Simple-Mod Tuesday

Two easy Doepfer modifications: a port-hole for the A-199 Spring Reverb and another cap change for the A-162 Dual Trigger Delay.



Like many A-199 users, I keep my tank outside my case. It's less noisy and means I can play the springs. Until today, this meant an ugly, useless 1HP gap next to the module to allow the cinch cable out of the box.

Once drilled and threaded, the hardest part was feeding the cinch back under the second cable tie before soldering. I gave up, snipped the plastic tie and used one of those twisty things everyone has lying around the kitchen.

It's such a simple, useful mod - maybe Doepfer could be persuaded to offer it as an option?



While the soldering iron was out, I took the opportunity to change the timing cap of the delay section of my A-162. I'd already fixed the length parameter to make the module suitable for pinging filters and was unhappy with the delay too. The stock 10uF cap provides delay times of up to 10 seconds - far too long for my uses. I still had a previously-soldered 1uF from my length experiments, so in it went. Here's how it sounds:


(original left, delay right)

The 1uF gives a maximum of around one second delay time. This is more appropriate for echo-type delays. Depending on the frequency of the incoming trigger, higher settings can still be used to generate clock divisions, audible as 'missed/ skipped' notes in the above recording.

It's another simple mod that enhances the use of this module. To be honest, I don't know why the A-162 comes fitted with such large caps as most musical uses lie within the first 10% of the pot's throw.

So, just to re-cap, I swapped out both 10uF capacitors in the top section: a 1uF for the delay and a 0.01uF/ 10nF for the length. I left the lower section un-modded for now, but it's just a matter of time …

Patch of the Day - Basic Variations

Two takes on a theme. One involving FM, the other AM techniques. My Basic Electricity #2 epilogue.



This first patch was inspired by Richard & Rastko's jam on Friday night. It features the FM and Low Pass Gate action of the former and the lo-fi Ciat-Lonbarde sound of the latter. I recorded two passes of a Wogglebug & Maths driving Plan B's models 15 & 13 and Doepfer's A-112 sampler delay.





This second patch has a similar core, but the sound is based on amplitude modulation. The dual peak sine of a Cwejman MMF-1 modulates a VCA-2P. The carrier was the sine of an A-143-9. I altered the C:M relationship throughout the patch. Delay was courtesy of the EHX SMMH.



These patches show the types of complex timbres that can be achieved with modulation. With the current trend for 'West Coast' synthesis, FM is a familiar technique. AM seems to be regarded as ring modulation's poor cousin, but it can be a rich source of sounds.

For me, part of its strength lies in the fact that the carrier, effectively the fundamental, is still present in the resulting signal. To get the most from AM, you'll need two VCAs and possibly some form of offset/ attenuation. As ever, Gordon Reid has the dope.

Thanks to everyone who came to the gig and to Rastko, Hayden & Richard for the wonderful performances.

Basic Electricity Reminder

Heads up! Basic Electricity #2 with live performances from Rastko, Hayden Chisholm and Richard Scott is this Friday! Full details are here.

Rastko is on his way from Geneva with a special set-up:



Here's a short clip of the trumpet being played into the CocoQuantus: "Ich bin mit meiner Trompete zu bringen und ich werde es blasen!"

And here is Richard with Straggle, a live composition for Buchla Thunder, Korg Kaoss Pad III and CataRT (Max MSP):

Straggle from richard scott on Vimeo.

Don't forget: this Friday, February 24th at 21:00. Kastanienallee 77, 10435 Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg. Looking forward to seeing you!

PotD - Return of the PLL Arabesque

Using a min/max analogue logic module as a phase comparator. Inspired by dougcl's classic PLL patches (1, 2) and this post by Giftnudel.



PLLs seem to be a hot topic again. The jury is still out on whether they're used in the Buchla 259. Make Noise and WMD have announced PLL-equipped VCOs. They form part of the Wogglebug's chaotic heart and can be heard sputtering in the Hertz Donut's bad tracking modes.

