Hyperion - First time user...

I started with NOTES INPUT - it seemed the place to start with to get what was played on the keyboard into the program. Next I needed to create a sound, so added OSCILLATOR and AUDIO OUT (AMP) so I could hear what the Oscillator produced. Going from Oscillator to Audio out seemed obvious - I needed to link O (out) to I (in). I initially linked F (frequency) of Notes Input to F of the oscillator, but didn't hear a thing!

Next came the challenge to learn what I was doing... a quick click on all three added components (nodes) yielded greater controls that popped up in a left-hand window. Now I could see that LEVEL was set at zero; I turned this up and beheld the Oscillator's constant tone.

Now I needed to control this drone with some kind of envelope so I added ADSR 1 (Attack, Delay, Sustain, Release). Using the pretty graphs I could see how the sound would be shaped, but where to plug it in... I guessed that T (Trigger) and L (Level) of Notes went straight in at the top of ADSR 1, but finding which of the outputs underneath to use was a lot of trial and error - finally managed to plug the + to the L of Audio Out. Now I had a sound that would start and stop as I played the keyboard.

Phew!

As I'm using this synth as a VST in my DAW, I threw together some boring notes on loop and whilst that played and played,I set to get familiar with the ADSR controls to shape how the sound starts and evolves over time as well as examining the Oscillator to change the timbre of the sound. I quickly discovered to my delight that OSCILLATOR offers 'SHAPE' which adds extra frequencies to the base wave so settled on a TRIANGLE wave plus some subtle 'shaped' richness.

Turning my attention back to NOTES INPUT and hovering with my mouse over the V on the top, I saw that it was vibrato. Clicking on the 'node' brought up its control panel and trying not to be overwhelmed by the many dials presented, just read through them and saw that vibrato was controlled by the last three, Depth, Rate and Start Attack. Playing with these was fun, but I wanted to delay the start...

Perhaps a second ADSR could be used to do this... I added ADSR 2 and looked at the offerings given in the control panel. I could see a way to shape the depth and onset, but what about delaying the vibrato? This was done by setting the DELAY - simple! Now came the question of how to plug this into the existing 'patch'. Once again trial and error revealed the routings you see in the image above.

Next I wanted to add Expression, I could see where this was made available in the NOTES INPUT node, but where to plug it in?  At first I tried to plug it into the same L of Audio In as the first ADSR - but this gave me two notes sounding at the same time, So I examined where 'logically' it might go. I noticed an L on the Oscillator - that must be it !

Finally, now that I have a controllable, expressive sound responding to keyboard input, I wanted to add some kind of reverb or echo effect to add animation and further interest. So I added ECHO 1, but had no idea initially where to plug it in (this is a recurring theme!)

As you can see from the image above, I needed to add an FX AUDIO OUT and just tag it to the end of the audio chain...

Here's what it sounds like:

Bobox Hyperion Patch 01

TEST 2...

Building on what I've thus far discovered, here's my second patch

Once again I started with the four basic building blocks as I had before: NOTES INPUT, OSCILLATOR, ADSR and AUDIO OUT (AMP) - it was a breeze to set them up so sound could be heard and controlled by the keyboard.

Next I mused about adding a second OSCILLATOR, but could see it would only adjust the input frequency up one octave. A quick search revealed a MATH MULTIPLIER so I could adjust the second oscillator to sound two octaves above the first.

I had in mind to mix the sound through a filter - but forgot to do this in my haste... there will be an adjustment to follow.

Next I added two effects and routed them first to the TREMOLO and then to the REVERB

Here's what it sounds like:

BoBox Hyperion Patch 02

Very cool - you may find a lot of information on the Hyperion discord if you are not already on it - and it might be a better place to share your explorations 🙂  https://www.wavesequencer.com/contact

There are lots of walkthrough videos on the Hyperion youtube channel - there's a playlist for tutorials there too.

@bobox nice organ sound!

@wavesequencer Thanks! Nice to know I'm on the right track... lots to learn and thanks for the heads up on tutorials, etc.

I said there would be a revisiting of my second patch as I'd forgotten to add in the filter...

Here's an updated screenshot of the patch

I also thought it would be a good time to look at the macro buttons at the bottom and see how they are integrated into the patch. By adding a MACRO RECEIVE and setting the macro I could plug these in to control both the filter and the tremolo speed. Clicking the MIDI Learn button exposed the actual CC numbers currently assigned so external control was possible from the DAW - clever stuff !

