Expert Sleepers Disting mk4, User Manual

Page 1: ...disting mk4 Firmware v4 23 User Manual Page 1 ...

Page 2: ...ed or copied only in accordance with the terms of such licence The content of this manual is furnished for informational use only is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Expert Sleepers Ltd Expert Sleepers Ltd assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document Page 2 ...

Page 3: ...5 LFO 29 B 6 Clockable LFO 30 B 7 VCO with linear FM 31 B 8 VCO with waveshaping 32 C 1 Counter 33 C 2 Voltage Controlled Delay Line 34 C 3 Clockable Ping Pong Delay Z feedback 34 C 4 Clockable Ping Pong Delay Z input pan 35 C 5 Resonator 36 C 6 Vocoder 36 C 7 Phaser 37 C 8 Bit Crusher 38 D 1 DJ Filter 39 D 2 Tape Delay 40 D 3 Waveform Animator 41 D 4 State Variable Filter 42 D 5 LP HP Filter 42 D...

Page 4: ...eshaper 93 K 4 Clockable Wavetable Envelope 93 K 5 Programmable Quantizer 94 K 6 Clockable SD Delay 96 K 7 Stereo Clockable SD Delay 97 K 8 Stereo Clockable SD Delay Z clock 97 L 1 Stereo Reverb 98 L 2 Mono to Stereo Reverb 99 L 3 Dual Reverb 100 L 4 Dual Vowel Filter 100 L 5 Stereo Chorus 102 L 6 Mono Chorus 103 L 7 Mixer 104 L 8 Gate 104 M 1 Delayed LFO 105 M 2 Scaled LFO 106 M 3 Logic 107 M 4 H...

Page 5: ... rotary encoder push button named S A dot matrix display A MicroSD card slot A knob referred to as the Z control which controls some aspect of the algorithm This knob also has a push button function Three input sockets The top input is the Z CV input which controls the same thing as the Z knob The two are added together The other two inputs are X and Y and their function depends on the current alg...

Page 6: ...ly six menu items to choose from only one of which you will normally need In general the menu system works like this Press the encoder to enter menu mode Turn the encoder to select the menu item and press to select At this point the behaviour depends on the chosen menu item Pressing Z at any time cancels and exits the menus The menu items are Algorithm select algorithm Save save a preset Load load...

Page 7: ...oad on the SD card useful if e g you have a slower card SD delay max the maximum delay time in minutes for the various Clockable SD Delay algorithms If the time between two taps is longer than this the second will be ignored This also affects how much of the delay file is wiped when the algorithm is chosen which therefore affects how long the algorithm takes to start Switch param if set when a MID...

Page 8: ...nsidered coarse non real time adjustments to the algorithm They may cause glitching in the outputs when changed Parameters are adjusted via the S knob When changed the parameter value is displayed for a couple of seconds If an algorithm has more than one parameter pressing the Z knob cycles through them unless the algorithm uses Z for Tap Tempo or some other purpose The current parameter number is...

Page 9: ...set by pressing the Z button 5 times and it will only change on the 5th press Favourites You can define your own list of 16 favourite algorithms via a text file on the MicroSD card The favourites are accessed as algorithms O1 P8 If no favourites are defined or if there are empty slots the disting runs algorithm A1 the Precision Adder The favourites are read from the SD card if present at power on ...

Page 10: ...ad and press to confirm 3 Turn the encoder to choose the preset slot 4 Press the encoder to complete the load If the current algorithm was selected via the Favourites the actual algorithm chosen is saved in the preset not the favourites slot 1 Preset 0 Preset 0 the first slot is special The contents of preset 0 are loaded at power up When switching algorithm the new algorithm state is saved to pre...

Page 11: ...dful of modules from various manufacturers including the Malekko Varigate 8 Macro Machines Storage Strip and the Make Noise Tempi René 2 Note that the disting only responds to save recall messages It does not initiate them Any MIDI that arrives on the Select Bus that is not explicitly part of the Select Bus protocol will be used as if it arrived on the disting s regular MIDI input see below Page 1...

Page 12: ...lect View Show All Devices to inspect the partitioning scheme The Erase settings should look like this Supported audio files As of now the only supported audio file format is 16 bit WAV mono or stereo Any sample rate can be used however Since higher sample rates impose greater bandwidth demands on the SD card streaming we suggest you use the lowest sample rate that gives acceptable audio quality A...

Page 13: ...ion embedded in the WAV file If this information is not present or is disabled with the playlist option see below any mode that loops the sample simply loops the whole file Loops are inferred either from markers cue points in WAV format parlance or regions as follows 1 marker point in file Marker is assumed to be loop start loop is from the marker to the end of the sample 2 marker points in file M...

Page 14: ...0 gap 0 fadeIn 0 fadeOut 0 TR66_BD_aOrig_b_R1 wav fixedPitch 0 9 TR66_Snare_aOrig_b_R1 wav sample01 wav loop 1 ramp 1 funky_lp wav loop 1 triggers 4 586447main_JFKwechoosemoonspeech wav loop 1 This breaks down as The header disting playlist v1 Default settings optional List of audio files Per file settings after each file optional Files may appear more than once in the playlist with the same or di...

Page 15: ... begin playback until triggered by the input A typical use case for this would be when you have a set of one shot say drum samples and you want to trigger each sample and have it play until the next trigger not changing in the middle if the sample select CV changes At an extreme you could in this case feed white noise into the sample select CV to choose a random sample on each trigger The fixedPit...

Page 16: ...100 Files beyond that limit are ignored MIDI Playlist Format A MIDI playlist file might look something like this disting playlist v1 zeroVNote 60 bach_2ptinv mid CDE_bend mid bendRange 12 CDE_bend mid loop 0 cc1_2 mid cc1offset 1 5 cc1scale 3 cc2offset 2 cc2scale 6 This breaks down as The header disting playlist v1 Default settings optional List of MIDI files Per file settings after each file opti...

