SCHLAPPI ENGINEERING Three Body Overview

video upload by SCHLAPPI ENGINEERING

"The Three Body is an FPGA based triple digital oscillator and frequency modulation toolkit.

0:00 Introduction and overview
0:54 Ratio Mode
6:44 Modulation normalization
7:23 Modulation Indexes
9:17 Free Mode
12:55 Patch example"

Note the prototype Three Body made it's first appearance on the site in 2020 here. Unfortunately that video has been removed.

"The Three Body is a phase and frequency modulation toolkit, designed to bring digital techniques to an analog interface. It consists of three oscillators which can be used independently but which have normalized connections to facilitate exploration and improvisation.

Features:

Three separate high quality oscillators
Each oscillator has volts/octave input
Each oscillator has both a phase and a frequency modulation input
Each oscillator has a modulation index (VCA) cv input
Each oscillator has sine, triangle, saw, and square outputs (for a total of 16 outputs)
The center oscillator has two phase related output pairs for stereo usage (sine and cosine, saw and cosaw)
Each oscillator can independently be set in a free running or ratio mode
Each oscillator can have either exponential or linear through zero frequency modulation
Each oscillator can track external signals at a cv controllable frequency ratio
Frequency ratios can be cv controlled
Tracks volts per octave over at least 4 octaves of positive CV and 2 or 3 of negative CV.

Built around an FPGA core with high internal sample rate for audio rate modulation
30HP
Skiff friendly 30mm depth
current consumption of 95mA on +12V (less than 200mA on startup) and 50mA on -12V"

Schlappi Engineering Three Body Sound Demo

video upload by Patchwerks

"In this video Matthew Piecora, Steven Ly, and Nick Bigelow take turns making patches on the Schlappi Engineering Three Body Triple Oscillator. Drums provided by the Akai MPC One.

Learn more about the Three Body here: https://bit.ly/3UUvgBa
Learn More about the Akai MPC One: https://bit.ly/mpc_one_akai

The Three Body is a phase and frequency modulation toolkit, designed to bring digital techniques to an analog interface. It consists of three oscillators which can be used independently but which have normalized connections to facilitate exploration and improvisation.

https://patchwerks.com/
Demo by: Matthew Piecora, Steven Ly, and Nick Bigelow
Video by: Matthew Piecora ( EZBOT) and Steven Ly (Project 32)
https://www.ezbot.live

00:00 Intro
00:59 Demo 1
02:13 Demo 2
03:37 Demo 3
05:08 Demo 4"

Schlappi Engineering on Nibbler, Three Body and going from clean to dirt // Machina Bristronica 2023

video upload by DivKid

"What a pleasure it was to chat to Eric of Schlappi Engineering, learn what a nibble is (not a mousey little bite of your food) and talk about going from clean to dirty tones and back. Here's the 2023 Machina Bristronica 'DivKid Discussion' with more of those to come in the run up to the 2024 Machina Bristronica event.

Check out Schlappi here // https://schlappiengineering.com

The 2024 Machina Bristronica event is coming on October 12th and 13th and we'll have new talks and discussions at this years event. Tickets and information here // https://machinabristronica.uk"

*TIMING INDEX // CHAPTERS*
00:00 Intro
00:32 Hello & a short performance
02:24 Clean to harsh tone philosophy
04:51 Start with the knobs down
05:56 A Nibbler focused patch
07:18 Do you know what a nibble is?
08:48 Three body harmonic ratios
09:46 Only the finest of switches!
10:11 Shift register melodies
11:50 Listening to Nibbler only
12:56 Dial up modem synthesis
13:26 Other modules in the patch
14:34 The Three Body overview
15:38 Oscillator cross modulation
16:48 Three Body in stereo
17:45 Phase & FM indexes
18:15 Musical stability or something really thick!

Schlappi Engineering THREE BODY / extensive playthrough / extremely versatile complex vco

video upload by BRiES

"In this video about Schlappi Engineering's THREE BODY I try to explain and demonstrate the multitude of functions, modulation options, inputs and outputs. There's sound examples scattered throughout the video to break up the monotony of me talking all the time.

THREE BODY is so very versatile and due to it's precise logic based core functionality it's very straightforward to dial in precise FM or PM tones that are usually quite impossible to achieve with regular analog vcos. If you want the dirt of waves bulking and crashing into each other (regular 'free' fm and pm), it's just a flick of a switch and you're there.

Because it's a very long video please have a look at the chapter markers at the bottom of this description box. Those should make it easier for modern crowds to navigate the video. You can of course go retro and just sit back and enjoy the show, but you might have to pause the video halfway to fetch drinks and icecream (and possibly for a bathroom break).

I hope you enjoy this extensive playthrough."

Also see Schlappi Engineering's Three Body Hardware Design and Why I Used an FPGA

Schlappi Engineering Three Body VCO - Just Drones

video upload by John Schussler

"Three Body has just arrived, and I'm in the throes of figuring it out.

Here's 25 minutes of me working through a bunch of different drone sounds,
first with outputs from all three VCOs, then from just Center VCO outputs (but modulated by the other two VCOs).

No external modulation sources, no envelopes, just the Three Body by itself.

