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Subject: Re: MOTM Pre-amp

From: thudson@...
Date: 1999-09-10

JWBarlow@... wrote:
>
> From: JWBarlow@...
>
> Hi Thomas,
>
> I really like your ideas (below) and agree that it could make a really good
> MOTM module.

Thanks

> I also like your way of positioning at opposite points when comparing
> harmonic content.
>
> More ideas please Thomas,

Actually, after I wrote this I remembered there was an Electronotes article
about a wave shaper that would give a smooth transition (vc of course) from
all odd harmonics to all even harmonics. I'm quoting from memory right now,
but I believe the all-even extreme was produced by rectifying a sine and
the adding the original sine for the fundamental. The odd extreme was a
square wave. If you think about how some fuzzes affect the signal, you
can see the poor mans version (or poor guitarists version?) of this would
be a "fuzz that approaches square" at one end, and an octave-doubling
fuzz at the other (perhaps with the original signal mixed in).

Wish my job wasn't eating so much of my time right now. Lot's of things
I would like to breadboard.

R. Keen's site has some good discussions about guitar distortion effects
and what makes a unique sound. He suggests that prefiltering has a lot
to do with the characteristics (remember, Jimi Hendrix put the wah
before the fuzz face). I've often wondered about using identically
tuned bandpass and notch filters, with bandpass before the fuzz
and notch after. The notch would cancel any boost of the bandpass,
yet the characteristics of the distortion would still be affected.
Sweeping them w/ an LFO might be interesting.

Makes me realize that the modular synth is the ultimate "scratch pad"
for the guitar effects designer.

Thomas