Here's what the updated patch sounds like with the macros animated for effect.

BoBox Hyperion Patch 02b

Always nice to see somebody picking this up from first principles.

The filter typically won't do all that much on a low level sine/s input since there are not so many harmonics, but if the input level is high enough the filter input does saturate and therefore it will act as a tone control in that case (+ you can adjust saturation in the filter controls).

You can also get some more tone variation from the oscillator shape parameter of course, and other wave-shapes in the oscillator.

For convenience, there is a 'all macros receive' node.. especially useful if you plan to use many of them.

The FM 4-op node is quite handy for organ tones too - one of the algorithms has the modulators and carrier all in parallel. Using two of those is like having a 6/8 drawbar organ. (see factory patch 'Additive 6 Op FM Drawbar Organ')

Anyway.. great start.. just scratching the surface, but that's the best way not to get completely overwhelmed.

@wavesequencer I'm taking you up on the 'use the FM operator...'

Here's my third patch (in the making...)

Looking at the options and being presented with formulae, I tried to visualise what was going on: some operators were feeding back on themselves, others where modulating others down the chain and unlike YAMAHA's 4-operator offerings some were being used more than once!

Thankfully page 44 of your manual gives a visual representation of these which I consulted after putting together the above patch. (I quite like to play, get frustrated and then consult the manual - don't ask me why ???)

Here's what it sounds like (not much at the moment..):

BoBox Hyperion Patch 03

@bobox The FM algorithms are heavily 'inspired' by those of the Electron Digitone, including having the ability to mix between two output options - although you can also find similar setups to the Yamaha 4-op synths like the TX81z, and I did a couple of pretty close approximations to the 'Lately Bass' preset from the TX in the 'Classic Synth Tones' pack ( I have a TX81z for reference - at least this is my excuse for 'R&D synths' in my hardware collection 🙂 ).

@wavesequencer I suppose the beauty of FM 4-operator, 6-operator as in the DX-7 and the 'sky's the limit' you can combine the operators and carriers in many, many ways 2^3 x ?...

There are TX816 factory preset patches for all to enjoy on the main website: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gaz9nty2ulgjefz/Yamaha%20-%20TX816%20Factory%20Unified%20Final.zip?dl=0 which UNIFY will respond to, so I'll have to check them out as well - thanks again for the heads up...

I've finally found a bit of time to revisit Patch 03..

I decided to explore separating the 'noise' and 'tone' elements into two different layers to see how they related.

I've gone for more of a flute tone and added a bit of dirt with the TUBE RESONATOR...

These patches, thus far have been simple and allowed me to get familiar with signal flow at a basic level. Now I think it's time to load up some 'professional patches' and see how they do things and make good notes of interesting ways to solve sonic problems.

Here's what the updated patch sounds like:

BoBox Hyperion Patch 03b

@bobox I always found it hard to get my head around 6 operator algorithms when trying to think of combinations/arrangements that would produce a specific sound. It's one reason I went with 4-op for Hyperion, and also you could argue that given you can add as many instances of the 4-op node as you want in a patch, then it's more powerful than a single 6 operator FM synth. Sometimes DX7 patches will use a couple of operators with fixed frequency to create noise or a click sound in parallel to the other operators, - with Hyperion you can just use another FM (or other node) without a frequency input connection.

@wavesequencer 4-Op has done well for Yamaha in the Electone range (I have an EL-900) and is a great addition to Hyperion!

As you rightly said, "I'm scratching the surface" and have yet to discover so much more as your plugin offers great potential in many divergent synthesis models (FM, Subtractive, etc).

It's a great piece of software that I though I'd delve into and hopefully inspire others to do the same within UNIFY.

Hyperion has got a new Filter - HYPR PIPE

I simply had to have a play...

Here is a simple triangle wave 'recorder'

BoBox Hyperion Patch 04c

..added some ECHO and REVERB

BoBox Hyperion Patch 04b

..and the new HYPR PIPE

BoBox Hyperion Patch 04

This is what the patch looks like

What do you think? It's been subtly applied, but adds an 'authentic' bite to the attack in places - great addition to the Hyperion engine - THANKS !!!