Doepfer

> I noticed that it can distort, antenuate, but I never manage to get 
> those juicy radical waveshape modifications! 
> Can't you give one patch example how you do it?

I had to get past a frustrating "plateau" with the A136, but I finally 
got a better appreciation of the how to use it by experimenting with a 
single unfiltered sine wave. I realized that if the original audio 
signal is already rich in overtones, harmonic distortion can be very 
subtle and difficult to ascertain. Also, filtering downstream of the 
distortion removes a lot of the high frequency overtones which were 
added by the distortion.

I start by "nulling" the +A, A, and -A knobs to a minimum signal 
level. Then I set the A knob to about 4.5 (unity gain). With the 
clipping level pots at center, slowly adjust the +A pot to the left 
and right and you'll hear an amazing array of tonal colors. Adjusting 
the +L pot adds even more variations. Finally, use the -A and -L 
controls to add a "2nd dimension" to the tone.

When trying the A136 in a more complex patch, its easy to forget that 
our ears are mostly used to hearing distortion applied to guitars, and 
at the end of the audio chain. Learn to swim in the shallow part of 
the pool before you dive off the deep end. Start with the A136 at the 
end of the audio chain , and start with patches that are similar to 
the sounds you're used to hearing distortion on, with lots of sustain.

Happy experimenting.

Joe