Here's a few more things from the SSG trick bag:
First, a correction to the coupler thing!
The COUPLER goes HIGH if the STEPPED OUT voltage is greater than SMOOTH
OUT. The catalog sheds no light on this but that's what my measurements
say.
1. Pointy wave generator
Patch CYCLE to IN on the Smooth generator, then also patch SMOOTH OUT to
VC RATE. Mult another banana into SMOOTH OUT and use it for CV or
audio. Instead of generating triangle waves with linear sides you're
making exponential pointy waves. Vary RATE and VC RATE for different
effects.
2. Straightforward Sample-and-Hold, periodic
Send the output of any oscillator or LFO to the Stepped section's IN
jack. Patch up a clock using a DSG and send its trigger pulse to the
SAMPLE jack. Turn the Stepped RATE knob fully clockwise. Patch STEPPED
OUT into the CV input of an audio oscillator. Watch how the the STEPPED
OUT LED flashes brighter and dimmer in time with the clock pulse. Note
how the combination of clock pulse rate and LFO frequency affects the
stream of voltages coming out of Stepped.
3. Straightforward Sample-and-Hold, random
Use the setup in #2 but instead of using an oscillator or LFO to feed
the IN jack, use a noise source or S/H SOURCE. Now no matter how fast
or slow you run your DSG clock, you will have random pitches coming out
of your audio VCO.
4. Squashed Sample-and-Hold
Use the setup for #2 or #3, vary the Stepped section's RATE knob. Note
that as you turn the knob counterclockwise the amount of each step
becomes less and less. The RATE knob slew-limits how fast the
sample-and-hold can change. Given enough time the maximum high and low
points will still be hit but each step will be more modest. At full
counterclockwise rotation step size is inaudible - I can't hear it, can
you? At settings over 50% you can get interesting subtle
ultra-microtonal variations.
5. Loony Tunes & Merry Melodies (reg TM AOL-TIME-WARNER ; )
Patches #2 & #3 are perfect input for a quantizer if you have one. Note
that in setup #2 you have interesting repeating patterns but the
patterns inevitably have some kind of drift, unless you know the clock
and the LFO are sync'd together somehow. A quantizer won't eliminate
the drift but will turn it into something melodic. Patch #3 is fun
using a quantizer also, but instead of producing pretty repeating
patterns you'll get crazy notes all over the place.
6. Autoerotic Sample-and-Hold
Well, since you can patch the Smooth section as a square wave pulse
generator, you can use that pulse to trigger the SAMPLE input of the
Stepped side. Strangely though, for every cycle of the square wave you
get TWO evenly spaced triggers .. so the clock rate for the Smooth pulse
generator is doubled if it's used as an S/H trigger.
7. Zero-crossing detector
Noting that the COUPLER output goes high if STEPPED OUT is greater than
SMOOTH OUT, you can use this as a simple spare comparator. Patch any AC
coupled signal into Smooth IN and take the COUPLER out to trigger or do
something ... every time Smooth IN goes NEGATIVE, if nothing's going
into Stepped IN and Stepped's essentially unused, that satisfies the
condition of Stepped being GREATER, and the COUPLER goes HIGH. ..again
PLEASE NOTE that due to the wide voltage swing of the COUPLER output,
take great care using it for audio and CV applications!
Note also, you don't need to send SMOOTH OUT or STEPPED OUT anywhere in
this application.
8. Up/Down staircase generator.
Patch Stepped's CYCLE to IN. Note that, unlike doing this with a DSG or
the Smooth section, you're not getting a repeating cycle. Now send a
clock pulse to SAMPLE. Turn the RATE knob fully clockwise. You can
patch STEPPED OUT to your audio VCO again. It will be a somewhat jerky
rising and falling staircase, a staircase that rises stepwise to a
maximum then falls stepwise to a minimum. Now rotate RATE
counterclockwise ... you will hear the number of steps per cycle
increase, and the size of each step decrease proportionately. So you'll
be hearing lots of itty bitty steps rising to a peak, then falling off
to a minimum. Very cute. At full counterclockwise rotation of RATE the
steps will be inaudibly tiny ... it will simply sound like a smooth
rising and falling like a nice smooth sided triangle LFO. Now vary the
clock rate going into SAMPLE and see how that changes the output. The
size of the steps of the staircase depends on RATE, and the speed of the
steps depends on the clock going into SAMPLE.
Well, taking the 6 applications in the first installment with the 8 in
this one brings us to 14 applications of the SSG - that is, ONE TWO-PART
SERGE MODULE. Just think about that for a minute. Now please consider
that these are fairly BASIC SSG applications. For the next installment,
I will get into some more advanced stuff....