Page 17: ...oltage according to the scale and offset settings by default 0 5V Scala Support Some disting algorithms support microtonal scales using files generated by the program Scala5 The files are loaded from the MicroSD card See Supported MicroSD cards above Organising the files on the card To use Scala with the disting you will need a MicroSD card set up as follows An scl folder A folder named scl in the...

Page 18: ...globally to all the files in the playlist unless overridden by the per file settings Currently there is only one setting which is the name of the keyboard mapping file to use with the scale file Possible Sources of Error If there is a problem reading or interpreting the scale files the disting will not be able to use them Possible things to check include The scale and keyboard mapping files must o...

Page 19: ...s G ES 1 Emulation ES 2 Emulation Pitch Reference Frequency Reference Tuner Clock MIDI CV CV MIDI H Crossfade Pan Dual Sample and Hold Dual Quantizer Z scale Dual Quantizer Dual Euclidean Patterns Dual Delayed Pulse Generator Noise Quantizer 2 I Audio Playback Clocked Audio Playback Audio Playback with V Oct Audio Playback with Z Speed Audio Playback with Reverse Audio Playback with Scrub Dual Aud...

Page 20: ...en bipolar e g 5V and unipolar e g 0 10V CVs and back again 2 X plus the offset Y plus the offset The Z knob CV sets an offset which is applied to both A and B By default the offset is a whole number of Volts If X Y are 1V Octave pitch CVs Z is therefore an octave shift control The maximum shift is 10V positive or negative When Z changes the offset is shown on the display After a short while the d...

Page 21: ...he current algorithm When parameter 0 is 1 the scale is not restricted to integer steps and changes smoothly with Z Parameter 1 applies an offset to the Y input in whole Volts This is convenient if you just want to multiply the X input by a constant which you can then dial in with the Y Offset and Z A 3 Full wave Rectifier Video A abs X Y or abs X B abs X Y or abs Y Z selects mode This algorithm p...

Page 22: ...eful within Eurorack e g to convert an LFO commonly with Hz V pitch control to a V octave oscillator or to convert an exponential FM input on a VCO into a linear FM input Input X is the exponential input its corresponding linear output is A Y is the linear input whose exponential output is B Z sets the scale factor which is common to both conversions It sets the number of Hz per Volt with a range ...

Page 23: ... 5 6 8 major triad 7th Triad 7 9 minor triad 7th 3b 5 7 10 root 5th 6th 5 6 11 root 5th 7th 5 7 12 pentatonic major Pent 13 pentatonic minor Minor Pent 14 natural minor scale Nat Minor 15 harmonic minor scale Harm Minor A further option is controlled by Z being positive or negative When Z is negative the scale number is shown as a negative value When Z is positive input Y is a transpose control Th...

Page 24: ...ate and the note off message is sent when the gate goes low Additionally in this case a MIDI note on is sent for each trigger instead of only when the note changes MIDI Input MIDI note messages received on MIDI channel 1 are used according to parameter 6 If this parameter is 0 MIDI notes set parameter 2 root key If parameter 6 is 1 or 2 the candidate notes for quantization are set via MIDI The alg...

Page 25: ... signal Output A provides a waveshaped version of input X output B provides a waveshaped version of input Y Parameters 0 1 choose what type of waveshaping is applied Type 0 is what is usually termed a wavefolder This increases the harmonic content of the sound in interesting ways especially as the gain changes Type 1 is a triangle to sine waveshaper Used on most audio this is a relatively gentle f...

Page 26: ...ter 2 controls the noise colour Parameter value Noise colour 0 Violet 1 White 2 Pink 3 Red The Z knob CV controls the slew rate of output A At the minimum value of Z changes in A are instantaneous As Z increases changes in A take place more slowly Parameters 5 6 allow you to specify different slew rates when the signal rises or falls If the parameter is 1 the slew time is set from Z otherwise the ...

Page 27: ...y Parameters 0 1 allow for independent control of the slew times when the signal is rising or falling If each parameter is 1 the corresponding slew rate is controlled by Z Otherwise the slew rate is set by the parameter value B 3 Pitch and Envelope Tracker Video A V octave pitch derived from X plus Y B envelope dervied from X Z is slew rate for envelope This algorithm provides pitch and envelope t...

Page 28: ...en triggers is greater than the maximum delay time the time is divided by two until it is small enough This way you always end up with a rhythmically useful delay time Outputs A B carry signals according to parameter 1 Parameter value Output mode 0 A is mix B is delay only 1 A B are mix 2 A B are delay only Parameter 2 controls the output mix between the dry signal and the delay signal At the defa...

Page 29: ...ontrol of frequency and waveshape The output signals are 8V 16V peak to peak by default but can be attenuated via the parameters The outputs can also have a DC offset applied The offset in Volts is parameter value 4 i e the range is 10V in steps of 0 25V Input X is a Hz V frequency control scaled at 1Hz V Note that the input is allowed to go negative resulting in a phase reversed output Knob CV Z ...

Page 30: ...ime between rising trigger edges is used to set the cycle time Input Y controls the waveshape of the output signals Signals in the range 5V give the full range of possible waveshapes Input Y 5V 0V 5V Output A saw sine triangle Output B 0 duty cycle pulse 50 duty cycle pulse square 100 duty cycle pulse Parameter 2 is an offset added to the Y CV allowing manual selection of the waveshape The Z knob ...

