"Noise, drone and artefact generator. Available in yellow or black. Identical to the eurorack version but with the advantage of more immediacy through more hands on control.
It's capable of generating a huge range of sounds. Drone, data crash glitching, atmospheric deprivation and all manner of unpleasant or quirky sounds. It has a lot of cv/gate control available for automation of oscillator behaviour and also houses a touch interface for disruption of the oscillators. On top of this it also has an audio input which can be used to devastating effect on incoming audio as well as another means of oscillator disruption. It demands that you mess with it. It thrives on it.
Paired up with fx in the chain it can generate some impressive textures. A resonant filter, distortion and delay pedal capable of infinite repeats in line generate some fantastic dark power electronics and atmospheres. If you're familiar with navicon torture technologies or theologian then you'll have a good idea of what to expect there. It's also great for creating incidentals and obscure sounds that you might use as samples or as a layer in film score."
"This is SHARD. Oh my… I’m using a kick from the Machine Drum and plugging it into Shard’s input. The creator Shane Williams aka X1L3 is known for his rather crazy circuit bent devices. I’m sure a lot of his past circuit bent work has inspired this. You get a very similar vibe when messing around with a circuit bent Casio or opening up some old 80s toy and diving into the unknown’s of it’s circuitry to create a box of wonder or mangled horror. The setup is Elektron’s Machine Drum output into Hexinverter’s Mutant Bassdrum’s distortion input then into Shard. The Machine drum’s kick was used instead of the Hexinverter due to needing a longer decay on the kick. The distortion output from the Mutant Bassdrum is then multiplied 3 times. One clean signal so you can hear the kick clean over Shard, one into Shard’s input, and one into Shard’s Atrophy input. The Atrophy input is more for control voltage but I have found plugging other sound sources into the cv inputs create some very interesting layers. There is some reverb then added at the end of the chain. If you are into noise or beat mangling Shard is one of those hidden gems."
"Two shards - one automated by midi to gate to generate the drone, the other manipulated manually to drive the chaos.
Shard 1 is passed through a filter and then clouds to add reverb. This automated unit also has wreckage, a simple companion module connected to the audio input. This is bought in towards the end.
Shard 2 is clean with persudatron connected to the audio input. Persuadatron is an FM radio receiver with gating controls over tuning, volume etc. Any audio source at the audio in of shard will disrupt the oscillators, a radio is particularly good at this and can be heard mid way in the hands on chaotic section.
To summarize, Shard 1 for the first third, creeping in as the filter is opened up, changing timbre via osc gate automation about midway. A vca gate is then opened for shard 2 at two thirds and the chaos begins - letting persuadatrons commercial radio gash bleed through in places. The gate is closed at the final third, shard 1 takes control again and the set fades into sludge discord as wreckage is bought in and the filter is closed.
For anyone vaguely interested - shard, wreckage and persuadatron up for sale soon at:
http://www.x1l3.bigcartel.com/"
"A skim through the components of the eurorack version of shard.
Designed initially as a boxed unit for power electronics, hnw and the generation of glitch artefacts. Ported to eurorack for easy integration into the vast array of manipulation and processing in the format. The stand alone version is under way and should be out there in the coming months......
3 x oscillators with cv over pitch and gating over frag / shard / null
3 x osc intensity with cv
External audio in with manual gain
3 x fragment / null / shard selectors
Body contact touch interface for osc disruption
Presented here in a selection of short clips. Each highlighting an aspect of the module and the results at the output. And the effect it has on sources at the input. A wreckage and persuadatron module are included here. One is a simple constant harsh drone generator and the other an fm radio. Both yield intense results when fed into the audio input of shard and both will also be live in the shop in coming weeks/months. Real world/life permitting.
Clean through the run with no fx other than the intro section and fade out. Two layers were used on these. The first layer with resonant filter and a clouds module providing reverb. The second clean - generating an artefacts and glitch layer.
If you recognise the end you're either old or have good taste in movies :)"
"This is a tough one to write up and summarize. It certainly evolved into something rather different than intended. The primary reason being that the 252e and/or 251e lost their programming twice! Twice for the 252e (the core of the show) and once for the 251e. I’ve never had the Atmel products lose their minds like this before. I think that they are rather sensitive to low voltage conditions (brown outs) as they power up as this when they lost their minds. The currently loading preset gets scrambled or wiped. As can be see in the short ancillary video below, the 252e became unresponsive. That’s two trips to the 10-panel case in order to be reflashed with firmware and three runs at programming the damn thing.
I was so exasperated that I nearly pulled everything so that I could start on the other 3 ideas that I wish to explore and execute. I did promise myself that I would endeavor to be less concerned with perfection and be more concerned with simply getting anything of interest out into the world. It doesn’t have to be novel. It doesn’t have to be world-changing. It just needs to get out there if there is even anything 51% interesting in the recording; I do have some standards after all! I brewed up a double espresso and hit ‘record’.
