Xaoc Odessa, 1975 Variable Spectrum Harmonic Cluster VCO

[kesserich]

Odessa can easily produce all the Crisis of Representation timbres. I think your ears are being fooled by Lazar's signature amplitude modulation patterns.

I just haven't heard many examples of bass. Most demo patches are twinkly bell like tones that just don't do it for me. I'd love to be shown the way here.

[Control]

Xaoc always delivers the goods!!! Amazing company!

[carlotter]

Quick question regarding Odessa+HEL. If I want to do chord progressions, do I have to sequence each HEL input separately?

[scragz]

Quick question regarding Odessa+HEL. If I want to do chord progressions, do I have to sequence each HEL input separately?

Each input needs v/oct for each note in the chord, there isn't a built-in harmonizer.

[kingcons]

Odessa can easily produce all the Crisis of Representation timbres. I think your ears are being fooled by Lazar's signature amplitude modulation patterns.

I just haven't heard many examples of bass. Most demo patches are twinkly bell like tones that just don't do it for me. I'd love to be shown the way here.

I don't know if this qualifies but I thought it served reasonably well as a lower register voice in one of my early patches with it. Wouldn't describe it as wall shaking or anything. Just Odessa even and odd partials through Optomix struck a bit and hit with envelopes from Stages. Also delay.

[MrNezumi]

A few pointers for bass with the Odessa: Bank and Harmonic Factor close to 12 o’clock. Partials in the 10 to 40 neighborhood. Spectral Tilt usual past 11 o’clock but not much past 2 o’clock. Peaking to the left of center. Comb and Warp usually to the left of center, but there is a lot explore all over their spans. One voice (green). If the tension goes to the right too much it gets tinny and too far left thins it out with looseness. Turn up the volume somewhere after the output; the bass is quieter than the high end. Resist the urge to modulate everything. Simple is better. These are vague starting points. There is more to be found. Explore.

[studioutopia]

I don't know if this qualifies but I thought it served reasonably well as a lower register voice in one of my early patches with it. Wouldn't describe it as wall shaking or anything. Just Odessa even and odd partials through Optomix struck a bit and hit with envelopes from Stages. Also delay.

Sounds gorgeous.

[Rafaelf]

Having trouble doing polyphonic (paraphonic) sequencing with odessa and hel. Looking to play chords but cant the scaling right. I can get the root or pitch cv on odessa to scale at 0-10v but when I try and add additional voices (@ 0-5v as stated in the manual or 0-10v) it doesnt scale correctly. Anyone that has tackled sequencing chords wanna share there setup with me on here or shoot me a dm it would be greatly appreciated ty

[scragz]

Having trouble doing polyphonic (paraphonic) sequencing with odessa and hel. Looking to play chords but cant the scaling right. I can get the root or pitch cv on odessa to scale at 0-10v but when I try and add additional voices (@ 0-5v as stated in the manual or 0-10v) it doesnt scale correctly. Anyone that has tackled sequencing chords wanna share there setup with me on here or shoot me a dm it would be greatly appreciated ty

That's weird I never had any problems sending them normal v/oct. My usual setup is FH-2 in polyphonic lowest voice mode -> Hel inputs, leaving the pitch input on Odessa empty. I've also done o_C's chord sequencer -> Hel.

[Rafaelf]

Thanks for the reply normal being 0-5v? for root and additional voices? I have tried just sequencing hel also using FH2 in lowest mode. In most of the videos i have seen people are sending cv to the odessa plus the root and additional voices which i havent tried yet. Pretty sure im just missing something simple. Ive been able to get additional voices added but not scaling or divided evenly...ie not in the way that a traditional poly/para would work ie you send one note it just plays that note u send two simultaneously the voice is equally divided between the two set frequencies and so on. Thanks for the help.

[brandonlogic]

Thanks for the reply normal being 0-5v? for root and additional voices? I have tried just sequencing hel also using FH2 in lowest mode. In most of the videos i have seen people are sending cv to the odessa plus the root and additional voices which i havent tried yet. Pretty sure im just missing something simple. Ive been able to get additional voices added but not scaling or divided evenly...ie not in the way that a traditional poly/para would work ie you send one note it just plays that note u send two simultaneously the voice is equally divided between the two set frequencies and so on. Thanks for the help.

are your knobs set in the same positions as this video? if not, try it and see if you get better results.