Page 31: ...low The A and B outputs provide waveforms according to the following table Parameter value Waveform 0 Triangle 1 Sine 2 Square 3 Saw 4 Sub octave square 5 MIDI gate Parameters 3 4 control the waveform of outputs A B respectively The output signals are 8V 16V peak to peak by default but can be attenuated via parameters 1 2 Parameter 5 controls the function of Z At the default value of 51 Z is the t...

Page 32: ...eter 6 below Parameter 4 selects the output waveforms according to the following table Parameter value WaveformA WaveformB 0 Triangle saw Square pulse 1 Triangle saw Sub octave square 2 Square pulse Sub octave square 3 Triangle saw MIDI gate 4 Square pulse MIDI gate Input Y controls the waveshape of the output signals Signals in the range 5V give the full range of possible waveshapes Input Y 5V 0V...

Page 33: ...n 0 1 32 8 Sets the number of steps This algorithm is a utility to allow proper syncing of hardware sequencers which inexplicably have a clock input but no reset input The algorithm takes a clock and a reset and outputs a clock When it receives a reset it generates a rapid burst of extra clocks to move the connected sequencer back to its first step Parameter 0 sets the number of steps Match this t...

Page 34: ...input and provides negative feedback for negative voltages A outputs the delay signal only Use this for vibrato effects or if you want a controllable mix of dry and delayed signal B outputs the delay and dry signals mixed in equal amounts In combination with an LFO on the delay time this is the quickest route to chorus flange type effects Parameter 2 enables a saturation stage on the input to the ...

Page 35: ...lock Z is input pan A is left output B is right output Tap tempo enabled Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 0 31 24 Feedback 1 15 8 0 Delay time multiplier 2 33 32 33 Mix This algorithm is a stereo ping pong delay echo effect primarily intended for processing audio signals where the delay time is set from a clock pulse It operates at a quarter of the standard sample rate i e at about 19kHz an...

Page 36: ...o signal triggering a pulse when the input goes over 1V Y sets the pitch of the resonator with a 1V octave response The 0V point for the pitch input is C3 approximately 130 81Hz Parameter 0 provides a pitch offset in semitones Z sets the gain In terms of drum synthesis more gain means a longer decay time A is the audio output B outputs the result of envelope tracking the audio output A Pressing Z ...

Page 37: ...r effect X is the audio input Y is the sweep input 0V to 8V covers the whole range negative voltages are treated as 0V You will almost always want to patch an LFO in here Parameter 0 can be used to set this to a centre value which makes it easier to patch in an LFO to the Y input without having to add a DC offset to the LFO Z controls feedback More feedback results in more extreme phasing effects ...

Page 38: ...nal output B is the output of a comparator Output A is compared against zero output B is 5V if A is above zero or 0V if A is below zero If parameter 3 is set to 1 the algorithm becomes stereo Input Y is then the second signal input and output B is the second signal output The Z control sets the bit depth reduction There are two types of bit reduction available Type I the signal is quantised to a 1...

Page 39: ... Previous sample XOR variant 1 6 Previous sample XOR variant 2 7 Previous sample XOR variant 3 D 1 DJ Filter Video X Y are stereo audio input A B are stereo audio output Z is filter sweep Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 0 31 0 Filter resonance This is stereo filter which sweeps from lowpass to highpass on a single knob The Z knob CV sets the filter cutoff At the central zero position no fi...

Page 40: ...en 8V gives 2x speed the maximum and 4V gives half speed the minimum Parameter 2 can be used to set the speed manually its value is added to that of the Y input The Z knob CV controls the feedback from zero to slightly more than 100 Outputs A B carry signals according to parameter 3 Parameter value Output mode 0 A is mix B is delay only 1 A B are mix 2 A B are delay only Parameter 4 controls the o...

Page 41: ...tter In combination with LFOs varying the comparator thresholds very rich textures can be generated Here four comparators and four LFOs are used X is the audio input The thresholds of the comparators are set by a combination of Y and Z Y sets the centre threshold Z sets a spread of the individual thresholds around the centre Parameter 1 also sets the centre Parameter 0 sets the LFO depth Parameter...

Page 42: ...the filter type output at A B Output A blends smoothly between low pass at minimum Z through band pass at zero Z to high pass at maximum Z Output B blends smoothly between high pass at minimum Z through band pass at zero Z to low pass at maximum Z Parameter 1 sets the filter resonance D 5 LP HP Filter Video X is audio input Y is filter frequency Z is filter resonance A is low pass filter output B ...

Page 43: ...input Y is filter frequency Z is filter resonance A is band pass filter output B is high pass filter output Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 80 80 0 Y Offset This is a filter with simultaneous band pass and high pass outputs X is the audio input Y sets the filter frequency with a 1V octave response The 0V point is C3 approximately 130 81Hz Parameter 0 is added to the Y CV its range of 80 co...

Page 44: ...n response to a trigger input AD mode In trigger mode 2 the envelope will continually execute attack decay cycles as long as the trigger is high looped AD mode Z sets the envelope times according to the mode set by parameter 1 In Z mode 0 the full range of Z values sweeps from short A D through short A long D through long A D through long A short D and finally back to short A D In Z mode 1 Z sets ...

Page 45: ...long as the trigger is high looped AD mode Trigger modes 3 8 work like modes 1 2 except that the source of the trigger is the tracked envelope of one of the inputs Modes 3 5 use input X and modes 6 8 use input Y So for example mode 6 triggers the envelope generator from the VCA input signal i e the algorithm is behaving as an envelope modifier effect put a guitar in here for automatic slow swells ...

Page 46: ...envelope generators with shared time settings Inputs X Y are trigger inputs A signal in excess of 1V on either input will trigger its respective envelope according to the mode set by parameter 0 In trigger mode 0 the envelope will rise to full level and stay there as long as the input is high AR mode In trigger mode 1 the envelope will execute one full attack decay cycle in response to a trigger i...