It started as an E Minor progression with evolution to… Fuck if I know anymore. That stuff got deleted. I eventually threw in some Whole Tone stuff (especially noticeable toward the end) and smashed it all together in gobs of delay via new toys from X1L3: a Shard, an Underwurlde (messed up delay), and a circuit bent and high augmented with Korg MS20-ish circuits (plus a delay) drum machine that used to be a Yamaha DD-7. It is now a rather more interesting and useful X1L3 DDX.
Basically, the BLUE rings on the 252e went to the upper macro oscillator of the 1979 DAO The GREEN rings to the lower part of the DAO (ratcheted bell sounds) Both using their internal VCAs, which I also used to modulate “Color” & “Timbre” at times. Both voices went into the Analogue Systems RS-290 delay. The Blue voice also went, in parallel, to the Underwurlde which then went to the 290. It’s a cheat for keeping delay nonsense in synch even though the Underwurlde was hand synced to tempo. RED rings were the 259e into a 292e LPG. Lots going on there and the Pendulum/Ratchet was acting as a burst generator. I was using the 251e for that but didn’t want program that again.
Studio.h
CSR doing its scaling job plus attenuation of audio signals along with manual muting of both audio and gates/triggers. Love it. 254e was being controlled by the Buchla 266e to quasi-randomly filter out some of the drum rolls/fills for the Green ring. It also had a manual Gate voltage connected to it so that I could inject tones into the X1L3 Shard.
Northern Light Modular 2TT Taking the clock from a channel of the 251e and distributing it, mangling it, and doing its thing. All Eurorack connects to this as well.
X1L3 (pronounced “Exile”) DDX: It provided percussion in 3/4 via Malekko Varigate 4. I also played it manually at times. It ran into the TipTop Áudio Z-DSP with the Valhalla “Shimmer” card but set to program #8 for pitched echo.
https://x1l3.bigcartel.com
Lots of Eurorack. Some mentioned specifically at the end of the video. I left out a lot as I wanted to get this video posted. Best Supporting Cast: 2x Folktek Matters. All Even Beat Count percussion. Tyme Sefaris Mk1 & Mk2… Connected to Matters Audio Damage (I know, right?!) Grainshifter on one of the Matters. Lots of Eurorack sequencing. As I look back on what was used, much of the processing was changed due to reprogramming things. All compression pulled and I just mixed it ‘live’ without multi-tracking.
"Improvised jam experimenting with gating the inputs of shard. Grinding, screaming, strangely mesmerising sensory dissonance.
If you came here by accident while looking for the wave105 commercial radio top five and you hate it then i fully understand. If you came here intentionally and knew you'd hate it then you're probably a tool. But that's alright, the sun will still shine in the morning and in ten minutes nobody will care. Stick to what you do best. You'll be fine, i promise.
MIdi to gate to ADSR gens to shard CV ins. Shard to ripples to clouds (as reverb) to output mixer.
Overlooked by Yorick and underpinned by a repetetive drone from a braids which kicks the whole thing off. It builds into some found sound drums and then just drops out and crawls through a storm of debris intil it crawls under the stone it came from at the end.
A more focussed/less lazy beers and early hours jam demo soon. A dedicated 6U 84HP noise, video and tronix suitcase is in the works for this reason."
SHARD - harsh noise / power electronics and glitch generator
Harsh noise and S&M floor show?
14HP - purely for generating chaos, violence and the abstract.
Controls:
Six oscilators merged into a well masochism - Three fragments - three shards.
Choke - A fetish for punishment - stress relief for the all that is - it's just breath control.
CV control over all parameters - 3x shard / 3x fragment / choke - all with front panel response setting controls.
Intentionally psychotic, with a good degree of control. It thrives on modulation sources. Vactrol implementation benefits from attenuation where finesse is required, but is just as fascinating when under manual or simple high/low gate control.
Skiff friendly - approximately 26cm from panel to deepest component depth.
Check out the videos below:
(COMING SOON)
If your country isn't listed in the shipping options message me and let me know so i can add it and allow you to check out.
"Sound design experiments with the x1l3 SHARD Noise, Drone, and Artifact Generator.
The purpose of “TEST SERIES” is to focus on the sound design possibilities of various gear combinations. This series is not musical nor does it serve as an instructional video. It is all about sound potential.