I'd read about the inner workings of Doepfer's A-196 and PLLs in general in Horowitz/ Hill's Art of Electronics, but only just tried Giftnudel's patch. The A-196 employs a linear VCO, but as you can hear, the patch works just as well with standard, exponential VCOs:


minmax-pll (master left, slave right)

Two VCOs are compared in a min/max module like the Doepfer A-172. The minimum signal is subtracted from the maximum and the difference fed back to the 'slave' via a slew limiter, thus generating a CV. Depending on the initial frequency difference between the two VCOs and the lag time, you can imitate the wonderful glitches made famous by dougcl.

One nice thing about using this method over traditional sync is that it doesn't affect the sound of the slave as much. The other is that the slew limiter offers control over how well, or poorly, the oscillator tracks.

Basic Electricity #2

Live electronic/ acoustic gig in Berlin, featuring Rastko on Ciat-Lonbarde instruments, Hayden Chisholm on alto sax and Sruti box & Richard Scott on Buchla Thunder.



(Click here for full-size flyer)

Auxxx is proud to present an all-star line-up for the second Basic Electricity night. It takes place on February 24th at 21:00. The venue is the small cinema on Kastanienallee 77, 10435 Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg.


http://rastko.info/

Rastko is a composer and improviser of electronic music based in Geneva, Switzerland. He has been composing music for contemporary dance, theatre and television since 1996. At BE#2 he'll be showcasing the unique Ciat-Lonbarde instruments. A video of him playing the Serge with the CocoQuantus can be found here.


http://haydenchisholm.net/

Hayden Chisholm is a New Zealand saxophonist and composer who has been at the forefront of European music scene for over a decade with his groundbreaking microtonal work and unmistakable sound. At BE#2 he'll be improvising a raga with his 'Well Tempered Sruti Box'. Here is a video of it in action.

Our very own Richard Scott needs little introduction. 'Mr. Wizard-Stix' will be wearing his magic wooly hat, casting sonic spells with his Buchla Thunder/ Wireless Gestural Instrument. You can find some of his recent videos here.

The artists will play a solo and a collaboration.

Basic Electricity #2 promises to be a very exciting night, mixing hands-on circuit manipulation, acoustic improvisation and gestural composition. We look forward to seeing you there!

Patch Tips #21 - Getting Animated

Doepfer's A-137-2 'Wave Multiplier II' does more than just super-saw.



This module uses a set of comparators to generate four 'fake' phase-shifted versions of the input material. The offset of each saw can be modulated, generating a large sound from a single oscillator. As the module is DC-coupled, it can also be used to process CVs.

When I first got the A-137-2, I considered building an expander to gain access to its pulse outputs and avoid having to unscrew the module from the system to remove stages from its output. Two discoveries I've made this week happily mean this isn't necessary.

The first relates to the manual shift knobs: when set at zero, a stage is effectively removed from the output. This is great news if, for example, you only want one additional animated saw. It also has implications when using the A-137-2 as a comparator-based timing delay.

Secondly, the A-137-2 will function without the usual input. Activate a stage by setting its manual shift to something other than zero and feed your signal to its CV input. The result: those hidden pulses! With some careful setting, you can get some mad waveforms:



I'm not sure if this is a bug or a feature - a comparator needs two signals - but, as you can hear from today's Patch of the Day, it offers an additional palette of sounds.



To use the A-137-2 as a shonky beat machine à la A-143-1, feed it a ramp LFO. I've found using a positive-only CV from Maths works best as the comparators switch on both the rising (on) and falling edges (off) of a wave. Patch its output to an A-162 or similar to get clean pulses.

The A-137-2 is another Doepfer gem, offering several uses for not much money. If you want to learn more about the workings of this module, read the ETI article on the Digisound Waveform Multiplier or, if your French is up to it, the Elektor article linked at the bottom of the Doepfer product page.

Audio files not playing

Having moved my content to the cloud, my audio files are once again not playing.

Sugarsync used to allow direct access to files, meaning I could stream my MP3s via the Google reader player. They've now added an intermediary page which means this no longer works. Looks like I'll have to pony-up for a dedicated server after all.

In the meantime, here is a workaround: on Safari, go to a blog post, click play on the player, open up the 'Activity' page (under the 'Window' menu) and look for the Sugarsync URL. Double-click this and it should take you to the download. On Firefox, right-click to 'View Page Source', then search for the Sugarsync link.