Page 47: ...airly traditional stereo compressor X Y are the stereo audio inputs A B are the stereo audio outputs The Z knob CV sets the compression ratio from 1 no compression at fully counterclockwise to infinity effectively limiting rather than compression at fully clockwise Parameter 0 sets the threshold level above which compression applies in dB Parameters 1 2 set the attack and release times The attack ...

Page 48: ...an also use Z with any CV to control the gain reduction directly Parameter 5 sets the compression ratio with a range from 1 no compression to infinity effectively limiting rather than compression E 6 Mono Compressor Video X is audio input Y is side chain input A is audio output B is gain reduction output Z is compression ratio Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 36 0 12 Threshold 1 0 99 20 Att...

Page 49: ...A is 1 2V octave output B is gate trigger output Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 8 8 0 Octave shift 1 99 99 99 Coarse 2 99 99 10 Fine 3 99 99 0 Offset 4 0 99 49 Gate level This algorithm was designed for interfacing Eurorack or more generally any analogue synths using the 1V octave standard with Buchla synths though it has options to cater for other non standard formats Input X Output A co...

Page 50: ... F 1 Clockable AD Envelope with mute Video X is clock input Y is mute input Z sets the envelope shape A is envelope output B is envelope output Tap tempo enabled Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 15 8 0 Delay time multiplier 1 40 41 32 Output A Attenuverter 2 40 40 32 Output B Attenuverter 3 0 32 26 Attack shape 4 0 32 10 Decay shape This algorithm is a two stage attack decay envelope genera...

Page 51: ... is set from an input clock pulse The envelope is continuously output starting on each new clock pulse while enabled by the gate Input X is the clock input Any clock pulse in excess of 1V can be used The time between rising trigger edges is used to set the envelope time Parameter 0 applies a multiplier to the envelope time according to the table above Input Y is a gate input While this input is be...

Page 52: ...dges is used to set the envelope time Parameter 0 applies a multiplier to the envelope time according to the table above Input Y is a trigger input Any clock pulse in excess of 1V can be used A rising clock pulse triggers the envelope Z sets the envelope shape from short attack long decay to long attack and short decay Parameters 3 4 set the attack and decay shapes of the envelope respectively fro...

Page 53: ...lope time Parameter 0 applies a multiplier to the envelope time according to the table above Input Y is the VCA input The signal here will be multiplied by the envelope and output on output B Z sets the envelope shape from short attack long decay to long attack and short decay Parameters 3 4 set the attack and decay shapes of the envelope respectively from an exaggerated exponential curve at 0 to ...

Page 54: ...ce of a flip hits zero and the pattern is effectively locked Conversely as Z goes negative the chance of a flip goes up reaching 100 at around 2V This also effectively locks the pattern but at twice the length since it is alternating between the locked pattern and its inverse When Z crosses the 2V boundaries in either direction the display shows for a short while to let you know that the pattern h...

Page 55: ...uts Parameter 3 is an attenuverter for both outputs Parameter 4 is an offset for both outputs MIDI Input if parameter 5 is non zero incoming MIDI clock advances the shift register according to the following table Parameter value Clock divisor Parameter value Clock divisor 1 1 32 9 1 4 2 1 16 triplet 10 1 2 triplet 3 1 16 11 3 8 4 1 8 triplet 12 1 2 5 3 32 13 1 1 triplet 6 1 8 14 3 4 7 1 4 triplet ...

Page 56: ...hits zero and the pattern is effectively locked Conversely as Z goes negative the chance of a flip goes up reaching 100 at around 2V This also effectively locks the pattern but at twice the length since it is alternating between the locked pattern and its inverse When Z crosses the 2V boundaries in either direction the display shows for a short while to let you know that the pattern has been locke...

Page 57: ...flip is set by Z When Z is zero there is a 50 chance that the bit will flip which is the most random setting As Z rises the chance of a flip reduces until at around 2V the chance of a flip hits zero and the pattern is effectively locked Conversely as Z goes negative the chance of a flip goes up reaching 100 at around 2V This also effectively locks the pattern but at twice the length since it is al...

Page 58: ...p which is the most random setting As Z rises the chance of a flip reduces until at around 2V the chance of a flip hits zero and the pattern is effectively locked Conversely as Z goes negative the chance of a flip goes up reaching 100 at around 2V This also effectively locks the pattern but at twice the length since it is alternating between the locked pattern and its inverse When Z crosses the 2V...

Page 59: ...Emulation Video X is input 1 Y is input 2 Z is trim A is output 1 B is output 2 This algorithm provides a software implementation of the Expert Sleepers ES 2 module This in conjunction with the Silent Way CV Input plug in this allows you to pass CVs from your modular into your DAW via a regular audio interface X Y are the two inputs connect these to CV outputs from your modular A B are the corresp...

Page 60: ... of that digit within the frequency value Pressing Z advances the decimal place and displays a pair of digits as above representing that new part of the frequency value which can then be edited with S G 5 Tuner Video X is input Y is not used A is a copy of X B is a sine wave at the tracked pitch Z sets the amplitude of B Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 99 99 0 Reference frequency This algo...

Page 61: ...hm converts clocks between MIDI clocks analogue clocks and an internal timebase in any combination The mode of operation is determined by parameter 0 Value A B driven by MIDI driven by Typical application 0 MIDI X Legacy disting behaviour 1 X X Another module is the clock leader disting converts to MIDI clock and generates clock divisions 2 Internal X 3 MIDI Internal Disting converts MIDI clock to...

