Ribbon Controller versions

Ribbon controllers, old model on top

One of the most used parts of my modular setup is without doubt my A-198 Ribbon controller.
You can read all i ever wrote about it so far HERE.
I love improvising with the manual controller and the sensitivity of the manual makes it fun to play with.

In combination with the A-156 Dual Quantizer and a A-170 Dual Slew Limiter it is quite easy to play, even for beginners.*
Together with and the different scales that are available on the A-156 you can make your ribbon-sliding-skills sound very impressive.
* I should note that is also easier to play the Theremin modules using these two modules.

From 2005 the A-198 (and R2M) manuals are equipped with an even more sensible pressure sensor.
The improved sensor now works along the entire manual.
So how can we distinguish these two models?
The newer version is white on top, instead of the greenish grey color of the old model's touch-surface.
The new version also does not have the text 'A-198' printed on it.

Ribbon controllers, new version at the bottom. Note; the orange stickers are not standard

The Doepfer R2M (Ribbon-to-Midi) is the stand-alone version of the A-198 with MIDI and CV/Gate outputs. R2M offers a lot more features than the A-198 (e.g. quantizing, gate function even in the hold mode, inverse scaling and many more)

Currently from June 2011 the cases have changed from silvergrey with black printing to black with white printing... also very slick...

Doepfer A118 Filtering with A120 VCF Low Pass Filter

More Video from Raul Pena (of http://raulsworldofsynths.com/)
This time almost 45 minutes long tutorials on using the A-118 Noise/ Random Voltage Generator in combination with the A-120 Moog Style Low Pass Filter... creating some interesting wind-effects...

Video 1 : Doepfer A118 Filtering with A120 VCF Low Pass Filter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vin9o4GpJs8

" Part One Discussing the features of the Doepfer A188 Noise and Random Voltage Source module. Followed by a Demonstration of Filtering white and Colored Noise with the Doepfer A120 VCF Low Pass Filter. Sound and Video by Raul Pena. "

Video 2 : Doepfer A118 Filtering with A120 VCF Low Pass Filter Part Two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZxRsxPLuI4

"Part Two Ongoing Demonstration of Filtering white and Colored Noise from the A118 Noise module with the Doepfer A120 VCF Low Pass Filter. Modulation Capabilities also explored with A147 VC LFO and A145 LFO. Sound and Video by Raul Pena."

Read more on the A-118 HERE
Read more on the A-120 HERE

Special Designs

Don't go calling or emailing Doepfer right away,
but if DIY-ing is not your thing you might find this next thing interesting:

" In principle Doepfer is able to make special designs, but most customers underestimate the time and consequently the costs for a special design.
Normally there are three steps for a custom design:

Development of the hardware (provided that none of their existing hardware products can be used), development of the software (provided that the design includes a microcontroller) and design of the mechanics (e.g. controls, housing, provided that the customers is not able to built his own case).

The hardware and software design is carried out at Doepfer, i.e. design of the schematics, PCB layout and software.
All mechanical parts of the design - i.e. PCB manufacturing, housing, treatement of the housing like drilling holes, milling slits, varnishing, printing and so on - is carried out by other companies specialized in such things.
Doepfer has no mechanical working place in their company.
The main problem for a special design is that all nonrecurring costs - i.e. design of schematics, pcb layout, programming the software, initial charges for the pcb manufacture, case/housing production and silk-screen printing - have to be payed by one customer only.

Even for a small design these nonrecurring costs reach the few thousands Euro range.
Normally these charges are divided by the number of devices that are manufactured (a few hundred or thousands as a rule).
Please keep in mind all these notes if you ask for a special design.
If you are willing to pay for all these steps of work they might make a quotation for you. "

from the Doepfer FAQ page

A-140 ADSR Envelope Generator

Perhaps i should have started my whole PatchPierre blog with writing about the most basic and essential A-100 modules first.

How the four parameters A, D, S and R
change the shape of an ADSR envelope

The A-140, Doepfer's envelope generator was released back in 1995/96, and was one the first modules available.

It is a simple ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) generator.

When this module is triggered it generates a variable voltage, changing in time, called an envelope.

The shape of the envelope is set by four variable parameters: Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release.
The envelope is started (triggered) by a gate signal either from the internal gate voltage on the system bus or, if a signal is put into it, from the gate input socket.

