Wiardgroup

Reading the posts, I miss threads about the Wiard itself. Why it is 
so good, or what should be tried out immediately. There are so many 
things. One thing I point out on every occasion is the sound of 
Wiard's VCO modulated with another one with linear FM. Take two sine-
outs and plug one into the other. It sounds so good, one has just to 
find the right spread of the VCO's. I also did very good 
Crossmodulation-sounds. One of Wiard's strenghts is that it will 
sound good and very pleasing on lots of settings. With (real-X) 
Crossmodulation it is a bit hard to find clean sounds, but it is 
possible, I had results going right into a production. 

I would be pleased to try out some Woggle-Patches, I love my 
Wogglebug, but I still wouldn't call myself a WoggleBug-Pro.

Olivier 

wwww.smoosound.com

too many light years from the topic huh?
ok - fair cop.
I do tend to assume that everybody knows about the Wiard's strengths but if I think about it, I guess that's kinda absurd really.... (why would they be reading if they already knew everything... right???) after all, this is the first place I look for new things to stuff in the muzzle of my patchcord blunderbuss!
  I think the Sequantizer is very strong. Before I owned any Wiard gadgets I asked GR for some suggestions. He knew my rig and recommended the sequantizer. I already had an Arp sequencer and a TKB and a 32-channel MIDI-to-CV/gate. I was aghast! The LAST thing I felt I needed was another damn sequencer and only 8-steps.... ya gotta be kidding! But I was wrong (again)
  The permutation range from the CV controlled 'select' is a powerful stuff. When the Sequantizer is clocked at audio speeds is becomes a CV waveform modulator. Hitting the reset with a pulsewave tuned to NEARLY the same frequency creates a wicked 'ultra-hard-sync'. At slower speeds this can be used a varying complex envelope.
  A lot of the features look un-glamorous but are very musical. I use the octave shift all the time. The step-selectable glide is another feature that breathes life into sequences without having to patch-in 4 other modules. One feature that I ho-hummed at, turned out to be something I use ALL the time. With the sequencer sitting still, (unclocked) you can use the select knob to step & stop through each step. I know it doesn't sound like anything of monumental consequence but it makes creating & testing (creating-testing, creating-testing, & on & on) a sequence SO CONVENIENT. It just seems to have been designed by someone who had actually programmed a LOT of sequeneces on an analog himself
   The saying goes... It's not how many steps you have, it's how you USE 'em! For my money, the sequantizer yields way more bang for the step that it looks like at first glance.
-dm

it would be cool to see a blue faced production version of the 16 step 
one on Grant's DIy page.....

mark

drmabuce wrote:

>too many light years from the topic huh?
>ok - fair cop.
>I do tend to assume that everybody knows about the Wiard's strengths but if I think about it, I guess that's kinda absurd really.... (why would they be reading if they already knew everything... right???) after all, this is the first place I look for new things to stuff in the muzzle of my patchcord blunderbuss!
>  I think the Sequantizer is very strong. Before I owned any Wiard gadgets I asked GR for some suggestions. He knew my rig and recommended the sequantizer. I already had an Arp sequencer and a TKB and a 32-channel MIDI-to-CV/gate. I was aghast! The LAST thing I felt I needed was another damn sequencer and only 8-steps.... ya gotta be kidding! But I was wrong (again)
>  The permutation range from the CV controlled 'select' is a powerful stuff. When the Sequantizer is clocked at audio speeds is becomes a CV waveform modulator. Hitting the reset with a pulsewave tuned to NEARLY the same frequency creates a wicked 'ultra-hard-sync'. At slower speeds this can be used a varying complex envelope.
>  A lot of the features look un-glamorous but are very musical. I use the octave shift all the time. The step-selectable glide is another feature that breathes life into sequences without having to patch-in 4 other modules. One feature that I ho-hummed at, turned out to be something I use ALL the time. With the sequencer sitting still, (unclocked) you can use the select knob to step & stop through each step. I know it doesn't sound like anything of monumental consequence but it makes creating & testing (creating-testing, creating-testing, & on & on) a sequence SO CONVENIENT. It just seems to have been designed by someone who had actually programmed a LOT of sequeneces on an analog himself
>   The saying goes... It's not how many steps you have, it's how you USE 'em! For my money, the sequantizer yields way more bang for the step that it looks like at first glance.
>-dm
>
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>wiardgroup-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> 
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
>
>
>

Grant has just shipped to me a pair of Sequantizers that are 
linkable into a 16 step unit, or switchable back to two independent 8 
stage modules.  I haven't received it yet (he shipped it Wednesday), 
but I am very excited to have it.