Page 62: ...ixel of the display flashes in time Whatever the clock source outputs A B generate 5V clock pulses according to parameters 1 2 The parameter divisor relationship is as per the following table Parameter value Output A B Parameter value Output A B 2 Run stop 1 Reset pulse 0 1 96 8 1 4 1 1 48 9 1 3 2 1 32 10 1 2 3 1 24 11 1 1 4 1 16 12 2 1 5 1 12 13 3 1 6 1 8 14 4 1 7 1 6 In modes that use it input X...

Page 63: ... by powers of 2 only 1 2 4 8 16 or by multiples of 2 and 3 1 2 3 4 6 8 12 16 Parameter value Ratchet mode A Ratchet mode B 0 Off Off 1 2 s Off 2 Off 2 s 3 2 s 2 s 4 2 s 3 s Off 5 Off 2 s 3 s 6 2 s 3 s 2 s 3 s When enabled the Z input pot controls the multiplier When Z is at 0V the clock output is suppressed higher voltages give higher multipliers If you prefer a 0V CV input to correspond to 1x mul...

Page 64: ...Cs according to the following table CC numbers A B Output voltage range 33 34 5V to 5V 35 36 0V to 10V 37 38 0V to 5V 39 40 0V to 8V Parameter 2 selects a scale to use if any are provided on the SD card See Scala Support above The default value of 1 disables this function Parameter 3 enables a fingered portamento effect that is a glide from one note to the next if they are played legato Higher par...

Page 65: ...rates CC messages using the parameter value as the CC number and the note velocity is fixed at 64 Parameters 2 3 when non zero allow you to generate CC messages from the X Y inputs using the parameter value as the CC number For parameters 1 2 3 whether the parameter is positive or negative sets the working voltage range For positive parameter values the voltage range 0 5V generates the full range ...

Page 66: ...vefolding type sounds 1 Hard clip A hard digital clip is applied 2 Soft clip A soft clip saturation is applied Parameter 2 controls the function of output B 1 Copy Output B follows input X 0 Normal Normal crossfade pan function 1 99 LFO Output B is a 5V triangle wave LFO the speed of which is set from the parameter Parameter 3 attenuates output B in all modes FX Loop usage A combination of paramet...

Page 67: ...e trigger slightly to allow time for the sampled CV to settle before the sample is taken Parameters 2 3 add white noise into the signal from inputs X Y respectively allowing you to use the algorithm as a source of random voltages without having to patch anything into the inputs Parameters 4 5 control the amount of slew applied to outputs A B respectively H 3 Dual Quantizer Z scale Video A quantize...

Page 68: ...ion moves the notes around within the same key Parameter 4 sets the root key of the chosen scale At zero the first note of the scale e g C in the key of C corresponds to 0V If the parameter is set for example to 2 the first note of the scale is at 2 12 0 1667V or to look at it another way if your VCO is tuned so that 0V gives you a C the quantizer is now working in the key of D D major minor triad...

Page 69: ... 2 3 Parameter value Scale 0 1 chromatic 2 major scale 3 minor scale 4 major triad 5 minor triad 6 root 5th 7 major triad 6th 8 minor triad 6th 9 major triad 7th 10 minor triad 7th 11 root 5th 6th 12 root 5th 7th 13 pentatonic major 14 pentatonic minor 15 natural minor 16 harmonic minor 17 MIDI 1 18 MIDI 2 Additionally the parameter being positive or negative controls whether the quantizer works i...

Page 70: ...le e g C in the key of C corresponds to 0V If the parameter is set for example to 2 the first note of the scale is at 2 12 0 1667V or to look at it another way if your VCO is tuned so that 0V gives you a C the quantizer is now working in the key of D D major minor triad etc depending on the scale setting The quantized notes names are shown on the display A left B right Natural notes are shown in c...

Page 71: ... exceeds 1V Input Y is a reset input resetting the pattern to step 1 MIDI Input if parameter 6 is non zero the patterns are controlled by incoming MIDI clock If the parameter is positive the patterns simply advance according to the clock divisor table above If the parameter is negative the patterns are also locked in to the MIDI transport the pattern position depends absolutely on the number of cl...

Page 72: ...0 1 3 1 Type A 1 1 3 1 Type B 2 1 31 31 Attenuation A 3 1 31 31 Attenuation B Dual output variable colour noise generator with two optional VCAs Outputs A and B are noise with colour according to the parameter values Parameter value Noise colour 1 Blended 0 Violet 1 White 2 Pink 3 Red If blended is chosen the noise colour can be smoothly swept from violet to red with the Z knob CV Parameters 2 3 s...

Page 73: ...and 0 means complete attenuation When the parameter is 1 32 Y is a trigger input and the parameter defines an offset in sample frames between the timing of the X Y inputs It is often a good idea to delay the trigger slightly relative to the pitch to ensure that the pitch has changed and settled before the trigger samples a new note A B are the quantized pitch CV outputs The Z knob CV controls an i...

Page 74: ... Next to the number of the scale degree is either a which indicates the degree is included in the quantizer pattern or which indicates that it is not Pressing the S knob toggles between these two states When the display is not showing a parameter value or name it shows the note name of the pitch CV on output A assuming as mentioned above that 0V corresponds to a C MIDI Input MIDI note messages rec...

Page 75: ...rd to exactly dial in useful fractions of the length e g 48 for half way 32 for a third of the way through etc When switching between files the playback position is maintained modulo the length of the new file For example if you re 5 seconds into a 10 second file if you switch to a 20 second file the position will be 5 seconds into the new file if you switch to a 2 second file the position will be...

Page 76: ... is being used to select the sample or to the position set by Z the full range of Z approximately 5V to 5V corresponds to the length of the sample Y is the clock input The speed of the sample playback is adjusted so that the whole sample fits into the time taken for a number of clocks where that number is set per sample in the playlist When switching between files the playback position is maintain...

