Frap Tools - System 1

video upload by Stazma

"Today I'm having fun with a small dedicated Frap Tools system. It's a good opportunity to dive into what makes "West Coast" synthesis is and how it work. I'm also going to try to make it jungle (or IDM or whatever you want to call it) and then I'll show you some classic 'west coast' patch I love.

Have fun!"

00:00 Intro
02:32 The modules
04:49 What the hell is 'West Coast Synthesis'
12:21 Does it Jungle??!!
18:38 West Coast Classics PT.1 Crossmod Percussions
21:27 West Coast Classics PT.2 Keyboard Weird
26:00 West Coast Classics PT.3 Polymetric Sequences
34:11 West Coast Classics PT.4 Fake Arp
41:50 End talk"

Studio no. 2 on Stereo Dyads | Performance breakdown with Francesco Gennari

video upload by Frap Tools

"In this new episode, ‪@francescogennarimusic‬ plays his new étude for Eurorack synthesizer and breaks it down. It is focused on "stereo dyads", i.e., chords of two notes only that are spaced across the stereo field. In this video, he will guide us through his compositional approach (which begins on the piano) and the techniques he used to bring it all together, which include using filters as oscillators and modulating stomp box effects through the USTA sequencer."

Time stamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:32 Modular Performance
04:16 Piano Performance
06:00 Track Structure
06:33 Usta in Song Mode to repeat patterns.
07:07 First voice: NTO + Cunsa playing the upper melody.
08:49 Second voice: Stereo Dyads with Cunsa
10:22 Distorted Layer
11:05 Third voice: Bass
12:08 Effects: triggering the Empress Zoia through the Usta sequencer.

A use for aliasing that you may never have seen before!

video upload by Frap Tools

"Aliasing is usually a big no-no: it means that there's something wrong with your digital sound and with a guy named Nyquist. However, thanks to our Bagài, it is possible to make this bad thing a good one and have some fascinating timbre – with an all-analog signal path (for what it's worth)."

Some uses for triggers and bursts you probably did not know

video upload by Frap Tools

"Triggers in the modular world usually... trig stuff. Today we'd like to use them to spice up a pingable filter patch, and there are at least two ways!"

00:00 Intro and overview
00:50 Patch 1: speed-changing triggers
06:37 Variation of patch 1 with two filters
07:20 Patch 2: taming bagài's clock bursts

On cross-FM and fake polyphony | Performance breakdown with Francesco Gennari

video upload by Frap Tools

"In today's video, ‪@francescogennarimusic‬ walks us through the creative process behind his first study for modular synthesizer. It explores three main concepts:

1) Cross-FM with the Brenso oscillator: https://frap.tools/brenso
2) Fake polyphonic strings with the Verbos Multi Delay Processor
3) Creative uses of the mute function through the QSC Quad Stereo Channel and the Usta Sequencer. https://frap.tools/usta https://frap.tools/qsc"

Dynamic stereo spread with Cunsa and Fumana!

video upload by Frap Tools

"We can finally use Fumana's odd and even bands to spread a mono signal across the stereo range while keeping the bass range fully centered. Cunsa is gonna help us so check the video out to find how!"

Frap Tools BAGÀI in-depth tutorial: analog sample and hold, downsampler, bitcrusher, clock burst

video upload by Frap Tools

"Bagài can be a random voltage generator, a clock burst, a fluctuating random voltage generator, an analog sample and hold, a downsampler, a bitcrusher, a clock generator, and probably a lot more that we haven't thought about yet."

00:00 Introduction
00:30 Interface overview
01:22 The clock section
01:53 The random clocks
03:34 The clock CV input
04:08 The external clock input
04:30 The clock button & gate!
05:25 The noise section
06:01 The sample and hold section
07:06 The sample and hold input and a difference with sap
09:46 The quantized S&H section
10:43 Downsampler and bitcrusher: audio-rate clock
13:32 The fluctuating section and the global rate of change
14:21 The probability distribution
15:59 Fluctuating and probability distribution CV input
16:45 The clock burst section
18:02 The clock burst gate input
18:33 The burst clock input
18:47 Final patch and closing remarks

PATCH A FILTER INTO AN OSCILLATOR FOR SOME CURSED SOUNDS!

video upload by Frap Tools

"An oscillator into a filter is a staple of subtractive synthesis. But what about the other way around?"

Super expo shapes and double quadrature with FALISTRI!

video upload by Frap Tools

"Falistri has plenty of controls, but it offers functions so pure that we can bend the rules and use some cross-patchings to go where the knobs don't dare.

#fraptools #modularsynth #eurorack #synth #analogsynth #electronicmusic

00:00 Introduction
00:12 Double quadrature with the four-quadrant multiplier
05:33 Super exponential shapes with the four-quadrant multiplier or cross-patching"

Filters and beyond: a few less-conventional uses for the CUNSA modular filter

video upload by Frap Tools

"This patch puts together some interesting filtering techniques like: stereo filtering, triggers as audio, gates as modulators."

