MATRIXSYNTH: BugBrand Drone Machine


Wednesday, January 17, 2007

BugBrand Drone Machine


Click here for images pulled via this auction.

Details:
"Input - Audio Input Preamp with Vari-decay Envelope Follower
The modular works at high signal levels so external audio signals must be brought up to suitable levels. Suitable for line or mic level signals (low or high gain settings respectively). The EnvFlw generates a smoothed CV representing the amplitude of the input signal.

RingMod - Multiplier / Modulator
Ring-modulation of oscillators or audio input results in some great klang-tones and you've got the modular scope to make the input waveforms do some interesting things. This module also allows amplitude modulation, so can be used for basic VCA applications in AM mode.

Inverters - CV / Audio inverters x 2
Two simple inverters that work with CV or audio signals. Useful for changing the polarity of modulation waves.

VCOs - 3 x Thomas Henry XR2206 VC(LF)Oscillator
These VCOs have some great power and with three of them you can reach some really extreme sonic areas by cross modulation and/or chaotic feedback. The concise design is from Thomas Henry (used with permission) - there are details online here and I've published a compact PCB for you to DIY here. I've added a switch to allow Oscillator or LFO ranges from about 1cycle a minute up to super-high frequencies (10+ kHz) and the oscillators are roughly scaled to 1v/oct (though I wasn't aiming for a typical keyboard driven synth system! You'll get at least four octaves of decent tracking).
The oscillator generates Sin/Tri waves (switchable) and squarewaves, has diverse modulation inputs, sync input and a strange/wonderful VC-waveshaping control that inverts half of the Sin/Tri waveform resulting in rich harmonics (the waveshaping doesn't change the squarewave)
The controls are (from top): Range Switch (Osc / LFO), Coarse Tune, Indicator LED, Fine Tune, Sin/Tri Switch, Waveshape, Exponential Modulation with depth control (use this input for 1v/oct response), Linear Modulation with depth control, Waveshape modulation with depth control, Sync input, Sin/Tri output, Square output.

VCF - State Variable VC Filter
A standard but powerful VC Filter design (12dB/Oct) with two audio inputs and three response outputs (Low / Band / High pass). There are controls for Cutoff and Resonance and two cutoff modulation inputs with depth controls. The two audio inputs (with level controls) are mixed together before the filter.

Delay - PT2399 digi-delay module (not voltage controlled).
The PT2399 is a good sounding digital delay chip - it is only specified to generate delays up to about half a second, but when you slow it down further you get some noisy, crunky, wonder sonics (hear the audio demos). You get two (switchable) time ranges - long or short, with long generating the crunchy sounds. Then there are controls for delay time, feedback (into overload) and dry/wet balance.

Output Mixer - 3 channel output mixer
A simple output mixer with level controls and master output level control.

The Rear Panel - Ins / Outs / Power / Decoration!
On the back of the unit you've got the input and output 1/4" mono unbalanced jack sockets, power input / on-off switch / LED indicators (bright blue!) and common ground connection (if you want to hook the unit to other modular devices). Pretty looking, no?

Connections - all internal connections use 4mm banana connections. These are great because they're colourful, reliable and, best of all, stackable - so you can take an output to many different inputs at the same time for modulationary overload.

Power - the box runs off a bipolar (+/- 12v) supply so you can only use it with the supplied AC (not DC!) power adaptor. I have a range of AC adaptors suitable for your global location and will supply your choice of UK, Euro or US.

Case - the box is a compact 12 x 6 x 6 inches and has a carrying handle on top. Damn, you can travel in style with this box - it looks kind of like a vanity case!

Sound Demos - an important factor! Here are some mp3 demos (320 kbps) - they are all recorded straight in with zero effects - what you hear is what you get! And do try to listen on decent speakers to hear the extreme low-frequencies possible. These sounds, of course, give only a brief overview of the sonic possibilities."

Demo1 - starts with slowly modulated oscillations, moves through some delay sounds and down into clickety bubbles.
Demo2 - some synthy sounds (not played with keyboard! purely square-wave modulation depth), more delay and then into a chaotic scream section. Finishes with some hyper-high-freq slow moves to cleanse your ears.
Demo3 - audio processing with a drum beat. Highlights the VCF with modulation from the EnvFlw and oscillators. Moves into ringmod sounds and the end has some subtle sync'ing rhythmics.
Demo4 - Low-end sine modulations - you need to hear the lows. Shows some waveshaping and modulation inversion."

You can find the demo links in the auction and mirrored here for when the auction goes away.

Previous BugBrand posts including video.
BugBrand on YouTube
BugBrand website

Update: The video:

BugBrand Drone Machine - Overview & Audio Processing Demo

2 comments:

  1. last week i was at OfficeMax and saw that same file case and thought "man i should put a Ray Wilson SoundLab in that thing!"

    then i totally forgot about it until i saw this post.

    it's good to see other people had similar ideas but actually follow through with them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. bugs is a great guy and a genius builder. you should do yourself a favor and grab this asap

    ReplyDelete

To reduce spam, comments for posts older than one week are not displayed until approved, usually same day. Do not insult people. For items for sale, do not ask if it is still available. Check the auction link and search for the item. Auctions are from various sellers and expire over time. Posts remain for the pics and historical purposes. This site is meant to be a daily snapshot of some of what was out there in the world of synths.

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