Additive Synth Slot Sequencing | Partials & Discrepancies

video upload by Unusable Engineering

"A walkthrough of the oscillator slot sequencer in Partials & Discrepancies, including the different ways it can control movement through the additive oscillator’s partial structures and parameters.

The eight slots can store different partial shapes, harmonic and disharmonic settings, and FM parameters, while each of the eight synth voices can move through those slots independently.

In the video I go through the main non-clocked and clocked ways of using it, including:

Keyboard Reset
Keyboard Next
Voice Offset
Velocity → Position
CC4 / foot control
Preset Slew and interpolation
Internal and host clock
One Revolution Mode
Key Track
different stepping patterns
slot solo and enable/disable
Parameter Locks

Velocity → Position and CC4 can select either fixed slots or interpolated positions between them, depending on the Preset Slew setting. This makes it possible to use playing dynamics or a foot controller to move through different partial structures and harmonic relationships rather than just changing level or filter cutoff.

The internal clock also has Key Track, giving every active voice its own sequencer rate based on the note being played. Combined with Voice Offset, stepping modes and One Revolution Mode, this can create fairly complex polyphonic movement from a simple set of slots.

I also talk a little about why slew is not always desirable with an additive oscillator. Interpolating between two useful harmonic or inharmonic states can sometimes produce something completely different in the middle, which can either be useful or horrible depending on what you are doing.

The video uses Partials & Discrepancies 1.4, scheduled for release toward the end of September 2026.

This video was made after a user request, so if there is another part of Partials & Discrepancies or another Unusable Engineering plugin you would like covered in more detail, feel free to leave a comment.

More information:
www.unusable.net"