#1005

FM is super limited unless you have through-zero.

Without through-zero, most of the interesting use cases are limited to situations where the modulation frequency is less than the (average) carrier frequency.

With through-zero, you get plenty of interesting effects where the modulation frequency is greater than the carrier and so you have at your disposal a much wider range of tonal effects. This is because the amount of frequency modulation required to achieve a noticeable effect scales linearly with the modulation frequency.

Itā€™s more difficult and expensive to design an analog VCO with linear FM and through-zero characteristic. This is why the first experiments with through-zero FM were done with digital oscillators and why FM has in general been considered a digital technique. The proliferation of analog through-zero oscillators in the 2000ā€™s is a rare example of a primarily digital method influencing analog design.

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#1006

modular FM took a little while to click with me; the big thing i found that made a difference in usefulness for me was modulating the FM amount with an envelop. really helps get the percussive sounds i was looking for.

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#1007

There was an amazing digital/wavetable synth in the late 70ā€™s, the PPG 360. It had no filter and yet was capable of some amazing tones. Its successor the PPG Wave added a resonant filter, and is also widely recognized as a classic, particularly since so many were sold (the 360 was done in the very early days of the company). Somehow though, the Wave 2.x all seem to lack something in comparison to the 360. Have a listen:

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#1008

I just came up with a patch this evening where Iā€™m running E370 through an Epoch Twinpeak, while also using other E370 channels to modulate the two peak frequencies. I donā€™t use filters much and was thinking about going down to just Cinnamon, but Iā€™ll hang onto Twinpeak for a while and keep trying things like this :slight_smile:

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#1009

No rules in modular! That sounds like itā€™d give some really interesting results so go for it :slight_smile:

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#1010

Hey man just trying to understand if the Disting mk4 can perform more than one function/task at the same time?

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#1011

No, itā€™s pretty much on a per algorithm basis.

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#1012

Could someone point me in the right direction in figuring out how to change a voltage range from 0-5 to 0-10?

To provide some context, Iā€™d like to use Rene to sequence the shift/level knob of (new) Tides to change between the entire range of chord types.

#1013

I sometimes use MI Ears to boost signals. Itā€™s DC coupled and does the job. Alas, that works for one channel only ā€¦

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#1014

You could also use one of the simple amplifier modules that are available. Iā€™m sure there are others but here are two possibilities.

http://www.doepfer.de/a1833.htm

http://www.addacsystem.com/product/addac200-series/addac202

#1015

That makes sense, thanks! I have an Ears and also a Fonitronik Cascade lying around which I think should also work, Iā€™ll give those a try.

#1016

Will have more to report on scaling soon, but I just received a Mystic Circuits Ana which Iā€™m very excited about. Will test whether it does full 2x scaling.

http://www.mysticcircuits.com/p/ana.html?m=1

#1017

Iā€™ve often thought about having a module for doing precise stepped voltage multiplication and division ā€“ like an encoder for integer numerators and a separate one for integer denominators. I think it would be really useful for doing just-intoned harmonics, fm, and this kind of thing. Does anything like this exist?

#1018

The Disting mode A-2, the Four Quadrant Multiplier, has a scaler ā€” maybe this is doing the trick?

ā€œThe Z knob/CV sets a scale factor which is applied to both outputs. The scale is an integer (whole number) which either multiplies or divides the result, and ranges in value from 1-10.ā€

Edit: Also for @srogers91, if you happen to have one ā€¦

#1019

Actually if you are working with 1v/oct signals, adding an offset corresponds to multiplying or dividing the frequency; adding 1 volt rises the pitch by an octave, doubling the frequency, and conversely, substracting 1 volt lowers the pitch by an octave, dividing the frequency by 2.

If you happen to have a Teletype, you can generate an offset corresponding to any frequency ratio using the JI operator.

For example JI 3 2 will return a value that corresponds to the ratio 3/2 when output using the CV operator. If the ratio is numerically less than 1.0, the output of JI will be negative, which will not work with the outputā€™s positive voltage range; youā€™d need to add a positive offset for it to work.

4 Likes
#1020

so Iā€™ve been on a little bit of a break regarding eurorack. Sold most everything to put money towards a house (which Iā€™m closing on Friday! :grin:), and Iā€™m thinking about a new to expand my Monorocket 90hp 6u.

Two of my friends/band mates started a 2-piece drum and bass combo, I havenā€™t seen them play yet but I imagine itā€™s sort of a DFA1979 sort of sound. They asked if I wanted to do some synth stuff with them and I thought it would be really cool to design a ā€˜playableā€™ rack.

Before I had this idea, my plan was to get a RenƩ mk2 as the centerpiece, and have two/three (depending on patch) voices being controlled by it. Instead of using Rene as a step sequencer, I could theoretically tune the different pads to different notes, and use the pads to play them in a cheater-keyboard/MPC sort of way.

Iā€™m not an especially talented pianist, but Iā€™m getting better. Having predetermined scales, and being able change the presets on Rene would make it so I have a fairly easy to play keyboard sort of thing, correct?

Iā€™m imagining how cool it would be to just have my case on a keyboard stand on stage, running into a large bass amp to have loud stage volume/presence. Iā€™ve never seen a modular synth used in a heavy-rock context and Iā€™d be curious to hear if anyone else has tried anything like that.

3 Likes
#1021

Does anyone have a sequencer recommendation? Iā€™ve been looking at the metropolis but it seems kind of expensive for one output. Trying to find something thats hands on without too many menus.

#1022

Agh, I got a 2hp pluck for my isms and it doesnā€™t fit :(( should have checked beforehand. My original plans were to put 4 in there for some sweet stringy action, but gonna have to shelf that plan now.

I totally forgot depth was a thing to be concerned with in eurorack. Good thing I only bought one Pluck to get startedā€¦

Any other karplus strong modules in low HP that fit in an isms recommendations? :grin:

1 Like
Isms is here
#1023

For hands-on, I really like the Korg SQ-1. Or even a matrix mixer and gate sources :slight_smile:

I think if I wanted to keep it in the rack Iā€™d go for the Ladik S180 series instead, or the Sputnik 5-step and a gate sequencer.

#1024

Sorry if off topic, but Iā€™ve searched multiple forums and not found any really good answersā€¦Looking for rec.'s for eurorack standsā€¦I have two 12U elit modular systems, and I like detaching them from one another, and playing more or less vertically with one 6U stacked on top of another. Butā€¦they feel really flimsy and im constantly worried about pushing the whol stack over when I jam a patch cable inā€¦So, does anyone know of a good solution for how to stabilize a stacked 6u x 6U system in the vertical position on the tabletop? input much appreciatedā€¦