Sunday 21 November 2010

Leaf Audio Fuzz-O-Mat & Kenny's Death

A demo of Leaf Audio's DIY distortion-in-a-snackbox effect.



Described by its makers as a 'lethal lash', this deceptively simple circuit is capable of serious audio destruction. It features three gain stages, two feedback loops and adjustable power starve. It was originally designed by Leaf Audio to process electronic beats although, as you'll hear below, it's quite happy when fed with other material.

Despite its diminutive size and innocuous looks, the Fuzz-O-Mat is capable of dramatic gain swings, so be careful of your ears and speakers! I've used a limiter on these recordings to keep the levels in check.





The Fuzz-O-Mat is only available by taking part in one of Leaf Audio's workshops. The kit contains everything you need and the PCB is well laid out, making it fun to build. Manuel of Leaf Audio and Matthias of Curetronic are on hand to help should you get stuck.

Check the list of upcoming dates and their other 'snack-box synths': the BingBong, NoiseFuzzFilter, RingDing & Bumssss analogue drum synth.

The next workshop in Berlin is on the 4th December at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt as part of the Worldtronics festival, where you can also look forward to a modular set from me, quite possibly shredding pristine Cwejman sounds with my Fuzz-O-Mat.



If you can't take part or would like something pre-built, head over to Kenny's Death and contact Manuel to order "the most kaputt sounding fuzz workstation ever" - a Fuzz-O-Mat with all the Hazarai.