Mutable Instruments Rings

dansimco · 2018-12-20T00:58:45.418Z

I can’t believe after over a year of owning Rings, almost two years oops, I’ve just started playing with FM. Plaits particle dust -> Rings in, Mangrove formant -> Rings RM. I think I was in inharmonic mode, and the output sounded like flicking a spring reverb

Starthief · 2018-12-20T02:14:49.510Z

I admit, FMing Rings is not something I have experimented with as much as I should

photofractal · 2019-01-11T14:19:22.198Z

I feel like something is off with my Rings. I can’t seem to get a short decay on any sounds any more. If I put the Damping knob all the way counter clockwise the sound still rings out. Especially with the strings. I tried sending more negative CV in but it doesn’t help. I don’t remember the module behaving this way when I first got it. Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone know how to factory reset the module?

sunbeamer · 2019-01-11T14:35:39.932Z

Here’s the calibration procedure, copied from the manual. I did this myself after having some issues with my Rings not tracking pitch well, and it definitely helped. I used References on my uO_c to provide the proper reference voltage.

To calibrate the unit:

Disconnect all CV inputs.
Connect the note CV output of a well-calibrated keyboard interface or MIDI-CV converter to the V/OCT input.
Connect a patch cable to the FREQUENCY CV input. Leave the other end of the cable unplugged (this prevents the internal connection to +/- 1 semitone to be activated).
Hold both the polyphony and resonator type buttons for two seconds. This is the “secret handshake” to enter the calibration procedure. The first LED blinks in orange.
Play a C2 note, or send a 1V voltage from your CV source.
Press the polyphony button. The second LED blinks in orange.
Play a C4 note, or send a 3V voltage from your CV source.
Press the polyphony button to complete the calibration. If the calibration is successful, the module returns to its normal state. Otherwise, the two LEDs will blink in RED for a couple of seconds.

niall · 2019-01-12T06:12:37.807Z

I have a Rings in Random*Source 4u format to go with my Serge/R*S/Stroh rig. So far, I greatly prefer it to Clouds, which I also have in 4u.

My favorite exciter signal by far is white noise through a ganged bandpass filter with heavy modulation of its EGs. Percussive fast-attack stuff and slow attack, blown-bottle stuff. Waveshapers before or after the Rings. I often use a cross-fader to mix/modulate the exciter signal, too, and you can hear a lot of that in these:

Today, I’ve had Rings playing the VCO in a typical subtractive patch, and that’s been humming away all day. The easter egg mode sounds especially nice routed to all the filters and mixed back up again at the end.

niall · 2019-01-12T06:14:37.131Z

It seems so weird to me - and maybe I’m just naive - for a digital module to require calibration over time.

papernoise · 2019-01-12T08:22:19.811Z

photofractal:

I feel like something is off with my Rings. I can’t seem to get a short decay on any sounds any more. If I put the Damping knob all the way counter clockwise the sound still rings out.

Did you solve your problem? It’s definitely not normal.

niall:

It seems so weird to me - and maybe I’m just naive - for a digital module to require calibration over time.

If it were a completely digital system, i.e. if all the control signals were also digital, calibration would not be needed, but in Eurorack all the CV signals are still analogue. Also there is still a lot of analogue circuitry in digital modules to be able to interface with the analogue part. So there is still a bit of variability. Digital modules need to know how to translate analogue signals into the digital domain, and that’s where calibration comes into play. In my experience, If you don’t change anything in your system there is normally no need to recalibrate. Actually newer modules don’t need much calibration at all.

photofractal · 2019-01-12T15:41:26.456Z

Yep, it was actually just happening with sympathetic strings and apparently it’s normal behavior. I really thought it didn’t do that when I first got it though. Guess I’ll just have to use an envelope and VCA then.

Starthief · 2019-01-12T18:22:45.729Z

Sympathetic strings mode does sustain a lot more than the other modes on both the Rings I have.

xenus_dad · 2019-01-12T18:25:58.188Z

Do you notice any sound or behavior differences between your two Rings?

Starthief · 2019-01-12T20:41:13.251Z

Yes, the fine tuning effect of the FM knob when nothing is patched into that input is reversed on one of them. That confused me when I tried to get them into perfect unison.

Other than that, there’s not really any significant behavioral or sound differences. Some of the controls are very, very sensitive and it can be difficult to get perfect matches in terms of harmonic content. There’s also, I believe, some randomness to phase or something else which means not every note is the same, which you tend to notice more when using them in unison (stereo or M/S or mono). But it can sound very lush that way.

pichenettes · 2019-01-13T13:52:15.860Z

Starthief:

Yes, the fine tuning effect of the FM knob when nothing is patched into that input is reversed on one of them.

Just run the calibration procedure (don’t forget to patch a dummy cable in the FM input!). It looks like the module hasn’t “learnt” the right offset for the FM input. Probably from an earlier calibration procedure not performed correctly?

photofractal:

it’s normal behavior

Yes, it’s due to a different in signal path when using the sympathetic strings mode with an internal exciter. In this particular configuration, there’s one normal KS plucked string (whose damping is controlled by the knob), fed into the sympathetic strings (with a default damping value).

When the internal exciter is not used, the damping knob controls the damping of the sympathetic strings.

Starthief · 2019-01-13T17:01:11.770Z

pichenettes:

ust run the calibration procedure (don’t forget to patch a dummy cable in the FM input!). It looks like the module hasn’t “learnt” the right offset for the FM input. Probably from an earlier calibration procedure not performed correctly?

Thanks, that makes sense. That second one was a repaired module I got in a trade, so I suspect so. I didn’t notice the issue before since it tracks V/OCT well enough and I never really tried to get them both in close unison until now.

desolationjones · 2019-01-14T18:15:31.357Z

Starthief:

That second one was a repaired module I got in a trade

bush

Starthief · 2019-01-14T18:18:37.326Z

I used it pretty intensely for… about 3 months before noticing?

niall · 2019-01-14T21:37:21.491Z

That makes sense, @papernoise!

TonyIdaho · 2019-12-22T05:16:19.651Z

Anyone here play around with ableton and CV Tools? Wondering if there is a way to calibrate it through the CV instrument.

atlas · 2021-10-24T20:20:53.512Z

hi all, just repaired a broken capacitor on the back of a new-to-me rings. it’s the jakk plug nano rings version with the two columns of knobs. when i plug it in the voltage regulator at ‘ic1’ starts getting hot, hot enough to where you can’t hold your finger on it for more than a second. is this normal behavior? i replaced c13, is it possible i have it on the wrong way?

DatGood · 2022-01-14T21:34:13.597Z

Question. Anyone ever experienced this?
Rings skips every other trigger. So if I play 4 notes in a pattern sequence, it plays #1 and #3, skips #2 and #4.
Odd and annoying, how do I get out of this?

adrianf · 2022-01-14T21:37:42.084Z

Could it be some combination of this?

5. Odd and even audio outputs. In monophonic mode, these two outputs carries two complementary components of the signal (odd and even numbered partials with the modal resonator, dephased components due to picking position and pickup placement with the string resonators). In polyphonic mode, splits the signal into odd and even numbered strings/plates. Note that you need to insert a jack into each output to split the signals: when only one jack is inserted, both signals are mixed together.

https://mutable-instruments.net/modules/rings/manual/