New X1L3 - DRAIL - hacked fx processor - eurorack module

video upload by X1L3

"Hardware hacked fx processor module.
What it is and where to get it - below.......

Available at: https://x1l3.bigcartel.com/product/dr...

A few sections of this vid contain strobing and flashing images. If susceptible to seizures then viewer discretion is advised.

Amiga/P3 W95 demoscene spec run down and demo. Created due to a request to demo the module in a way that wasn't 'just noise'. Initially intended to be one part made from the best track out of three that i came up with. Later deciding to shoe horn the two reject demo tunes into it, which lead to it becoming a ramshackle lesson in polygons and 3d. It also caused the whole thing to end up panning out like some kind of messed up fever dream 💀🤣

Drail is an fx processor module based on a fixed chip set containing 100 preset effects. Reverbs, delays, pitch shifters and modulators of various types, such as flangers and phasers. More details are over on the bigcartel link. Hacked referring to the hardware hacking principles applied in reclocking the cpu and messing with the phase in the signal path to turn it into the somewhat weird thing it is now. Hacked also sounds better than circuit bent, which has been done to death as a term and wouldn't fit on the front panel anyway 💀🐗

A bit of a departure from my usual powerelectronix/sound design outings when it comes to modules. Right now this is the only demo i have complete. I'll upload some stuff soon that's more in line with the roots of where i came from, and which features some other new stuff that got completed in the somewhat hell froze over time it took me to complete this outing 🔥🔥

As always - enjoy - or don't.
The sun rises in the morning either way 😘☀️👌

Cheers for checking it out."



"The module is based on a fixed stereo fx processor chip which contains 100 presets. These presets consist of numerous reverbs, delays, harmonizer/pitch shifters and modulators such as flangers and phasers.

It has a mono input, a summed L/R mix output with dry wet control which covers 0-100% wet,
Two 100% wet stereo outputs give access to the ping pong delays and different phases of panning in the stereo field that some of the effects use,
The combination of summed dry wet and separate stereo fx ouputs offers some variation in how you might hook the module up to achieve different results in a setup.

Patches can be selected manually, or by gate inputs with an input to cycle each way through the patches and an input to select them.

In stock form it's a fairly vanilla and quite unremarkable, all be it useful set of fx. By applying some of the tricks learned in my time in the circuit bending arena the whole thing becomes a Swiss army knife of weirdness and opens up to some bizarre effects and unruly behavior. With the principles of hardware hacking applied and the cpu reclocked, along with some creative phase altering in the signal path, the processor takes on an entirely new life. Still being able to run as a useful set of stock reverbs, delays or modulators, but doubling up as an interesting sound design tool. All sorts of mad sounds and unexpectedly good processing can be achieved. Great for soundscapes, turning basic sounds into things that are bigger than the sum of their parts, making guitars sounds insane, it can even be used to turn a saw into a pseudo supersaw that somehow looks like a kind of mutated pwm square by using the modulator fx. This kind of thing gets fat when you start using both the dry wet mix output and the 100% wet L/R outs. With 100 fx to choose from, there's generally something interesting and at times fascinating to be found when messing around with it.

From experience, different fx chip sets behave in radically different ways when attempts to circuit bend or reclock them are made. Some prove to be pointless and uninteresting, others become prone to crashes and are rendered too unpredictable.and useless beyond extreme noise This one happens to be an excellent target for a bit of creative alteration. When underclocking the cpu, a kind of subtle low pass filtering effect is applied. Not enough to make the effect undesirable, but enough to eliminate the unwanted noise inherent to underclocking. In testing this chip set and discovering it's predictable, but quite abstract nature when abused, it became obvious that it would make a brilliant target for an interesting module. One which i'm finding to be an excellent addition to my own rigs. Given the roots of how it came about and how that ended up sounding, it is i imagine an acquired taste, but a quite unique acquired taste in the scheme of things."