SOMA Pulsar 23, User Manual

Page 1: ...USER MANUAL ...

Page 2: ...ues the line of organismic synthesizers begun by LYRA 8 but now in the area of percussion instruments ORGANISMIC SYNTHESIZER Organismic means that some of the principles of how living systems organisms operate form the basis of development Everything can interact with everything forming multiple feedback loops resulting in very complex behavior of the system even with a simple set of its constitue...

Page 3: ... MIDI keyboard Thus with a short press we get a percussive sound the character of which will depend on the length of the press When holding the sensor or key for a long time we get a tonal or noise sound depending on the synthesis module used and its settings Thanks to this your drum line can suddenly turn into noise or drone Also Pulsar 23 can be used as a powerful and unusual monophonic synthesi...

Page 4: ...hanges in the sound and behavior of the Pulsar Since the resistance to contact with the skin strongly depends on the pressure you can easily and intuitively change the modulation depth with simple hand movements controlling several points at once SOUND MIXING CONCEPT When developing Pulsar I found it pointless to do internal mixing in stereo In order to get a good stereo picture in a drum machine ...

Page 5: ...thesis modules 4 freely assignable MIDI to CV converters SHAPE WARP Portamento and Pitchbender functions of the BASS module To assign a MIDI controller a key or a continuous controller to a synthesis module BD SD HHT etc hold the LRN button of this module and press the desired key or turn the controller The pitchbender and portamento functions are firmly fixed to the corresponding mi di controller...

Page 6: ... dozens of milliseconds after MIDI clock start can be inaccurate To avoid this the timespan between stop and start on your DAW or sequencer that feeds MIDI clock to Pulsar has to be at least 5 seconds then the up sampling system stops to wait for the next clock pulse and saves the previous value that will be used after clock start A second option is to use the LRST pin for alignment with the clock...

Page 7: ...bled and the array of dividers and the looper stop Now when voltage pulses with an amplitude of at least 3 volts nominal amplitude 0 to 10 volts are applied to the CLK pin they will be perceived as a clock signal and the array of dividers together with the looper will be synchronized to it So you can synchronize the Pulsar with a Eurorack system or any device that generates a clock in the given vo...

Page 8: ... creation and editing of live grooves on the fly flexible improvisation options during performance and the possibility of experimenting with loops of different lengths and speeds on the different LR channels Pulsar s LR has 4 independent channels each of which can have its own independent play back speed In order to be able to switch between different rhythmic variations there are 4 banks of loops...

Page 9: ...s certain spe cifics on the LR operation In particular if you want to modulate or change the clock during performance and at the same time preserve the synchronization of the LR and the dividers you must use the synchronization pin LRST which will be described below By default the clock for LR is taken from the internal clock generator which can either work independently or receive a MIDI clock se...

Page 10: ...annel output and envelope generator input LRST pin looper restart applying a positive impulse rising edge to this pin will cause LR to restart from the zero position This function is needed for synchronizing the LR with the array of clock dividers and it can be used for shortening the loop length Naturally this pin can also be used for all kinds of experiments For tight LR synchronization with the...

Page 11: ...process Сopying will be performed only on those channels where the recording mode is turned on Copying occurs exactly as long as the combination of three buttons is held If you need to copy the entire loop you must hold this combination for at least the length of the entire loop of the looper You can also copy the loop partially holding the combination only for the desired fragment This allows you...

Page 12: ...that signal stops the EG starts to respond to the 5V source instead If that turns off it will respond to the 2V source ATT attack knob adjusts the attack of a given drum sound REL release knob adjusts the release of a drum sound TRIG trigger pin LR channel output and envelope generator input ENV envelope pin Envelope generator output You can use any of the channels of the looper recorder and the e...

Page 13: ...enerates the pitch jump at the beginning of a sound characteristic for a bass drum This knob adjusts the decay rate and the depth of the modulation DRIVE knob controls the BD waveform When rotated clockwise the waveform changes from triangle to sine to square EXT external pin is the input for processing an external signal through the BD synthesis circuit Located before the waveshaper distortion th...

Page 14: ...waveforms through special recursive equations computing with very high accuracy 32 bit with floating point This makes our DCO sensitive to the smallest changes in control signals and gives the sound a vibrant breath inherent to analog synthesis In addition all DCO controls except for MIDI occur through analog circuits which also brings its behavior closer to analog CV IN pin is a logarithmic volt ...

Page 15: ...re fader This way you can send a signal to the effects processor while the BASS volume in the main mix is low or zero Regardless of DCO mode CV MIDI PRC this module can always be triggered via MIDI In CV and PRC mode only one note on the MIDI keyboard can be associated with the module using the learn function LRN button above the sensors of the BASS module In MIDI mode it will be a chromatic MIDI ...

Page 16: ...IX knob determines the balance between pink and spectral noise BPF FR band pass filter frequency knob determines the cutoff frequency of the band pass filter MOD near the BPF FR knob pin is the CV input that controls the BPF cutoff frequency BPF Q band pass filter resonance knob determines the level of self oscillation of the filter EXT external pin is the input for processing an external signal t...

Page 17: ...y HPF Q high pass filter resonance knob determines the amount of self oscillation of the filter EXT external pin is the input for processing an external signal through the HHT syn thesis circuit Located before the high pass filter OUT pin is the output of the HHT synthesis module Located before the VOLUME knob VOL volume knob HHT volume control FX knob adjusts send level of the HHT signal to the e...