Please consider supporting this channel by purchasing a sample pack or music download from www.outsidersounddesign.com"
"Trial run of underwurlde (beta) - esoteric delay, looper and texture generator in a power electronics session. The set is dominated heavily by shard, but as it progresses and underwurlde finds it's place the lead is gradually handed over. So if you're curious then it's worth lettig the video run, or at least skipping to a third to mid ay through to get to where underwurlde starts to take the lead roll. Shard is continuously fed through underwurlde. For something fucked up to grap in a looper it does a great job. To then pitch and further abuse that psychosis is awesome. Wreckage provides the backing drone that leads in and out and keeps a drone through much of the set. Soundmachines LP1 lightplanes are used through the whole thing for cv manipulation. I love these things for live work and can't recommend them enough :)
The module was orginally designed to serve as a companion to shard, specifically for those with a desire for unhinged, violent and extreme textures and sounds. It serves the original purpose admirably but can be used with just about anything to add a quite unique slant on things. A past of indulging in circuit bending and a taste for abstract electronica being pivotal to the final outcome of the module.
At the core of underwurlde is a delay with an impressive maximum time and a solid method of manipulating the audio passing through it. Almost as if the ram contents were concrete. It can do the nice 'analogue' delay thing and time wise is capable of three to four seconds before you start to touch on a drop in quality, five to six with the low pass filter closed to mask the start of aliasing and noise. Beyond that it can drop to incredibly long looping with a gradual deterioration into bizarre and unique abuse through to noise similar to a pt2399, but much much better. It can lock the contents of the ram and switch to the function of looper. While in both delay and looper mode a 'ramglitch' array can be activated to mutilate the audio passing through the system. At faster rates you get the kinds o feffects often found in circuit bent digital machines. A circuit bent TR505 would be a good reference point for an example of this. As the rate decreases it gets more and more unhinged. The whitehouse track 'a cunt like you' being a prime example of what it starts to do once the echo/loop rate is slowed down. In a power electronix/noise rig it fits perfectly next to shard as it can provide the rhythmical texture favoured in PE such as NTT and theologian while shard is left to generate more organic artefacts and textures.
Gating is single press on/off on all features. Delay on/off, ramlock, delay/loop fast/slow, ramglitch1, 2 and 3. A gate or trigger will set any feature high or low depending on state. A second gate will revert back.
Ramglitch has a 3x array available to it. On the back of the module are three jumpers. Each of which can be set to configure the ramglitch array according to taste. An expansion module is planned for this which will add another eight gates over an 8 point matrix to the module. Each addressing one of the data lines in the ram/processor interface. Each data line being able to intefere with every other as desired. This will give countless ramglitch combinations which in turn give the module the capability to generate true circuit bent sounds, eliminating the necessity of a circuit bent instrument for those who might be interested in experimenting with such things."
The purpose of 'TEST SERIES' is to focus on the sound design possibilities of various gear combinations. This series is not musical nor does it serve as an instructional video. It is all about sound potential.
Please consider supporting this channel by purchasing a sample pack or music download from www.outsidersounddesign.com"
"Spec run down. Eye candy and chill tune.What it is and where to get it - below:
Available at:https://x1l3.bigcartel.com/
MX2 is an expander for the manipulator module.
It adds six toggle/latching gates to the main module.
These are tied to the momentary triggers of keys C1 - D3.
The vid run says the module is 8hp. It's actually only 4hp.
Funny enough, i'm not feeling too inclined to re render it all and re-upload the lot for a typo 🙈🙈🤣
Useful for additional control of anything requiering a constant gate.
The frag/shard gates of the shard module being a good example.
Half demo vid - half chill run with some visuals for a bit of fun.
Cheers for checking it out. I hope you enjoy the vid and find the module useful if you choose to pick one up 😊"
"MX2 is a 4HP,, 37mm deep expander for the manipulator module.
Available in yellow or black.
Current draw: V+ 30MA / V- 20MA
MX2 adds six toggle/latching gates to the gate array of the manipulator. The latching gates are tied to the keys C1 - D3.
Power is provided via the expander header. No additional power cable is required.
Works well with shard when the latches are tied to the frag/shard gates and the four CV outputs from manipuilator are used to control the atrophy and osc pitches of the module."
"Harsh drone and drums power electronics session with some cool use of a shard and a couple of ADSRs tied to VCAs as a percussion generator.
Shard 1 - It's got a soundmachines LP1 lightplane at the atrophy input which is synced to the grids module. The grids module is using the remaining two trig outputs it has to trigger the two ADSRs, these in turn are controling two VCAs. Combined they create a cool distorted drum track. The output is split into two. One instance fed into clouds for reverb and the other raw to the mixer.
Shard 2 - This has a braids module fed into the audio input to blend with, disrupt and grind with the shard oscillators. Heard to varying degrees of dominance at various places. Anything that happens on this shard is manually controlled, this comes into play heavily in the closing of the session. The output is fed into a VCF which is then hooked up to the mixer.
Wreckage - This has an LP1 connected to the atrophy input and the audio out is connected to a VCF and then fed into the mixer. The VCF also has an LP1 hooked up to modulate the cutoff. Wreckage gets used for violence and high frequency stuff and later on for fucked up glitching and noise. Taking the lead as the set fades away."
