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Moog Spectravox in Bitwig

Tutorial | May 20, 2024

The Moog Spectravox is a new vocoder/filter bank with limited features, but the sound quality is what sets it apart. While it's possible to replicate it in Bitwig Studio, it doesn't make sense to do so because the hardware device has a unique sound that can't be replicated in software. However, I've created a preset in Bitwig Studio that mimics the functionality of the Moog Spectravox for those interested in exploring it further.

You can watch the Video on Youtube

More Stuff:

Overview of Moog Spectravox

Moog Spectravox:

Replicating in Bitwig Studio

Purpose:

Preset Details:

Process:

  1. Analyzing Part:
    • Feeds audio signal into multiple bands
    • Analyzes amplitude with envelope followers
  2. Synthesizing Part:
    • Uses analyzed values to change output amplitudes
    • Allows different audio signals for input

Modes:

Usage in Bitwig Studio

Default Mode:

Alternative Modes:

  1. Oscillator Options:
    • Switch between pulse wave and saw wave
  2. Audio Carrier:
    • Replace oscillator with real audio signals
    • Adjust frequencies and apply spectral shift
  3. Microphone Input:
    • Uses microphone as an audio carrier
    • Vocoder mode triggered by voice input
    • Adjusts envelope follower times for realistic sound

Conclusion

Final Notes

Download Link: Github Preset

Questions & Answers

Maybe you dont watch the video, here are some important takeaways:

What is the Moog Spectravox and how does it work?

The Moog Spectravox is a vocoder and filter bank synthesizer. It has 10 filters, including one low pass filter, eight band pass filters, and one high pass filter. The frequencies of these filters are fixed and cannot be individually changed. The Spectral Shift knob allows for global changes to all the frequencies at once.

Can the Moog Spectravox be replicated in Bitwig Studio?

While it is technically possible to replicate the features of the Moog Spectravox in Bitwig Studio, it does not make much sense to do so. The appeal of the Moog Spectravox lies in its unique sound and physical interface. Software cannot fully replicate these qualities. However, a preset for Bitwig Studio that mimics the Moog Spectravox is provided in the video description for those interested.

How does the filter bank and vocoder mode work in Bitwig Studio?

In Bitwig Studio, the filter bank and vocoder modes operate by splitting an audio signal into multiple bands using the analyzing filter bank. The envelope followers analyze the amplitude of each band, which is then used to change the output amplitudes of the synthesizing part. In vocoder mode, the envelope followers trigger based on an audio input signal, while in filter bank mode, the volume is controlled manually.

What are some ways to use the Bitwig Studio preset to create different sounds?

The preset in Bitwig Studio allows for experimentation with different carrier signals. The oscillator carrier can be switched between various waveforms, such as pulse or saw, and the audio carrier can be any audio track in Bitwig Studio. By adjusting the volume and spectral shift, along with selecting different program inputs (such as vocals or beats), a wide range of unique sounds and effects can be achieved.

Transcription

This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by AI, so it might not be perfect. If you find any mistakes, please let me know.
You can also click on the timestamps to jump to the right part of the video, which should be helpful.