Page 77: ...put MIDI note on off messages are handled equivalently to a trigger or gate on the X input that is a note on retriggers the sample and if the envelope time is non zero a note off will stop the playback Additionally the pitch of the note on message is used instead of the Y input CV so you can effectively play the disting like a sampler from a MIDI keyboard MIDI note 48 C3 corresponds to a 0V input ...

Page 78: ...thm except that it forgoes voltage control of the current sample and instead offers a speed control Z is the linear speed control The central position corresponds to the sample playing at its natural pitch Positive voltages speed up playback negative voltages slow it down Because the scale is linear it is possible to slow it down all the way to being stopped The current sample is selected via para...

Page 79: ...s the sample A is left audio output B is right audio output Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 0 99 0 Folder 1 1 99 16 Speed limit 2 0 32 0 Slew 3 32 32 0 Y offset In this algorithm the sample playback position is directly driven from the Y input Imagine a piece of audio tape passing over a tape head in other algorithms that tape is constantly moving at some speed or other as if driven by a m...

Page 80: ...nput triggers the next sample up Parameter 1 selects between two options for how the outputs are used If the parameter is 0 then the sample triggered by X plays out of output A and the sample triggered by Y plays out of output B Stereo samples are summed to mono If the parameter is 1 then mono samples are panned centrally and stereo samples are played in stereo Parameters 0 2 are the standard samp...

Page 81: ...m above Parameter 4 selects which samples are affected by the speed control as follows Parameter value Description 0 Both samples speeds controlled by Z 1 Sample A speed fixed B variable 2 Sample B speed fixed A variable 3 Both samples speeds are fixed Parameters 0 5 are the standard sample folder and envelope time parameters described above The triggers are velocity sensitive the volume of the sa...

Page 82: ...smitted unaltered on the disting s MIDI output J 2 Multisample 2 Audio Playback Video X is retrigger CV Y is V octave pitch CV Z is tune 0 5 octaves A is left audio output B is right audio output Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 0 99 0 Folder 1 8 8 0 Octave shift 2 0 99 0 Envelope time 3 1 4 1 MIDI mode 4 0 24 2 Pitch bend depth 5 0 1 1 Selects the panning option 6 0 60 0 Gate offset This a...

Page 83: ...to the pitch input This is useful to allow pitch CVs to settle before they are sampled on the rising gate and also to cope with modules which output both a pitch and gate but change their pitch first In both cases an offset allows the algorithm to choose the correct sample rather than choosing the wrong sample and then re pitching it to match the CV MIDI Input MIDI note on off messages are handled...

Page 84: ...Folder 1 0 99 0 Selects the sample 2 0 99 0 Envelope time This algorithm is much the same as the base I 1 Audio Playback algorithm except that it forgoes voltage control of the current sample and instead offers control over the sample end point X and Z are the retrigger and end position controls If Z is negative X is the retrigger input and Z controls the sample end point So if you require manual ...

Page 85: ...ailable filename will be used the old files will not be overwritten The files are placed in a folder named RECORD 14 If this folder does not exist it will be created When recording is complete a small text file will also be written to the card with the same filename but with the extension TXT This will detail any dropouts that occurred while recording the file or ideally simply No dropouts The dis...

Page 86: ...the standard sample folder and envelope time parameters described above Parameter 5 offsets delays the retrigger gate input relative to the pitch input This is useful to allow pitch CVs to settle before they are sampled on the rising gate and also to cope with modules which output both a pitch and gate but change their pitch first In both cases an offset allows the algorithm to choose the correct ...

Page 87: ... over another Again MIDI note numbers are used The files are arranged in order of ascending pitch and the switch setting specifies the lowest pitch that will use that file In the example above thumbf2 wav will be used up to MIDI note 43 then thumbc3 wav up to note 51 thumbg3 wav from 52 59 and finally thumbe4 wav for notes 60 and up With this in mind the pitch CV is used as follows The incoming CV...

Page 88: ... take a clock and adjust the loop time to fit In this algorithm the playlist settings loop fadeIn fadeOut and gap are ignored X is a gate or clock input depending on the parameter 3 Gate mode Parameter value Gate mode 0 X is a gate CV starting and stopping sample playback 1 The sample plays continuously 2 The sample plays continuously X is a clock CV The loop length is adjusted to be related to th...

Page 89: ...ll not change the sample it will only change when playback is stopped and restarted by the X CV or manually via parameter 3 A B are the left right audio outputs respectively Parameter 0 is the standard sample folder parameter described above Parameter 1 shifts the pitch up down by octaves Note the comments above on how high the pitch may be raised Parameter 2 sets the crossfade time in percent of ...

Page 90: ... 2 offsets the Y CV effectively providing a means of manual wave selection Output A is the main output of the wavetable VCO Output B generates a signal according to parameters 3 and 4 If parameter 4 is 1 the default the output is as follows Parameter 3 value Output B 4 MIDI gate 3 A 8V square wave one octave below output A 2 Wavetable VCO one octave below output A 1 Wavetable VCO one octave above ...

Page 91: ... name If a folder is specified in playlist wavetable txt the folder contains the individual WAV files that represent one waveform each The algorithm does not use any playlist txt file within the folder any files found files are used in alphabetical order Waveform WAVs must be in 16 bit mono format The sample rate is unimportant since the file is assumed to contain exactly one cycle and so can pitc...

Page 92: ...eter Min Max Default Description 0 0 99 0 Chooses the wavetable 1 32 32 0 Y Offset 2 32 32 32 Output A attenuverter 3 32 32 32 Output B attenuverter 4 15 8 0 LFO time multiplier This algorithm offers a wavetable oscillator intended for LFO use though with an audio rate clock it can also be used at audio frequencies Consider it a combination of the Wavetable VCO and the Clockable LFO See Loading wa...