"This is the Shard harsh noise generator — a boutique power-electronics / industrial sound device known for its aggressive textures, chaotic oscillators, and fully manual performance controls.
A favorite among harsh noise, PE, drone, and experimental sound artists, Shard units are highly sought after due to their unusual interface and raw sonic power.
The panel includes multiple oscillators, pitch controls, gates, chaos switches, atrophy charge pads, and external input options for expanding or processing noise in real time. Great for standalone improvisation, modular interaction, or adding harsh layers to audio work.
⸻
Features:
• Multiple oscillators with individual pitch controls
• Patchable ports for expanded routing
• Dedicated chaos & atrophy switches
• Gate pads for manual noise triggering
• External input for additional audio processing
• Rugged metal enclosure
• Runs on 9V power (battery or adapter)
• Perfect for harsh noise, PE, dark ambient, and experimental sound design"
"The fact that this device exists is a beautiful thing. But maybe that’s just my opinion. This is SHARD.. in desktop form. A brilliantly rethought out design from the original eurorack module. Harsh noise to bring back your grandmas hearing and maybe help your dad’s tinnitus from all those Steely Dan concerts. Amazing module for experimental drums with a VCA also but that’s for another day. Both this and the eurorack version sound the same. This version has more hands on manipulation. Honestly I feel Shard is best played by hand. It’s part of the experience. The ability to throw it is cool too.
I will stop rambling now. Thankful this thing is a thing but I already said that."
Originally given away with the first ten shard modules sold. The internals have been re worked to run at about ten times the speed of the initial design. Making for a somewhat more brutal and psychotic animal :)
Both flying solo and with cv modulation support from several soundmachines LP1 lightplane modules..To wrap it up it's put side by side with a shard module, being fed into the shard audio input.
6 x oscillators - 3 x fragments 3 x shards. CV over pitch of each osc with built in attenuation.
Atrophy chaos amplification.
Presented here in a few short sessions. Initially all hands on and later using cv automation and manual manipulation to make it do what it does best.
Clean through the run with no fx other than the intro section and fade out."
"Powerelectronix session and a couple of beers in a proving ground for the Nihil CB microphone input module and the X-Core nux guitar pedal conversion kit i've been working on. Shit camera positioning means the lower 3U is mostly out of shot, along with nihil. But the sun will still rise in the morning and you get the general idea of what's going on. I'm basically doing spoken word in various styles from a lyric sheet i put together and looping the sum of it with timecore, ending with some feedback by holding the mic up to the cabs at the end for some violent scene conclusion. Time core is particularly good for this as a delay as it can be set to infinite repeats while still allowing you to overdub into the loop and gradually force it to morph and evolve. Vaguely where and what are listed below.
Wreckage is generating the drone that kicks off the track and is later hit with atrophy and modulated with a sound machines LP1.
Shard is generating the rhythmic noise element which is fed through a filter and into the output mixer, it's also being modulated by an LP1. Nihil is routed to the audio input of the second shard in the rig to distort the spoken word which is then routed to the timecore and out to the mixer.
Nihil is a cheap CB mic solution for eurorack rigs to eliminate the hassle of always having to butcher the cables on these things to use them in your set up. It's compatible with passive microphones which utilise the cobra 4 pin standard. CB mic wiring standards can be looked up online and found on most ham radio enthusiasts forums and pages. Like a CB mic itself, the module is cheap, dirty and looks great.
X-Core is a conversion kit for nux time core and mod core guitar p[edals. It provides a neat wrapper and easy build and hands over stomp switching to manual finger press or gate automation. This doubles up as a tap tempo sync on the time core for syncing the delay to sequencing and clock signals."
Shards and wreckage available at:
https://x1l3.bigcartel.com/
Shard one = braids at the audio input - split into clouds and a resonant filter, both into mixer.
Shard two = into resonanat filter into mixer.
Wreckage = raw into mixer.
CV generated by 1x grids into 3x ADSR and 3 soundmachines LP1 lightplanes..."
Pretend AGA Amiga pixelated demoscene-alike outing with track put together by manually manipulating the UW and UWX. Main loop is a sequence put together by grabbing slices of shard. Melodic section is then trashed for the mid section and a vocal grab is torn up before the main loop kicks back in for the outro. Tune does the talking, scroller elaborates on that, story reel - just eye candy for the sake of it really.
UWX is a 4hp module that adds the extra five glitches that are standard on the desk top version of underwurlde. A compromise was made when the main module was created due to space and I/O limitations. By removing the jumpers from the back of UW and plugging in the UWX to the pin header with the supplied ribbon cable you can access all eight points of the glitch array. You get a year zero art is resistance flag on the front panel intersection thrown in when you do this too :D"
"Noise, drone and artefact generator. Available in yellow or black. Identical to the eurorack version but with the advantage of more immediacy through more hands on control.