Frap Tools CUNSA Saturnian Rainforest Patch

video upload by Nightlife Electronics

"Crafting some Saturnian rainforest vibes on the Frap Tools CUNSA. Using it as the only sound source in the patch, pinging each of the four filter cores with a rotating series of clocks from the Make Noise Tempi. a sprinkling of FM here and there and finally running into the Intellijel Rainmaker for a touch of comb delay. Dense sounds from a relatively simple patch!

The Frap Tools CUNSA is available at Nightlife Electronics: https://nightlife-electronics.com/pro...

Nightlife Electronics is a shop based in Vancouver, British Columbia that specializes in the sale and service of the world's finest drum machines, synthesizers, eurorack modules and samplers. Visit our online shop to see what we have in store or if you are in the Vancouver area please stop by and try some amazing synths in person!"

How to get a "liquid filter" sound on the Frap Tools Cunsa

video upload by Frap Tools

"Music is full of weird adjectives like 'warm', 'gritty', "growly', and so on. However, concerning filters, one of the most frequent is 'liquid'. What it means is very subjective, but we tried to figure it out in this video!

00:00 Introduction
01:38 Finding the "liquid filter" settings
05:05 Faking an ADSR with Falistri
08:20 General tip: don't always reach for the highest levels
08:53 Quad filter stereo liquid patch!"

The power of stepped random voltages: create infinite textures with just thee modules

video upload by Frap Tools

"This Week Federico takes us for a tour of one of his favorite techniques: random S&H everywhere!

We will use a single S&H from Sapèl, multiply it through the 333, and patch it to many points of Brenso's complex section. Thanks to its many attenuverters, it will be possible to create a drone sound that will change its timber infinite times at every clock strike."

Patching with Frap Tools and Nekyia Circuits eurorack modules

video upload by Stazma

"Today I'll build a 104hp skiff with 'West Coast' oriented modules by Frap Tools and Nekyia Circuits and make a few patches with it.

Sorry for the video quality, not sure what happened when filming but the light is weird (I mean more than usual hahaha).

Have fun!"

00:00 Intro
01:45 Building the system
10:09 Patch 1 West Coast Voice
13:58 Patch 2 Buchla bongo
18:09 Patch 3 Classic Mono Voice
20:05 Patch 4 Filter Pings
22:39 Patch 5 Both Coast Voice
26:55 End Talk & Jam

The many faces of a quadruple VCA: some daily patch examples with the Frap Tools 411

video upload by Frap Tools

"Our Bagài was the star of the show at the past Superbooth, but we also introduced another module, the 411 quad linear VCAs. It is as easy to describe as it is hard to demonstrate properly because it can work in many different scenarios. So here's a few of them!

00:00 Introduction
00:43 The 411 interface
01:56 Processing control voltages (-6dB switches)
03:44 Processing audio signals
04:44 Semi-normalled modulation inputs
05:20 Amplitude modulation (AM)
05:52 A caveat on linear VCAs for audio signals
06:39 Stereo VCA
07:19 Semi-normalled inputs: the multiple behavior
07:52 Process one signal with many CVs
09:21 Use the 411 as a mixer: the Sum output
10:52 The unpatched output: sum only what you want!
11:32 A sort of sequential switch
12:31 Another sort of sequential switch
13:32 A quadruple crossfader"

SUPERBOOTH 2024: Fraptools - Bagai - 411 Multipurpose Modules

video upload by sonicstate

"At Superbooth 2024, Giovanni *from *Fraptools introduced us to their latest modules, with a focus on the innovative *Bagai*. This new module is an expansion of the sample and hold concept, exploring both the CV and audio realms. Featuring advanced clock manipulation tools and the ability to be used as a downsampler or bit crusher, Bagai offers a wide range of modulation possibilities.

In addition to Bagai, *Fraptools *also unveiled a quadruple VCA module, *411 *offering four linear VCAs for audio and CV. This compact yet powerful module provides a versatile tool for distributing voltages and audio signals across a modular system. With semi-normal inputs and the ability to function as a quadruple multiple, this module fills a gap in the ecosystem, providing essential functionality for complex patching scenarios.

Bagai Available soon. Price 250 Euros plus VAT

411 Available soon Price: TBC

Bagài and 411: Two new Frap Tools modules!

video upload by Frap Tools

"We'll showcase two new modules this week at Superbooth 2024. Bagài is an analog S&H/bitcrusher/downsampler/random voltage and clock. 411 is a quadruple linear VCA, mixer, and multiple for audio and CV. They are ready and we'll ship them to our resellers next week as we'll be back!" 00:00 Introduction
00:23 Bagài
00:35 Sample and hold
00:56 8-bit quantizer
01:16 Random clocks
01:32 Clock bursts
01:51 Fluctuating random voltages
02:11 30 kHz audio downsampler
02:42 Audio bitcrusher
02:56 411 Quadruple VCA
03:13 Fake sequential switch
03:22 Modulating and mixing multiple signals
03:46 Unpatched output
04:23 -6 dB switches
04:36 Outro

BAGÀI
Multipurpose Thingamabob

bagài / baˈgaːi / s.m. [modenese dialect, from a late Latin bagagium ‘baggage’, formed after the late Latin baga, deriving presumably from the Anglo-Saxon bag (see ancient French bague, Provençal bàgua, ‘bundle’), whose root may be traced down to the Indo-European *pac, ‘to tie,’ from which also ‘package,’ ‘pact’] – ‘thing,’ ‘thingamabob.’ A term used when the actual name of a thing or a person does not come to mind.

