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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:46 am
by kybernaut_01
Are there 1:1 versions of the original VS factory sounds for the Scope/NOAH Vectron?


cheers,

kybernaut

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2005 11:30 pm
by johnbowen
On 2005-12-02 11:46, kybernaut_01 wrote:
Are there 1:1 versions of the original VS factory sounds for the Scope/NOAH Vectron?


cheers,

kybernaut
No.

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 3:39 am
by kybernaut_01
Alright, so I guess this is for a reason (copyright etc...)?

The guy from VectorSector is probably in a different position, as far as copyright goes.


Anyway, the reason I ask is that I'm finding the provided patches "modest" to say the least... Also I was looking for a way to better compare the sound characteristics of Vectron and VectorSector.

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 4:23 am
by kybernaut_01
Yeah, certainly. Beside of all this, I just *like* the original factory sounds :wink:

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 1:29 pm
by johnbowen
On 2005-12-04 04:23, kybernaut_01 wrote:
Yeah, certainly. Beside of all this, I just *like* the original factory sounds :wink:
Thanks much! It's nice to hear after all these years!

regards,
john b.

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 2:03 pm
by Shroomz~>
John, would there be any legal problems if one of us were to come up with approximations of the original VS presets for Vectron ??

regards,
Shroomz

Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:26 am
by kybernaut_01
BTW.: how do the original 125 waveforms correspond to the ones in the Vectron? They seem to be in a totally different order. I'm not even sure if all VS waveforms are in there at all...

Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:04 pm
by johnbowen
Hi,

re: legality of approximations of factory presets - I'm no expert in IP (intellectual property) law, but it would seem to me that the approximation of any instruments' presets are not an infringement on the intellectual property rights. Using the exact data from the presets, however, would be an infringement without the consent of the IP owner.

Which brings me to the second question regarding the waveshapes used in Vectron. Here's the background story:

The waveshapes were generated by a software program created in 1985 by Sequential engineer Josh Jeffe (now producing the VectorSector VSTi). You could manipulate the harmonics by either entering numbers for each one, or simply sliding a mouse controller around in a graphic representation of a waveshape, and listen to the result, since it was all being generated in real-time. Almost ALL of the factory Prophet VS waveshapes were created by me using this 'mouse sweep' technique - I would try different things, and just save waveshapes when I liked what I heard (the empirical method, you might say). A couple were made by Josh, who used his own voice as a sample source, and I even tried to recreate 8 waveforms by visually estimating the harmonic structure from little drawings of the harmonics found on the panel of another synth! Finally, some of the last group of waveshapes I created just to have some logical relationship - saw or pulse waves in octaves, 2+ octaves combined, octave+5th, etc.

Of course, as we were all employees of Sequential Circuits at the time, any data created became the intellectual property of Sequential Circuits. All of the IP was sold to Yamaha in December of 1987, and remains property of Yamaha to this day.

Although not provided by me, it is my understanding that the waveshapes used in the Vectron came from original data tapes of the Sequential Prophet VS, so these waveshapes should be identical. This same data was also allegedly provided to Dave Smith for use in his Evolver synth. (I don't know about Josh's sources for the VectorSector.) As a synth designer, it seems to me that without
the expressed written consent of the owner, any use of original data found inside a specific synthesizer could constitute an infringement of intellectual property rights.

Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:58 pm
by kybernaut_01
Hi John,

thanks for the detailed explanations. Much appreciated! :wink:

cheers,
kybernaut


P.S. there isn't a list, by accident, that shows which waveshape is which (Prophet VS <--> Vectron)?

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:01 am
by johnbowen
I don't think there's a list....and I don't have a Vectron to check/compare things, but I think the Wavetable OSC in the Modular III collection is the same Vectron osc, so I can take a look at that.

regards,
john b.

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 1:15 pm
by johnbowen
OK, I loaded the Vectron's Oscillator (Modular III Wavetable OSC) and a Demo version of VectorSector. Here's what I found:

It appears that Josh perhaps just downloaded or somehow got the data out of a hardware VS; the user waveshapes 0-31 have some data in them, but they were never specified. Starting with waveshape #32, then is the correct series of factory waveshapes...they start with the basic shapes - 32 = sine, 33 = saw, and 34 = square. After that was just the waves as created, all the way up to 125, then 126 was left silent, to have a way to mute one or more corners of the VS mix.

In the Vectron, the #32 Sine is called 'SineWave', following the four Pre:A/B/C/D Sawtooth shapes. So, if you start counting the Vectron's waveshapes from there, you have the same data as the VectorSector, up until #125, called 'Annoys Dog' in the Vectron. Then there are a number of extra waveshapes added by whoever at CW did them, with the silent wave position named 'ReadingRoom' after all those.

By the way, the VectorSector presets sure sound like the original factory presets I did, so...perhaps he was able to take a data dump of the presets there and accurately emulate each parameter range, etc.?

Unfortunately, I no longer have my VS Rack for a real comparision test - I sold it in Japan many years ago.

Hope this helps,
cheers,
john b.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: johnbowen on 2005-12-06 13:57 ]</font>

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 1:56 pm
by johnbowen
On 2005-12-04 03:39, kybernaut_01 wrote:
The guy from VectorSector is probably in a different position, as far as copyright goes.
No, I don't think he is....
john b.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: johnbowen on 2005-12-06 13:57 ]</font>

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:17 pm
by kybernaut_01
On 2005-12-06 13:15, johnbowen wrote:
[...]
Hope this helps,
cheers,
john b.
Yes, it certainly does!

I forgot about the user waves and wasn't aware that they are stored before the actual factory wavesshapes.

thanks again,

kybernaut