I've just finished reading the manual. Here are a few remarks, errors and requests.
The global structure of an Origin's program is a rather complex thing. Could you please provide us with a precise general diagram of a program. The one shown on page 26, though suitable for an introduction, is too approximative to explain clearly which element influences which (the global LFOs (cf page 64), for instance, are not even mentioned on it).
The explanation of the Mixer modes (p. 58) would also certainly be clearer with the help of diagrams.
At the top of page 48 is an explanation about the confusion that could happen with the navigation. I couldn't reproduce this. When I press HOME, I always get to the Home page as expected, I never get to the System page. (May be a modification of the firmware not reflected in the manual ? This paragraph seems to be no longer appropriate.)
There's an error concerning the Memory Protect parameter. The definition given on page 49 is wrong. Furthermore, it conflicts the one on page 74 (which seems correct, according to my tests).
On page 162 (General specifications), nothing is said about the 16 banks of 16 patterns each used by the sequencer. A recapping table with the different memory values would make things clearer :
- 1000 programs (400 factory (read-only) 0000-0399 and 600 user 0400-0999),
- 256 multis (100 factory (read-only) 1000-1099 and 256 user 1100-1255),
- 256 sequences (128 factory (read-only) A-I:1-16 and 128 user J-P:1-16).
All this is scattered throughout the manual.
On page 69 is described the Patch view. Only three of the four colours used for the connections are explained. The fourth one, the light blue colour, seems to be related to the keyboard, like the yellow connections. Could it be Pitch, Velocity and Pressure for the blue one?
What is the use of proposing the Keyboard module in the Add menu (p. 70), as only one keyboard can be used, and as one is always present on an empty program?
To what module does "PgIn1 Pressure" refer? It is automatically assigned to newly created filters, and seems not to be assignable by user (can be removed though).
What is the difference between Keyboard>TRIG and KeyTrigg>TRIG?
The explanation concerning the Keyboard follow is a bit confusing. The Axis parameter is defined as a note. But according to the diagram on page 121, it is a time value...
After some tests, I think it should be better defined as a key of the keyboard :
The Axis is the key that plays the C3 frequency. By default, the Axis value is C3 (key). So changing this value creates a shift between the keys and the frequencies of the notes played.
As for the Slope, it allows to squeeze the frequencies across the keyboard. When set to the far right (the default value), the correspondence is normal : passing from one key to the next increases the frequency of the played note by a half tone. If you reduce the slope, the increment becomes less than a half tone. And when you reach the far left, all keys of the keyboard play a C3 frequency.
Concerning the Low and High parameters, it is written that the trigger is inactive for keys outside the limit (when the Low value is less than the High one). But the sound is played however : any key below Low plays the same frequency as Low (and the same happens for keys above High). Shouldn't the keys be muted in that case?
Concerning the sequencer, the way to toggle the buttons from 1-16 to 17-32, isn't explained. After a few minutes spent looking everywhere (except where I should have), I realised it was implemented as a tab on the display (I must admit, I was a bit tired then). This information would be welcome at the end of 8.5.10.1.
And please, fix all these differences between the names used in the manual and the ones used in the firmware or printed on the Origin :
- VCA1 instead of OUT1
- MULTI instead of MLT
- Frequency instead of Rate
- Main level instead of Master level
- Key1 instead of Search1
- ...
Most often the correspondence is easy to establish, but it's an unnecessary loss of energy. And energy we need, to fully master that promising synth!