[00:00:00] So the Moog Spectravox works just came out a few days or a few weeks ago and it's actually
[00:00:05] just a vocoder slash filter bank and it's quite limited, right?
[00:00:10] So we have only 10 filters.
[00:00:11] You have one low pass filter, eight band pass filters and one high pass filter here.
[00:00:18] And you can't change these frequencies individually.
[00:00:21] There are fixed frequencies, but you can't change globally all these frequencies at once
[00:00:26] here with the spectral shift knob, which is quite special.
[00:00:31] And yeah, if you want to replicate this inside of Bitwig Studio, it's possible in terms of
[00:00:38] features, but it doesn't actually make any sense because usually don't buy these devices
[00:00:44] because of the features, you buy it because of the sound and because it's a Mooc synthesizer
[00:00:50] or Mooc device.
[00:00:51] So it has a special sound to it, right?
[00:00:54] And this is something you can't replicate in software and you also can't replicate,
[00:00:59] of course, these hardware buttons, you can't touch anything in software, right?
[00:01:05] So it doesn't actually make any sense to replicate this in Bitwig Studio, but we want to do it
[00:01:11] anyway.
[00:01:12] And I tried to do this live on video, but it took too much time actually for a video
[00:01:18] because of tweaking and so on.
[00:01:20] So I just give you basically the result, the preset for download in the description.
[00:01:27] So you just head down and click the link and you can download it for free.
[00:01:33] And I want to explain how it works basically.
[00:01:35] So this is here, we have two rows of filter banks actually.
[00:01:41] So the first analyzing filter bank, we have here 7 key filters, 6p, pretty steep.
[00:01:50] And we have a synthesizing filter bank here.
[00:01:54] So what we do is basically we feed an audio signal here in the analyzing part, we split
[00:01:59] it up into multiple bands and then we analyze each band what's going on in terms of amplitude
[00:02:04] here with these envelope followers.
[00:02:07] And then we use these values and change the output amplitudes of the synthesizing part
[00:02:12] here.
[00:02:14] And then we can basically feed in different audio signals to the synthesizing part and
[00:02:18] the analyzing part.
[00:02:19] And then we apply basically the spectral curve or the spectral amplitudes from one signal
[00:02:27] to the other signal.
[00:02:28] So that's the basic idea.
[00:02:30] We can also switch this here from a vocoder to a filter bank.
[00:02:33] So we don't apply actually here the volume or amplitude changes from the analyzing part.
[00:02:39] And in the filter bank mode, we basically just change the volume here with these knobs,
[00:02:44] right?
[00:02:45] That's basically all we do.
[00:02:49] So it's just a filter bank.
[00:02:52] So let's actually try this out here.
[00:02:54] So in this default mode, there's no vocoder activated here.
[00:02:57] We have just a filter bank and we use the internal oscillator here, oscillator carrier,
[00:03:02] which is just a pulse wave.
[00:03:04] We can trigger this here.
[00:03:06] Sounds like this.
[00:03:08] And we feed the signal through the synthesizing filter bank here.
[00:03:12] And we can change some of the volume of these filters, right?
[00:03:16] We can tone down some of the filters.
[00:03:18] So it sounds different now.
[00:03:21] Or we can change the spectral shift to all the frequencies at once here.
[00:03:35] And I also put in here a sustain mode so we can switch this on like this.
[00:03:40] So we just hear the oscillator playing through these filters.
[00:03:52] So this is basically how it works.
[00:03:54] Then we can switch off your sustain.
[00:03:55] So we're back to triggering mode, something like this.
[00:04:00] And if you don't like to use the pulse wave here, you can switch it to saw, of course.
[00:04:08] Sounds like this.
[00:04:09] You can bring in all the filters again, maybe the volume down and trigger it again.
[00:04:23] So we basically just filter this oscillator carrier here.
[00:04:28] So we can also exchange the oscillator carrier here for a real audio sound by just switching
[00:04:34] here to audio carrier.
[00:04:37] You can see we switch basically down to here.
[00:04:40] And there we can select your different track in Bitwig Studio.
[00:04:43] Let's say here I use Microtronic, which is just a beat playing.
[00:04:55] So now you can't change the frequencies.
[00:04:57] I mean you can change the frequency of the oscillator, but it doesn't do anything because
[00:05:00] we use the audio carrier here.
[00:05:02] Then we can apply a spectral shift.
[00:05:19] So that's the audio carrier instead of the oscillator carrier.
[00:05:22] This one here.
[00:05:25] Then we can use here this program input, which is basically, so yeah, you can use your voice.
[00:05:32] Here you see my microphone.
[00:05:34] I also prepared this a bit because I tested it, of course, microphone post.
[00:05:43] Then we have to use the vocoder mode and we can use your program trigger the envelope
[00:05:50] generator.
[00:05:51] So when I speak basically, instead of triggering this here manually, I use my audio input,
[00:05:57] so the microphone basically to trigger basically here the output.
[00:06:02] So now we can bring here all the bandpass filters.
[00:06:07] Maybe we increase the loudness of my microphone here and the output a bit, something like
[00:06:12] this.
[00:06:13] And then we can change the, let's say the frequency of the oscillator carrier here.
[00:06:19] We bring in some, let's say some hits, which exchanges basically here the noise on top.
[00:06:26] We can change the noise for pink noise.
[00:06:29] Sounds like this.
[00:06:30] Bring this down.
[00:06:31] Resonator up.
[00:06:33] Spectravox shift.
[00:06:34] And you can play around with this.
[00:06:36] We can also change here the analyzing the envelope follower fault times to make it a bit more
[00:06:43] realistic.
[00:06:45] Sounds like this.
[00:06:46] So it's more close to the source of sounds.
[00:06:50] Yeah, I think it sounds okay-ish.
[00:06:54] So instead, again, of using this oscillator carrier, you can switch back to the drum thing
[00:07:00] here.
[00:07:01] So using oscillator, we use now the audio signal from the drum machine.
[00:07:05] It sounds like this.
[00:07:07] And you can hear in the background basically a bit, let's say the beat playing.
[00:07:17] Maybe you can hear it.
[00:07:18] Yeah.
[00:07:19] You can hear it a bit.
[00:07:21] Sounds weird.
[00:07:23] But you can exchange, of course, instead of using a beat you can use then, I don't know,
[00:07:28] a synth sound or some chords playing.
[00:07:35] Or you can mix a match with beats as a carrier or as a program and as an audio carrier, some
[00:07:42] chords or chords as a program and as an audio carrier beats.
[00:07:46] So it changes basically how it sounds.
[00:07:49] So you can do basically everything with this.
[00:07:51] It's basically a very simple vocoder.
[00:07:55] So like I said, if you just want to use a nice vocoder, you can use the Bitwig one here
[00:08:03] because instead of 10 bands, we have here up to 80 bands.
[00:08:10] So it sounds much, much better, of course, because the resolution is higher.
[00:08:14] So I just wanted to recreate basically a Spectravox inside of Bitwig Studio just for fun for the
[00:08:20] loss so you can, I don't know, examine, dive into it and learn from it or whatever.
[00:08:29] I tried to build it on video, but it took too much time.
[00:08:33] It was over one hour or so.
[00:08:35] So I just stopped recording and I just give you basically a result and some explanation
[00:08:41] how it works.
[00:08:42] So the download link is in the description below.
[00:08:45] Have some fun.
[00:08:46] Let me know if you think there needs to be some changes to it because I think I probably
[00:08:51] forget some features.
[00:08:54] So yeah, let me know in the comments down below.
[00:08:56] Thanks for watching and I'll see you next video.
[00:08:58] Bye.