Suggestions needed: Using Obsidian 'Multiplier' slot (mod matrix)
Tips on useful and/or surprising things to do with the "multiplier" slot in Obsidian's mod matrix?
(For reference: https://www.blipinteractive.co.uk/nanostudio2/user-manual/Obsidian.html#modulation-matrix)
Comments
Tricky one this. I figured it’s there to save on slots, as macro mapping can take up a fair bit of that matrix.
Macros seem to be more powerful in the mod source column, as you can set scaling/polarity.
You could multiply a macro by itself (e.g. ‘knob 1’ as both mod source and multiplier) and if I know maths, that’d give you an exponential response curve. This might make for a more pleasing sweep with some parameters.
And you could scale or ‘multiply’ knob 2 with knob 1, for example, or scale everything with knob 8. This might have a use in taming a wild patch, if you want calm and crazy in the same setup.
I don’t know. I’m as new to this as you are.
This stuff always makes me think of people who design guitar pedals.
@colonel_mustard That’s more than I’d come up with so far, and still leaves me suspecting we’re missing something. Ha!
I wonder what @StevePAL recommends!
Crept in to have a read, crept out again, somewhat non-plussed...
@OhWell I think @colonel_mustard pretty much nailed it. However, I tend to only use it for assigning to macro knobs in one place/saving the mod slot.
Pretty sure Matt intended it to be more of a mangler effect though if you wire things up in crazy ways. I should probably experiment with it a bit more as I have basically not touched it through years of use.
I added them because I thought they'd be a good idea but personally I've only found some cases where they're handy. You're correct - they allow a macro to act as a multiplier on the modulation value.
eg. If you've got an LFO -> Osc pitch connection but you want Knob 1 to control how much influence the LFO has on pitch, you would add Knob 1 as the multiplier.
This could also be achieved in most cases by setting the LFO's Amount to zero and assigning Knob 1 to the LFO's Amount instead. I say in most cases, as this wouldn't work so well if the LFO's Amount control was being modulation by other (possibly multiple) sources.
thinking about one very good reason to use it - it saves mod matrix slot, compared to classic "source: macro / destinstiom: whatever" routing !
@Blip Interactive Not sure, but I wonder if they would have more uses if we could use any modulator in the multiplier slot rather than just macros. Would that cause technical problems?
Sounds like insane two-dimensional mod matrix. Mad soundscientist's wet dream