Page 93: ...able input Z is gain A is wavetable output B is complementary wavetable output Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 0 99 0 Chooses the wavetable 1 32 32 0 Y Offset Applied to audio this algorithm is a wavetable based waveshaper effect More generally considering the input as a CV lookup this algorithm provides a wavetable based transfer function See Loading wavetables above for a description of ...

Page 94: ...input Any clock pulse in excess of 1V can be used The time between rising trigger edges is used to set the envelope time The Y input controls the lookup point in the wavetable with a range of 5V covering the whole table Parameter 1 offsets the Y CV effectively providing a means of manual wave selection The Z input is the trigger for the envelope to start Outputs A B are the result of the wavetable...

Page 95: ... all 19 tones arriving at an octave when the CV is 1V higher than it started In mode 1 when the LFO rises by 1V the output will have only risen by 12 degrees of the scale it will need to rise by another half Volt or so to reach the octave Or consider the same situation but with the input from a keyboard starting at 0V and rising 1 12th of a Volt per semitone In mode 0 each semitone will be quantiz...

Page 96: ...that the delay time can be much much longer about 95 minutes It also runs at the full sample rate so the audio fidelity is higher SD card requirements This algorithm is continually reading from and writing to the SD card You will want a good quality high speed card A microSDHC card like that recommended above will work well The algorithm creates a file on the card called DELAY BIN This is created ...

Page 97: ...reo Clockable SD Delay Video X Y are stereo audio inputs A B are stereo audio outputs Z is feedback Tap tempo enabled Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 15 8 0 Delay time multiplier 1 0 8 8 Maximum feedback This is a stereo version of the Clockable SD Delay algorithm as described above Being stereo the maximum delay time is halved to a mere 48 minutes Please be sure to read the SD card requir...

Page 98: ...ile holding the dry level constant For negative Z the dry and reverb signals are progressively crossfaded until eventually the output is 100 wet i e just the reverberation signal Pressing the Z knob freezes the reverb the reverb does not decay and the input signal is not added into the reverb Press Z again to unfreeze it Parameters 0 1 together control the reverb time Parameter 2 changes the rever...

Page 99: ...ration signal Pressing the Z knob freezes the reverb the reverb does not decay and the input signal is not added into the reverb Press Z again to unfreeze it Parameters 0 1 together control the reverb time Input Y also affects the feedback Parameter 2 changes the reverb character it chooses between a number of options for the reverb algorithm s internal parameters leading to different sounding rev...

Page 100: ... and the input signals are not added into the reverbs Press Z again to unfreeze them Parameters 0 1 together control the reverb time Parameter 2 changes the reverb character it chooses between a number of options for the reverb algorithm s internal parameters leading to different sounding reverbs some quite natural others deliberately unnatural Parameter 3 applies a low pass filter to the reverb i...

Page 101: ...s for each channel Parameters 0 1 select the vowel sound for X A and Y B respectively The available sounds are as follows Parameter value Vowel Example word 1 Chosen from the range below by the Z knob CV 0 ow bought 1 oo boot 2 a hot18 3 uh but 4 er bird 5 ae bat 6 e bet 7 i bit 8 iy beet For a good vowel effect the input audio should be rich in harmonics A simple sawtooth works reasonably well Ho...

Page 102: ... generated via a number of LFOs The LFO depth is set with parameter 0 The LFO speeds are set with a combination of parameter 1 and input Y which is a 1V octave input centred on 4Hz for 0V Parameter 2 controls a feedback loop around the effect Parameter 7 engages a saturation stage in the feedback loop which can prevent clipping while adding some colouration to the sound Parameter 3 applies a low p...

Page 103: ...s effect is generated via a number of LFOs The LFO depth is set with parameter 0 The LFO speeds are set with a combination of parameter 1 and input Y which is a 1V octave input centred on 4Hz for 0V Parameter 2 controls a feedback loop around the effect Parameter 7 engages a saturation stage in the feedback loop which can prevent clipping while adding some colouration to the sound Parameter 3 appl...

Page 104: ... time 2 0 99 0 Release time 3 0 99 0 Lookahead A stereo noise gate The outputs are muted unless the input signal exceeds a threshold level The Z knob CV sets the threshold with a range of approximately 0 8V The outputs are muted by an envelope triggered by the input signal rising above the threshold level Parameters 0 2 set the attack hold and release times of the envelope The hold time is the min...

Page 105: ...The LFO may be multiplied by the ramp so it also starts from zero and ramps up to full amplitude The trigger also resets the LFO phase to zero This could be used even without the ramp to give you a resettable LFO The Z knob input controls the LFO speed which is also an exponential control Parameters 0 and 1 select the output waveforms on outputs A B respectively The choices are 0 the ramp itself 1...

Page 106: ...V with a peak to peak amplitude of 2V If parameter 3 is one the X input sets the centre of the LFO while the Y input sets its amplitude For example if X is 3V and Y is 1V the LFOs range will be 2V 4V Note that in this mode if Y is zero then A B follow X If X is a pitch CV then you effectively have a vibrato control on Y The Z knob input controls the LFO speed which is an exponential control Parame...

Page 107: ...cal operation performed for output B The name of the operation selected for output A is shown in the display as Z changes the options available are the same as for output B excluding the 1 and 2 values below Parameter 0 value Operation 2 Output B follows output A 1 Output B is inverse of output A 0 AND 1 OR 2 XOR 3 NAND 4 NOR 5 XNOR 6 SR flip flop 7 D flip flop The SR flip flop is set high by a ri...

Page 108: ...t of X plus the positive part of Y If the mode is 1 or 2 the inputs are summed mode 1 or subtracted mode 2 Then output A is the positive part of X Y and output B is the negative part of X Y If the mode is 3 output A is the positive part of input X output B is the positive part of input Y Z is a threshold control allowing the various comparisons above to be against a non zero value So for positive ...

