Natural Gate by Rabid Elephant | It's REALLY good. But why?

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"The NG is often considered as the best sounding LPG you can get - if your fortunate, lucky and patient. It's analog, but it doesn't use a natural vactrol decay because it can ring much longer thanks to the Decay slider. I guess the term 'natural' applies more to the physical properties of hitting something soft, hard, slow or fast, where the materials and pitch also matter. A classic LPG has a static hit, but DXG is advertised as dynamic. To get the most out of our not-so-natural LPG's, it's cool to demystify these physical properties and try to patch them up so we'll understand them better. They can make a lot of difference. So this is not going to be a 'look what I got' video because it doesn't help anybody. There's a big section about advanced envelope patching with Maths and Optomix to add physical properties like pitch dependent decay and strike intensity. But it's not easy, and it doesn't sound as natural as the NG.

When I was hooked on Optomix, I 'protected' myself from non-vactrol LPGs like the NG and the SSF SSG. I often said, if it doesn't have vactrols, it's not an LPG. I've been biased and prejudiced and it happens to all of us from time to time, considering the endless analog vs digital discussion. Technology serves a result, and when the result is excellent, it's great technology. I've been expecting wonders from the NG and in the confined realm of classic LPG's it really delivers. But I am not sure if it can compete with the fun that comes with a module like the SSG. The NG is one of the very best. But the best one is the one that helps you make the music you love most. Honestly, I think the SSG will serve more genres and styles.

The African track is composed and performed by me when I was still in the box and used NI Maschine a lot. It's named after the expansion pack 'Global Shake'."

Eurorack low pass gates - session 5 (ish)

video upload by John Schussler

Note this is the first post to feature BeepBoop.

"I can't stop collecting low pass gates. There's GAS, and then there's LPG GAS. Don't know what the deal is there.

Here's the latest batch. Most of them are small and passive, but some are bigger and powered and covered in knobs and sliders and stuff. So it's really a sound comparison, not a full module comparison.

Sound source: Befaco Pony square wave. Sequencer: Stochastic IG.
No envelopes, just gates out of the SIG.

00:00 Intro
00:20 Agogo
00:48 BeepBoop v1
02:32 BeepBoop v2
04:05 kNoB
05:18 Abyss
06:49 Herzlich
09:29 EAR
12:38 SSF
16:16 Rabid Elephant
19:11 EAR plus attenuator
20:57 Fast gates w/atten"

SUPERBOOTH 2021: Rabid Elephant Portal Drum Updates

video upload by sonicstate

"We first saw the Rabid Elephant Portal Drum at Superbooth 2019 and it has come on along way since then. With some major improvements over the version that we saw in 2019 the Portal Drum has basically been completely redesigned. The design which we see here is the result of 3 years of development. Any kick drum that takes 3 years to design has gotta have some serious weight behind it."

Some Horses and a Portal Kick in a Drawer

Published on Jun 23, 2019 Rabid Elephant

"Looking at some nice horsies and giving some final pass over the breadboarded prototype of Portal Kick."

---

Cool to get peeks at manufacturer's workspaces.

Superbooth 2019: Rabid Elephant Portal Kick

Published on May 10, 2019 sonicstate

Rabid Elephant Portal Kick

KICK DRUM SOUND DESIGN with Portal Kick from Rabid Elephant // Superbooth 2019

Published on May 9, 2019 DivKidVideo

"Portal is the new kick drum generator from Rabid Elephant. Taking influence from classic 808 / 909 architectures but building a modern kick drum machine from scratch. There's a unique click generator that imparts a click and transient into the core of the circuit, rather than just layer samples with softer "body" or "boom" elements. There's wavefolding/shaping 3 envelopes that are more natural and unique while also seeking to model the "knee" elements of compression. Taking more basic analogue kick sounds and adding in what the compression would do in a recording chain. It sounds ace and I'm looking forward to hearing more."

Rabid Elephant Natural Gate (Eurorack, Modular) w/ Original Cool Elephant Box

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

See the Rabid Elephant label for demos and details. The module is currently sold out on the Rabid Elephant website.

NATURAL GATE Overview & Memory Demonstration

Published on Oct 24, 2017 Rabid Elephant

"This video shows our beloved dual LPG done our way... We go over basic the features but focus on a unique memory effect which allows spectral dynamics to be added, automatically, based on the speed you HIT the gate."

NATURAL GATE Demo - Chord Bingle

Published on Oct 24, 2017 Rabid Elephant

"A lil song/jam with all sounds processed by 2 Natural Gates."

via Rabid Elephant:

"OFFICIAL RELEASE WITHIN 24 HOURS!

Natural Gate is a dual channel, adjustable decay, zero bleed LPG (lowpass gate) designed in our own special way.

OVERVIEW

Natural Gate has been designed to generate a signature response evocative of the acoustics of the natural world. Think of how the plucking of a string or the beating of a drum head produces organic sounds we are all intimately familiar with, sounds that resonate with us, they feel right.

To obtain these qualities, we started with a blank slate and developed an instrument with its own unique character. A character unhampered by the conventions of traditional circuits and devices.

Natural Gate's fully adjustable (and voltage-controllable) decay alters the level of damping of the object you hit - from very short highly damped events to vibrations that ring out for several seconds. The module's innovative circuitry ensures the perfect decay shape at any decay setting.

What you hit matters just as importantly; the MATERIAL switch provides a selection of three material characteristics further increasing the flexibility of the instrument.

The HIT input's circuitry was carefully designed to ensure that any signal you send in will correctly drive Natural gate's envelopes. The CTRL input allows you to open the gate in any way you see fit and when combined with HIT, natural dynamics are realised.

Natural Gate was painstakingly designed and tuned by many pairs of seasoned ears. Natural Gate defines a new paradigm of how the LPG can be experienced and used, thus opening a portal for dialing in new discoveries.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Rabid Elephant NATURAL GATE Modules Buzz Schloppy Seasick [Almost Ready for Release]

Rabid Elephant
Published on Aug 11, 2017

"This module is nearly ready for release."

Rabid Elephant Natural Gate Sneak Peek

Published on Jun 16, 2017 Rabid Elephant

"These are very close...

shots of my unmanicured thumb and fingers.

Also, these modules are very close to being ready to be released to the worldddd!!!"

Rabid Elephant Knobs

Published on May 4, 2016 Rabid Elephant

Modular Monthly: Making utilities exciting with Rabid Elephant Knobs

Published on Nov 17, 2016 Future Music Magazine

"Utilities might not be the most exciting type of module, but they're still hugely important and creative tools. Let's inject some excitement with Knobs from Rabid Elephant."

"Knobs is a highly playable, precision voltage processing utility. Two channels of configurable gain, offset, and slur feed a low-noise CV crossfader. This layout takes useful utility functions and makes them very playable and interactive.

FEATURES

Two voltage processing channels
Precision attenuversion with range switch for positive, negative, and bipolar gain adjustment. Control extents provide gains of exactly 0 or +/-1
+/- 5V offset adjustment with trimmed 5V precision reference
Slur adjustment up to 23 seconds
Low noise CV linear crossfader normalled to voltage processing channels
'Smooth detent' fader with precise settability of center position
Active switch for bypassing, zeroing, or applying processing
RGB voltage indications of signal polarity, amplitude, and zero value
Long life switches & potentiometers
Low loss, high speed active reverse voltage protection
Overcurrent protection
Low loss, long life, high rel power cable with keyed & latching connector
Extremely high build quality and reliability (click here for details)"