Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Tonus VCF Module First Look [ARP 2600 4012 Filter Eurorack Adaptation]

Details are now available at Modular Grid. Yes it's real, and it's spectacular. Should be available for $200 usd in the next week or two on Reverb.com.
In my previous video I showed a breadboard circuit of a classic analog synthesizer filter. The identity of the filter was left a mystery. Today in this video I not only reveal that it is a faithful Eurorack adaptation of the 4012 module from the early ARP 2600 synthesizers, you will get a sneak peek at my hand-crafted prototype design - the Tonus VCF - and hear it in action!

I jump right in and see how the Tonus VCF sounds by sending the resonance into self-oscillation. Be warned, demonstration of resonance self-oscillation can be shrill. Then I cut the resonance and send a sawtooth to the audio input, then a square wave, then a complex digital waveform from the Pittsburgh DNA Symbiotic Waves. After that I remove the audio inputs, return to pure resonance self-oscillation, and this time send the Sawtooth into the CV input to make the filter go berserk with some Filter FM. These are the kinds of sounds the ARP 2600 was known. Last I use an LFO and Sample-Hold as CV inputs. Audio recorded direct to Tascam DR-05, no effects.

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