00:00 Intro
00:20 Individual knobs
02:50 Type: Free
12:16 Type: Ratio
19:38 Only center osc outs"

Three Body Prototype Sounds

Published on May 30, 2020 SCHLAPPI ENGINEERING

"A brief exploration with the Three Body, a triple digital FM/PM oscillator based on an FPGA platform.

I kind of drifted into harsh noise by cross modulating all three of the oscillators but it is also capable of the prettier side of FM.

No processing is used and all stereo FX are generated by phase modulation, two Maths (not shown) were modulating the phase and frequency indexes (build in analog VCAs).

The Three Body is expected to be available late fall/winter 2020, price TBA."

Three Body Hardware Design and Why SCHLAPPI Used an FPGA

video upload by SCHLAPPI ENGINEERING

"A detailed dive into the Three Body hardware design, what an FPGA is, how, and why I used one. Not a demo or musical at all. This is one of my first attempts at drier, more technical content, if you are interested in more please let me know.

The product page and more musical demos are available here: https://schlappiengineering.com/produ...

0:00 Introduction
0:20 Design goals
1:07 Hardware description
3:12 DACs within the FPGA fabric
5:43 FPGA related design decisions
6:58 What is an FPGA?
7:20 Why would you use an FPGA
7:50 Speed/timing
11:57 Workflow
19:11 Parallelism
22:20 Customization
22:40 Skills for future projects
23:33 Outro"

You can find additional posts on the Three Body here.

Serge New Timbral Oscillator (NTO) | Tutorials | Episode 05

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"I did my very best to remain objective and compared the NTO with simple basic sounds to my favorite VCO - the MakeNoise DPO - and the digital perfection of the Schlappi Three-Body. The NTO has been around since 1976 and represents the origins of modern synthesis. I just learned about it this year, so better late than never. It's surrounded by praise to the level of 'hard to believe'.

I used reverb on the raw sounds, and I found out that a digital effect can easily ruin the analog experience. I used ALM MFX, and it sounds great with NTO. But it sounds terribly aliased with the DPO and I wasn't happy with the Three-body result either. I wouldn't have known with raw sounds and I would not be able to share it. I've patched DPO a thousand times and it sounds clean and woody in the MakeNoise universe, but the raw waveforms are far from perfect and there's a certain bite. In this video, you may also learn that every VCO carries the signature of it's maker. DPO sounds like Tony Rolando. The 259 sounds like Buchla. Cs-L sounds like Jason Lim. Three-Body sounds like Schlappi. The NTO sounds like Serge, and now I have a new personal analog favorite.

The NTO is pure sophistication. I can say this both objectively (backed up by history and other reviews) and subjectively (it melts your heart). In the end it's just a VCO, which is about 10% of your whole patch. In many occasions, any quality VCO will be enough. But if you're looking for something special, this may be it. But your own personal opinion and taste will always be more important than mine!

You will be listening to analog through MFX AD/DA and my DAW's AD/DA. It's impossible to really listen to analog on YouTube but the DAW captures analog very well. There are plenty of raw sound NTO videos on youtube, so if you need to deepen your interest, please do some research. I've linked to an interview with Serge, where he explains a few things. It's a privilege to be able to hear him talk about it."

HEARTBEATS - The Knife (BRiES cover) / Schlappi Engineering THREE BODY

video upload by BRiES

"THREE BODY by Schlappi Engineering takes care of 100% of the bass arpeggio in this video (aka the main synth). It's very interesting to be able to get all this grit without losing the ability to turn it down for a less harsh sound and without having to worry about relative pitches of your carrier and modulators. No processing was done to the audio coming from THREE BODY afterwards (apart from some low and mid cut EQ and a smidge of compression).

The sequencing for the bass (and part of the higher pitched arp and hihats) is done with eurorack sequencers, I recorded the main part in one take (which I recorded). The poly synth stabs were created with my own plugin PLL-102 (which you can buy as part of my VST pack 'SYNTHS one' on the Decent Sampler webshop).

There's no play-back going on in this video, everything you see happening was recorded live and used unaltered (apart from gentle eq, some compression and autotune - Melda Productions MPitch - for the vocals).

Your boi BRiES takes care of 100% of the singing (which I autotuned in this version of the upload) so be prepared for some vocal cringe.

I spent most of my birthday recording the audio and video for this cover. It's something that I've been wanting to do for a long time (recording a cover where the main part is taken care of by a eurorack system). The song 'heartbeats' (the José Gonzales version) popped into my head a few days ago and I just had to give it a try.

To whom it may concern:This is a cover of the song 'Heartbeats' by The Knife. This video isn't monetized nor is it sponsored (no one is making money off of this video). All rights to the song and lyrics are reserved to The Knife."

Schlappi Engineering THREE BODY / gentle chords

video upload by BRiES

"THREE BODY's audio palette is not limited to noise, harsh fm and destruction, it's actually very easy to get nice chords out of the unit. I'm using STEP 8 by Joranalogue Audio Design for shift register duties (creating chords out of a sequence coming from MOSKWA 2 by Xaoc Devives). µCHORUS 6 by Soundforce is used to create width. Additional external effects (delay and reverb) take care of the spaciousness.

