Pad · Manual p. 43–44, 59, 63, 92, 95
Evolving WaveScan pad
A pad that keeps changing colour by letting a slow LFO scan through a Wavelist.
Load it in the playground1
Why it works
A pad needs movement or it sounds static. Instead of sweeping a filter (which only darkens and brightens), scanning a Wavelist changes which harmonics are present, so the character itself evolves.
A very slow LFO, well under 1 Hz, makes the change feel like breathing rather than a wobble.
2
On the Hydrasynth Deluxe
- 1.
Press [INIT] twice, then [OSC 1] and turn Control knob 1 to set Mode to WaveScan.
Manual p. 43
- 2.
Press Control button 2 for Wavelist Edit. Put a Classic wave in WAV 1 and try neighbours from groups like Vokz or Harmon after it.
Manual p. 44, 50
- 3.
Set WaveScan to about 1.4.
Manual p. 44
- 4.
Hold [LFO 1] and press [OSC 1]; choose WaveScan as the destination and set Depth around +100.
Manual p. 41, 92, 95
- 5.
Press [LFO 1]: Wave Sine, Rate about 0.12 Hz. LFO 1 is also pre-wired to the filters, so keep the filter’s LFO 1 amount at 0 unless you want both.
Manual p. 54, 63
- 6.
Press [ENV 2]: Attack about 1.1 s, Release about 2.6 s.
Manual p. 59
You should hear…
A soft chord that slowly turns from round to vocal to glassy and back, without ever changing pitch.
3
Variations
- Use BPM Sync on LFO 1 at 8’ or 16’ so the scan lasts two or four bars.
- On the hardware, raise Stereo Width on Voice page 1 to spread the voices (p. 75–76).
- Route PolyAftT to WaveScan as well, so pressing harder pushes one note ahead.
4
Questions
- How many waves can a Hydrasynth Wavelist hold?
- Eight: WAV 1–8, matching WaveScan positions 1.0–8.0 (manual p. 44). Our playground uses four.
- Which oscillators can WaveScan?
- OSC 1 and OSC 2. OSC 3 only runs in Single mode (p. 43, 45).