Sunday 26 November 2017

Phasers To Stun




I decided to test out various Notch Filters around the studio the other day. I really like the way notch filters sound - like a weird phaser. In fact some so-called phasers are done like this - for example the one in the Polyfusion system I have got. Its not real phasing, but it still sounds cool. The principle behind it is this: use a high-pass and a low-pass VCF in parallel and set them so they create a notch (see diagram below). The key to it is how they frequency shift. On some of my modulars (the ARP 2500, Moog 3C and the Emu) there is a notch filter provided, but on the others its just a case of patching together a HPF and LPF and sending an LFO to control their cutoff frequencies. The CV going to the frequency of the LPF is positive and it needs to be inverted to control the cutoff frequency of the HPF so that the notch moves up and down correctly. With some trial and error I managed to get some quite nice phaser-action happening don't you think?

Friday 24 November 2017

Manual Box




I have made a high resolution scan of the Buchla 100 Music Box user manual, as I realised that the only one available online was a copy of a xerox of a copy of a dog-eared copy. Enjoy!

pdf document: Buchla 100 User Manual 2017.pdf

Sunday 12 November 2017

Moog Doodle


A doodle on the Moog. Here you can see me tweaking some drum sounds made on the 3C Moog. The snare drum is the most complex sound, using 4 VCOs, noise and 2 envelope generators / VCA combos. The bass drum is a simple 1 VCO going through the 904 filter with another env gen controlling the pitch and the VCF frequency. The HH click sound is just the clock going through the fixed filter bank. I'm using the 2 sequencers to trigger the envelopes, and the matrix mixer to mix and EQ it all

Word of the Week #73


Tuesday 7 November 2017

Public Library




I am very excited and overjoyed and almost euphoric because I have just released my first library music album. You know that I am a huge fan of vintage library music albums, I have posted about them in the past, in fact there is a search label for library music over on the right of your screen. Some of my favourite albums are library albums! And finally I have now joined the fray, publishing my first record of synth based 100% pure electronic vintage analog sounds and effects. Its released over on the excellent ULTRAPHONIC library - you can check the album out over on their website. Its called Haute Synth