Sampling Oscillators: Overview, Sample Editor, IRCAM Granular, IRCAM Multi Granular, IRCAM Scrub, IRCAM Stretch, Sample, Slice, Stretch

Sampling Oscillators: Details

Name

Notes

IRCAM Granular

Grain: Samples are split into small pieces, defined by Size (5 to 500 ms; def. 100 ms). When using values below 80 ms,
sample pitch depends on Size value; Flanger-like sound. Values above 100 ms will create a rhythmic effect.   
Density controls how many grains are played simultaneously (0.10 to 10.00; default 1.00). Values below 1 will result in a stutter effect, values above 1 will overlap the Grains and gives an effect similar to a Flanger.
Jitter deliberately adds artefacts to the sample by inconsistent Grain playback.
Window (Triangle, Hanning, Welch, Squared) defines the shape of the Grain envelope.
Fade: at 100% (default), all Grains are affected by the Grain envelope, becoming less with decreasing Fade rate. Lower settings give more accentuated sound.
Symmetry: Grain envelope Attack and Decay settings. 0%: Att 0, Dec 100; 50%: Att 50, Dec 50, 100%: Att 100, Dec 0.
In practice, low settings give a more percussive, grainy sound.
Pitch Variation (0 cents to 12 semitones): random pitch of Grains.
Pitch Correction menu: with Grain Size selected, Grain size is constant and the sample will be transposed in a chromatic way.
If Period is chosen, Grain size will vary over the keyboard range; dissonances may appear when you play the sample on the keyboard.
Position: playback and sample speed settings.
Position defines the start point of the sample, in percent of the duration between the start and end markers in the Sample Editor.
Variation (0 to 500 ms) adds a random time value to the original sample start.
There are three Loop modes: None, Forward, Forward - Backward.
Speed (0 to 10.00; default 1.00): scrubbing speed. With a value of 0, the sample 'stops'; sample size is reduced to just the starting point plus Grain Size.
Direction (-1.00 to 1.00; default 1.00): scrubbing direction. -1 is fully back, +1 fully forward.
Cpu load 16 voices: Default setting: 3.2; with Density 10 and Jitter 100%: 140  

IRCAM Multi Granular

In addition to all the parameters which can be found on IRCAM Granular, Multi Granular has the following options:
Voices (1 to 8): number of unison voices. The Voice parameters below are only effective if Voices >1.
Position Spread (0 ms to 10.00 sec, def. 0 sec): time difference between Voices' start positions.
Time Spread (0 to 100%, def. 0%): amount of time difference of the Voice triggers.
Grain Reverse (off/on, def. off): reverse individual grains; Duration Variation (0 to 100%, def. 0%): grain Size variation.
Cpu load 16 voices: Default setting: 2.8; with 8 Voices 15.4; with additional Density 10 and Jitter 100%: 145

IRCAM Scrub

Playback Speed, Position, Direction: see IRCAM Granular.
Analysis Window (40 to 200 ms, default 92 ms): size of sampling window for grain analysis.
Padding (x1 to x4, default x1): oversampling amount. Cpu intensive.
Overlap (3 to 8, default 4): Grain overlap. Cpu intensive.
Remix separates the audio signal into Sine (harmonics), Noise and Transients.
Range of all signals is -∞ to +12 dB; default value is 0 dB.
Options Transients preserves percussive elements; Envelope is useful to avoid pitch artefacts;
Stereo locks both audio channels; Shape tries to preserve the character of the sample when transposing.
Cpu load 16 voices: Default setting: 37; with all Options on: 65; additional Window 200: 85; add. Padding x4: >300.

IRCAM Stretch

Playback Speed and Start see IRCAM Granular.
Sample Tempo: Bpm input. For some reason tempo isn't calculated automatically. If you don't have a clue what the loop's bpm is you can temporarily load an additional Slice osc and take it from there.
Sync: off = no sync; Tempo = synced to host or Falcon tempo; Position = synced to tempo and song position.
Tempo Factor (0.25 to 4.00); Tempo Fine (-50 to 50%): tempo modifier.

Analysis Window, Padding, Overlap and Remix see IRCAM Scrub.

Options Transients, Envelope, Stereo, Shape see IRCAM Scrub.
Legato: newly triggered voices will start where the already playing sample currently is positioned.
Cpu load 16 voices: Default setting: 36; with all Options on: 63; additional Window 200: 85; add. Padding x4: >250

Sample

Sample Start: see IRCAM Granular Position.
Interpolation mode (Lo-fi, Standard, Best): affects transposition quality. At 44.1 kHz sampling rate there's almost no difference between Standard and Best though.
Allow Streaming: if enabled, sample will be streamed from disk, but only if it is also allowed in the Program Editor.
Sample is the only Sampling Oscillator which can perform loop cross-fade, allowing smooth loops.
First, select a region, then right-click and create Loop, then right-click and select 'Enable Xfade'.
You can change the Xfade slope by moving the mouse over the crosspoint and move it by left-clicking and dragging.

Cpu load 16 voices, stereo sample: Lo-fi 1.4, Standard 1; Best 2.3.

