AUDIO PLAYGROUND'S ARCHIVES OBERHEIM PAGES
Oberheim Electronics has been developing electronic
musical instruments for over a decade.
Each new product is the result of an evolutionary process which
insures that the product is
state of the art in all respects, i.e., features, reliability
and value. It is from this philosophy
of product development that the OB-8 was born. Achieving a balance
of form and
function, the OB-8 delivers unexcelled performance in the studio
or on stage.
Advanced microprocessor technology, coupled with the famous Oberheim
sound, give
the OB-8 unrivaled flexibility in programming. The OB-8 is shipped
from the factory
with 104 great sounds in its 120 program memory, and off-line
storage of your own banks
of patches is made easy with the OB-8's cassette interface circuitry
with selective load.
Additionally, the OB-8 stores and recalls 12 split patch combinations,
in which you determine
the upper and lower patches and their transpositions, the keyboard
split point, and the audio
balance between the two patches.
There are also 12 double combinations stored in memory, giving
you the capability of hearing two
distinct sounds with one keyboard depression. The easy to use
front panel controls eight synthesizer
voices, each comprised of two oscillators with sawtooth, pulse,
and triangle waveforms, a selectable
2 pole/4 pole filter, two ADSR envelope generators, and a VCA
for programmable volume.
Each oscillator may be programmed with simultaneous sawtooth and
pulse waveforms, and each
oscillator's pulse width may be individually programmed as well.
VCO 2 may be synced to VCO 1,
or may be frequency modulated by the filter envelope, producing
exciting timbral effects.
The OB-8' front panel low frequency oscillators provide a vast
array of modulation capabilities.
Outputs include triangle, square, sample-and-hold, positive sawtooth,
and negative sawtooth
waveforms, and each waveform may be retriggered from the keyboard.
Destinations for the
modulation are VCO 1 frequency, VCO 2 frequency, filter frequency,
VCO 1 pulse width,
VCO 2 pulse width, and the VCA for tremolo effects. Any of all
of these destinations may
be selected simultaneously.
The OB-8's "Page Two" mode offers control of a number
of new functions. Selection of "Page Two"
is made by depressing the ChordiPage 2 button twice, and over
half of the OB-8's front panel
controls will shape new parameters within each patch, from the
subtle to the dramatic. Add delay
and attack to each of the LFO modulation busses independently,
invert the delay, control the LFO
rate with the keyboard or with the delay envelope. You can offset
the phase of the LFO's to achieve
new depth in ensemble patches, or produce lively stereo movement.
"Page Two" also allows you to
program the characteristics of the portamento. Choose from a smooth
glide or quantized portamento
that moves chromatically, and cause the gliding notes to move
at the same rate or slightly different
rates for that full polyphonic portamento sound. And with the
OB-8's programmable portamento,
you can glide up or down from a fixed interval, consistent between
voices. "Page Two" also
controls the length of the sustain footswitch release for each
patch.
The OB-8's arpeggiator opens up a whole new panorama of musical
possibilities. Play and hold
any two notes on the keyboard (or three notes, or four...up to
eight notes simultaneously) and the
OB-8 will arpeggiate them either in the order they were played
or in reverse order. Or first in order,
then in reverse order. Or in random order with the emphasis on
the lowest note held. There are five
programmable transpositions on the arpeggiator, each available
at the touch of a button. Either half
of a split or double combination may be arpeggiated, and when
used in conjunction with the OB-8's
unique chordihold feature, the arpeggiator becomes the next best
thing to an on-board sequencer.
The arpeggiator can be triggered by a variety of external sources
as well.
Sharing the controls with the arpeggiator is another modulation
low frequency oscillator which may be
routed to VCO 1, VCO 2, or both, and which may be routed to either
half of a split or double.
Available waveforms include triangle, square, sample-and-hold,
positive sawtooth, negative sawtooth,
and noise. This modulation may be brought into play with the return-to-center
modulation lever,
a depth knob, or with the vibrato pedal. Next to the modulation
lever is the bend lever,
which will bend notes up and down a whole step or a programmable
interval of your own choosing.
Rear panel connections include stereo and mono outputs, memory
protect switch, and cassette
interface jacks; sustain, program advance and hold footswitch
jacks; arpeggiator clock in,
and the computer interface jack for connecting the OB-8 to the
DSX Digital Polyphonic Sequencer.
When connected to the DSX, the OB8 becomes the nucleus of the
unique Oberheim Performance
System, which also includes the DMX Digital Programmable Drum
Machine.
Add to these impressive credentials such features as external
pan pots, lightweight yet strong metal
construction, and the renowned reliability which is designed into
every Oberheim product, and you
have one amazing musical instrument.