drop.” With the the release of our Stackcables there was no longer a need for a built in CV mult.
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Page 12: External Input
External Input. This is a direct input into the pulse counter in the Z3000mkII. Feed a falling sawtooth wave from any other VCO into this input to adjust, synthesize and monitor the pitch using all of the features of the Z3000mkII's three mode options. - Page 13 Frequency Modulation. - Basics Frequency modulation (FM) synthesis is a technique used to generate musically interesting sounds by rapidly changing the basic frequency of a sound. The pattern of change is created by another waveform with a frequency within the range of human hearing. In practice, it is as simple as connecting the audio output of an oscillator to the frequency control input of another oscillator.
- Page 14 FM - Continued: Modulation Index The amount of modulation applied to the second oscillator is commonly known as the modulation index. The modulation index is controlled by the FM knob on the Z3000mkII. It is difficult to calculate the actual spectrum of the resulting sound created by the modulation index, but the more modulation applied, the more complex the sound gets, resulting in noise and frequency drift.
- Page 15 FM - Continued: Input Types The Z3000mkII is equipped with two exponential FM inputs and one linear FM input. The FM1 and FM2 jacks are exponential but FM2 is summed with the Linear FM input and, as such, share the FM knob. Generally speaking, when employing FM theory, linear modulation provides the only true form of modulation and has more predictable results and produces less...
- Page 16 FM - Continued: Frequency Ratios The frequency ratios and modulation index define the tone and harmonic content of the resulting sound. Specific frequency ratios will create harmonic and inharmonic sounds, as previously described, and the Z3000mkII allows the user to precisely set those ratios in any of its three modes.
- Page 17 Synchronization and FM. Combining synchronization and frequency modulaton allows for the creation of whole new sound spectra. Its sound is more predictable than FM alone, as there is no chance of the fundamental of the modulating oscillators drifting away when increasing or decreasing the modulation index.
- Page 18 Waveshaper Input. This jack allows the user to inject an external CV or Audio source to modify the symmetry of both the Triangle and Sine waves simultaneously. Thereby adding new character to the sound as it modifies the slightly harmonic Triangle & idealy harmonic-free Sine.
- Page 19 Voices and Operators. Classic Analog Voice - A typical voice on a vintage analog synthesizer usually starts with two or more VCOs with their pitch intervals preset. The wavefroms of the VCOs are mixed together and sent to a VCF, followed by a VCA. A modular synthesizer gives the user the freedom to build complex analog voices.
- Page 20 Frequency/Note Conversion Table. This table of frequencies for equal-tempered scale is highly recommended for use with the Z3000mkII. Withit, it is possible to navigate frequencies, build chords and construct synthesis models. We recommend hanging it next to your modular synthesizer. A free version that you can print yourself is available at: www.tiptopaudio.com/resources.html Z3000...
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