Till then, peace to all
John P.
First, a correction to the coupler thing!
The COUPLER goes HIGH if the STEPPED OUT voltage is greater than SMOOTH
OUT. The catalog sheds no light on this but that's what my measurements
say.
1. Pointy wave generator
Patch CYCLE to IN on the Smooth generator, then also patch SMOOTH OUT to
VC RATE. Mult another banana into SMOOTH OUT and use it for CV or
audio. Instead of generating triangle waves with linear sides you're
making exponential pointy waves. Vary RATE and VC RATE for different
effects.
2. Straightforward Sample-and-Hold, periodic
Send the output of any oscillator or LFO to the Stepped section's IN
jack. Patch up a clock using a DSG and send its trigger pulse to the
SAMPLE jack. Turn the Stepped RATE knob fully clockwise. Patch STEPPED
OUT into the CV input of an audio oscillator. Watch how the the STEPPED
OUT LED flashes brighter and dimmer in time with the clock pulse. Note
how the combination of clock pulse rate and LFO frequency affects the
stream of voltages coming out of Stepped.
3. Straightforward Sample-and-Hold, random
Use the setup in #2 but instead of using an oscillator or LFO to feed
the IN jack, use a noise source or S/H SOURCE. Now no matter how fast
or slow you run your DSG clock, you will have random pitches coming out
of your audio VCO.
4. Squashed Sample-and-Hold
Use the setup for #2 or #3, vary the Stepped section's RATE knob. Note
that as you turn the knob counterclockwise the amount of each step
becomes less and less. The RATE knob slew-limits how fast the
sample-and-hold can change. Given enough time the maximum high and low
points will still be hit but each step will be more modest. At full
counterclockwise rotation step size is inaudible - I can't hear it, can
you? At settings over 50% you can get interesting subtle
ultra-microtonal variations.
5. Loony Tunes & Merry Melodies (reg TM AOL-TIME-WARNER ; )
Patches #2 & #3 are perfect input for a quantizer if you have one. Note
that in setup #2 you have interesting repeating patterns but the
patterns inevitably have some kind of drift, unless you know the clock
and the LFO are sync'd together somehow. A quantizer won't eliminate
the drift but will turn it into something melodic. Patch #3 is fun
using a quantizer also, but instead of producing pretty repeating
patterns you'll get crazy notes all over the place.
6. Autoerotic Sample-and-Hold
Well, since you can patch the Smooth section as a square wave pulse
generator, you can use that pulse to trigger the SAMPLE input of the
Stepped side. Strangely though, for every cycle of the square wave you
get TWO evenly spaced triggers .. so the clock rate for the Smooth pulse
generator is doubled if it's used as an S/H trigger.
7. Zero-crossing detector
Noting that the COUPLER output goes high if STEPPED OUT is greater than
SMOOTH OUT, you can use this as a simple spare comparator. Patch any AC
coupled signal into Smooth IN and take the COUPLER out to trigger or do
something ... every time Smooth IN goes NEGATIVE, if nothing's going
into Stepped IN and Stepped's essentially unused, that satisfies the
condition of Stepped being GREATER, and the COUPLER goes HIGH. ..again
PLEASE NOTE that due to the wide voltage swing of the COUPLER output,
take great care using it for audio and CV applications!
Note also, you don't need to send SMOOTH OUT or STEPPED OUT anywhere in
this application.
8. Up/Down staircase generator.
Patch Stepped's CYCLE to IN. Note that, unlike doing this with a DSG or
the Smooth section, you're not getting a repeating cycle. Now send a
clock pulse to SAMPLE. Turn the RATE knob fully clockwise. You can
patch STEPPED OUT to your audio VCO again. It will be a somewhat jerky
rising and falling staircase, a staircase that rises stepwise to a
maximum then falls stepwise to a minimum. Now rotate RATE
counterclockwise ... you will hear the number of steps per cycle
increase, and the size of each step decrease proportionately. So you'll
be hearing lots of itty bitty steps rising to a peak, then falling off
to a minimum. Very cute. At full counterclockwise rotation of RATE the
steps will be inaudibly tiny ... it will simply sound like a smooth
rising and falling like a nice smooth sided triangle LFO. Now vary the
clock rate going into SAMPLE and see how that changes the output. The
size of the steps of the staircase depends on RATE, and the speed of the
steps depends on the clock going into SAMPLE.
Well, taking the 6 applications in the first installment with the 8 in
this one brings us to 14 applications of the SSG - that is, ONE TWO-PART
SERGE MODULE. Just think about that for a minute. Now please consider
that these are fairly BASIC SSG applications. For the next installment,
I will get into some more advanced stuff....
Till then, peace to all
John P.