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Getting to know Transwaves

It can be quite a challenge for synthesists to get the sound in their heads recreated on thebrand new synth in front of them. There's a learning curve to get through with every newpiece of gear. However, the Fizmo's learning curve can seem more steep than usual.

The Fiz presents you with many of the same sound sculpting tools you find on most othergood synths, and it's not any more difficult to use them on the Fizmo. In fact, thanks to theFizmo's knobs, it's actually easier to tweek than many other synths. So why is it such achallenge to build the sounds you've got in your head?

On a typical synth, most oscillators are at least somewhat familiar. They are usually eitherbasic waveforms or samples. The Fizmo's transwaves sound like almost nothing else. Manyare strange even in comparison to other wavetable synths.

So when you are getting started with the Fiz, you are faced with the problem of trying torecreate a familiar sound (the one that's in your head) from totally unfamiliar buildingblocks. The only way I know of to get through this is to make the transwaves familiar toyou. To aid this, I suggest starting with a completely basic patch:

Only use 1 sound with 1 oscillator.

Set the effects to either bypass or a basic reverb.

Turn off all modulation.

Set the envelopes so that there are no changes over time.

Set the resonance to 0 and the cutoff to 127.

Turn the FIZMO knobs (main knobs labeled F-I-Z-M-O) all the way down. (Counter-clockwise)

If you are using Emagic's SoundDiver, make sure that the oscillator is set to playforwards.

Now select a wave. The first three are: 1. sawtooth, 2. square wave and 3. fizdrums. If you'veprogrammed synths before, You've probably worked with basic waveforms in the past; so 1and 2 probably won't require much to become familiar with outside of knowing their generaltonal character. 3 is a keymapped, sampled drum kit.

The real fun begins with #4. Select it and set the transwave modulation to full. This will allowyou to use the wave amount knob to move through the wavetable. If you press and hold a keyand start turning the wave amount knob, you should be able to hear the waves playingsequentially.

I should probably take this moment to offer a brief explanation of what wavetable (orTranswave in our case) synthesis is.

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When I mention wavetable synthesis, I'm not talking about the stuff that is frequently stuck insoundcards. Real wavetable synthesis is when you have a bunch of single cycle samples(waves) that are strung together one after the other (the table) and played through. Thewaves in the table can either be sonically related or completely different. In the Fizmo's case,there are 128 spaces within each table. (The number of waves within the table can differbetween manufacturers.)

So what you are hearing when you turn that wave amount knob I mentioned above is actually128 tiny blocks of sound that are playing seamlessly one after the other.

As you test the transwaves, listen not only to the overall sound but also to the individualelements. When you make a patch on the Fizmo, you've got the option of choosing as anoscillator either just a single waveform from the table or modulating your way through thewhole table.

When listening to the Fizmo's moving and twisting Transwaves, it's easy to overlook thepower of single waveforms but don't let their simplicity fool you. There is a lot of sonicpotential in single cycle waves. (Just ask any Ensoniq ESQ-1 or SQ-80 owner.)

Also, while you are playing, manually adjust the pitch of the transwaves with the tuneknob. They can take on quite a different character at different pitches. A side note about pitchadjustment: the tune knob only adjusts from -24 to +24...but if you then use the no/yesbuttons (under the display), you can adjust the pitch all the way from -64 to +63!Once you are familiar with the transwaves, I think you will find it easier to create the soundsyou are looking for. The rest of the Fizmo works very similarly to other synths (filters, LFOs,envelopes, FX, glide, arpeggiator, etc.) so you should be able to use much of your existingsynth knowledge to help you achieve your goal (minus things that the Fiz is missing, such asring modulation, FM and oscillator sync).

My personal favorite Fiz sounds are ones that are moving and swirling to the beat, so Ifrequently set a lot of the modulation destinations to LFO or noise. Then I set the LFO/noiseto a setting that syncs to the midi clock. (Note: the Fizmo's internal midi clock willautomatically sync to an external clock's tempo if it is sent the data.)

I also tend to get carried away when I'm programming the Fiz. It took me years before I couldfinally get myself to create something as simple as a synth bass patch. It's not that creatingthe patch was a technically difficult task. It's because as soon as I start getting into myprogramming, I'm easily distracted from my original goal by the Fizmo's wild, movingsounds. By the time I'm done, it's usually much later than I though it was and I've ended upwith a massive, densely layered, dark atmospheric sound that's bubbling and swirling all overthe place. Of course, this is the other way to learn the Fiz...just experiment with it! :-)

Happy Fizzing,Ugo