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Hi guys. I'm getting my head round Massive at the moment but I seem to spend a lot of time messing around trying to get all the oscillators to sound nice together.

If I layer 3 oscillators......
The first at 12.00, the second at 0.00 and the third at -12.00 then I have a note layered across three octaves. Ok fine I get this

Now if I set the three oscillators to say 0.00, 4.00 and 7.00 would this mean I am setting a major third across the oscillators but only in one octave?

And if I set say -12.10, 0.40 and 0.70 would this mean I'm just dropping the octave on 1 of the first oscs but still keeping the major third?

Any help figuring this out would be great if someone can explan the octave/semis/cents setup that goes on in synths. I want to move on from just randomly trying pitch combinations.

just to throw in what I have confirmed about this is: If you load up a default patch in massive, and play C1 you get a nice low bass note. If you play C2 and drop the osc -12.00, you will get the pitch of the C1 note. I WANT to say that the harmonic intervals are consistent with that of pitches on instruments, such as the piano. However, I'm not nearly an expert source, let alone a descent help. But I DID my experimentation and have come to that conclusion myself. I unconditionally default to the experts on this one though

analogheart wrote: And if I set say -12.00, 4.00 and 7.00 would this mean I'm just dropping the octave on 1 of the first oscs but still keeping the major third?

4 steps above the Root.... why do you play the other OSC at 7.00 Then. This is instead creating a Chord? (which has the major third in if you root note for the chord is the root note of the relative key). Maybe thats over my head lol.

Dropping your root note an octave doesnt change the fact that its major third is still 4 steps away ( your just playing the root an octave lower or playing the major third an octave higher). I dont see why this changes or will effect much of anythign (minus the timbre of the final sound) but musically it should still be satisfying the major third criteria (atleast to me it makes sense this way).

analogheart wrote:Now if I set the three oscillators to say 0.00, 4.00 and 7.00 would this mean I am setting a major third triad across the oscillators but only in one octave? Yeah.

And if I set say -12.10 12.00, 0.40 4.00 and 0.70 7.00 would this mean I'm just dropping the octave on 1 of the first oscs but still keeping the major third triad ? Yeah.

cool. i understand now. many thanks

the cents are finetuning, and are best for detuning osc's, bc they only function within the range of one semitone (a half step). the semi's are half steps, or semitones, to which there are 11 per octave (the 12'th would be the next octave).

4 semitones from the root is a major 3rd, and seven is a perfect 5th. this would create a major triad. similarly, 16 semitones from the root is a major 3rd in the next octave (12 + 4) . as you know, 12 up or down will sound the octave above or below. -24 is down two octaves. just a couple more examples that might help.