Page 109: ...ontrols the speed of the tape which also affects the delay time The speed range is from half speed to double speed Parameter 4 is added to the Z value as an offset Parameter 2 controls the feedback A value of 32 gives 100 feedback If parameter 2 is 1 Z controls the feedback Parameter 4 controls the speed of the tape which also affects the delay time The speed range is from half speed to double spe...

Page 110: ...t the pitch shifted version Parameter 0 sets the grain length Parameter 1 sets the shape of the grain window or if you prefer its envelope Best results will depend on the source material experiment The effect uses an internal buffer to store the source material so it can be replayed as grains therefore there is some delay or latency inherent in the algorithm The delay can be controlled by paramete...

Page 111: ...eters are the classic values as studied by Lorenz 28 and 8 3 respectively The A B outputs generate the x y or z values of the Lorenz system or gates based on these values according to parameter 1 as follows Parameter 1 Output A Output B 0 x z 1 y z 2 x y 3 x based gate z 4 y based gate z 5 x based gate y 6 x z based gate 7 y z based gate 8 x y based gate 9 x based gate z based gate 10 y based gate...

Page 112: ...0 99 0 Fade 3 1 99 99 Chance This algorithm is a voltage controlled or triggered crossover switch That is either X A and Y B or X B and Y A Note that by using only one input the algorithm effectively directs an input to one of two outputs e g X to either A or B likewise using only one output the algorithm chooses between two inputs e g A is either X or Y Being fully DC coupled the algorithm can be...

Page 113: ...s and eventually stops altogether Parameter 1 sets the depth of the pitch modulation Parameter 2 sets the slew rate for speed changes This plus a 5V gate signal into Z are your route to the classic slow fast rotary speed transitions Parameter 3 controls the frequency of a first order crossover filter The part of the signal above the filter frequency is fed into the rotary pitch modulation effect T...

Page 114: ...ives 10V N 4 Low Pass Gate Video X and Y are stereo inputs A and B are stereo outputs Z is frequency strike Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 0 31 0 Resonance 1 1 99 50 Up slew 2 1 99 50 Down slew This algorithm is a stereo low pass gate that is a combination of low pass filter and VCA It makes no claim to emulate any particular bit of hardware classic or modern but the response of the filte...

Page 115: ...the pulsarets See Loading wavetables above for a description of how to load wavetables onto the SD card Input X sets the fundamental frequency the rate at which the pulsaret train is generated Input Y sets the formant frequency the rate at which the pulsaret is played By default this is independent of the fundamental frequency If parameter 3 is set to 1 the X input is added to the Y input so chang...

Page 116: ...fects It can also produce swooshy sounds Input X is the signal input Input Y is the phase shift input scaled as 5V per 360 Parameter 1 is added to the total shift a value of 32 gives 360 so a parameter value of 8 gives 90 i e quadrature A and B are the audio outputs which are phase shifted according to the Y CV and parameter 1 Note that neither is an identical copy of the input waveform unless the...

Page 117: ...audio outputs Z is feedback Tap tempo enabled Parameter Min Max Default Description 0 15 8 0 Delay time multiplier 1 0 8 8 Maximum feedback 2 0 1 0 Output mode 3 32 32 32 Input pan This is a ping pong version of the Clockable SD Delay algorithm as described above Being stereo the maximum delay time is halved to a mere 48 minutes Please be sure to read the SD card requirements box Outputs A B are t...

Page 118: ...he header pin out is as follows Pin Function 1 OUT pin 4 2 OUT pin 5 3 IN pin 5 4 IN pin 4 Pin numbers refer to the 5 pin DIN socket as in the MIDI standard The header is a standard 0 1 pitch header compatible with e g typical IDC cable sockets Breakout module A passive breakout module which exposes the MIDI ports as 5 pin DIN sockets is available also in kit form See this page A 3 5mm TRS jack ve...

Page 119: ...the MIDI input channel as selected in the settings MIDI channel Message Function Note in CC 1 Set algorithm parameter 0 in CC 2 Set algorithm parameter 1 in CC 3 Set algorithm parameter 2 in CC 4 Set algorithm parameter 3 in CC 5 Set algorithm parameter 4 in CC 6 Set algorithm parameter 5 in CC 17 Set Z Sending this CC takes control of the algorithm s Z function and overrides the Z knob and CV inp...

Page 120: ...nd the left most column will flash 6 Remove the patch cables Connect the 3V voltage reference to input X 7 Verify the reference voltage and press the encoder 8 Wait a few seconds for the display to show Y and the left most column to flash 9 Connect the 3V voltage reference to input Y 10 Verify the reference voltage and press the encoder 11 After a short pause the disting will reboot at which point...

Page 121: ...he values read directly from the audio codec cL cR are the codes written directly to the audio codec and vL vR vOutL vOutR are 19 format voltages The derivation of A Br D Er is as follows Let the four input samples be zeroIn zeroOut halfOut threeVolt A zeroIn B threeVolt zeroIn 3 Br 0x80000000000LL B D zeroOut zeroIn B E halfOut zeroOut B 0x400000 Er 0x80000000000LL E The above is pseudo code a re...

Page 122: ...t will go through the first stage of its startup sequence showing the bootloader version number Keep the S knob pressed until the message Confirm is shown If at this point the disting shows the message No firmware found on card no firmware file could be found on the card Turn off the power remove the card and check its contents Release the knob to begin the update process If you change your mind a...

Page 123: ...Acknowledgments The font used in the disting mk4 is an adapted version of Tom Thumb by Robey Pointer More on the font here Page 123 ...