What's not demonstrated in this video but very easy with THREE BODY: you can create supersaw sounds where the 3 VCOs are either drifting in and out of phase or slightly detuned for a more thick unison sound. All you need is some external modulation and a way to mix the 3 (or more) outputs."

Schlappi Engineering THREE BODY / triple layered groovebox patch / controlled feedback

video upload by BRiES

"For this video I tried making drums (kick, snare and hats) and a seperate melody all coming from the VCOs on THREE BODY. I used a few external vcas and envelopes where I routed the seperate outputs of THREE BODY through, to take control over the modulation and feedback paths. Patching feedback is something that I encourage you to explore on every vco and even lfo."

Three Body & FM Algorithms | The Schlappy Minute

video upload by SCHLAPPI ENGINEERING

"This is the Schlappy Minute.

Today I get into how to use the Three Body as a kind of typical FM (Frequency Modulation) tone generator and how to think the three different VCO as operators and 'algorithms'."

Schlappi Engineering THREE BODY / first patch / hell yeah

video upload by BRiES

"After being held hostage for over 2 weeks THREE BODY is finally here.

This is a first test minutes after taking it out of the box. Just ace. I love it when modules are self explanatory, yet take some deep understanding to get to the bottom of it (aka instant satisfaction but a lot of room for abuse and exploration).

Schlappi Engineering surely did a terrific job with this one.

Featuring MANDRAKE by Malstrom Audio for kicks, ORBIT 3 by Joranalogue Audio Design for the snare and hats and CHORUS 6 by Soundforce for some tempo synced stereo movement of those hats (aided by Dual LFO)."

Three Body Jam

video upload by Synth Diy Guy

"My first day playing with the new Three Body module by Schlappi Engineering!
An FPGA based triple oscillator with creative normalizations that make it a great experimental electronic music module all on it's own! I'm using a bit of modulation from the Kermit and some reverb from Monsoon.

My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/quincas My Site: https://www.quincasmoreira.com/

Stay Noisy!"

Ratio Chords with Three Body | Schlappy Patching

video upload by SCHLAPPI ENGINEERING

"Episode 18 for Schlappy Patching!

For this one I'll show you a very unusual way to think chord progressions by using the ratio function of the Three Body, sequenced by the Nibbler / BTMX.
This is a fun way to create sometimes intricate progression without any music theory involved (even tho it can come in handy sometimes), just by listening to what's happening.

Have fun watching!!"

Three Body & Nibbler Live Patching

video upload by SCHLAPPI ENGINEERING

"Schlappy Jamming EP.1

This is a new serie that is not going to be regular as the Schlappy Patching, but it's going to be fun nonetheless! This one is an exploration of live patching with mostly the Three Body and Nibblers, lot's of weird FM tones, in a ambient / drone fashion, bathed in shimmer reverb (Strymon BlueSky if you ask).

Have fun watching!"

Schlappi Engineering THREE BODY / 'ratio locked' modulation madness ft. Xaoc KOSZALIN

video upload by BRiES

"Here i'm running the outputs of all the vcos into a mixer. There's a lot of stepped modulation going of for the FM and phase indexes (indices?).

After a while I add left and right outputs of Koszalin which is processing a multed output of the mix of waves coming from Three Body.

I didn't know what to expect from a frequency shifter but it sounds like a mix between a very unique chorus and 2000 era talkbox synths (Boys Noize)."

Schlappi Engineering THREE BODY / perfect ratio phase modulation / DX sounds in eurorack

video upload by BRiES

"It's something we probably all tried to do at some point: tuning 2 or more sine VCOs in exact ratios to each other to create clear FM or PM tones like the digital 'fm' synths of the mid 80s like the Yamaha DX and the Casio SZ series... I know I have... and while usually I love the ever so slight but inherent instability of most eurorack VCOs it's the one scenario where they caused me to figuratively pull the (still literal) hair out of my scalp.

Well... Three Body takes care of that, so we (the mostly XY chromosoned segment of us at least) can keep our manes intact just a little bit longer."

GENERATE 3 (x2) vs THREE BODY / a quick fm and pm comparison

video upload by BRiES

"In this video I try to show off some exponential and linear fm sounds as well as phase modulation on both GENERATE 3 by Joranalogue Audio Design and THREE BODY by Schlappi Engineering. These versatile oscillator modules are at first glance very different but they both offer a toolset that let's you do more than what you'd expect from a classic vco. The inclusion of phase modulation offers extended timbres (like wavefolding or DX type modulation). They both have their strenghts and weaknesses, but in this video I mainly try to show the similarities."

Schlappi Engineering THREE BODY / sync and crossmodulation / more experiments

video upload by BRiES

"For this clip I tried syncing the outer VCOs of THREE BODY to the center VCO. Pairing up sync with any kind of frequency- or phase modulation is always a good idea, so I turned eveything up. You'll see and hear that it's fairly straighforward to go back to a cleaner sound.

All the VCOs are in free mode (which means the FM inputs or the outer VCOs actually do FM. Should they be in ratio mode, the FM inputs become Phase Modulation inputs)."