[scragz]

Thanks for the reply normal being 0-5v? for root and additional voices? I have tried just sequencing hel also using FH2 in lowest mode. In most of the videos i have seen people are sending cv to the odessa plus the root and additional voices which i havent tried yet. Pretty sure im just missing something simple. Ive been able to get additional voices added but not scaling or divided evenly...ie not in the way that a traditional poly/para would work ie you send one note it just plays that note u send two simultaneously the voice is equally divided between the two set frequencies and so on. Thanks for the help.

I just double-checked my FH-2 configuration and it's actually set to Unison mode. Lowest voice sounded like what it *should* be but I recall there being weirdness like unused voices were droning the wrong notes. All the pitch outputs are set for 0-10v output range.

[mkasthe]

Thanks for the reply normal being 0-5v? for root and additional voices? I have tried just sequencing hel also using FH2 in lowest mode. In most of the videos i have seen people are sending cv to the odessa plus the root and additional voices which i havent tried yet. Pretty sure im just missing something simple. Ive been able to get additional voices added but not scaling or divided evenly...ie not in the way that a traditional poly/para would work ie you send one note it just plays that note u send two simultaneously the voice is equally divided between the two set frequencies and so on. Thanks for the help.

I just double-checked my FH-2 configuration and it's actually set to Unison mode. Lowest voice sounded like what it *should* be but I recall there being weirdness like unused voices were droning the wrong notes. All the pitch outputs are set for 0-10v output range.

Are all the inputs on HEL patched? E.g. if you're running 5-voice polyphony are all 5 inputs patched? there is no normalization in the HEL inputs AFAIK so if an input is expecting something and it's unpatched it will drone

[scragz]

Thanks for the reply normal being 0-5v? for root and additional voices? I have tried just sequencing hel also using FH2 in lowest mode. In most of the videos i have seen people are sending cv to the odessa plus the root and additional voices which i havent tried yet. Pretty sure im just missing something simple. Ive been able to get additional voices added but not scaling or divided evenly...ie not in the way that a traditional poly/para would work ie you send one note it just plays that note u send two simultaneously the voice is equally divided between the two set frequencies and so on. Thanks for the help.

I just double-checked my FH-2 configuration and it's actually set to Unison mode. Lowest voice sounded like what it *should* be but I recall there being weirdness like unused voices were droning the wrong notes. All the pitch outputs are set for 0-10v output range.

Are all the inputs on HEL patched? E.g. if you're running 5-voice polyphony are all 5 inputs patched? there is no normalization in the HEL inputs AFAIK so if an input is expecting something and it's unpatched it will drone

Yeah even with them patched I think there was some weirdness with FH-2 in lowest mode not working as expected and why I must have switched it to unison.

[Rafaelf]

Thank you all. Got various degrees of success with different positions/setups but not what i was hoping for. 0-10v was working better than 0-5v... Will give unison another go. Had issues with droning when not playing all patched voices at the same time ie going between a single note and a two note chord and a three note chord... in the video above as with others ive seen people appear to be sequencing the odessa’s main pitch as well as the root and additional voices was gonna give that a go next maybe with 2 midi channels. but yeah if anyone has a successful setup let me know. Maybe its not possible but hoping to alternate between single notes and chords not have to use every patched note simultaneously and most importantly have it scale evenly...

[scragz]

Yeah try unison mode with 0-10v on all outputs. Mine is definitely working with that.

[scragz]

Unison works going between single and chords because it duplicates the single note to every output.

Don't need separate sequence for the pitch directly on the Odessa and I think I've had problems having both like that.

[Rafaelf]

Unison works going between single and chords because it duplicates the single note to every output.

Don't need separate sequence for the pitch directly on the Odessa and I think I've had problems having both like that.

0-10v in unison into hel is tracking/scaling still some stuck notes/droning going between voices but less than lowest note... thanks for the tip definitely not intuitive or covered in the manual...