Slice

The Slice Oscillator automatically creates separate sections of the sample (slices), by using Markers.
Playback Start defines the slice that will be triggered first. Speed sets the speed of the sample (= of all slices).
Map: mutes original Layer, and creates a new Layer with all slices mapped to Keygroups, triggering 'normal' Sample Oscs. You can listen to the various slices either by clicking on them, or by clicking the Audition play button.
Benefit of the other Audition buttons: stop, listen to last, listen to next slice.
Autoplay: Sample will be automatically triggered when Falcon is playing.
Sync: see IRCAM Stretch osc.
Detection Mode - User Markers: use automatically created Markers or Markers you have defined yourself;
Imported: use Markers saved in sample file (REX files, UVI soundbank files).
Sensitivity (User Markers only) (0.00 to 1.00) : low S. will create only a few Markers, high S. will create many Markers.
Extension: if a sample has a higher original tempo as the current tempo, gaps will occur.
In Auto mode, the slices will be extended automatically.
You can also choose to fine-tune the Amount and Time settings by yourself.
Envelope: you can enable and edit an envelope which controls the slice's amplitude (valid for all slices).
Controls: Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain. Cannot be modulated unfortunately.
Bottom row:
Signature, Bars, Beats, BPM, time division (/4, /2, x1, x2, x4): when you recognize time sync problems, you can give Falcon hints to get it right. This is especially helpful when the sample has a time signature other than 4/4.
Drag&Drop Part: export all slices to a new Part by pressing the Part button and dragging it to Falcon's Part list.
The new Part will be named after the chosen sample.
Drag&Drop WAV: you can export a sample as a new audio file by pressing the WAV button and dragging it to your DAW's arrangement window.
Drag&Drop MIDI: This option is available only after pressing the Map button, see above. On the original (now muted) Layer the WAV button has changed to a MIDI button. You can now export a Midi clip by pressing and dragging it to your DAW's arrangement.
Export: all slices, together with a MIDI file allowing to play back the slices from start to end of the original sample, will be exported to a chosen destination.
Additional Sample editor features of the Slice sample oscillator:

By right-clicking a Marker triangle, you can lock/unlock, mute/unmute, or delete a Marker.

By right-clicking the space between markers, you can either remove all Markers, or add Markers with a fixed grid setting (already existing Markers are not deleted).

If you move the mouse over a Marker, you can change its position by left-clicking and dragging it.
Manually add a Marker: double-click the space between time ruler and sample waveform.

Cpu load 16 voices, stereo sample: 3.0

Stretch

Playback / Sample Start: see IRCAM Granular Position.
Legato: if activated, new notes will not retrigger the Stretch oscillator, but continue to play with the new pitch.
Best used with Layer polyphony set to Mono.
Sample Tempo settings: see IRCAM Stretch.
Analysis: to have optimum pitch shifting results you can adjust Grain Size (10 to 100 ms) and Sensitivity (0.10 to 10.00). For percussive and rhythmic samples higher Sensitivity settings are recommended.
Solo Mode is best used for solo instruments.
Cpu load 16 voices, stereo sample: 4.5

Feature Overview

IRCAM Granular

IRCAM Multi Gr.

IRCAM Scrub

IRCAM Stretch

Sample

Slice

Stretch

Loop

Forward, Alternate

Forward, Alternate

Forward

Forward

Forward, Alternate

AutoLoop

Forward

Loop x Fade

No

No

No

No

Yes

No

No

Speed Control

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No (just Pitch controls)

Yes

Yes

Bpm Input

No

No

No

Yes

No

Auto

Yes

Sync

No

No

No

Tempo

No

Tempo, Position

Tempo

Sample Editor Features

Falcon built-in wave Editor grants basic tasks. For smooth loop and crossfade editing, better use other tools.
Loops created by other wave editors are of course recognized.
To select a specific region of the sample left-click and draw; to have access to the options mentioned below, right-click the sample editor.
Reveal in Explorer: file manger opens
Undo, Redo; Cut, Copy, Paste; Select all, Deselect all: standard file manger operations (Cut and Paste are destructive operations)
Crop, Delete, Normalize, Silence, Reverse, Fade In, Fade Out: standard editor operations (destructive operations)
Zoom To start, To end; To loop start, To loop end; Display all: standard zoom functions
Apply Fx: all of Falcons Fx can be applied (destructive operation)

Note that after applying destructive operations you have to save the sample if you want to keep the changes.
Use the Preset Menu as show on the left.






Play selection; Set start marker using the current position; Set end marker using the current position: self-explaining.
Slice is different as it automatically cuts the sample into slices, based on markers. After selecting a slice you can apply all actions mentioned above.
Different Sample Editor features:

IRCAM Granular

IRCAM Multi Gr.

IRCAM Scrub

IRCAM Stretch

Sample

Slice

Stretch

Reverse (non destructive)

Yes (Direction parameter)

Yes (Direction parameter)

Yes (Direction parameter)

No

Yes

No

No

One Shot

No

No

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

After selecting several sample oscillators of the same type, a Batch menu appears above the oscillator type.

This is especially useful for setting all oscillators to One Shot mode.
 In this mode the sample will be played from beginning to end, no matter what decay or release  settings are. Delay and Attack Time parameters of the DAHDSR Amp.Env are working though.
 (One Shot works only with Sample and Stretch oscillators, see above.)