Written 1999/04/03
Visual Orangator, or VORAN for short, can emulate various synthesis methods and produce .WAV files of the resulting sounds in 22.05 or 44.1kHz sample rates, 16 bit. The program interface consists of various modules placed on a grid. Using virtual "patch cords" you can connect different modules by their various "input/output" nodules. Double clicking the left mouse button on any selected module shows the parameters page. A right click will bring options such as connect, disconnect, and delete.
Most importantly there are the playback and oscillator modules, the bare minimum you need to produce a sound with this program. Your basic waveforms are all there: sine, saw, square, triangle, as well as noise and custom input oscillator options. Some of the parameters are the oscillator frequency (default is 440Hz) and shape, which makes the waveform more convex with negative values and more concave with positive ones.
There are also modules for resonance, mixing multiple oscillators, amplification, linear and graphic envelopes, wrap overdrive (which allows you to scale volume from 0 to 800%), flanger, chorus, and even more that I don't have space to discuss here like sample playing and sequencing modules.
Now I know analog is all the rage right now, so let's discuss VORAN's competence in this method of synthesis. For your characteristic analog sounds you typically connect an oscillator to the wave input of a resonance module, and an envelope to the resonance frequency input. Getting a really juicy Q takes a lot of fiddling with the parameters, especially the "calming speed" setting. With practice I have produced some very authentic sounding sweeps in custom pad and bass samples. Now if only VORAN had modulateable pulse width!
But let's face it, there's so many analog synth programs and products out there it almost makes you want to take Robert Moog's name in vain. Which is why I felt so enthusiastic about the tremendous possiblity in VORAN's FM and AM capabilities. Simply route an oscillator's output to the frequency and/or amplitude input of another. Typically, modulation oscillator frequencies that are either a multiple or a divisor of the main oscillator frequency (called the carrier) yield the most musical results. That's not to say experimenting with the frequencies can't produce interesting sounds, if not musically useful, then as freaky sound effects. Throw some envelope and harmonic generator modules in there and you can come up with some really strange and refreshing sounds.
Whatever method of synthesis you prefer, the quickest way to audition your sounds as you twiddle the parameters is to press the F4 key, and when the wave is rendered, press F5 to play and F8 to stop.
One bug that really annoyed me though was that VORAN parameter files didn't like being stored on floppy disk in large quantities, and would sometimes refuse to be copied. My workaround: I save my VORAN files to disk in a ZIP file, which seems to bypass this limitation.
All in all Visual Orangator is a damn good freeware program that can produce sounds that would otherwise have been impossible for me with my other gear. Hats off to Agent Orange!
You can download it at:
C.S. Graves
Also download my Visual Orangator presets at the Sounds page