A module that is at the same time a clock burst, S&H, audio bitcrush, or fluctuating random voltage generator is indeed a bit elusive to describe in a single word. Even if one tries, some aspects will always be missing.

Why bother, then? Let us just call it “that thingamabob,” or better, “that bagài.”

The 411 is a quadruple linear VCA, mixer, and multiple for audio and CV.

It consists of four linear VCAs with semi-normalled inputs and CV inputs, −6 dB attenuation switches, a mixed output, and an unpatched output.

The 411’s architecture allows to use it in many ways, for example:
processing four signals independently;
modulating one signal with four CVS and sending it to four different destinations;
mixing up to four signals and modulating them with the same CV;
mixing two audio signals and modulating them with a modulated CV…

Spectral Processors - 296t vs Sputnik vs Fumana vs Bark Filter

video upload by Stazma

"This is a BIG one. I will try to compare the four main big Buchla inspired "Spectral Processor" modules:
The Buchla & Tiptop 296t, the Sputnik Spectral Processor, the Verbos Electronics Bark Filter and the Frap Tools Fumana.
You will see they all sound and behave quite diferently and this is why I guess this video might of some interest.

Have fun!"

00:00 Intro
01:54 What is a spectral processor
05:12 Graphic EQ style patch
09:55 CV control tests
16:28 Sequences
20:07 Audio rate modulation
23:33 Voice vocoding
33:54 Breakbeat vocodoing
37:00 Final shootout and end talk

New Frap Tools CGM Insert – Stereo insert for the CGM Eurorack mixer series | Overview and tutorial

video upload by Frap Tools

"The insert module is out
Shipping right now!

[check with dealers on the right]

We're particularly excited about this module because it's the first one that we design based on YOUR suggestions, especially through our Discord server. If you want to join, smash this link here!

The insert module allows you to connect stereo effects to your CGM setup, either by inserting them between two points of the internal summing bus or by placing them in parallel, as in a rudimentary stereo send-and-return.

It consists of two couples of outputs and inputs with dedicated gain switches. The first O/I stereo couple is the insert circuit, while the second is the parallel circuit.

The Insert module can be used:

between a group and a master;
between a group and a group;
between a channel and a group;
between a channel and a channel;
between a channel and a master (without a group).

The Insert module ships with two Insert cables compatible with every member of the CGM family, including the discontinued ones."

Building a Buchla 248 MARF with Stages, Stages, Stages and Marbles

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"Sorry about that title. The MARF is short for the Multiple ARbitrary Function generator, a huge Buchla design carrying the model number 248, and is part of the 200 series. It's not easy to compare it with anything, but you could see it as a 16 step 0-CTRL, a Rossum Control Forge and maybe even the 250e circular Dual Arbitrary Function generator (DARF) like Frap Tools USTA. I contacted Todd Barton (thanks so much!) to be able to study a few MARF images. The sliders made me think of Mutable Stages, and the control section reminded me of Marbles. While getting lost on the way, I finally got a patch that sounded similar: 'music that sounds like dancing butterflies'.
The recipe involves variable timing, notes, a quantizer, and a transpose. You may also need a trigger or gate when a segment runs or finishes. There's a lot to explore here, and I don't think you can find a MARF in a single eurorack solution. I tried to approximate it, but I also needed Maths to do envelopes and gate extraction. It took a while to make this video and I wasn't sure about the results until the very end. Then suddenly, it worked.

You'll need a lot of stuff to do it, but there may be smaller solutions. I'll revisit this idea when my Control Forge arrives and I'll be able to combine USTA with the CF.

This is a complex video so I hope it will make a bit of sense. It would have been better to figure all this out and then make a video. But you'd be missing the fun of exploration. There are plenty of useful examples of how 'factory' Stages can be used, but I installed the Qiemem firmware for max flexibility. In the end I only used its 'random segment' feature in this video, but it doesn't play a role in the MARF patch. You can do this with factory Stages but it still requires a chain of 2 or 3. You can use any sequencer with a clock input for this. A DFAM will also help you to cover the time/level sequence.

Installation requires playing a .WAV into the module which can be bit of a drag. I recommend using a eurorack sample player like the BitBox for a high success ratio. Using a phone, PC or pad can be a nightmare. Also, I am not sure if the firmware works on a clone, please comment if you tried it.
https://github.com/qiemem/eurorack/re...

I am still trying to wrap my head around it. Even though Stages and Marbles are now discontinued, they're easy to find as fully functional clones. With Eurorack, we have the 'power' to build our own synths, or get inspired by designs which are still amazing and modern after +50 years. I hope it inspires you too."