Gary

--- In wiardgroup@y..., mark verbos <a0284520@a...> wrote:

> it would be cool to see a blue faced production version of the 16 step 
> one on Grant's DIy page.....
> 
> mark
>

I believe one of Wiard's strengths is the integration of features and
functions.  To me this means more than adding VCAs or AR generators to
modules, it is the interaction between the functions that is
interesting.  To date I only own the Wogglebug, but this may be one of
the best examples.  The decaying sinusoidal "woggles" add a second
dimension to the sound.  Taking the audio tones of two woggle parents to
create the ring modulated child tones then produces a third audible
dimension.  This would be a very complex patch in any other system.  It
almost takes you to a "macro" level of synthesis where you can
concentrate on more complex levels of audio.

Another aspect is the combination of controls, both manual and voltage
inputs.  A noise generator connected to a S&H is the simplest
manifestation of a random generator, but once integration of additional
features such as slew, PLLs and feedback paths occurs then the potential
multiplies, rather than just being additive.

The danger with this approach is that the module might be a "one trick
pony."  It could become a single purpose device that is automatically
recognized and ultimately clichéd when used in a composition.  I believe
Grant has avoided this by bringing out the basic functions in
combination with the interactive ones.  Taking the stepped, smoothed or
woggled control voltages to filter CV inputs of a filter and the child
tones to the filter audio inputs adds another "macro" level to the
synthesis.  A combination of a Wogglebug with a Borg Filter (hereafter
called the WoggleBorg) would, with just a few patch cords, create an
interesting stereo tone generation and modification system.  Add in a
Mixolater, and you now have a complete stereo aleatoric synthesizer.
That's a very powerful statement on integrated synthesizer design.

John Loffink
jloffink@austin.rr.com 

> I do tend to assume that everybody knows about the Wiard's strengths
but
> if I think about it, I guess that's kinda absurd really.... (why would
> they be reading if they already knew everything... right???) after
all,
> this is the first place I look for new things to stuff in the muzzle
of my
> patchcord blunderbuss!

--- In wiardgroup@y..., "John Loffink" <jloffink@a...> wrote:
> I believe one of Wiard's strengths is the integration of features 
and
> functions.  To me this means more than adding VCAs or AR generators 
to
> modules, it is the interaction between the functions that is
> interesting.  

Those are very  insightful comments. Your description of the Wiard's 
version of 'integration' is one of the best I've seen. And, as you 
point out, he balanced this quality with a degree of what I might call 
'intra-modularity', that is,  bringing component functions of the 
whole module's function out to the panel as knobs or CV ins & outs.  
Sort of like a Serge, but to me, the Wiard has it's own 'flavor'.
At times, I've urged Grant to make more of this feature-richness in 
his promotional text but I've come to realize that the old adage 
'Dancing about Architecture' applies here. I find it nigh on 
impossible to describe how, for instance, how an envelator is 'so 
different' from a 'regular ADSR' . I can do a hell of a job if 
somebody comes to my studio for a demonstration but unless you have 
the gadget in hand it's hard to apprehend the 'terrible-ness' of it's 
beauty! (or, put less obliquely) what makes them unique. Trying to 
explain what a woggle bug 'does' in mainstream modular synth terms is 
a fool's errand.
GR once told me that he intended each of the 300-series (blue) modules 
to be a 'voice' that is capable of making an interesting noise, on 
it's own, without help from an external module. I think that that 
design consideration was sufficient to force his thinking out of the 
box on all the blue modules and it took the task of describing his 
modules beyond the reach of what has become the orthodox language of 
modulars. On his site, the descriptions of the 300 series modules is a 
bare synopsis. I think GR just relies on word of mouth and hopes folks 
will take one home and realize that there's a lot more juju under the 
hood that first meets the eye.

> On his site, the descriptions of the 300 series modules is a
> bare synopsis. I think GR just relies on word of mouth and hopes folks
> will take one home and realize that there's a lot more juju under the
> hood that first meets the eye.
> 

I would love to see photos of each module faceplate, as someone
requested a while ago.  That would go a long ways towards helping
potential customers visualize each function.  

John Loffink
jloffink@austin.rr.com

--- In wiardgroup@y..., "John Loffink" <jloffink@a...> wrote:
> > On his site, the descriptions of the 300 series modules is a
> > bare synopsis. I think GR just relies on word of mouth and hopes 
folks
> > will take one home and realize that there's a lot more juju under 
the
> > hood that first meets the eye.
> > 
> 
> I would love to see photos of each module faceplate, as someone
> requested a while ago.  That would go a long ways towards helping
> potential customers visualize each function.  
> 
> John Loffink
> jloffink@a...


You should download the "patch sheets" from the Wiard support page. 
There is a small error on some layout (has to do with the Waveform 
City's VCA IIRC?) but generally this should be what you're looking 
for.

The newer modules are available seperately. There is a large pic of 
the Woggle Bug on the corresponding Wiard page. And if you downlaod 
the Borg picture from the corresponding Wiard page and then open the 
file on your desktop, then it will be larger than on the webpage 
itself, and it should be of similar size to the patch sheets 
actually. Hope that helps.

Regards

SK