Page 18: ...l clock signal 63 16 217 switch determines the length of the pseudo random sequence It can be equal to 63 16 or 217 pulses of the internal or external clock DATA pin can be used to write a sequence to the memory of shift registers When the switch 63 16 217 is in position 16 the shift registers turn into a cyclic memory into which you can write a short sequence of states using the DATA pin In the s...

Page 19: ...ith a frequency that is not related to the internal SHAOS clock for exam ple from the LFO generator is fed to the S H input the length of the pseudo random sequence will increase significantly theoretically to infinity If the SHAOS clock is very fast the generator will start working in the audio range and can be used to synthesize complex waveforms A very fast clock can be obtained using the squar...

Page 20: ...s become the left and right channels to which a stereo mix of double delay and reverb is fed To enable stereo mode the mode switch must be in the DBL position and a voltage greater than 5 volts must be applied to the MAD stereo icon pin DLY REV delay reverb switch determines which of the FX channels the submixer output will be assigned to FX knobs in the synthesis modules BPF DBL PCH switch determ...

Page 21: ...y delay input The signal applied to it will be processed by the delay effect REV reverb input pin auxiliary reverb input The signal applied to it will be processed by the reverb effect DLY delay output pin delay output It can be used for external mixing and for creating non trivial modulation loops REV reverb output pin reverb output It can be used for external mixing and for creating non trivial ...

Page 22: ...example this contact can be connected to the TRIG output of one of the synthesis modules or to one of the clock divider outputs This will synchronize with notes of the selected duration or with the start of the selected drum knob sets the output waveform of the LFO to the triangle output pin Turn ing this knob provides a smooth transition from falling saw through triangle to rising saw LOW HI MID ...

Page 23: ...on next to it and turn or press the desired controller or key send a MIDI message The MIDI to CV converter automatically recognizes the key and the con tinuous controller CC In case a MIDI key is assigned the velocity value of the pressed key will be output If a controller is assigned the output will be position of the controller Assigning a specific key will give you the opportunity to rhythmical...

Page 24: ...r frequency of one of the modules For each jump in a rectangular signal the capacitor will form a smoothly falling envelope the length of which will depend on the nominal value 0 1 mf will give a quick decline 10 mf will be slow Try inserting a capacitor in various modulation and dynamic control circuits By connecting one contact of the capacitor to the ground GND pin and the other to a signal you...

Page 25: ... using stereo panning and spatial effects by connecting the four individual outputs of the synthesis modules and the two out puts of the FX processor through an adapter to an external mixer or DAW audio in terface INDIVIDUAL SIGNALS LRST looper restart pin refers to the looper recorder Applying a positive impulse rising edge to this input will cause the LR to restart from the zero po sition This f...

Page 26: ...sor effect Connect the ENV BD output to the input of the non controllable inverter the inverter output to the CV VCA input the VCA OUT to the MIX IN input apply a long signal to the VCA IN for example noise from the NOISE pin INV CONTROLLED INVERTER Inverts the incoming trigger signal when a voltage higher than 5 volts is applied to the CV pin It can only be used for trigger signals since it has a...

Page 27: ...lit when Pulsar is switched on MIDI indicator Red a MIDI signal is received but not assigned anywhere Green a MIDI signal is received and is assigned to a function TOUCH CONTROLLED CV GENERATORS There are two resistive sensors generating CV each of which can be used for some kind of control for example to control the filter cutoff frequency Un like the capacitive sensors of the looper recorder the...

Page 28: ...st be used If the supplied PSU is out of order we recommend a modern switching mode power supply with a wide input AC range They have excellent stabilization 3 MIDI IN 5 pin DIN 4 Six 1 4 inch connectors for jack to pin adapter see 1 4 INCH JACK PIN ADAPTER 5 Main audio out 6 Headphones out stereo mini jack 3 5mm 1 2 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 6 ...

Page 29: ...tandard DIN socket Headphone output 3 5 mm mini jack Supply voltage 12 volts plus in the center Consumption current 0 3 amperes Only a well stabilized power supply must be used If the supplied PSU is out of order we rec ommend modern switching mode power supplies with excellent stabilization for replacement WATCH THE POLARITY Weight 4 kg Dimensions 380x280x80 mm WHAT IS IN THE KIT Pulsar 23 Power ...

Page 30: ...NV envelope FB feedback FR frequency FREQ frequency GND ground H high HHT hi hat L low LRST looper restart LRN learn M middle MOD modulation OMG oh my God PRC percussion PWR power Q resonance REC record REC CONT recorder control REL release REV reverb RST reset S H sample and hold SD snare drum SYNC synchronization TRIG triggering VOL volume WTF ...

Page 31: ...ng Grigory Ryazanov industrial construction for mass production Grzegorz Lacek EU management and communications Max Bogdanov management and communication Pawel Wieczorek EU production technologies Thomas Lundberg editor and proofreader Valeriy Zaveryaev manual design and layout Viktor Grigoryev help in design and technology RU production Vitaly Zhidikov RU commercial department Vyacheslav Grigorye...

Page 32: ...Manual version 1 0 09 2019 Made in Russia ...