[scragz]

Unison works going between single and chords because it duplicates the single note to every output.

Don't need separate sequence for the pitch directly on the Odessa and I think I've had problems having both like that.

0-10v in unison into hel is tracking/scaling still some stuck notes/droning going between voices but less than lowest note... thanks for the tip definitely not intuitive or covered in the manual...

One other thing I had to mess with is making sure my gates (I'm using Pyramid) were held down as long as the envelope was playing for since the FH-2 won't hold the last played chord, it will put them all down to a single note when the gate ends.

[brandonlogic]

i have a funny issue with mine.
when i put my ear up to the module itself when its powered up, i hear a quiet high pitched noise/buzz coming from the module itself.
when i pull the module out of the rack while its sill plugged in, and listen to the back of the module, it's louder. The noise is coming from the back of the PCB.
also noticed theres a red led on the back. assuming thats normal that its lit up?
i have over 80 modules and no power issues with any of them so doubt its a power supply issue, I get the same noise if I put it on a different power supply.
the module seems to be working just fine other than the weird noise coming from the module itself!
Can anyone else tell me if you a little noise coming from your Odessa PCB when you put your ear to it??

[synonymist]

i have a funny issue with mine.
when i put my ear up to the module itself when its powered up, i hear a quiet high pitched noise/buzz coming from the module itself.
when i pull the module out of the rack while its sill plugged in, and listen to the back of the module, it's louder. The noise is coming from the back of the PCB.
also noticed theres a red led on the back. assuming thats normal that its lit up?
i have over 80 modules and no power issues with any of them so doubt its a power supply issue, I get the same noise if I put it on a different power supply.
the module seems to be working just fine other than the weird noise coming from the module itself!
Can anyone else tell me if you a little noise coming from your Odessa PCB when you put your ear to it??

This reminds me of some Morphagene owners' reports of that module making a physical whirring or whining sound. I must think that each of these modules, Morphagene and Odessa, is reacting to certain power supplies:

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=175271&p=3232228#p3232228


Edit: I will check my Odessa module as soon as I can.

[Wedoh]

Could you make kind of slow morphing wavetable sound design with Odessa through modulation? Gradual changes in timbre over time.

[synonymist]

Could you make kind of slow morphing wavetable sound design with Odessa through modulation? Gradual changes in timbre over time.

Hello. Yes, absolutely.

[scragz]

Could you make kind of slow morphing wavetable sound design with Odessa through modulation? Gradual changes in timbre over time.

Modulating warp and density gives that vibe for sure.

[brandonlogic]

i have a funny issue with mine.
when i put my ear up to the module itself when its powered up, i hear a quiet high pitched noise/buzz coming from the module itself.
when i pull the module out of the rack while its sill plugged in, and listen to the back of the module, it's louder. The noise is coming from the back of the PCB.
also noticed theres a red led on the back. assuming thats normal that its lit up?
i have over 80 modules and no power issues with any of them so doubt its a power supply issue, I get the same noise if I put it on a different power supply.
the module seems to be working just fine other than the weird noise coming from the module itself!
Can anyone else tell me if you a little noise coming from your Odessa PCB when you put your ear to it??

This reminds me of some Morphagene owners' reports of that module making a physical whirring or whining sound. I must think that each of these modules, Morphagene and Odessa, is reacting to certain power supplies:

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=175271&p=3232228#p3232228


Edit: I will check my Odessa module as soon as I can.

Got an answer to this. Apparently they all do it and it’s nothing to worry about. I’m suppressed I’m the first person in the thread to point it out/notice/question this!

Xaoc’s response:
“ Yes, we can confirm there is a little acoustical noise, or rather a high pitched whine, coming out from the circuit board in Odessa.
It comes from mechanical vibration of two little inductors which are part of a voltage converter. This converter efficiently turns your 12V supply
to 3.3V and 1.1V needed to power the FPGA core. Thanks to this converter Odessa consumes only 130mA, and not 700mA.

All factory units are affected by this and it has nothing to do with the quality of your supply in the system. We are sorry about that.

The red LED is supposed to be lit. It is used during the programming phase and is used for diagnostics.”