The varying voltage (visualized by an LED) is output in normal (positive) and inverted form, and can be used for all kinds of voltage controlled modulation of any VCO, VCF,  VCA or other CV controlled inputs.
The envelope can also be re-triggered, but that only works when the gate is opened.
The module  has a three-position toggle switch between three time ranges.
The envelope time can be set from about 50 microseconds up to several minutes.

Okay... There's not much extra to write about this elementary module, although i do like the inverted output (plus that it has two 'normal' outputs).
I should say that there are more economicly priced other envelope generators available.
My advice is to get yourself one of the Quad envelope generators for example... if your modular gets bigger you will probably need more EG's anyway.
I do have the four-fold A-143-2 Quad ADSR, but the A-143-1 Quad AD with only Attack and Decay, or perhaps the A-142-4 Quad Decay with just decay are just a few of the other options if you are looking for expanding your modular with basic EG's...

Doepfer A110 Filtering Demo's with A-101-2 and A-120 by Raul Pena

Raul Pena ( from http://raulsworldofsynths.com/ ) made another excellent set of tutorial videos.
This time it is all about filtering; In a few episodes he explores all functions of the A-101-2 Vactrol Low Pass Gate filter, in comparison with the A-120 Low Pass Moog-style filter.
Very interesting stuff again...

Video 1: Doepfer A110 Filtering with A101-2 and A120 Intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmrB9EOVgb8
" Short Introduction into Filtering the Doepfer A110 Standard VCO. Dicusses Features and Functions of the Doepfer A101-2 Low Pass Gate and A120 VCF Low Pass Filter.Sound and Video by Raul Pena. "



Video 2: Doepfer A110 Filtering with A101-2 Low Pass Gate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBt7wozgjjg
" Demonstration of the Filtering of the Doepfer A110 VCO with an A101-2 Low Pass Gate. Next More Filtering with the A101-2 Low Pass Gate."

More video after the break -

Hardcore Modding the A-182-1 Switched Multiples

I must admit i am not a very sophisticated modifier / solderer.

I don't have an electronic background, find it hard to concentrate at times, and i can easily lose my patience when i'm working on stuff.

I am quickly satisfied with the modifications that i do, as long as my projects look good on the outside and are safe (i.e. no loose wires inside that can cause short-circuiting etc.)

A good example of my somewhat rude approach is my A-182-1 Switched Multiples modification.

Originally this module is a simple passive multi-connector similar to the A-180 Multiples module.

In the A-182-1 each socket is equipped with a 3-position switch that allows to connect the corresponding socket to the internal bus #1 (left position), bus #2 (right position) or to turn the socket off (center position).

A-182-1 Modification detail

I wisely decided to split up the A-182-1 into a 2 x 4 Multiplier, like i did with my A-180 because I found this this modification very handy.

I can now use my modified A-182-1 Switched Multiple for quick switching between my keyboard ( via MIDI ) and my A-198 Ribbon Controller.
For this i split up the Multiple in two halves, the upper half controls the Gate, the lower half controls the pitch ( CV )

More info on this HERE

Okay... I know i could have scraped of some of the wires on the PCB to do this modification, but i wasn't completely sure if that would be enough. To be sure that there were no other connections i just took a junior hacksaw and cut the whole PCB in half. 

As this is a passive module (not connected to the busboard) i thought my mod could hardly go wrong with this.

It might be a bit rude perhaps, but it works!

SiteTip VI : MIT Open Courseware Music and Technology: Algorithmic and Generative Music

It's kinda weird that, if you search well, there are 2 Music and Technology Courses on the site of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with the same course number (21M.380).

I blogged about one earlier (Contemporary History and Aesthetics, find the blogpost with an interesting 80-minute video HERE) and i am still very enthusiastic about it, but the other one is also very informative.

This course, Algorithmic and Generative Music, as taught in spring 2010 by Christopher Ariza examined " ...the history, techniques, and aesthetics of mechanical and computer-aided approaches to algorithmic music composition and generative music systems. Through creative hands-on projects, readings, listening assignments, and lectures, students will explore a variety of historical and contemporary approaches. "

Surfing through the pages of this course you will find a lot of interesting information on (analog) sound, music history and much more, again accompanied by many links to other interesting reads and audio-examples.

Find the course homepage HERE
Download the lecture notes HERE ( 11.8 Mb PDF )
Full course Materials can be downloaded from HERE

Licence info:
Ariza, Christopher. 21M.380 Music and Technology: Algorithmic and Generative Music, Spring 2010. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare), http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed 16 Oct, 2011). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA