SergeModular

> Anyone ever used the quadrature oscillator that comes with the

freq.

> shifter as a stand-alone vco? My system has 2 NTO's and one PCO,

and

> I was coveting another panel so I could add at least one more
> oscillator. Then I decided to experiment with this little sinewave-
> generating module, processing it through the wave multiplier,
> and....WOW! It tracks beautifully!!

I use it a lot, also if you put it through a
comparator you can synchronize the NTO so you don't
get beating when processing NTO->FRS (if you don't want.)
that becomes important when postprocessing the FRS output
with a nonlinear device (wave multiplier, usually.)

> Better than the PCO, I'd dare
> say.

Well it is a pure sine, whereas the PCO/NTO sine is
buzzy. but the tracking abilities of the PCO and
NTO seem just as good.

By processing its sine wave with the top section of the wave

> multiplier, I get a nice square wave, which can be made buzzy by VC-
> modulating the mult with a slow-attacking envelope. Using the

middle

> and bottom sections, I get wild, distorted waves (almost like a

fuzz

> box). In fact, these two humble modules are all you need for an
> incredible distorted/metal guitar-like patch! And now that I can
> count this as VCO#4, I can use my little Serge as a duophonic, 2-
> vco/voice system. Woohoo!! Highly recommended :-)
>

One kind of "metal guitar" patch that I (over) use is
as follows, sync a NTO by the FRS oscillator and a
comparator. Run the NTO triangle into the FRS and
adjust to some constant timbre (so no beats sound.)
then process the result through the middle wave multiplier.
Results from guitars to throbbing machine-like drones. Of
course when you lose sync on purpose, then you get even
more interesting sounds :)

I also love using the FRS compressor to process
bandpass/highpass resonant sweeps, though it's a bit
noisy on external signals. One way to "fix" that, to
actually turn the compressor into an expander at low amplitudes
and a limiter at high amplitudes, is feedback its output
via an audio mixer, taking the new "output" as the mixer output.

Adjust the feedback gain just before the
system begins to self-oscillate (you'll hear a crackling type
sound) very good that way to process drum loops, I don't know of
any outboard gear that can produce an effect of this quality.


--Harvey