A Serge Wave Multiplier Idea (Part 47)

[Steven Cook]

Hi,

Here's my idea - I don't know if it would duplicate the effect of the Serge
Wave Multiplier, but anyway...

Start with a voltage controlled clipping circuit - I have one somewhere from
Wireless World and I think there's one in the Formant. Subtract the input
signal from the clipping level. If the input is a +/-5v triangle wave and the
clipping level is set to 5v, then as the triangle ramps up, the clipping level
ramps down, so at 2.5v the two meet causing the triangle to fold down as it
ramps higher - at it's peak, the triangle wave will fold back to 0v.

Then cascade several such stages - say 4. Each clipper would have a reference
level half that of the previous one.

As the input signal level rises, it will be folded down by the last stage
until the peaks reach 0v, then the second to last stage will start to fold
over so the level going into the last stage will remain constant.

The end result would be a triangle wave with 16 positive peaks followed by 16
negative peaks.

I've tried simulating this using Csound (i.e. cheating!) and it sounds very good.

PS: Actually, a voltage controlled clipper would be a handy circuit in itself
- you could presumably create resonant filter or sync like sounds by clipping
one waveform with another, higher pitched.

Thanks,

Steven Cook.