Aural Research Facilities Modulars

[Mark Pulver]

	This messages is cross-posted across four lists.
		PLEASE WATCH YOUR REPLY THREADS!!!


Many/some of you have heard about Ric Miller's ("Aural Research
Facilities") synth modules. I've just taken delivery of the first 1/3rd of
my order into Ric, and I thought I'd share some thoughts.

I have a decent sized order into Ric, and what showed up the other day were
the following modules:

	Quan  Description                           
	  4   VCOs
	  2   2044 based VCFs
	  1   Multi-mode Filter                     
	  1   Ring Modulator
	  1   Timber Modulator
	  1   Ex in amp
	  1   Voltage Controlled Wave Splitter
	  1   Voltage Controlled Slew Limiter
	  3   AD /ADSR EG
	  3   SLOW LFO w/variable waveshapes

Ric builds all of his modules into standard 19" panels, and most modules
are 1U space. Some of the modules can be combined and hence the above 18
modules fit into 11 rack spaces.

The first thing that you notice about Ric's modules is their layout. Knobs
are on one side and the jacks are on the other. This goes A LONG WAY to
keeping the classic modular cord tangle down. I'll tell ya'... I sure
appreciate it now!

The next thing to make it's presence known are the little touches that
"just make sense". For example... on the VCFs there are two CV-INs, *EACH*
with their own variable input. No more patching through an attenuator just
cause you don't want an ADSR to fire to 100%. Ric's VCOs are also a welcome
sight with TWO independent PULSE outputs on them, each with their own pulse
width and PWM input (again with a localized attenuator).

Other touches show up when you look at the ADSRs which each have two
attenuated outputs; the LFOs have THREE outputs and one having a
continuosly variable waveform; the LFOs have bi-colored LEDs for +/- cycle
swings; and the LFOs can run *VERY* slow (like one cycle every 7 minutes).

One more touch... (and frankly, Ric had to tell me *why* with this one!)
The ADSRs have both Trigger and GATE inputs on them. This is so that you
can set up an ADSR where the sustain level is at 50% and will hold there as
long as the GATE is present. But, hit the TRIGGER jack again and you can
retrigger the AD side of the envelope without trashing the final sustain
level. Think of it this way... Run your normal GATE signal to the GATE jack
then run a slow S&H CV source into the TRIGGER. Hit a note for a drone...
When the S&H fires at a sufficent level, you'll get a retriggering... Feed
that ADSR to a PWM input, or (by the way) the VC input for filter resonance
:), and you're happening!

Ric will place any type of jack that you want on the modules. I went with
banana, and Ric was quite accommodating with letting me color code the
jacks so that they make sense to *ME* (CV - Red, GATE - Black, AUDIO - White).

Along those lines, folks being accommodating and such, Ric is INCREDIBLY
easy to work with. If you want something Blue, it's Blue; if you want jacks
on the left, they're on the left... Kudos dude!

One more thing... Prices. In short... *WOW*. The 36ish module system that I
have on order is running under $3000 shipped to my door.

Ready for a listen? :)

I put something together real quick last night. It's a pretty simple patch of 
two VCOs -> VCF -> Out, no VCAs (I don't have 'em yet!). The VCOs are
feeding Pulse's straight to the VCF. The second Pulse output of VCO2 is
running into CV_IN2 of VCO1. There's an ADSR flipping the VCF and a second
ADSR flipping PW1 of VCO2. The VCF OUT is then running straight into a
mixer channel. The echo is coming from a Korg triple delay. 

	http://shoga.wwa.com/~mpulver/five-1.zip

This file is kinda big at 830k (it's a 1:15 mono WAV file at 16khz) so pull
it at your own risk. I tried moving it down to 11khz but the bottom end rolled
off and the noise came up in CoolEdit's filtering process. (And no, my
provider doesn't support RealAudio at my subscription level).

Know that you'll hear a good bit of noise in the WAV file. This is NOT
coming from the synth, it's an after effect of a low initial recording
level (long story) then digitally normalized, and then resampled. Bottom
line... You shoulda' heard it *before* I ran it through CoolEdit's noise
reduction function!

Now, the playing is me doodling, trying to show off the filter (and this is
why I really wanted to keep the sample at 16khz). It's nothing much, and
barely touches on the sounds I was able to pull out of a simple 2 VCO, VCF,
ADSR setup.

Bottom line... There is a TON of sonic space available here. Ric's
price/performance ratio is INCREDIBLE. The filter is smooootttthhhh and I
can hang the resonance *RIGHT* on the edge and it will track solid. I can
open up the filter and get the walls to shake. I can get some wild-ass FM
stuff happening with the VCOs and cross modulate to my hearts content.


Congrats to ya' Ric...  This is GREEEEAAAATTTT!!!!!


For more info:

	rmiller at pangea.ca (Aural Research Facilities)
	http://www.pangea.ca/~rmiller/


Or... Ask me. :)

Mark

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Mark Pulver/Chicagoish, IL             The home of "Son of The MIDI Wall"
 mpulver at wwa.com                           http://shoga.wwa.com/~mpulver
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