video uploads by Ear Modular
"The End Of Fall is a feedback-filled effects unit in a 40hp Eurorack format.
By adding two expansion boards and replacing the front panel, it can be reconfigured as a standalone device.
The core of The End Of Fall consists of two ladder filters and two echo effects. The signal chain routes Filter A to Echo 1 and Filter B to Echo 2, with their outputs mixed together for the final output. Each filter features a CV control input for cutoff frequency, while each echo has a CV control input for delay time.
At first glance, this may seem like a basic setup, but The End Of Fall offers much more. It is filled with various feedback pathways:
1. Internal feedback within each filter, from output back to input, creates a resonator capable of self-oscillation.
2. The internal feedback within each echo is essential for creating the echo effect; excessive feedback results in endlessly decaying echoes.
3. The output of Filter A is fed back into the input of Filter B, and vice versa. This design was inspired by experiments during the creation of Solar Card Type VII, where it produced unexpectedly complex and intriguing sounds on the card. This concept has been adapted for The End Of Fall.
4. The output of Echo 1 is fed back into the inputs of both Filter A and Filter B, and similarly, the output of Echo 2 is fed back into the inputs of both filters. These two global feedback loops transform The End Of Fall into a circular structure without a clear front or back end, allowing sounds to intertwine within this loop.
Additional design features:
1. Each filter and each echo has its own dedicated input. When feedback is not utilized, the feedback pathways serve as internal bridges, enabling various signal routing configurations such as echo to filter, filter to echo, echo to echo (for multi-tap delays), or filter to filter (for multi-stage filtering). With expansions, outputs can be taken from the end of any effect, allowing the unit to be used as a stereo effects processor.
2. The End Of Fall includes a noise source with two functions: it supplies audio to the inputs of both filters, and it serves as an oscillation source for generating internal CV signals.
The unit features four internal CV sources, each assigned to one of the four effects. When no external CV is present, these internal CVs provide randomly varying control voltages. If an external CV is connected, the corresponding internal CV is disconnected. These four internal CV signals are generated by sample-and-hold circuits sampling the noise source. Four knobs in the upper-right corner independently control the sample intervals of these circuits, introducing chaotic and unpredictable modulation. A CLK input can interfere with these four sample-and-hold circuits, partially synchronizing them while maintaining an underlying chaos.
There is a slight background noise from The End Of Fall when there is no output, but it does not affect normal use."
